July 2008
60 posts
According to Caleb’s scale, I now weigh 150 pounds which would put me in the “normal” BMI category for the first time in a long time. However, apparently my weight gain is still imperceptible to the eye, as Matt, Kate, and Caleb have noticed no visible change.
drawn and quarterly - RED COLORED ELEGY reviewed... →
I found this at times to be the most depressing comic I’ve ever read, in the fragility of its two leads as they hope for better circumstances while being buffeted by lesser ones. It’s also elegantly drawn and designed, with a lot of attention paid to figure work in terms of how the two relate to one another. Some of it, such as a trip to the beach where the pair never quite get on the...
The scene that gives The Wackness its title is pretty nice. Stephanie and Luke are chilling at the beach at night, but Luke is sitting on the sidelines watching Stephanie frolick carefree in the ocean. He’s got his brow furrowed, thinking deeply about something. Ya know, he’s a drug dealer. Stephanie says something like, “You know what your problem is Shapiro?” And...
“looking good and dressing well is a necessity. having a purpose in life is not.”
– oscar wilde (via sarazucker)
Kevin told me that I’m not deep. Well, he said that I get deep with respect to problems, but not deep generally. I said, what is there besides problems?
It’s sad that, assuming I do get deep about problems, that I haven’t solved some simple ones. That...
True story: This just happened
Two door to door Mormons dressed in white button up shirts, ties: Have you found jesus?
AntiKris: No, and I dont have time to be looking for him
Mormons: But....
AntiKris: (interrupting them) Shhh
I've seen a good number of Mormon missionaries around Detroit, and none of them have been black. I've seen a good number of national Obama volunteers around Detroit, and none of them have been black. I've seen a good number of people around Detroit, and most of them have been black.
Text Message Conversation about Pull Ups after I...
me: Technique is also a big part of pullups
Deepal: I've got excellent form
me: all maggie gyllenhall did was smirk and try to be quirky the whole movie
and she sux'd at it
mihir: haha sorry dude
also christian bale's voice
as batman
was even more exaggerated
than the first movie
i was really confused when he started speaking
i said "why so gruff batman?"
me: i didn't understand the first fight sequence at all
the first batman sequence
with the fake batman
i was like, what?
mihir: i didn't either
i think it was just there
to prove his bizzare vulnerability
to dogs
The Dark Knight - Movie - Review - The New York... →
In its grim intensity, “The Dark Knight” can feel closer to David Fincher’s “Zodiac” than Tim Burton’s playfully gothic “Batman,” which means it’s also closer to Bob Kane’s original comic and Frank Miller’s 1986 reinterpretation. That makes it heavy, at times almost pop-Wagnerian, but Mr. Ledger’s performance and the film’s visual beauty are transporting. (In Imax, it’s even more operatic.) No...
How is it that The Dark Knight is rated only PG-13? It was pretty disturbing as far as Hollywood summer flicks go.
I noticed that Kevin got particularly defensive when I confronted him regarding white people’s racist enjoyment of Negra Modelo. He, of course, couched his response in neutral terms when in fact I know that Kevin is himself a racist white appreciator of Negra Modelo. That explains a lot.
Watchbooger from Nance
I ate a burger at Butcher’s Inn in Eastern Market. It wasn’t very good. On a more positive note, I’m starting to appreciate the Coney. I went to American Coney Island the other day. The next day, I craved some more.
Lives and Letters: The Lion and the Mouse:... →
“It is unnerving to be told you’re bad for children,” E. B. White admitted, “but I detected in Miss Moore’s letter an assumption that there are rules governing the writing of juvenile literature—rules as inflexible as the rules for lawn tennis. And this I was not sure of.” He shrugged it off: “Children can sail easily over the fence that separates reality from make-believe. They go over it like...
My Winnipeg - Movie Review (Metro Times Detroit) →
A complete hack review, though I still can’t put my finger on why. Hack reviews at their worst probably tout movies as good to help sell the movie, but I can’t make many excuses for a film review that merely exists to fill space on advertising pages. This review has trappings of a legitimate film review, a thought which some might take as a complement, but those devoted readers of...
mihir: i'm just wondering what's going on with you recently
with girlz
have we switched roles?
did the summer of fun break you and embolden me?
"This game... is over."
KU-UNC call Packer’s last straw?Packer, once a relatively non-descript player, made his bones as a college basketball analyst at NBC and CBS because he was smart, quick-witted and informative. As the years passed, however, he grew overbearing, arrogant, condescending, dismissive and petulant. One theory being advanced Monday was that Packer finally went too far during this year’s...
2+2=5?
sequentialist:
There seems to be some great prima facie incongruity between the justifications for the recent “to-big-to-fail” bailouts and those reasons that motivated the now three-year-old (and sardonically named?) Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. I don’t know enough to speak on the matter with any certainty, but maybe there is someone else who can.
Perhaps,...
So here's what happened
deepalc:
We run over a skunk going about 30mph in Vancouver while we’re on vacation. The car smells disgusting and, suspiciously, continues to smell disgusting well past it should have, but gradually it seems to start going away. My sister starts talking all this crazy talk about how she feels like the skunk is still under our car. We drive some 5 - 10 miles more before turning into the...
