@nedwards lives here

skornhaber: And this is why we retitle our image file names,...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:05:15 -0800

And this is why we retitle our image file names, yeah?

They should have called it “We have the one of the largest endowments in the country and you have tens of thousands of dollars in student loans; how about giving us more of your money, asshole” dot jpg.

wnyc: Bobby McFerrin plays the audience. Must watch. (and that...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:03:01 -0800

wnyc:

Bobby McFerrin plays the audience. Must watch.

(and that looks like our John Schaefer seated on the left!)

-Jody, BL Show-

I can’t stop smiling!

Prospective Titles for my New YA Novel Series

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:57:51 -0800

Prospective Titles for my New Young Adult Series, Starring Ham Sanderson: Teen Wizard Detective

Ham Sanderson and the Beaker of Mayonnaise
Ham Sanderson and the Sorcerer’s Tube
Ham Sanderson and the Filet of Souls
Ham Sanderson and the Bouquet of Dinosaurs
Ham Sanderson and the Storm of Nutmeg
Ham Sanderson and the Oval Dimensions
Ham Sanderson and the Bludgeon of Pleasure
Ham Sanderson and the Truthful Dichotomy
Ham Sanderson and the Case of the Spider Phalanx
Ham Sanderson and the Bag of Rabbits
Ham Sanderson and the Pork of Melchizidek
Ham Sanderson and the Fragile Complexion
Ham Sanderson and the Flagon of Tuesdays
Ham Sanderson and the Archetype of Molluscs
Ham Sanderson and the Badge of Interest

Alternately: Ham Sanderson and the Names of Future Albums By The Rock Band Cake

h-monkey: “Mind if I… fuck around in your attic?” I have a...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:48:21 -0800

h-monkey:

“Mind if I… fuck around in your attic?”

I have a business installing Styrofoam nuns.

gaws: Oak Tree by Michael Craig-Martin. 1973 Accompanying...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:41:39 -0800

gaws:

Oak Tree by Michael Craig-Martin. 1973

Accompanying text;

Q. To begin with, could you describe this work?
A. Yes, of course. What I’ve done is change a glass of water into a full-grown oak tree without altering the accidents of the glass of water.
Q. The accidents?
A. Yes. The colour, feel, weight, size …
Q. Do you mean that the glass of water is a symbol of an oak tree?
A. No. It’s not a symbol. I’ve changed the physical substance of the glass of water into that of an oak tree.
Q. It looks like a glass of water.
A. Of course it does. I didn’t change its appearance. But it’s not a glass of water, it’s an oak tree.
Q. Can you prove what you’ve claimed to have done?
A. Well, yes and no. I claim to have maintained the physical form of the glass of water and, as you can see, I have. However, as one normally looks for evidence of physical change in terms of altered form, no such proof exists.
Q. Haven’t you simply called this glass of water an oak tree?
A. Absolutely not. It is not a glass of water anymore. I have changed its actual substance. It would no longer be accurate to call it a glass of water. One could call it anything one wished but that would not alter the fact that it is an oak tree.
Q. Isn’t this just a case of the emperor’s new clothes?
A. No. With the emperor’s new clothes people claimed to see something that wasn’t there because they felt they should. I would be very surprised if anyone told me they saw an oak tree.
Q. Was it difficult to effect the change?
A. No effort at all. But it took me years of work before I realised I could do it.
Q. When precisely did the glass of water become an oak tree?
A. When I put the water in the glass.
Q. Does this happen every time you fill a glass with water?
A. No, of course not. Only when I intend to change it into an oak tree.
Q. Then intention causes the change?
A. I would say it precipitates the change.
Q. You don’t know how you do it?
A. It contradicts what I feel I know about cause and effect.
Q. It seems to me that you are claiming to have worked a miracle. Isn’t that the case?
A. I’m flattered that you think so.
Q. But aren’t you the only person who can do something like this?
A. How could I know?
Q. Could you teach others to do it?
A. No, it’s not something one can teach.
Q. Do you consider that changing the glass of water into an oak tree constitutes an art work?
A. Yes.
Q. What precisely is the art work? The glass of water?
A. There is no glass of water anymore.
Q. The process of change?
A. There is no process involved in the change.
Q. The oak tree?
A. Yes. The oak tree.
Q. But the oak tree only exists in the mind.
A. No. The actual oak tree is physically present but in the form of the glass of water. As the glass of water was a particular glass of water, the oak tree is also a particular oak tree. To conceive the category ‘oak tree’ or to picture a particular oak tree is not to understand and experience what appears to be a glass of water as an oak tree. Just as it is imperceivable it also inconceivable.
Q. Did the particular oak tree exist somewhere else before it took the form of a glass of water?
A. No. This particular oak tree did not exist previously. I should also point out that it does not and will not ever have any other form than that of a glass of water.
Q. How long will it continue to be an oak tree?
A. Until I change it.

