Russia's The Dead Hand
15 years ago
Saturday, August 30
Friday, August 29
Palin, Twitter and Why I Love The Internet
From the Little Known Fact Palin Twitter search.
Little Known fact: Sarah Palin cancelled Firefly.(via Wonkette)
Little Known Fact: McCain chose Sarah Palin because she already knows how to change a diaper.
Little Known Fact: Reaction to the Palin nomination - not the nomination itself - probably set back gender equity by two decades. Stop it.
Little Known fact: Sarah Palin eats nothing but moose, elk and polar bear meat.
Little Known Fact: Sarah Palin ran a marathon in under four hours. (Humpy's Classic Marathon, 8/21/05, 3:59:36)
Little Known Fact: Sarah Palin is a D&D master and has her own set of miniatures and lucky dice.
Little Known Fact: Sarah Palin is the “other” whom Yoda spoke about.
Sarah Palin
My thoughts on Sarah Palin as Repub. VP candidate:Pros:
- She is young and vibrant with a baby, defusing the McCain-Is-Old issue.
- Her elder son joined the army on Sept. 11th, 2007.
- She is a woman who is clearly strong. This (1) will draw women who loved the idea of voting for Hilary because she was a woman and (2) defuse the "If you don't vote for Obama, you are closed minded" issue.
- She is from outside Washington. Alaska is about as far out of Washington as you can get.
- She has experience with energy, business and the environment (yes, I disagree with her but she has the experience).
- More conservative than McCain on many issues. Great for the base.
- She looks a bit like Tina Fey, especially with the glasses.
- A fairly hardcore reformer background, helping McCain regain his reformer/ethics image.
Con:
- Potentially the extremely conservative right might wince at a mother of a 4 month old baby with Down syndrome running for the Whitehouse.
- People are going to look a lot closer at the firing of commissioner for not firing ex-brother-in-law issue (although it looks like it has been pretty cleared up)
- Might make McCain look even older when standing next to him.
- Extreme lack of experience.
- I have a hard time trusting the judgment of someone who named her boys Track and Trig.
Don't get me wrong. I am still a bleeding heart liberal who is passionately for Obama. But I am also glad everything got more interesting.
Wednesday, August 27
Noir in the Blood
I love noir, specifically L.A. noir. I can't quite put a finger on why. There is something about Los Angeles in the 1930's through 1950's that became the epitome of the American Dream... and then it's destruction. The edge of the country, where Manifest Destiny reached its forced conclusion. A city build around the concept the the car, the manifestation of man's domination over nature and a declaration of total freedom to go anywhere at any moment at 60 miles per hour. The flourishing to defining American invention of the the 20th century (film and the industry that it birthed). Loci of the aircraft industry and the massive growth that World War II brought to the region. A bowl of dry sand forced into being by men of power. A land of artifice and truth.
I could go on and one.
Yes, noir is cartoony. It glamorizes the seedy underbelly. But it is also about the mad desire for redemption.
Without going into details, I found out that it is basically in my blood. My family history reads more convoluted (if less disturbing) than Chinatown. I am not sure if I am comforted or not by that fact.
I could go on and one.
Yes, noir is cartoony. It glamorizes the seedy underbelly. But it is also about the mad desire for redemption.
Without going into details, I found out that it is basically in my blood. My family history reads more convoluted (if less disturbing) than Chinatown. I am not sure if I am comforted or not by that fact.
Be a rock god!
Guitar Praise
(via Boing Boing)
Grab the guitar and play along with top Christian bands! Shred those riffs or blast the bass…you add a unique sound to the solid Christian rock. But watch out: if you can't keep up, the artists will take a break and stop the music. Crank it up and try again - you'll soon be rockin' with the best while praising the Lord!I'm not mocking here. I think this is pretty cool. I wish there were screen shots.
(via Boing Boing)
Tuesday, August 26
Monday, August 25
Serial No. 3817131
Rachel Papo has a wonderful photo essay of girls in the Israeli Army.
From her statement:
At an age when social, sexual, and educational explorations are at their highest point, the life of an eighteen-year-old Israeli girl is interrupted. She is plucked from her home surroundings and placed in a rigorous institution where her individuality is temporarily forced aside in the name of nationalism. During the next two years, immersed in a regimented and masculine environment, she will be transformed from a girl to a woman, within the framework of an army that is engaged in daily war and conflict. She is now a soldier serving her country, in a military camp amidst hundreds like her, yet beneath the uniform there is someone wishing to be noticed, listened to, and understood.