The American Spectator →
Gibney, who won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, his anti-war film about the death of a Guantanamo Bay detainee, seems determined to force the square peg of Thompson idiosyncrasies into the round hole of contemporary liberal passions. It’s an awkward fit.
Very accurate. There’s been a quote circulating around on Tumblr from the film’s director that helps explain this...
How To Lose Political Allies And Alienate People
johncarney:
Republican politicians have been greatly aided for decades by the condescending and sometimes hateful attitude of liberal Democratis to the concerns of certain segments of the population of these United States. Even Democratic attempts to demonize the Republican strategy of not hating, for instance, Southern whites demonstrate a very strange theory of electoral politiics.
Take this...
My Winnipeg :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews →
I try to evoke, but I have failed! Failed! Disaster! I have tried to evoke the opiations of Guy Maddin, only to discover that Mother in the film is played by Ann Savage, star of “Detour.” Yes! A film in the Great Movies Collection of my Web site! Detour! Rocky road ahead! Savage! Maddin’s father lies in state under a rug in the living room! Dead — not forgotten. Savage...
Talked with Kevin for awhile last night. I’m pretty sure his next band will attain some kind of fame.
I noticed that if I want to find out what a girl looks like on the facebook, I’ll click photos “added by others” first.
Sala Thai - Eastern Market - Detroit, MI 48207 →
Sigh. I have no idea why I bothered. I should know better, really. I am a genuine Thai food snob. My ex was Thai and he taught me the importance of fresh ingredients in Thai cooking. Detroit just doesn’t have a large enough Thai population for acceptable Thai food (luckily, this is the only deficiency I have discovered thus far… I think I can live with it).
Not authentic. […]
Fast Food
elsalvadorexperience:
The day I arrived in El Salvador I noticed a ridiculous amount of fast food restaurants. Having visited several times in the past, I can remember when there was only one McDonald´s in San Salvador and I remember what a big deal it was when the first Pizza Hut was opened. Nowadays it´s uncommon to see a street corner without a fast food restaurant. In fact, pizza, hamburger...
Talking At People
deepalc:
A lot of times I have conversations with people where we’re not so much conversing as we are talking at each other. It often goes like this. John thinks X, but that everyone else has it wrong and thinks Y. Bob says Z, which sounds like Y, and John excitedly jumps on the opportunity to explain to Bob his common misconception. Now, Bob really just wanted to talk about how funny Knocked...
I took a picture with the Stanley Cup today. But I forgot to touch it. Honestly, I was too scared.
Exclusive: Read Jack White's poem for Detroit |... →
Citing the inspirational Detroit forces that have fueled creators from Albert Kahn to Iggy Pop, he sets the scene: “The following poem is the Detroit from my mind. The Detroit that is in my heart. The home that encapsulates and envelops those who are truly blessed with the experience of living within its boundaries.”
‘Courageous Dream’s Concern,’ by Jack White
I...
“Do you still pray about me in your quiet time?”
– Why?
Does anyone think it’s weird how the robots in Wall-E were gendered? I just looked back on an old post where I refer to Wall-E as “he” and Eva as “she”. The funny thing is, though Wall-E is clearly gendered male and Eva female, she is far more dominant not only emotionally but also physically. If not for her girly voice and name, I would guess that she was supposed to...
Bronc-Combo: Music and More →
Kevin’s site is now a smalter tribute blog. As it should be.
Rethinking Getting the Vote Out
I doubt this is an original idea but: trying to get the vote out based on the notion that your vote actually counts has failed. Can we agree on that? The reason is that it’s largely false. Your vote most likely does not count. To illustrate: do most fans who attend a football game individually think that their cheering impacts the game? Most people don’t go to a game because they think...
While I'm on the topic of Pity Parties...
lovepuppy:
I would like for some man, that I like back in an equal way, to not be intimidated by me, not think I am weird, not think I am too intense… just not be scared off. I am just so tired of being “too much”. I also refuse to be less than I am to make people like me. This all flips back to my aforementioned jealousy (of normal people) and loneliness (because I cannot connect with other...
Wall-E Catcall
davidcho:
ksklut:
While I was walking to work today I swear a construction worker whispered “Eveeaa” in my ear. While normally I am repulsed by such actions, this morning I almost turned around and responded “Walll-eee.” Maybe I should go back….
Two things:
1) Kudos to this construction worker, he obviously gets his demo.
2) Did anyone else think Eve(-a) was kind of a bitch? I mean, Wall-E is...
I’m bracing myself today for news from Deepal on his future. I imagine a press release will grace his website soon.
Chestnut retains Hot Dog eating title - More... →
…
“He wanted it, but I needed it,” Chestnut said of his diminutive Japanese rival.
…
“He should’ve won it, it was his to win,” said judge Gersh Kuntzman said of the diminutive 30-year-old of Nagano, Japan.
…
In a short space, the article twice describes Kobayashi as “diminutive”, an adjective that’s not particularly accurate...
The Golden Band | Pitchfork →
It was late at night, as things usually are. I was driving across Nebraska. There was a thunderstorm in the distance, directly in front of me. The land was dark and empty, but the sky was full of pink and orange flashes. I was listening to the radio, but not so much as I was listening to the violent bursts of static that accompanied the lightning. Perhaps Nebraska is used to such sights, but I...