tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82804682024-03-20T04:47:26.010-07:00After School SnackMmm, mmm good.Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09610392846433644034noreply@blogger.comBlogger2443125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-25646087757480640462008-01-07T11:14:00.000-08:002008-01-07T11:27:50.133-08:00So long, and thanks for all the fishHappy New Year, Snackers!<br /><br />So ... it's been a little quiet around here lately. We know. Used to be, we'd post 4-5 times a day, but over the last year or so it's been getting kind of sparse. It's not you, really. We swear. It's just ... we've changed, baby. Or rather, babies: all of us all have at least one now, and man, do they ever cut into the web-surfing, post-writing time that we enjoyed back in 2003 when we started this thing. Not to mention, we all have different jobs, and none of us are in the, shall we say, blogging-conducive work environment we shared when ASS was born. We've each been blogging in other places, too. Our focus has shifted, and the New Year seems like the right time to call it quits. This blog has had a good run - 2,524 posts, which ain’t bad - and made us some good friends both online and off. We've enjoyed the hell out of it, and our readers are dear to our hearts. We'll keep the blog up for the archives (at least for now), but if you want to read newer stuff you'll have to come and find us at our <a href="http://sanctioningagent.blogspot.com/">other</a> <a href="http://snarkysquab.blogspot.com">bloggy</a> <a href="http://www.tassava.com/blowing_and_drifting">locales</a>. Please do – we’d like to see you there, and we think you’ll find some ASS-y stuff if you make the trip. Thanks for reading and commenting.<br /><br />You can find Christopher at <a href="http://www.tassava.com/blowing_and_drifting/">Blowing and Drifting</a>.<br />You can find Matt at <a href="http://sanctioningagent.blogspot.com/">Sanctioning Agent</a>.<br />You can find Elise at <a href="http://snarkysquab.blogspot.com">The Snarky Squab</a>.<br />We don't know where you can find Alex.<br /><br />Vaya con carne!Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09610392846433644034noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-64612555928531430312007-12-17T12:09:00.000-08:002007-12-17T12:43:23.469-08:00Perfect Holiday Diversion Part I<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBdDQ3AD1qgzrn5DaBD3Cd5yLH4r9jcJ93_PTBKvBhGOi5JYhD8En9tMcqlFSwnYbhj6ldjmMCmOqtqFHxgJHvBOM8NwFxs2NgVPLUWgqCuvdvpBOG9LInjZyyN93Z-B16dLMLQQ/s1600-h/ho_hum_santa"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5145037053571657266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBdDQ3AD1qgzrn5DaBD3Cd5yLH4r9jcJ93_PTBKvBhGOi5JYhD8En9tMcqlFSwnYbhj6ldjmMCmOqtqFHxgJHvBOM8NwFxs2NgVPLUWgqCuvdvpBOG9LInjZyyN93Z-B16dLMLQQ/s320/ho_hum_santa" border="0" /></a><br /><div>So I take the kid to see Santa. I was pretty sure she wouldn't cry, but I didn't expect this look completely devoid of emotion. She get's her cynicism from her father.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>For more fun with Santa, check out the "Scared of Santa" slideshow:</div><br /><div><a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/holiday/sfl-scaredofsanta-ugc,0,7181908.ugcphotogallery">http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/holiday/sfl-scaredofsanta-ugc,0,7181908.ugcphotogallery</a></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11112435984286196080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-41851262674317944322007-12-17T12:04:00.000-08:002007-12-17T12:45:36.774-08:00Perfect Holiday Diversion Part II<a style="DISPLAY: block; FONT-SIZE: 42px; BACKGROUND: url(http://assets.justsayhi.com/badges/105/992/fight5.aq9693nlnc.jpg) no-repeat; WIDTH: 296px; COLOR: #fff; PADDING-TOP: 145px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, sans-serif; HEIGHT: 84px; TEXT-ALIGN: center; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.justsayhi.com/bb/fight5">27</a> <p><small></small></p><br /><br />As a child, my older cousins would make me fight their next door neighbors, who were twins my same age (I assume they're still twins and still my age). I think that experience paid off. What's your score?Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11112435984286196080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-47009742359952323082007-12-17T09:32:00.000-08:002007-12-17T09:33:12.006-08:00Avoid Swedish Operations<a href="http://www.thelocal.se/9388/20071212/">Woman catches fire during hemorrhoid operation.