Photo

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:30:50 -0800

Never not listening to this.

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:41:37 -0800

Never not listening to this.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-12-18)

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:53:10 -0800

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-12-18):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

themesong 12/15: I haven’t listened to this since I was a...

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:56:49 -0800

themesong 12/15: I haven’t listened to this since I was a child

[warning: contains Christian ska-punk]

I was raised in a non-denominational Christian home, so my first real exposure to any sort of rock music was through Christian rock. It was really all I listened to until late in high school. At the time, I was totally into it, because it was rock music and it had lyrics that agreed with the way I thought about the world.

Blah blah, college, blah blah people who are different than I am are cool, blah blah evolutionary biology class yada yada yada, atheist*.

Last week I chatted with my high school buddy Frank. He told me Five Iron Frenzy is recording a new album. Five Iron Frenzy was a third-wave Christian ska-punk band, and it was, no joke, my favorite band for like six years. Maybe even longer than that. Certainly from 1997 onward, and I still liked them enough in 2003 to travel five hours to see them in concert.

My favorite Five Iron song was “Every New Day.” It’s about wanting to return to a childlike state of curiosity and energy, seeing every new day as if it was truly new. And, naturally, asking Jesus for some help with that. The bridge lyrics, excerpted below, adorned pretty much every writable surface I owned in middle and high schools.

Man versus himself.
Man versus machine.
Man versus the world.
Mankind versus me.
The struggles go on.
The wisdom I lack.
The burdens keep piling
Up on my back.
So hard to breathe,
To take the next step.
The mountain is high;
I wait in the depths.
Yearning for grace,
And hoping for peace.
Dear God,
Increase!

It’s super-weird to listen to a song that was your favorite song years after you’ve last heard it and realize that you’re essentially a different person from the punked-out Christian rock fifteen-year-old who loved that song. You’re the same person, but you’re a different person, too. I can barely see it from here.

I haven’t listened to this since I was a child.

[lyrics]

*Or rather, igtheist, but atheist for all practical purposes.

Pretty much.

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:04:40 -0800

Pretty much.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-12-4)

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:11:52 -0800

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-12-4):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

OH THE INTERNET VALIDATION

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:52:20 -0800

OH THE INTERNET VALIDATION

The single most-retweeted thing I’ve ever tweeted. Edit:...

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:58:00 -0800

The single most-retweeted thing I’ve ever tweeted.

Edit: It’s up to 134 retweets now, according to favstar. That’s a lot for me.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-11-20)

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:37:21 -0800

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-11-20):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

wilwheaton: As long as Obama remains silent — and implicitly...

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:17:52 -0800

wilwheaton:

As long as Obama remains silent — and implicitly complacent — about the police brutality we keep seeing against peaceful, non-violent Americans who are expressing their constitutionally-protected rights to protest, I think we’re going to see this quote with a lot of pretty horrifying images.

This is how my family do.

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:57:53 -0800

This is how my family do.

I guess I’m not the only one.

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:25:06 -0800

I guess I’m not the only one.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-11-6)

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:09:30 -0800

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-11-6):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

Spent a few satisfying hours on yardwork today. It was a bit...

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:37:37 -0800

Spent a few satisfying hours on yardwork today. It was a bit overdue.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-10-30)

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:07:57 -0700

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-10-30):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz