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| Hokaido Industrial Sushi Food Co |
I love sushi.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Art Break
Argentina-based artist Juan Molinet created a group of fake Japanese food product mascots. Good stuff from a cool site.
I love sushi.
I love sushi.
Friday, June 29, 2012
This Makes Me Happy...
...especially because Boehner is from a smugly conservative, slaveship of a city.
It's been 14 years since I lived there, but I still hate it with an unusually high level of passion.
Update: Soon to be former congresswoman, mean Jean Schmidt—from the same corner of hell as John Boehner—is laughlingly head faked.
John Cole Is Right
For once in your lives turn a win into a win, just like the Republicans were able to do when I was a wingnut (and half the time they were able to turn a loss into a win). Don’t argue amongst yourselves about what would have been better- smash the Republicans around the head and neck with the cudgel you have been given. We’re not debating which Democratic plan would have been better, we’re debating the reality of what we have now versus the 18th century version of what Republicans would replace it with.
Again, as a former wingnut and lifelong Republican until 2006 or 2007, I am fucking begging (Democrats) treat a win like a win and use it to your advantage. The most depressing thing about becoming a Democrat after being a Republican for so many years is just watching Democrats shit the bed whenever they win. Press the fucking advantage.
Please?
from Balloon Juice
My 2 cents:
I welcome any opportunity to post Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! clips (and yes, the guy in the plaid shorts is a Republican).
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Got Nothin'
 |
| from here |
Don't have much to say on the political front today. I'll wait for the SC to possibly overturn the Affordable Care Act.
If this very conservative Supreme Court does flip the law, it should happen now, and could help, if the Democrats are smart (ha), make a very strong case for the re-election of Obama.
Updated:
Wow...right wingers can suck it.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
I'm Sorry, But I Hate These Fucking People
 |
| Jon McNaughton |
There is something simmering deep inside the soul of all Americans. We want to know that our country belongs to the people; that the government acknowledges our individual rights; that fiscal responsibility is an absolute requirement. We want our presidents and politicians to mean what they say when they take the oath of office... "to defend the Constitution of the United States!"
A painting executed to celebrate the collapse of democracy, and the mass delusion that the working class will benefit from the coming austerity fueled oligharcy.
I guess this is how a coup d'etat works in the 21st century, but I have to say, the successful enlistment of working class rubes to stand squarely against their own self-interest is truly breathtaking.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Daniel Plainview Puts Work (Life) In Perspective On A Monday Morning
There Will Be Blood
Snark aside, a brutal and great film.
Snark aside, a brutal and great film.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
American History Will Provide the Next Crop of Action Heroes
 |
| The Secret Histories of Other U.S. Presidents |
Just this weekend, a friend and I discussed the raiding of American history for Hollywood's new crop of action heroes...although Thomas Jefferson was her choice for the next summer block-buster.
I'm kind of liking Andrew Jackson as an alien fighter...but he was such an asshole, I'd have to root for his violent death.
h/t Lawyers, Guns & Money
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Barbara Kruger
Back in the 90s, when I was living in Cincinnati (a smugly conservative, slaveship of a city), I had this Kruger on a t-shirt—I wore it to a frazzle.
Looking back at Kruger's message, at that time, venal and retrograde social/political policies were largely generated by kooky religious organizations with money to give to the Republican Party—now it's the entire conservative game.
MONEY + CORPORATISM + GOD FOR THE RUBES = BOOM!
We're so screwed.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Wednesday Soundtrack
Brian Eno & David Byrne, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Another full album. I think we're too accustomed to the granular and chopped—it's easy to forget that the entire album (for some artists) represented the context—the frame.
Helpful hint: you can start the player and continue to listen as you hit other blog links, etc.
(at least that's how it works for desktops and laptops, not those pesky iPads and tablets)
Another full album. I think we're too accustomed to the granular and chopped—it's easy to forget that the entire album (for some artists) represented the context—the frame.
Helpful hint: you can start the player and continue to listen as you hit other blog links, etc.
(at least that's how it works for desktops and laptops, not those pesky iPads and tablets)
Well, You Know...That Was A Long Time Ago...
...nothing to see here.
Tell this guy...
The CIA materials directly contradict the many claims of Bush officials that it was aggressively pursuing al-Qaida prior to 9/11, and that nobody could have predicted the attacks. “I don’t think the Bush administration would want to see these released, because they paint a picture of the CIA knowing something would happen before 9/11, but they didn’t get the institutional support they needed,” says Barbara Elias-Sanborn, the NSA fellow who edited the materials.