</a><br /><br />Ugh, yuck, and ouch.Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-18541021013759152002007-12-11T18:56:00.000-08:002007-12-11T19:14:09.830-08:00Xmas controversies: how do YOU top your tree?When I was little, we always had an elaborate angel topping our tree. You know: the kind with the stiffened muslin fabric skirt, the flowing plaster or resiny hair and the outstretched arms. Very biblical, very New Testament, very classical Christmas. After my parents split, my mom kept the angel and my dad switched to a traditional Austrian tree topper. We had ones made of wood and ones made of glass, but they all had that sort of pointed finial shape to them, kind of an extension of the tree top itself. Now, as the oldest child, I tend to carry on the traditions of my childhood with fierce devotion. You know, certain traditions just cannot be messed with: the tree has to be real, there cannot be tinsel, certain ornaments go in certain places, etc. But when it comes to tree-toppers, I have eschewed the angels and finials of my youth for a more gloriously over-the-top option:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eliserobinson/2101815101/" title="Star light, star bright by Elise Robinson, on Flickr"><img style="width: 312px; height: 414px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2290/2101815101_044d86e638.jpg" alt="Star light, star bright" /></a><br /></div><p>Yes, the lighted star. It even blinks, if I want it to, which I mostly don't. Why do I like the star so much? Well, for one thing: SHINY! (I'm a bit of a magpie like that.) But also, dude: when you were a kid and you drew a picture of a Christmas tree, what did you always put at the top? A star, right? WELL THERE YOU GO. Christmas is one of the few times of the year when I feel it's OK to integrate a little tacky, gilded, sentimental, crass gaudiness. Heck, I EMBRACE it this time of year. 'Tis the season, right? And the star atop my tree hits the perfect note. What about you? What's on top of your tree? (Or, if you don't have one, what WOULD you top a tree with, if you did?)</p>Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09610392846433644034noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-71077302358590935892007-12-11T10:21:00.000-08:002007-12-11T10:24:23.961-08:00Stinkiest Onion Piece Ever<a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/news/30_miserable_lives_lost_in">Horrible</a>. It would only have been horribler if they worked in a Christmas-spirit angle:<br /><blockquote>ALBANY, NY—In one of the most merciful disasters in recent years, a Greyhound bus traveling from Rochester to Albany, NY skidded into a ditch Tuesday, killing a dozen deadbeat fathers and penniless addicts, and putting nearly 20 more hapless bastards out of their misery.<br /><br />According to Greyhound officials, the fatal crash occurred less than an hour after passengers gathered their pathetic belongings and dragged what little hope they had left onto the despair-soaked bus. Emergency crews called to the scene described the remains of the victims as "slightly more lifeless than they were before the accident."<br /><p>"This is by far the saddest thing I've ever witnessed," said head rescue worker Charles Rabnett, referring to the sea of fast-food wrappers, losing lottery tickets, and scorched corpses that littered the crash site. "We've done our best to contact family members and loved ones, but so far we've only been able to reach four parole officers and 10 AA sponsors." </p> <p>Added Rabnett: "Dear God, what a terrible waste of my time."</p>...<br /><p>No survivors were reported following the accident. In addition, initial surveillance of the wreckage seems to indicate that those who managed to pull their world-weary bodies out of the overturned bus, gave up on their wretched existence within minutes. According to paramedics, it is likely that many of the casualties had suffered during the crash, and, if not then, for years earlier...</p>"It's hard to believe that something like this could even happen," said Albany resident Carl Robinson, who, since losing his home to a fire earlier this month, has been sleeping in the city's dilapidated bus station. "To know that life, no matter how dreadful or hopeless, always has a chance of coming to an end—it's so inspiring."