Anyone Feeling Sad?

I hope this helps.

I can think of at least two swim clubbers who will like this...

68

I would like to note that I didn't decide to actually try until a minute had already passed. But I did run out of ideas pretty quickly. It's like the pressure you feel when taking a typing test; it ends up slowing you down because you're thinking too hard and watching the clock.

my mux

http://happyunderwater.muxtape.com/

Señora Urique

Señora Urique threw back her heavy veil with a quick gesture. She was past middle age, and her hair was beginning to silver, but her full, proud figure and clear olive skin retained traces of the beauty peculiar to the Basque province. But, once you had seen her eyes, and comprehended the great sadness that was revealed in their deep shadows and hopeless expression, you saw that the woman lived only in some memory.

NYC Riunite

Getting back together with some old friends this weekend was a lot like this scene from Lord of the Rings...

One Sweet Song

Keeping with music-related posts, Gina Pensiero, ex-East Quadder/Ann Arborite, has started a blog offering one mp3 per day along with a personal reminiscence.

P.S. I like the muxtape idea. Hopefully it will be like walking by someone's room in Vail or EQ and getting exposed to something new. I'll do one sooner or later (I have to do the 1K Questionnaire first).

SMMRTYYM BLWWZ mix by Joshua

Thanks for showing us this, Graham. This is fun. I had problems posting some songs I wanted to use, but here is my (also chilled out) mixtape. Looking forward to seeing more from others.

Here's my new phone number: 410 370 9585.

SWEATY PITS JULY MIX BY GRAHAM

Although the artwork may suggest dance music, this mix is pretty chilled out.

My friend told me abut this site called muxtape.com that lets you upload 12 song mp3 mixes. You can only have one mix up at a time per account, so I think it makes sense to do a new one every month.

You guys should do it! Give us something to listen to while we are stuck at our desks this Summer! Only one rule: You should make cover art.

Maybe you've already seen this...

...but I think it's pure gold.

Shock vs. Sparks

I'm a couple days late with this, but it may still be new to some of you.

If you didn't know....

I wanted to mention that Igor has been posting dirty limericks on his blog and they are quite enjoyable.

regardez: http://beigor.blogspot.com/

the shirt (unofficial submission) reverse

The shirt (unofficial submission)

Hail Science!

I thought maybe the scientists among us would like these shirts. You may have already seen these posted on Boing Boing.

Ghostbusters the video game

Doug Collar's Jazz Memories

...include dancing to Louis Armstrong's All Stars at Cedar Point Ballroom in 1966, talking to drummer Alan Dawson at intermission while Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan tuned up backstage at a Dave Brubeck concert in 1969, reminiscing with Woody Herman on a snowy evening at a Lansing club in 1970, and interviewing Dizzy Gillespie at Erickson Kiva in 1981. He was in attendance at the ill-fated Newport Jazz Festival of 1971 digging Willie the Lion Smith, Ornette Coleman, and Charles Mingus on a sunny afternoon before the rioters ran amuck during the Brubeck Quartet's evening performance.

Buck Owens - Massachusetts

Those in the know will know this is awesome.

Capuchin Monk evangelises Heavy Metal

I can't embed this, but if you have never watched or read any of the posts I've put up you should at least check this one out.

Metal Monk

Quote of the Day

"They're shut up as tight as the jury of a millionaire murderer."

A long way from when I was a kid

Some new Nerf Weapons that are out or coming out this fall that seem a little over the top. Never the less I wish they were around when I was a kid.


NERF N-STRIKE LONGSHOT CS-6: This blaster is more than three feet long and can launch foam arrows up to 35 feet away! Aim with accuracy and precision using the targeting scope. Two quick-reload clips hold a total of 12 STREAMLINE DARTS. There’s even a fold-down bi-pod to help you steady your aim for important shots.



Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25 Blaster: Watch as the belt feeds automatically through the blaster, letting the barrage of firepower continue as you battle your opponent. The piston-powered internal launching system makes it an unstoppable force.

Charlie Slick

I caught this guy's in-studio WCBN appearance a couple months back and it brought a smile to my face. It's funny electro-rap dance music.

WCBN performance.MySpace page.

New Kids

The Kids in the Hall have started doing sketches again by themselves online. You can see them on Youtube or 60Frames.

