this is worth watching. i promise.



it seems a little too much like someone looking for acceptance... how come it's ok to be gay, but not to fuck dead people? it's just NOT FAIR

Obama Admin

on my bad days, when i'm all pessimistic, this is how i feel about the obama administration:

Since arriving at Harvard in June last year, he has been consultant to several members of Barack Obama’s administration, including Hillary Clinton, and is a member of Richard Holbrooke’s special committee for Afghanistan and Pakistan policy. “I do a lot of work with policymakers, but how much effect am I having?” he asks, pronging a mussel out of its shell.

“It’s like they’re coming in and saying to you, ‘I’m going to drive my car off a cliff. Should I or should I not wear a seatbelt?’ And you say, ‘I don’t think you should drive your car off the cliff.’ And they say, ‘No, no, that bit’s already been decided – the question is whether to wear a seatbelt.’ And you say, ‘Well, you might as well wear a seatbelt.’ And then they say, ‘We’ve consulted with policy expert Rory Stewart and he says ...’”

that's rory stewart, a guy that walked across iran and afghanistan after september 11. which is a rather absurd thing to do, but obviously it looks good on your middle east expert resume. and obama loves to surround himself with experts - good, actual experts, people with the right opinions - say he heard all sides and decided to take the stupid, wrong, bushian course of action.

and i am feeling pessimistic today.

productive

i will do work tomorrow. it makes sense.. i'm not going to get a job today, and no application i send in will get a call back tomorrow. so why not play final fantasy?

this is the same thing i said yesterday. and the day before.

why.
why why why
why am i like this
it's like someone from is pulling the strings
refusing to pull the strings
i WANT to do work
but i seem unable to
i am immobile
paralyzed
someone cast a spell on me
i am a defeated man
i am acting like one
against my own best interests
the story of my fucking life

scotch_mist

i been thinking about about when unpopular bands become popular, and then all the previous fans of the band start hating on them. they say it's because the music "isn't as good", but really it's all about them becoming popular. the music isn't as good because there's more ears listening to it. it's like dsl, the more people in the neighborhood with it, the slower the speed. like when modest mouse came out with float on and "the hardcore" pretended it wasn't awesome. whatevah.

anyway, i'm thinking about this because i kinda feel this way about radiohead's in rainbows. it's a great album, no doubt. but i feel like the scotch_mist performance is so much better. It is just fucking genius. but no one seems to know about it. i feel like i should spread the word so i don't feel so possessive about it



and mp3 here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PFITNB5P

cover letter

why are you necessary? you are the bane of my current existence. torn between being myself and presenting myself in a more professional way. form letters, fill in the blanks. maybe that's the problem? should i loosen up? is anyone even reading these things? how hard is it to send an e-mail saying you don't want me. you found someone else. i'm not qualified. i just want some feedback, any

job searching is truly one of the most depressing endeavors a person can pursue.

13 days till i'm unemployed in nyc. frustration, excitement

Royksopp - I miss it so much Ft. Kylie Li

Pretty song

Jealousy

Washington Post "reporter" Dana Milbank is like soooo super jealous that some "blogger" can do his job better than him. waaaaah waaaaah presi Obama didn't call on me big time reporter waaaaah.

Iran

things are finally happening in iran. i've studied iran closely and it always seemed to me to be the most "advanced" shall we say in terms of democratic issues, human rights, etc. the younger generations have high levels of education, iran has historically had strong cultural ties to the west, people there are hungry for change, for a voice, for democracy. the 1979 revolution was a response to this, but it was hijacked by the more conservative elements. but people have become more and more educated since then, technology has had a big impact there, and this was only a matter of time. bush's policies reversed progress in iran, aiding the hardliners. now there is an opportunity. we are seeing the strength of the reformist and feminist movements in iran. and they have learned the historical lessons of non-violence and that is why they will win - because non-violence, when committed to it, is so much more powerful than war. ask ghandi and ask mlk. the moral ark of the universe bends towards justice, and iran is a lot closer to that because of the events of the past few weeks than it ever has been before.