(via Boing Boing)
From her statement:
At an age when social, sexual, and educational explorations are at their highest point, the life of an eighteen-year-old Israeli girl is interrupted. She is plucked from her home surroundings and placed in a rigorous institution where her individuality is temporarily forced aside in the name of nationalism. During the next two years, immersed in a regimented and masculine environment, she will be transformed from a girl to a woman, within the framework of an army that is engaged in daily war and conflict. She is now a soldier serving her country, in a military camp amidst hundreds like her, yet beneath the uniform there is someone wishing to be noticed, listened to, and understood.
(via Boing Boing)
The Omnivore's One Hundred
From Very Good Taste. Things in bold are things I've eaten.
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
Sunday, August 24
Rat-tat-tat on a Saturday night
Since making my "Books" posts last week, I've been re-reading some of James Ellroy's essays. Ellroy jacks me up in weird ways. It gets my brain jazzed up on a staccato beat. I buzz into a dark wet place. I observe the world through glasses of sharpened glass. It sends me hardcore into the present. I want to write long liturgies of loving alliteration.
I bought a kabob pita in the Village to eat at home. It leaks its white juices on the subway home. I get weird about it. Self-consciously I try to hide the fact that my brown paper bag is growing a wet spot of tahini.
I have special spot at every subway stop to wait for the train. They lead me right to the stair at my destination. At the Brooklyn bound Q Canal station, the spot is marked. Sometime this summer, as they spread hot tar unto the street above, the tar dripped down. I witnessed it once. Long thing drips of black goo occasionally falling from above. My special spot is no littered with dried tar strips. They look like a pile of giant leeches now.
A girl on the Q grips the center pole. She looks tired and beaten by the night. Not drunk, just close to destroyed by the city.
I am finding it hard to write about things as of late. At least here. The things I am thinking about aren't blog material. They aren't things of which I am ashamed. Far from it. But, even in the abstract, they are personal. To even whisper of them gives too much of myself away. I should write about the past but it holds little interest for me. And even my choice of past events to write about would say too much about my Now.
I am beginning to expect the my view on improv differs from 95% of the improv community. I am also starting to take myself too seriously.
I hold pride in my ability to play devil's advocate. I was once called out on it. Someone close to me said that it showed I had no opinion of my own. Bullshit. I feel strongly enough about things to not want to hold my opinions blindly.
I don't believe people think about language enough. Not other languages, but their own.
I hate shows that are run poorly. It takes so little effort to do it right.
Obama has already tried to sell me a first edition Obama-Biden magnet... twice. I can't imagine how much DNC spam I will get during the convention. I also couldn't give a crap about how many homes McCain has or doesn't have or how he answered the question. If he had answered it and answered wrong, they would be all over him. Let's get some damn discourse back.
I must have the ability to ignore huge portions of my brain/body. I give them little though for 17 months and then, once they get turned back on, I can think of little else.
I bought a kabob pita in the Village to eat at home. It leaks its white juices on the subway home. I get weird about it. Self-consciously I try to hide the fact that my brown paper bag is growing a wet spot of tahini.
I have special spot at every subway stop to wait for the train. They lead me right to the stair at my destination. At the Brooklyn bound Q Canal station, the spot is marked. Sometime this summer, as they spread hot tar unto the street above, the tar dripped down. I witnessed it once. Long thing drips of black goo occasionally falling from above. My special spot is no littered with dried tar strips. They look like a pile of giant leeches now.
A girl on the Q grips the center pole. She looks tired and beaten by the night. Not drunk, just close to destroyed by the city.
I am finding it hard to write about things as of late. At least here. The things I am thinking about aren't blog material. They aren't things of which I am ashamed. Far from it. But, even in the abstract, they are personal. To even whisper of them gives too much of myself away. I should write about the past but it holds little interest for me. And even my choice of past events to write about would say too much about my Now.
I am beginning to expect the my view on improv differs from 95% of the improv community. I am also starting to take myself too seriously.
I hold pride in my ability to play devil's advocate. I was once called out on it. Someone close to me said that it showed I had no opinion of my own. Bullshit. I feel strongly enough about things to not want to hold my opinions blindly.
I don't believe people think about language enough. Not other languages, but their own.
I hate shows that are run poorly. It takes so little effort to do it right.
Obama has already tried to sell me a first edition Obama-Biden magnet... twice. I can't imagine how much DNC spam I will get during the convention. I also couldn't give a crap about how many homes McCain has or doesn't have or how he answered the question. If he had answered it and answered wrong, they would be all over him. Let's get some damn discourse back.
I must have the ability to ignore huge portions of my brain/body. I give them little though for 17 months and then, once they get turned back on, I can think of little else.
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