premier essai

hipster logic problems

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:52:32 -0500

hipster logic problems:

you can always count on mcsweeny’s

When I hear my favorite TV show come on in the next room

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:21:42 -0500

whatshouldwecallme:

COMMUNITY IS BACK TONIGHT!!!

i <3 maddie the coonhound

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:57:43 -0600

i <3 maddie the coonhound

"When I asked how he wanted to be described, his eyes teared up and he said “I am human, like..."

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:55:00 -0600

“

When I asked how he wanted to be described, his eyes teared up and he said “I am human, like everyone else.”

[…]

Sometimes it requires smoking a cigarette with a sobbing incoherent drunk to truly remind you what loneliness and addiction can do.

”

- these are incredible, powerful, heartbreaking photos.

BUY ALL OF THE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:10:00 -0600

BUY ALL OF THE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES:

“if a child identifies as a girl and the child’s family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout”

sustainable-sam: mothernaturenetwork: Todmorden: A town where...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:49:35 -0600

sustainable-sam:

mothernaturenetwork:

Todmorden: A town where greenthumbs, not sticky fingers, prevail
The Daily Mail pays a visit to Todmorden, a quaint British town that’s littered with raised vegetable and herb gardens where residents can grow — and take — whatever they fancy.

The ethnically and economically diverse mill town of about 15,000 residents is home to Incredible Edible, an ambitious, agrarian-minded scheme that’s brought together an entire community under one common goal: to become completely self-sufficient in food by the year 2018.

Wonderful.

that is amazing.

oooh yeah cookie time

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:30:57 -0600

oooh yeah cookie time

adelicatething: perfect poster

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:29:56 -0600

adelicatething:

perfect poster

theweekmagazine: “Too averse to riskTo chance the lottery,...

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:27:58 -0600

theweekmagazine:

“Too averse to risk
To chance the lottery, yet
Steps into traffic.”

“A sudden car door
Cyclist’s story rewritten
Fractured narrative.”

New York City is using poetry to urge motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians to think about safety. City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan unveiled the new Curbside Haiku campaign this week, saying the city is “putting poetry into motion with public art to make New York City’s streets even safer.”

this is awesome. but also kinda weird.

remember my other blog?? no? well, now you do! check it out, i...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:37:42 -0600

remember my other blog?? no? well, now you do! check it out, i wrote about cupcakes…mmmmm…

just when i thought i was ‘over’ glee…

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:41:34 -0600

just when i thought i was ‘over’ glee…

sweatydeath: kateoplis: Today at Occupy Portland: Protester...

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:34:13 -0600

sweatydeath:

kateoplis:

Today at Occupy Portland: Protester hit with pepper spray at point blank range.

How can anyone justify this? Or this?

unbelievable. and completely unacceptable. i think my plans for this weekend may have just changed…

newyorker: “Community” Had Low Ratings: So What? Like a lot of...

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:50:58 -0600

newyorker:

“Community” Had Low Ratings: So What?

Like a lot of ambitious TV, it has been a magnet for a small, oddball cadre of viewers, the ones who analyze comic beats in the manner of Talmudic scholars, wear T-shirts with slogans that only the elect will understand, and criticize tiny flaws in a thread that goes a thousand comments deep. The show succeeded. It found us. There just weren’t a lot of us.

- Our new TV critic, Emily Nussbaum, on NBC pulling “Community”

yet another smart, funny show i love getting the axe after two or three seasons, while lame, mindless reality shows like biggest loser and survivor go on for 12+ seasons.

arrested development, party down, community…what’s next?

hot cider & fall foliage in prospect park

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:48:15 -0600

hot cider & fall foliage in prospect park

bikes by billy, together at last

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:46:52 -0600

bikes by billy, together at last

can’t make it to the party? click here!...

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:59:54 -0500

can’t make it to the party? click here! www.AmitGuptaNeedsYou.com

flavorpill: Interactive Artworks That Bring Out the Kid in...

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:34:40 -0500

flavorpill:

Interactive Artworks That Bring Out the Kid in Us

I WANT TO DO THIS

reed hastings just doesn't get it

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:35:23 -0500

take, for example, this misinterpretation of why everyone hated the idea of qwikster:

Last month, when announcing Qwikster, you apologized for the way Netflix handled its price hikes, writing, “In hindsight I slid into arrogance based upon past success.” But wasn’t introducing Qwikster the way you did the most arrogant move of all?
No, I think it was just a mistake in underestimating the depth of emotional attachment to Netflix.

no, reed, no no no. it’s that it would have been SUPER INCONVENIENT to use two websites that serve nearly the same function but are completely disconnected. inconvenience is what you underestimated, not “attachment.” (of course, isn’t it extremely arrogant to assume we’re “emotionally attached” to a brand you created?)

so what about all of the kids, families, and people-not-as-cultured-as-you who watch movies on netflix? hmm? what will they do when you loose, for example, your disney contract?