The White House received a truly remarkable amount of warnings that al-Qaida was trying to attack the United States. From June to September 2001, a full seven CIA Senior Intelligence Briefs detailed that attacks were imminent, an incredible amount of information from one intelligence agency.
from here
h/t Hullabaloo
Tell this guy...
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Tuesday Night Soundtrack
Talking Heads, 77
Nobody has the time, but the entire album is great—try to listen.
Nobody has the time, but the entire album is great—try to listen.
Lifted Entirely From Atrios
I wish this was hyperbole.Light It All On Fire
Given the eagerness of the powers that be to aim the free money bazooka at anything resembling a failing giant bank, the incentives for those running them aren't to try to limp along through troubled times, but instead to blow themselves up spectacularly.
But remember kids, moral hazard is what happens when a single parent gets $10 more per week in extra food stamp money.
from Eschaton
Monday, June 18, 2012
Art Break
Brian Eno, Thursday Afternoon 1981-1984
I've posted this in the past...it requires some patience—they're pleasantly dreamy and erotic. For gallery viewing these pieces were displayed vertically.
The entire group of Eno's Video Paintings can be viewed here. Brian Eno, Mistaken Memories, 1981 (excerpt)
Update: I guess I should add some qualifier about the gaze, as it relates to Thursday Afternoon, but it's Brian Eno for chrissakes, not Russ Meyer.
I've posted this in the past...it requires some patience—they're pleasantly dreamy and erotic. For gallery viewing these pieces were displayed vertically.
The entire group of Eno's Video Paintings can be viewed here. Brian Eno, Mistaken Memories, 1981 (excerpt)
Update: I guess I should add some qualifier about the gaze, as it relates to Thursday Afternoon, but it's Brian Eno for chrissakes, not Russ Meyer.
 |
| Russ Meyer |
 |
| Brian Eno |
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Heat Wave
 |
| lake of fire |
The heat is coming to New England. I put the ac in the window...as ready as I'll ever be...
P.S. Do you realize how many hi res "lake of fire" illustrations there are on the internet? Some of them are quite good, I just question the investment.
The Creators (of jobs)
Yes employers, by all means, let your minimum wage employees know that if things don't go the right way in November, the generosity train might come to a complete stop. We wouldn't want that to happen, would we.
These awful ideas come from truly awful people—what's worse, they believe they're right.
h/t Rising Hegemon
These awful ideas come from truly awful people—what's worse, they believe they're right.
h/t Rising Hegemon
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Art Break
 |
| Ross Bleckner, The Arrangement of Things, 1982 |
A great Bleckner in the recently juggled American Wing.
Beautiful and frustrating to view—it doesn't sit still.
MFA (dogs)
 |
| Rosalind Solomon, Dogs, Washington Square Park, New York, 1987 gelatin silver print (detail) |
The museum was deserted today—joy.
A Son Of Worcester, MA
I had no idea.
An aside:
I've always enjoyed the grim and ignoble circumstances of Worcester's founding.
1673—First settlement of Plantation of Quinsigamond
1674—First Indian Land deed. Purchase price was 12 pounds, 2 coats and 4 yards of cloth for 64 square miles of land (sounds fair)
1675—Settlement abandoned because of hostile Indians (surprise)
1684—Second attempted settlement. Name changed from Plantation of Quinsigamond to Worcester
1702—Settlement again abandoned (just wasn't worth the trouble)
I am going to think about fathers this weekend — my father, who worked in the public schools in Worcester for 35 years, and his father, who was a Worcester cop, and then a detective, which enabled his son to become a schoolteacher and me, his grandson, to become whatever it is I am, and I will thank god they lived in a day before the lucky-sperm legacy brigades decided that public employees didn't have real jobs that paid real money or anything. (My Dad also got a boost from a big-government program called the U.S. Navy, a really, really big government program called World War II, and a big government program called the G.I. Bill.) Without that, I might not have been able to make a living in the Private Sector. Thanks, boys.Charles P. Pierce
An aside:
I've always enjoyed the grim and ignoble circumstances of Worcester's founding.
1673—First settlement of Plantation of Quinsigamond
1674—First Indian Land deed. Purchase price was 12 pounds, 2 coats and 4 yards of cloth for 64 square miles of land (sounds fair)
1675—Settlement abandoned because of hostile Indians (surprise)
1684—Second attempted settlement. Name changed from Plantation of Quinsigamond to Worcester
1702—Settlement again abandoned (just wasn't worth the trouble)
Saturday Soundtrack
While only a dub/lip-sync, it's a great snap shot of America in 1967—teenie boppers squealing, an old school Catskills square doing the intro, Neil Young stepping on the top 40 hit to do something scary to mom and dad—but really, really good.