</blockquote>Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-46334338022117344252007-12-10T13:33:00.000-08:002007-12-10T13:44:35.745-08:00GombocSunday's <span style="font-style: italic;">Time Magazine </span>had <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09selfrighting.html?ref=magazine">a short article</a> about the <a href="http://www.gomboc.eu/site.php">Gömböc</a>, an object which - without a motor, counterweight, or any other assistance - can right itself from any position. Originally nothing more than speculation by a mathematician in Russia, two Hungarian scientists subsequently devised the actual, physical object. It's not much to look at, but when you watch it tip back and forth as it rights itself, you get the sense of something magical happening. (You can see the video by going to <a href="http://www.gomboc.eu/site.php">the inventors' website</a>.)<br /><br />For just 1001 Euros ($1450 or so), I could buy my own Gömböc with my birth year for a serial number. Maybe next year, when the Chinese have knocked it off.Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-41077932268278233942007-12-10T08:14:00.001-08:002007-12-10T08:17:57.315-08:00FjuckbyReaders have surely been <a href="http://afterschoolsnack.blogspot.com/2007/03/swede-and-sour.html">waiting to hear more</a> about <a href="http://afterschoolsnack.blogspot.com/2006/12/sour-swedish-names.html">the Swedes who have to live in the town of Fjuckby</a>:<br /><blockquote>The hapless inhabitants of Fjuckby have lost the last chance they had of changing the name of their village to something less suggestive of sexual intercourse.<br /><br />On Thursday, the National Land Survey of Sweden - the government agency responsible for the handling of place names - announced that it was following the recommendation of the Institute of Language and Folklore to preserve the name Fjuckby.</blockquote>"Preserve" here meaning, "to saddle the townspeople with." More:<br /><blockquote>Fjuckby is saddled with the dual misfortune of containing both the rude Swedish word 'juck' and its more internationally recognizable English equivalent.<br /><br />Speaking to The Local in February, Flensburg said she was surprised by the folklore institute's resistance to a name change since the alternative, Fjukeby, was "pretty and nice".<br /><br />Fjuckby and Fjukeby both translate roughly as 'Windy Village'.</blockquote>Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-78254820657904456442007-12-06T10:13:00.000-08:002007-12-06T10:16:59.310-08:00Shot Through the Leg and You're to BlameDave Zirin, one of the only pinko sportswriters in the business, offers <a href="http://www.edgeofsports.com/2007-12-04-299/index.html">an interesting analysis of the media furor over the murder of football player Sean Taylor</a>:<br /><blockquote>Media illusion or not, we felt we knew Sean Taylor—and have wept for his family and their loss. There is nothing wrong with this. If anything, we’ve borne witness to people’s capacity to reach out and care.<br /><br />BUT NOT everyone felt the better angels of their nature emerge. Within hours—minutes—of Taylor’s death, a collection of sportswriters tried to turn this tragedy into to a brazenly racist “life lesson.” They speculated that Taylor effectively got what he deserved, the fruits born of a “thug life.”<br /><br />Never mind that Taylor was the son of a police chief who attended the same private schools as the Florida wing of the Bush family. The narrative of a young Black athlete dying by gunfire was too succulent to resist. The callous copy ran rampant, and this time went beyond Fox Sports Jason Whitlock’s easily dismissible, painfully predictable hot air...<br /><br />The hypocrisy is breathtaking. If Taylor was white, imagine how this story would be played out: “Hero tragically dies defending his family in home invasion.” Instead, we get yet another example of how sports has become an absolute trash receptacle of racism over the past several years: an acceptable place for troglodytic writers and announcers to yip about “hip hop culture” and “thug life,” being the rot at the heart of professional athletics.</blockquote>Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-8325956696311989952007-12-06T08:15:00.000-08:002007-12-06T08:17:14.349-08:00Bless You!<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/interactives/cold/">All about sneezing,,</a> which can expel snot and spit at up to 100 mph.Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-40022538127032105272007-12-05T09:50:00.001-08:002007-12-05T09:56:16.112-08:00Getting the SkinnyAn interesting new website, ZipSkinny, lets you get basic demographic information on any zip code and to compare up to 20 zip codes. <a href="http://zipskinny.com/index.php?zip=55057">Here's part of the data on mine</a>:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDpQxC1rV0hWislFTOLNYC96A2fSdPQjJb_aecQx5Nnl1nw4EDJ3_Vn9V9awpLlWTv6swyWcYvXnGZVfO0GEYQV-tS2oAyCzoboRu-ZfkJPmrRuieeBO6YbjlXtZUTlXRJgRI/s1600-h/ZIPskinny+demographic+information+for+55057+-+NORTHFIELD+MINNESOTA.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDpQxC1rV0hWislFTOLNYC96A2fSdPQjJb_aecQx5Nnl1nw4EDJ3_Vn9V9awpLlWTv6swyWcYvXnGZVfO0GEYQV-tS2oAyCzoboRu-ZfkJPmrRuieeBO6YbjlXtZUTlXRJgRI/s400/ZIPskinny+demographic+information+for+55057+-+NORTHFIELD+MINNESOTA.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5140548527541366082" border="0" /></a>Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-42798606376121685802007-11-28T14:28:00.000-08:002007-11-28T14:29:43.395-08:00Primary Decisions<p>Well. This may just have solidified my decision as to whom I'll vote for in the upcoming primaries. (I admit I was leaning in that direction, anyway.) Check it:<br /></p><blockquote><a href="http://johnedwards.com/news/press-releases/20071113-paid-leave/"><b>Manchester, NH</b></a> – Today, Senator John Edwards outlined his bold policies for a more family-friendly America with universal paid family and medical leave, universal pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds, more affordable care for other children and job benefits for independent workers. Among the most significant policy proposals of the Edwards plan is for at least eight weeks of paid family and medical leave that will help American workers balance their jobs and their families.</blockquote><p>If you can stand the PR-speak, check out the whole <a href="http://johnedwards.com/news/press-releases/20071113-paid-leave/">press release</a>. Universal paid leave and Pre-K + subsidized childcare = music to my ears. And should be music to everyone's ears, of course, since those little rugrats will one day be deciding how nice your nursing home care is. Among other things. I'm not super confident that Edwards will get the nod, but policies like this make it pretty easy for me to give him my vote.</p>Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09610392846433644034noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-27477755673244335712007-11-28T10:58:00.001-08:002007-11-28T11:01:58.818-08:00Wednesday Lyric Blogging - Woody Guthrie<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwb1_n4NySGDIJzaaguG50h1HSAihaFMnOTM4T_33AWFQ3LLnzOol12SoegYceXFqHnky5E1VzssJF6SY5DNaCVXmaHUjhbDjJ_AW4lqrISZnIvdhTH-BjVoT4HLNABFGFFX7t5w/s1600-h/woody.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137968224067724450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwb1_n4NySGDIJzaaguG50h1HSAihaFMnOTM4T_33AWFQ3LLnzOol12SoegYceXFqHnky5E1VzssJF6SY5DNaCVXmaHUjhbDjJ_AW4lqrISZnIvdhTH-BjVoT4HLNABFGFFX7t5w/s320/woody.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div>In a bit of a progressive nod to Christopher's post on the left lean of the academy, this edition of Wednesday Lyric Blogging is for Woodie Guthrie.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>All You Fascists</strong><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Lyrics by Woodie Guthrie<br />Performed by </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mermaid-Avenue-Billy-Bragg-Wilco/dp/B00004TBES/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1196275885&sr=8-1"><span style="font-size:85%;">Billy Bragg & Wilco</span></a><br /><br />I’m gonna tell you fascists<br />You may be surprised<br />The people in this world<br />Are getting organized<br />You’re bound to lose<br />You fascists bound to lose<br /><br />Race hatred cannot stop us<br />This one thing we know<br />Your poll tax and Jim Crow<br />And greed has got to go<br />You’re bound to lose<br />You fascists bound to lose.<br /><br />All of you fascists bound to lose</div><br /><div>I said, all of you fascists bound to lose<br />Yes sir, all of you fascists bound to lose<br />You’re bound to lose! You fascists<br />Bound to lose!<br /><br />People of every color<br />Marching side to side<br />Marching ‘cross these fields<br />Where a million fascists dies<br />You’re bound to lose<br />You fascists bound to lose!