just because it might not happen today or tomorrow doesn't mean that we or anybody should go in and start bombing the very people they would claim to be fighting for. let history run its course, this is up to them to fight. fucking republicans are pure scum to suggest that bombing would help the oppressed in iran, when those bombs would be raining down on these same people, their houses and schools and roads. that would only serve to give the hardliners justification to continue in power and their aggressive stance towards the rest of the world, to say look, the americans are bombing us because they hate us and only we can oppose them. this is what bush's idiocy brought to iran - his hateful words made the hardliner's equally hateful rhetoric sound comforting, justified their ways and helped them solidify power and mute a reformist movement that had previously elected a president for consecutive terms. this is how dictators stay in power - thru conflict. look at our own experience the past 8 years with bush and cheney and their reign of fear. it is no different than what is going on here, only our system was stronger and they were unable to destroy it. but they were just as evil as ahmenijadad and khomeini are, and if they had the basjil and revolutionary guard to work with they wouldn't have hesitated.

if you want to follow the news, follow the links below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/25/iran-uprising-live-bloggi_n_220598.html
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/

hot chip; ready for the floor

fun song, fun video.

Sim City Republicans

I used to play Sim City all the time growing up. I really just played the game to destroy what I created. It was amusing, what can I say. Here was my formula:

- low low taxes to keep the population happy and everything "normal", bwahaha
- high spending to build things up and keep people happy
- total lack of knowledge and understanding of what I was doing

And then at the end, willful destruction.

Does this sound like a familiar governing philosophy to anybody?

Proposal

If Mr. Rush Limbaugh doesn't want to pay taxes, why should he have to? This is America, after all... even taxes should be voluntary, otherwise its just Stalinism.

Of course, those that don't pay taxes should also not be able to use what taxes pay for. No more walking on the sidewalk. No more driving on the road. No more parking the private jet at the local airport. No more voting rights. Sounds fair to me.

Can't stand people like these

NYTimes article on the usage of me vs I

Seriously, I just can’t stand people who obsess over language rules. Imaginary language rules. If so many people use I instead of me even though we are taught otherwise, then there’s something wrong with the rule. Maybe it’s perfectly ok to use both. Have none of these people taken linguistics 101? I mean, look at the length of this article.. two people worked on it! And their whole argument seems to be that some people long ago got together and decided that you shouldn't use "I" like that, that you should use "me" instead and that's that and so it is. Forever and ever. It must never change!

volcano monitoring

what is that? what is the purpose of volcano monitoring? the governor of louisiana knows best.

Since I last spoke here

Hillary was finally defeated, capitalism collapsed, and Obama became President...

and Republicans are still trying to fuck up the country and Democrats are still letting them. Some things never change.

music

animal collective; my girls

oh hillary

if hillary clinton somehow ends up winning this nomination, she will have done it running on a republican platform.

democratic politicians, still lacking any sort of courage, are just gonna let it happen.

four great songs, some new some old

portishead; machine gun



los campesinos!; you! me! dancing!



theo nguyen; bag of hammers



mogwai; stanley kubrick

Impeach Bush

Fucking George W. Bush. This man haunts me, my dreams, and my thoughts. In some ways, everything that goes wrong in this country, in this world, and definitely in my life can be directly attributed to him. Kinda like how all Jewish people can trace themselves back to Abraham.

More proof Bush has lost it

"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed." "It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.

That sounds like someone who has completely, absolutely lost it in the head. He is not fit to do his job, period. These words are little different from those uttered by history's other unfortunate leaders when they're facing their end. His refusal and inability to see things as they truly are and to adapt to that reality has been more disastrous than anything else, including the original decision to start the war. Impeachment absolutely should be on the table because he still has 10 months left in office, and with the deepening economic and foreign policy crises we should not take the risk. At best, Bush can do nothing right now; at worst, he could do something, but with his record of incompetence, we should not ask that of him. But the truth is we can't afford to have such a weak, innefective, mentaly unfit President for another ten months. Keeping him from doing any more damage is not the only option we have and it is not a wise one when we desperately need to start fixing things; we should drag him out! 10 more months is 8 years too many for this man