Boston, MFA
 |
| Cyrus Edwin Dallin (1861-1944), Appeal to the Great Spirit |
Off to the MFA today—primarily to see the American Wing and the Contemporary galleries (and to inadvertently set off some proximity alarms).
Friday, June 15, 2012
The Twilight Of The Elites
Watch live streaming video from freespeechtv at livestream.com
An excellent discussion on the aftermath of what has arguably been the worst decade in American history.From Gore v Bush, to the economic collapse, the first decade of the
Friday Soundtrack
The Stranglers, Walk On By
I prefer the Isaac Hayes version, but today I'm leaning toward the ironic...
Update:
Their line, "just go for a stroll in the trees," is hilarious.
I prefer the Isaac Hayes version, but today I'm leaning toward the ironic...
Update:
Their line, "just go for a stroll in the trees," is hilarious.
Art Break (punctum)*
 |
| 1948 |
"...In front of the photograph of my mother as a child, I tell myself: She is going to die: I shudder… over a catastrophe which has already occurred. Whether or not the subject is already dead, every photograph is this catastrophe."
Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography
Barthes embrace of the subjective—his definition of the wound or suture that a photograph can inflict on a viewer—was intensely liberating to me as a grad student steeped in the brittle game of 1980s post-modern thought.
Even before the mother above died, because of Barthes I understood the duality of the photograph—the banal: a portrait of a young girl from post WWll America—the personal: a portrait of my mother as a young girl before the anxiety of her adult life and early death.
The events of her life will always remain unchanged, but as I look at her, in a time that precedes my existence, there is a familiarity in her smile, a presence in her eyes—all of course, a creation of my memories and emotions in the present.
For Barthes, every photograph is a catastrophe at the moment of its capture—as long as it exists it can only represent the unbreakable barrier of time.
*punctum:
Punctum is an object or image that jumps out at the viewer within a photograph- ‘that accident which pricks, bruises me.’ Punctum can exist alongside studium, but disturbs it, creating an ‘element which rises from the scene’ and unintentionally fills the whole image. Punctum is the rare detail that attracts you to an image, Barthes says ‘its mere presense changes my reading, that I am looking at a new photograph, marked in my eyes with a higher value.’
Democratic Women
Bravo!
When will Democrats realize that the women of their party are the (only) ones who can effectively slow down the retrograde momentum of Republicanism?
Politically, Democratic men are too co-opted by their maleness—biologically narcissistic, authoritarian, greedy.
I could be convinced otherwise, but the current spectacle of American politics conducted by men—and the simple clarity of Rep. Brown's voice above—make it clear that however well intentioned, the insiders (men) will not change the landscape.
When will Democrats realize that the women of their party are the (only) ones who can effectively slow down the retrograde momentum of Republicanism?
Politically, Democratic men are too co-opted by their maleness—biologically narcissistic, authoritarian, greedy.
I could be convinced otherwise, but the current spectacle of American politics conducted by men—and the simple clarity of Rep. Brown's voice above—make it clear that however well intentioned, the insiders (men) will not change the landscape.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
BZRAAAP!...URRK!* (fuck)
What explains this trans-Atlantic paralysis in the face of an ongoing human and economic disaster? Politics is surely part of it — whatever they may say, Fed officials are clearly intimidated by warnings that any expansionary policy will be seen as coming to the rescue of President Obama. So, too, is a mentality that sees economic pain as somehow redeeming, a mentality that a British journalist once dubbed “sado-monetarism.”
Whatever the deep roots of this paralysis, it’s becoming increasingly clear that it will take utter catastrophe to get any real policy action that goes beyond bank bailouts. But don’t despair: at the rate things are going, especially in Europe, utter catastrophe may be just around the corner.from here
We are witnessing an opportunistic, global movement to gut pensions, health care programs, and destroy the very idea that the state has a role in keeping people from the brink—classic shock doctrine.
Redirect capital away from government services—first by convincing citizens that the government is ineffective and, or evil—to benefit the top 1% in the form of tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy—who by the way, don't mind paying for a bloated military industrial complex, but keeping granny out of poverty is a bridge too far.
BZRAAAP!...URRK*
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Art Break
Flat-footed (binary) joy.
 |
| Neil Jenney, Built Boat and Boat Builder, 1969 |
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| Neil Jenney, Threat and Sanctuary, 1969 |
Monday, June 11, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Ouch!
...or, fucking wow, what an awful movie.
Michael Fassbender is great, and there are some other good performances—Noomi Rapace is totally jacked—but it could never deliver the goods on the story.