<br /><br />I’m going into this battle<br />And take my union gun<br />We’ll end this world of slavery<br />Before this battle’s won<br />You’re bound to lose<br />You fascists bound to lose! </div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11112435984286196080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-1111716230430858842007-11-26T08:53:00.000-08:002007-11-26T09:00:36.664-08:00The Liberal AcademyIf you're even tangentially part of the academy, you're probably aware of the eternal debate over whether and why American colleges and universities are so politically liberal. Myself, I think that American higher education is laudably, permanently liberal (though often in some pretty shallow ways) largely because the goals of liberalism as a political movement are so directly related to the goals of higher education - for instance, equipping people to think critically, rather than reverently, about those who hold political, social, economic, or some other kind of power, and to act to alter present arrangements of power, rather than simply maintain them.<br /><br />A <a href="http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/11/16/conservative">new study</a> proposes that one reason conservatives are underrepresented in the academy is that people who are politically conservative prefer to either get jobs right out of college (rather than pursue PhDs) or to start families (again, rather than pursue PhDs). Interesting stuff:<br /><blockquote>The study — “Left Pipeline: Why Conservatives Don’t Get Doctorates” — argues that the much debated minority status for conservatives in higher education may be the result of differing priorities of graduating college seniors of different political persuasions. The study presents evidence that conservatives are significantly more likely than liberals — at the point when college students decide whether to apply to graduate school — to value raising a family and having money. In contrast, liberals at that point in their lives are significantly more likely to value writing original works.<br /><br />The authors of the study do not dispute that conservatives are a distinct minority in academe and that the imbalance is problematic. They also hold open the possibility — much proclaimed by other authors at the conference of the American Enterprise Institute where all of the work was presented — that there may be bias against conservatives (although they question whether this has been proven). But the authors of the work on the pipeline say there is considerable evidence that could show conservative self-selection out of academic careers.</blockquote>Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-66329164967364009782007-11-21T21:16:00.000-08:002007-11-21T21:17:10.009-08:00Wednesday Lyric Blogging – Thanksgiving EditionThanksgiving Song Lyrics<br />Adam Sandler<br /><br />Turkey for me<br />Turkey for you<br />Let's eat the turkey<br />In my big brown shoe<br />Love to eat the turkey<br />At the table<br />I once saw a movie<br />With Betty Grable<br />Eat that turkey<br />All night long<br />Fifty million Elvis fans<br />Can't be wrong<br />Turkey lurkey doo and<br />Turkey lurkey dap<br />I eat that turkey<br />Then I take a nap<br /><br />Thanksgiving is a special night<br />Jimmy Walker used to say Dynomite<br />That's right<br />Turkey with gravy and cranberry<br />Can't believe the Mets traded Darryl Strawberry<br />Turkey for you and<br />Turkey for me<br />Can't believe Tyson<br />Gave that girl V.D.<br /><br />White meat, dark meat<br />You just can't lose<br />I fell off my moped<br />And I got a bruise<br />Turkey in the oven<br />And the buns in the toaster<br />I'll never take down<br />My Cheryl Tiegs poster<br />Wrap the turkey up<br />In aluminum foil<br />My brother likes to masturbate<br />With baby oil<br />Turkey and sweet potato pie<br />Sammy Davis Jr.<br />Only had one eye<br /><br />Turkey for the girls and<br />Turkey for the boys<br />My favorite kind of pants<br />Are corduroys<br />Gobble gobble goo and<br />Gobble gobble gickel<br />I wish turkey<br />Only cost a nickel<br />Oh I love turkey on Thanksgiving<br /><br />Happy Thanksgiving everybody!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11112435984286196080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-41752079671904418652007-11-20T07:32:00.001-08:002007-11-20T07:34:16.227-08:00Skyway or the HighwayI loved the skyways when I worked in downtown Minneapolis - until I had to walk through them after normal business hours. *shudder* <a href="http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2007/11/15/103/urban_designers_minneapolis_should_dump_skyways">Two well-known urban designers think they're a blight on the city</a>.