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Friday, Apr 07, 2006
the gospel truth
et tu, judas?
day-o
"While the Romans have directly given us the names of the months, we have immediately derived those of the days of the week from the Saxons. Both among the Romans, however, and the Saxons, the several days were dedicated to the chief national deities, and in the characters of these several sets of national deities there is, in nearly every instance, an obvious analogy and correspondence; so that the Roman names of the days have undergone little more than a translation in the Saxon and consequently English names."
Wednesday, Apr 05, 2006
my wrist still hurts
meet the new toy, same as the old toy.
Monday, Mar 27, 2006
orange-aid
"While the United States constitutes 5% of the world's population, this “land of the free” holds 25% of the world's prisoners – a third to a half are there for drug offenses . With all the talk of Guantanamo and extraordinary rendition, many overlook that we have a Gulag Prison System here at home, fueled by our drug laws."
Sunday, Mar 26, 2006
shaggsadelic
"DEPENDING on whom you ask, the Shaggs were either the best band of all time or the worst. Frank Zappa is said to have proclaimed that the Shaggs were "better than the Beatles." More recently, though, a music fan who claimed to be in "the fetal position, writhing in pain," declared on the Internet that the Shaggs were "hauntingly bad," and added, "I would walk across the desert while eating charcoal briquettes soaked in Tobasco for forty days and forty nights not to ever have to listen to anything Shagg-related ever again." Such a divergence of opinion confuses the mind. Listening to the Shaggs' album "Philosophy of the World" will further confound. The music is winsome but raggedly discordant pop. Something is sort of wrong with the tempo, and the melodies are squashed and bent, nasal, deadpan. Are the Shaggs referencing the heptatonic, angular microtones of Chinese ya-yueh court music and the atonal note clusters of Ornette Coleman, or are they just a bunch of kids playing badly on cheap, out-of-tune guitars?"
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006
cock of the walk
i think the most interesting thing about this dixie chicks song is the alt-rock black-clad cosmopolitan packaging. cant you just see the marketing people hard at work rebranding their commodity. i wonder if its actually closer to the truth. and, of course, theres the idea of "a protest song" extruded through a melodic soaring lovesong form. ultimately probably more subversive than all the other protest songs this "war" has fostered. oh, wait, there arent any others.
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2006
hot link theatre
marvin the martian is having tech issues.via gargaro
Monday, Mar 13, 2006
pigs in zen
"The C.I.A., it seems, was worried that the public might be too influenced by Orwell's pox-on-both-their-houses critique of the capitalist humans and Communist pigs. So after his death in 1950, agents were dispatched (by none other than E. Howard Hunt, later of Watergate fame) to buy the film rights to "Animal Farm" from his widow to make its message more overtly anti-Communist."
Saturday, Mar 11, 2006
be true to your school
you know youre getting old when...your alma mater starts peppering you with brochures about sending your kids there. or do they know something i dont?
Sunday, Mar 05, 2006
dope a dope
"Your responses are consistent with the following attributes: You have a lower propensity for large-group social bonding than most people. You have a probable elevation in noradrenergic activity, and concurrent deficit in dopaminergic activity. You also have a probable elevation in activity in your prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus in your right hemisphere. Possible reduction in serotonergic activity and a corresponding reduction in dominance-seeking behaviors. Your right prefrontal cortex is more involved in your political decision making than your left. Your olfactory system plays a less than average role in mating behavior. Indicators of enhanced right prefrontal and bilateral temporal activity in humor detection. Prefrontal cortical regions are facilitating greater than average behavioral inhibition. Color preferences may indicate an enhanced dopamine level in your visual cortex. Responses point to a probable increase in activity in the right anterior cingulate and amygdala. You have a higher tolerance for ambiguity in your thinking styles, and a greater inhibition of your left inferior parietal cortex. You exhibit an elevation in visuospatial task performance. This seems to be primarily facilitated by your prefrontal cortex. Your responses indicated a tendency to classify facial expressions as more threatening, and an elevation in activity in your right amygdala. Overall, your cognitive style is shifted more towards your right hemisphere."