I just don't understand why/how they fucked it up so badly.
Updated: Charles Pierce
 |
| Michael Fassbender, Prometheus |
Michael Fassbender is great, and there are some other good performances—Noomi Rapace is totally jacked—but it could never deliver the goods on the story.
I just don't understand why/how they fucked it up so badly.
Updated: Charles Pierce
If you combine warmed-over Kubrick with projectile vomiting, really bad archaeology, and Charlize Theron dressed up like she works at Jiffy Lube, you get Prometheus. And you probably deserve it.
That is all.
Friday, June 08, 2012
NRCC (fail)
The NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) hatched a plan to let the American people express their deep seated hatred for Obamacare with an online petition. Then they videotaped the petition signatures printing so Mr. Turd Sniffer and Mrs. Weed Hitler could see their names webcast in opposition to the Kenyan Usurper.
Good plan.
This is why the Republicans scare me so much—they are a bunch of venal ratfuckers who also operate on the emotional level of 12 year olds.. They will eventually kill us all—but only as an unintended consequence of some other fucked up plan to kill us—a ricochet.
images from here
h/t Dangerous Minds
Good plan.
This is why the Republicans scare me so much—they are a bunch of venal ratfuckers who also operate on the emotional level of 12 year olds.. They will eventually kill us all—but only as an unintended consequence of some other fucked up plan to kill us—a ricochet.
images from here
h/t Dangerous Minds
Thursday, June 07, 2012
The Verdict Is In...
This "is one of the most perfect things" in the world. Prepare yourself.
h/t Dangerous Minds
Political Offices In America Will Become Like Endowed Chairs At Universities
 |
| Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to run their midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin |
from here
As most solid analysis points out, Wisconsin is only one election, out of hundreds, where billionaires can now buy a political office because of Citizens United.
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
No Wisconsin! (updated)
I don't like the money edge for Walker, and I'm really disturbed by the media's framing—making it a bell-weather for the fall election so they don't have to address union busting, Koch brothers, and the decline of the middle class.
Keep your fingers crossed, knock on wood, and if you are in Wisconsin, VOTE!
Updated:
fuck
Monday, June 04, 2012
E. J. Dionne Goes Too Far
Forgive me for noting that conservatives seem to believe that the rich will work harder if we give them more, and the poor will work harder if we give them less.
from hereh/t Balloon Juice
Elite metrics, they're the best.
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Friday, June 01, 2012
Shrink The State/Starve Granny
BZRAAAP!...URRK!*
The answer is that an economy is not like an indebted family. Our debt is mostly money we owe to each other; even more important, our income mostly comes from selling things to each other. Your spending is my income, and my spending is your income.
So what happens if everyone simultaneously slashes spending in an attempt to pay down debt? The answer is that everyone’s income falls — my income falls because you’re spending less, and your income falls because I’m spending less. And, as our incomes plunge, our debt problem gets worse, not better.
from hereDo any of the fine citizens of this country—all the butt-hurt, Obama deranged ones (aka Republicans)—recall how their beloved George W. Bush asked them to patriotically tighten their belts following 911?
Hmm, I don't either.
BZRAAAP!...URRK*
Krugman talks as well as he writes.
Nothing To See Here
...this campaign, at this time of economic stress, the fact that Romney is extremely wealthy—and from a form of capitalism that is under extreme scrutiny—is a very relevant story. More relevant than usual, I'd say.
The Republicans are playing the refs and they are good at it. (And Politico sure seems to love a polarizing media story, all the more if it implicates its rivals.) But this is one time when a close look at a candidate's wealthy lifestyle and how he acquired it is important. We're in a new gilded age suffering from the aftermath of a Wall Street meltdown perpetrated by wealthy gamblers and vulture capitalists like Mitt Romney. It would be journalistic malpractice not to examine that. If the GOP doesn't want the American people to know that they are in the grips of the wealthy financial elite, perhaps they shouldn't have nominated one of their poster boys as their candidate.
from hereAccording to the sniveling shits at Politico, it's unfair to the wealthy to talk about their wealth. Good to know.
The Diamond Jubilee Soundtrack
To not post this for jubilee weekend would be a disservice to my lost youth, the Queen, and England's future killing embrace of economic austerity.
In contrast to the celebrations, punk band the Sex Pistols sailed down the Thames on Jubilee Day playing their controversial version of "God save the Queen".
Radio stations were banned from playing the single but it still managed to reach number two in the charts.
The group were arrested as they left the boat but had achieved their aim of distracting people from the main celebrations.
from hereMake it loud.
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