Here is the WebMD entry for delusional disorder:

Delusional disorder, previously called paranoid disorder, is a type of serious mental illness called a "psychosis" in which a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined. The main feature of this disorder is the presence of delusions, which are unshakable beliefs in something untrue. People with delusional disorder experience non-bizarre delusions, which involve situations that could occur in real life, such as being followed, poisoned, deceived, conspired against, or loved from a distance. These delusions usually involve the misinterpretation of perceptions or experiences. In reality, however, the
situations are either not true at all or highly exaggerated.

Sounds like Bush to me! Either he has a serious mental illness and is not fit for the job, or he's a chronic liar. Impeachable offense, as well! For all he has done, the first step towards healing this country and its relationship with the world should be to impeach him and make it clear that Bush did not represent American's interests but his own.

Obama says we can't wait 4 or 8 more years for change.. but the reality is that we can't wait for 2009, either.

Netflix

Yojimbo

I've been in a real movie mood ever since i signed back up for netflix, and somehow I've ended up going through Akira Kurosawa's catalog. First up was Throne of Blood, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, which is a million times more enjoyable than Macbeth. My main problem with Shakespeare has always been the setting; I could care less about England or Scotland, and I find the stories and history of its monarchy to be absolutely deathly boring. I've never seen a people so obsessed with themselves and their status in the world; it is obnoxious, and it's always been a struggle for me reading Shakespeare, especially considering his God status amongst people who study literature. Akira Kurosawa takes Shakespeare's stories, strips them of the glorious monarchy bullshit, transplants them into feudal Japan (yet another over-compensating tiny island) and makes the stories infinitely cooler than the original. Maybe it's all the years of Japanese anime and videogames, but these films are just really fucking cool. The acting is incredible, the direction is impeccable, the music is so good and so different.

Yojimbo is an even better film. Like Throne of Blood, it has top-notch acting and an amazing soundtrack, and although it was not adapted from a Shakespeare story, it is obviously influenced by American Westerns. What really makes Kurosawa's films is his vision and direction. It is really easy to say "well, let me take this story and place it in this setting" and run with that idea and make a shitty movie. But Kurosawa takes the time to develop these ideas, he makes these stories Japanese, he makes them his, and that is why they succeed. He abandons everything from the original idea except for its very basic plot, or its very basic premise, and builds around it. He takes the time to set every scene, and every shot looks perfect. There is an eeries and mysterious atmosphere as well, and some downright freaky scenes and situations, which no doubt explains why I like these movies so much. Yojimbo is downright hilarious too, in-between its tense moments.

Essential viewing, in my opinion.

Clinton

No thanks

I don't think I'm opened to the possibility of voting for Hillary in November anymore. I think she ultimately would be an alright president, but her campaign has been disastrous. Personality-wise, there doesn't seem to be much difference between Hillary and George W. Bush. They are both arrogant, self-serving pricks, to put it nicely. They care about themselves and their friends and about them being right - no matter how wrong they might be. It is dirty politics, and I believe that decades of dirty politics by both parties is the real reason this country is in as bad shape as it is. There should be no place for this kind of politics anymore after the Bush Years. That Hillary is a liberal makes no difference if her leadership style is going to be the same as Bush's - blind loyalty, destruction of enemies and differing ideas, saying anything that needs to be said for personal gain today and no regard whatsoever for tomorrow. That style of leadership does not work, and we will end up with the same results.

She has run a campaign of division, and it gets worse every week. There is no logic or reason to her campaign, just rabid attacks. It is, in fact, a mirror image of the Bush Administration and his electoral campaigns. The lies get bigger and bigger and they cannot and will not shake them. It's gotten to the point where they've implied that Sinbad is more qualified than Obama!

She just might win this nomination - but at what cost? How does she pretend to win in November when she continues these personal attacks against the black electorate and sucks all the ideology and optimism out of the youth by affirming what we've known all along - that politics is hopeless.

It's simple - she won't.