Found a job

Been thinking a lot about what it means to make videos for the internet, and how awesome it is to have the ability to make shows for yourself and your friends, and I think about the lyrics to "Found a Job" by Talking Heads:

"Damn that television ... what a bad picture!"
"Don't get upset, it's not a major disaster."
"There's nothing on tonight," he said,
"I don't know what's the matter!"
"Nothing's ever on", she said,
"I don't know why you bother."

We've heard this little scene, we've heard it many times.
People fighting over little things, and wasting precious time.
They might be better off, I think, the way it seems to me.
Making up their own shows, which might be better than T.V.

Judy's in the bedroom, inventing situations.
Bob is on the street today, scouting up locations.
They've enlisted all their family.
They've enlisted all their friends.
It helped saved their relationship,
And made it work again

Their show gets real high ratings, they think they have a hit.
There might even be a spinoff, but they're not sure 'bout that.
If they ever watch T.V. again, it'd be too soon for them.
Bob never yells about the picture now, he's having too much fun.

Judy's in the bedroom, inventing situations,
Bob is on the street today, he's scouting up locations.
They've enlisted all their family.
They've enlisted all their friends.
It helped save their relationship,
And made it work again

So think about this little scene, apply it to you life.
If your work isn't what you love, then something isn't right.
Just look at Bob and Judy; they're happy as can be,
Inventing situations, putting them on T.V.

Judy's in the bedroom, inventing situations.
Bob is on the street today, he's having a vacation.
They've enlisting all their family.
They've enlisted all their friends.
It helped save the relationship,
And made it work again

Where To Go For Wisdom

Where to go for wisdom has become a question of serious import. The ancients are discredited; Plato is boiler-plate; Aristotle is tottering; Marcus Aurelius is reeling; Aesop has been copyrighted by Indiana; Solomon is too solemn; you couldn't get anything out of Epictetus with a pick.

Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene IV

Who took my hosta!!?!?? (East Lansing)

This was on craigslist- made me laugh!

"This is the end of my giving anything away anymore. I put a TON of stuff out for free on my porch, and clearly stated everyhting for free was ON my porch, not in front of it, not around it, not near it, ON my porch. I just got home, someone had the balls to dig up a massive hosta I had been growing for years in front of my porch. Who just comes and digs up a plant like that?? I am sure whoever it was is reading this and knows it was them and I would like it returned. I am still in disbelief that someone would do something like this. Did I at any point in my ad mention being able to dig up the plants in my front yard!??!/ NO!!!!

This person has ruined it for everyone, from now on Im just throwing everything in the trash."

Where's the beef?

North Koreans do not eat beef. When a calf is born in DPRK, it must be registered with the government as national property. Cows are far too valuable to be slaughtered for meat, and if you kill a cow you will be taken to a reeducation camp. That would be very bad. People eat chicken, pork, duck, and dog, but no beef.

Interesting interview with a former North Korean citizen regarding the protests over imports of US beef in South Korea here.

Ivan

Ivan Yakovlevich, like any respectable Russian craftsman, was a raging alcoholic.

1k

Today, I woke up at 8am, smoked a cigarette with some coffee, washed the dishes, took a shower, ate some cereal while listening to music (I don't like to eat immediately after smoking a cigarette), and went to the library. A friend and I ate lunch at Levering Hall, a building on campus (kind of like the Michigan League), and, afterwards, I continued to work until about 5.30pm. I came home and warmed up some fajitas that I ordered on 3 July, the night I returned from Paris (where I spent some time with my girlfriend), and watched Dog Day Afternoon. Yesterday, I watched Mean Streets and Raging Bull. And the day before, I watched Carlito's Way and Donnie Brasco.

I like the gangster genre, morally.

Usually, during the school year, things are less easy-going. I don't wake up early voluntarily, I don't think according to my own rhythm, and I am burdened by the sociality and pathology of everyday life. I do not feel quite as free then as I do now; when, smoking a cigarette, I look out the window, the fact that I can register the various shades of green means that I have the time to do so.

When Paola is here, that makes a nice difference too.

There are four bars and one club in Charles Village: One World, Charles Village Pub (CVP), Dizzy Izzy's, Rocket To Venus, and the Ottobar.