But can you name just one that will cushion the blow of losing Buzz Lightyear?
I watch mostly independent films. I’m not in that particular demo. I’ll send you a list.

i.e. “i don’t give a shit.” i.e. “i don’t understand that my company is successful because it appeals to a broad audience, not just people who watch ‘independent’ films.” i mean, seriously? how have you achieved this level of success without understanding your own customers?

Naomi Wolf: how I was arrested at Occupy Wall Street

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:01:16 -0500

Naomi Wolf: how I was arrested at Occupy Wall Street:

kateoplis:

“Last night I was arrested in my home town, outside an event to which I had been invited, for standing lawfully on the sidewalk in an evening gown.

Let me explain; my partner and I were attending an event for the Huffington Post, for which I often write: Game Changers 2011, in a venue space on Hudson Street. As we entered the space, we saw that about 200 Occupy Wall Street protesters were peacefully assembled and were chanting. They wanted to address Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was going to be arriving at the event. They were using a technique that has become known as “the human mic” – by which the crowd laboriously repeats every word the speaker says – since they had been told that using real megaphones was illegal.

In my book Give Me Liberty, a blueprint for how to open up a closing civil society, I have a chapter on permits – which is a crucial subject to understand for anyone involved in protest in the US. In 70s America, protest used to be very effective, but in subsequent decades municipalities have sneakily created a web of “overpermiticisation” – requirements that were designed to stifle freedom of assembly and the right to petition government for redress of grievances, both of which are part of our first amendment. One of these made-up permit requirements, which are not transparent or accountable, is the megaphone restriction.

So I informed the group on Hudson Street that they had a first amendment right to use a megaphone and that the National Lawyers’ Guild should appeal the issue if they got arrested. And I repeated the words of the first amendment, which the crowd repeated.

[…] On our exit, I saw that the protesters had been cordoned off by a now-massive phalanx of NYPD cops and pinned against the far side of the street – far away from the event they sought to address.

I went up and asked them why. They replied that they had been informed that the Huffington Post event had a permit that forbade them to use the sidewalk. I knew from my investigative reporting on NYC permits that this was impossible: a private entity cannot lease the public sidewalks; even film crews must allow pedestrian traffic. I asked the police for clarification – no response.

I went over to the sidewalk at issue and identified myself as a NYC citizen and a reporter, and asked to see the permit in question or to locate the source on the police or event side that claimed it forbade citizen access to a public sidewalk.”

Read on.

Thirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:21:28 -0500

Thirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance :

nelvieee:

This is perfection.

Thirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance

1. If you work hard, and become successful, it does not necessarily mean you are successful because you worked hard, just as if you are tall with long hair it doesn’t mean you would be a midget if you were bald.

2. “Fortune” is a word for having a lot of money and for having a lot of luck, but that does not mean the word has two definitions.

3. Money is like a child—rarely unaccompanied. When it disappears, look to those who were supposed to be keeping an eye on it while you were at the grocery store. You might also look for someone who has a lot of extra children sitting around, with long, suspicious explanations for how they got there.

4. People who say money doesn’t matter are like people who say cake doesn’t matter—it’s probably because they’ve already had a few slices.

5. There may not be a reason to share your cake. It is, after all, yours. You probably baked it yourself, in an oven of your own construction with ingredients you harvested yourself. It may be possible to keep your entire cake while explaining to any nearby hungry people just how reasonable you are.

6. Nobody wants to fall into a safety net, because it means the structure in which they’ve been living is in a state of collapse and they have no choice but to tumble downwards. However, it beats the alternative.

7. Someone feeling wronged is like someone feeling thirsty. Don’t tell them they aren’t. Sit with them and have a drink.

8. Don’t ask yourself if something is fair. Ask someone else—a stranger in the street, for example.

9. People gathering in the streets feeling wronged tend to be loud, as it is difficult to make oneself heard on the other side of an impressive edifice.

10. It is not always the job of people shouting outside impressive buildings to solve problems. It is often the job of the people inside, who have paper, pens, desks, and an impressive view.

11. Historically, a story about people inside impressive buildings ignoring or even taunting people standing outside shouting at them turns out to be a story with an unhappy ending.

12. If you have a large crowd shouting outside your building, there might not be room for a safety net if you’re the one tumbling down when it collapses.

13. 99 percent is a very large percentage. For instance, easily 99 percent of people want a roof over their heads, food on their tables, and the occasional slice of cake for dessert. Surely an arrangement can be made with that niggling 1 percent who disagree.