Boston: "I never thought it would come to this" (Tristan). Paul, Dax, Tristan, Ian, and I. I don't like travel books, and I didn't like the freedom walk. Dax's enthusiasm pissed me off. That fucking travel book. Paul bought little ethnic trinkets, hiding them covetously in his bag before they came up for the usual round of criticism. Dax, jovially, but not entirely: "It's a little Paul playground!" I bought fish and chips at what was supposed to be the "best Mexican restaurant" in Boston. Ian broke his hand punching a washing machine.

I very fondly remember my arguments with Vlad. I also remember the time Vlad and I were walking down a street in Ann Arbor the name of which I can no longer remember (the street that the high school near Vail was on), when a drunk Michigan football fan saw us and asked us whether or not we were going to rob him. We said no and left wondering what his impression of us was that he would ask such a question. But, inevitably, as we walked away, I felt more and more insulted by the question, and quickly plotted my revenge. I told Vlad that I was going to return to the man, who was still in sight, and, in fact, rob him. Vlad didn't like that idea. I told him to wait by the tree. I approached the man under the pretext that I was going to provide him with some directions (which, I believe, although I don't entirely remember, he requested), and told him to take his wallet out and give me all his money. He laughed an uncertain laugh. But I didn't break. I looked him straight in the eye and repeated my demand. Then he knew I was serious. I told him that Vlad was over there by the tree, pointing a gun at him. He took out his wallet. Then, before he could give me the money, I said: "congratulations, you've just been robbed." I felt a lot better after that.

I love Vlad and wonder why I haven't called him recently. I will.

My workspace is a table in my apartment.

The last thing that annoyed me was the poor quality of the Carlito's Way DVD.

My bedroom is none of your business.

My most recent friend is no longer very close for various reasons having superficially to do with politics and significantly to do with temperamental or dispositional differences. I have one close friend (besides Paola): Johannes, a German from Leipzig who decided to become a Hopkins graduate student. He studies the theory of literature. Before I left for Paris, we had some nice summer nights drinking National Bohemian and smoking under the trees outside my apartment.

I don't know what the last thing that stuck with me is. I've been listening to a lot of NaS though, that stuck with me.

1k Responses from Justin

1. What is your daily routine like? About seven months ago I completely finished up my degree, so many things have changed in a somewhat short amount of time. In between then and now, I had become accustomed to life as a full-time employee. Currently I’m in a bit of a transitional place, as I was recently bumped back down to part-time at the U, due to lack of $$$ (the woes of grant-funded employment); T and I are in the process of moving to a new home, so that carries with it some curve balls.

Most days I try to get out of bed with just enough time to eat a bowl of cereal, to dress, and to walk to my bus stop at the end of our street / in front of the post office. I can do this all in about 20 minutes. Each day I read the headlines from the newspaper boxes (Post-Gazette: centrist & The Tribune Review: picture all instances of capital “D” Democratic intentionally written incorrectly as democrat (sic), e.g. democrat party, i.e. a conservative paper owned by the Mellon-Scaife family).

If the timing is right, I’ll greet my friendly postal employee acquaintance as he raises the ‘ol red white and blue. Some days I fear that he’ll be chastised for not following proper flag-handling protocol. Time passes pretty quickly as I wait, because I have the pleasure of watching people contort their bodies in curious ways, in their efforts to place their mail into car-friendly drop boxes. You’d be surprised as to the lengths that some will go to so that they don’t have to leave their vehicles.

At work I unlock the office, feed the fish, and boot-up the computers and scanning equipment. Glug glug goes the coffee, and the day starts. I’m what you call a metadata librarian, which simply said is a cataloger for digitized materials. Incidentally I maintain our content management software, and g-chat almost the entire day. The nature of my work allows for some deep thought; describing things is more fun they you might think.

Regularly I’ll work through archival boxes of materials (all related to Andrew Carnegie). There are some juicy items, amusing letters and cartoons, odd gifts like ashtrays and engraved whale’s teeth, but much of the time I handle reports and tables from the turn of the century. I just hope some damn fool will make use out of this stuff someday.

At home I’ll have a cigarette (I’ve cut down considerably) and watch the poorly produced local news and many times PBS. Home is a safe place, and the atmosphere allows for the wandering of the mind. I read a lot and I cook elaborate meals.

2. How do you spend your leisure time? What are your hobbies? This is a somewhat difficult question, because much of the time I think about idealized pastimes without actually falling headlong into them. I would like to be a consistent correspondent, but I’m not. I’d like to create things with my hands, but have neither the space nor the resources to do so. And so on… this may sound rather bleak, but I’m actually quite content. I spend many hours cooking, and reading about food. It’s nice to be wrapped up in a very rudimentary activity – many times this extends far beyond the basic motions, and falls into a very fulfilling place.

3. Tell us about where you live. Do you have a new favorite restaurant or bar or hang-out spot? I think Tricia spent a fair amount of time describing our neighborhood, but I’ll take a moment to recap. We live in Pittsburgh’s Little Italy, which is full of row houses, bars, and unruly teens. Tiny Italian-American grandmothers rub elbows with crusty, fanny-pack wearing bike punks, and those guys rub elbows with the life long Bloomfielders, and guidos in training. There are some nice spots close to home like a weekly farmer’s market, the dollar stores, and homes that happen to carry liquor licenses. I’m not willing to brave those, maybe if some of you happen to visit though...

I think our favorite spot this summer is the community pool, aka Bloomfield Beach. Teen girls wear itsy-bitsy “Baby Phat” bikinis. The teen boys hotdog in close proximity vying for their affection/attention. The self-proclaimed king of the pool wears a sombrero, splashes the lifeguards, and generally just annoys everybody. Oddballs will stop along the fence to ogle, and then trot away rubbing their hands together lasciviously. We’ll be just a block from the din in our new digs.

4. What’s the last thing that really stuck with you? There may be a theme running through my version of this SCSF questionnaire… One evening Tricia and I were walking around the neighborhood, and we passed by a porch where two teen boys and two teen girls sat. The effusive boy extended his hand in false camaraderie for a “high-five”, and as I extended my own (for who denies another some skin) he pulled away. Too slow was I. I know that I have learned some patience, and can neutralize anger, because my former self might have punched the kid in the face for the burn. For now there remains just an odd sort of shame.

5. What’s the last thing that annoyed you?

See above.

6. Describe your bedroom or post a picture of it.

(wink)

7. Describe your workspace or post a picture of it.

I work in a windowless office off-campus. Our building is full of interesting characters, and the University warehouse. Train tracks enter the rear of the building, and sunlight shines in between the cinderblocks. We have obsolete scanning equipment, and a fish tank with clown loaches. A month ago one of the fish disappeared, either 1) because of a wormhole 2) the cannibalistic tendencies of its tank-mates 3) or the odd habits of our janitorial staff. I have stacks of papers (finding aids, and cataloging rules) on my desk and two art-prints inspired by the science-fiction writing of L. Ron Hubbard above my space.

8. What do you look like? -- Here's me playing with fire during the Memorial Day Weekend '08. On the right, here I am in 1996 backstage with Metallica.

9. Describe one of your co-workers / 10. Who is your newest friend?

Ann is almost 40, and overworked and underpaid. She lives in one of the depressed coke and steel towns along the Monongahela River (the Deer Hunter was filmed here, can you guess the town?) with her parents (because she takes care of them). Only recently did she grow out of the mullet that she had in the eighties. She’s one of the sweetest people that I know.

11. Share a memory that other people may have forgotten. Remember when Adam and Dax perpetuated a story about Adam giving Dax roadhead? Did we ever clarify this?

Number two. I vividly recall packing into a humid tent in the Fletcher Family backyard, and falling asleep to the discussion of the merits / disadvantages of “tea-bagging”. In the morning the tent was covered in slugs that had inched their way up.

Sorry it took me so long to answer… looking forward to more responses, I see there are some drafts... Graham, Tarek, ahem.

P.S. Why does my font always screw everything up?

Don't Go To Boston

If you do, Ian will put toothpaste in your hair and on your body while you're trying to go to bed, then pour water on your sleeping spot. And when you're sneezing late at night, he'll come into the room stark naked and ask you if there's anything he can do to help.

Seperated at birth?

Another Singleton brother separated at birth? Happy Birthday Ian!


Bonus points for whoever knows who this is.

Free At Last

Ingrid Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate, was freed from the FARC after more than six years.

BBC coverage.
New York Times article.

Shame the poultry

For my intro to technology class in library school one of our assignments is to keep a blog. Many of us have chosen to do themed blogs, which is actually really hard to keep up, unless it's some really broad topic like "design" or "food".

I just wanted to share this guy's blog: the premise is each post is from the perspective of a different celebrity or public personality.

The Wire

I hear Tom Waits tickets are $120.