<br /><blockquote>When two of the world's top urban designers drop in for a visit and come away with the impression that your city — in this case Minneapolis — is a relic of the 1970s, ill-equipped to thrive and compete in a new century, and that its only hope is to tear down its skyways, well, that gets your attention.<br /><br />"I feel sorry for Minneapolis," said Jan Gehl, the celebrated Danish architect whose work around the world has linked the rising importance of good public spaces to a city's success.<br /><br />Thirty years ago, Minneapolis was thought to be a leader among winter cities. But taking people off the streets and putting them upstairs, "under glass," hasn't worked in Minneapolis or anywhere else, Gehl said, to the point that Minneapolis is no longer "up to the beat of the world-class cities of the 21st century."<br /><br />Gil Penalosa, a noted public parks developer in both Latin America and Canada, said that the skyways lend a defensive, pessimistic air to the downtown core when, in reality, they are needed for only a few weeks of the year. "They suck the public life out of the city," he said.<br /><br />Given the fat chance that Minneapolis will remove its eight miles of skyways, both men agreed that finding a solution poses one of the toughest design challenges faced by any city in the world: creating vitality at street level when most foot traffic has been shifted to the second story.<br /><br />The biggest problem, both said, is that people in Minneapolis don't realize that great cities — even cold cities — are now defined by the vitality of their street life. "People here don't see a crisis," said Gehl. "They don't yet see themselves as behind the times."</blockquote>Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-53586178648370181692007-11-20T06:51:00.000-08:002007-11-20T06:53:20.097-08:00Finnegan's Wake, the PictureEnvisioning works of fiction as images is a challenge (unless they're graphic novels, I suppose). But <a href="http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/633-lszl-moholy-nagys-visual-representation-of-finnegans-wake">here is a fascinating attempt by Hungarian Bauhaus artist László Moholy-Nagy</a> to represent Joyce's <em>Finnegan's Wake</em>. I guess <em>Ulysses </em>was too easy.<br /><img src="http://www.37signals.com/svn/images/moholy_lg.jpg" alt="Finnegan's Wake" /><br /><br /><a href="http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1733328,00.html">The <em>Guardian </em>has much more on Moholy-Nagy</a>, a brilliant designer and artist who could also toss off some good lines: "It is not the person ignorant of writing but the one ignorant of photography who will be the illiterate of the future."Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-23115930916978564782007-11-14T23:59:00.000-08:002007-11-15T07:10:53.595-08:00Wednesday Lyric BloggingLast night I was flipping through iTunes and started listening to some of my old Cracker albums. Listening to David Lowery made me think about Camper Van Beethoveen and I thought, “I need an upbeat, absurd, fun song. From there, “Take the Skinheads Bowling” was obvious. Bonus: You Tube of the video from MTV’s <a href="http://www.altmusictv.com/120/">120 Minutes</a>.<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pnyoImKUgn0&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pnyoImKUgn0&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br />"Take the Skinheads Bowling"<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">by Camper Van Beethoveen<br />from </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Telephone Free Landslide Victory</span><br /><br /></span>Everyday I get up and pray to Jah<br />And he increases the number of clocks by exactly one<br />Everybody's coming home for lunch these days<br />Last night there were skinheads on my lawn<br /><br />Chorus: Take the skinheads bowling, take them bowling.<br />Take the skinheads bowling, take them bowling.<br /><br />Some people say that bowling alleys have big lanes (have big lanes X 2)<br />Some people say that bowling alleys all look the same (all the same X 2)<br />There's not a line that goes here that rhymes with same (anything X 2)<br />Had a dream last night but I forgot what it was about (what it was X 2)<br /><br />(chorus)<br /><br />Had a dream last night about you my friend<br />Had a dream I wanted to sleep next to plastic<br />Had a dream I wanted to lick your knees<br />Had a dream it was about nothing<br /><br />(chorus)<br />(chorus)Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11112435984286196080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-36987878890999669442007-11-14T18:39:00.000-08:002007-11-14T18:40:43.723-08:00I SwearLinguistic and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker on <a href="http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=246c0071-a9cd-46e2-a665-c6e61a45377e">why swearing matters and why we should care about it</a>. Fucking brilliant.Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-62627548793011568082007-11-08T13:49:00.001-08:002007-11-08T13:54:29.043-08:00Wednesday Lyric Blogging (Belated)<div>Well, I seem to have misplaced my mind. A weekend that involved a visit from the mother-in-law, a great wedding with a reception filled too many White Russians (while the wedding was in “nordeast” Minneapolis, I’m talking about the drink), and the end of this new daylight savings time jibber-jabber, bled into a day off of work, and another day of working from home. The net result is that it’s Thursday, not Wednesday. On top of that I can be somewhat forgetful.<br /><br />As Kyle aptly pointed out, today would be a great day for "Where is My Mind?" Hell yeah. In high school <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfer_Rosa">Surfer Rosa</a></em> was a breathe of fresh air (and a nice album cover or so I thought). So in a nod to forgetfulness and great alternative power pop, here we go.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Where is my Mind?</strong><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Performed by Pixies<br />Written by Chris Thompson/ Black Francis/Frank Black<br /></span><br />With your feet in the air and your head on the ground<br />Try this trick and spin it, yeah<br />Your head will collapse<br />But there's nothing in it<br />And you'll ask yourself<br /><br />Where is my mind?<br />Where is my mind?<br />Where is my mind?<br /><br />Way out in the water<br />See it swimmin'<br /><br />I was swimmin' in the Caribbean<br />Animals were hiding behind the rocks<br />Except the little fish<br />But they told me, he swears<br />Tryin' to talk to me, coy koi.<br /><br />Where is my mind?<br />Where is my mind?<br />Where is my mind?<br /><br /><br />Way out in the water<br />See it swimmin' ?<br /><br />With your feet in the air and your head on the ground<br />Try this trick and spin it, yeah<br />Your head will collapse<br />If there's nothing in it<br />And you'll ask yourself<br /><br />Where is my mind?<br /><br />Oh<br />With your feet in the air and your head on the ground<br />Oh<br />Try this trick and spin it, yeah<br />Oh<br />Oh</div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11112435984286196080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-87372024537515452122007-11-01T07:34:00.000-07:002007-11-01T07:40:10.327-07:00Why the Modern World SucksThings like this are invented with a straight face:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://time-blog.com/work_in_progress/Walkstation_Press_Kit_photos%20001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://time-blog.com/work_in_progress/Walkstation_Press_Kit_photos%20001.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Via <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/19/steelcases-walkstation-marries-desk-and-treadmill/">Engadget</a>.</p>Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-85885189791018020502007-10-31T05:30:00.000-07:002007-10-31T05:32:16.043-07:00Blogger in Costume<a href="http://motherverse.com/blog/2007/10/30/welcome-guest-blogger-shannon-hyland-tassava/" target="_blank">A member of my household is wearing the guest-blogger costume at a cool online mothering magazine, <i>MotherVerse</i>, right now. Go see!</a>Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-85846233306073692852007-10-30T22:30:00.000-07:002007-10-30T22:37:48.141-07:00Wednesday Lyric Blogging – Wedding Edition<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513REHJACQL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513REHJACQL._SS500_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This week’s edition of Lyric Blogging is a fun one – <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_You_to_Want_Me">“I Want You To Want Me”</a> by power popsters and my home town heroes <a href="http://cheaptrick.com/">Cheap Trick</a>. According to a Diet Coke commercial, this gem is perhaps one of the best pop songs ever recorded. EVER! And who’s going to argue with a commercial for a product that contains phenylalanine and aspertame? Not me, that’s science. For the record, so to speak, the live versions, especially Budokan, are much better than the studio version from <span style="font-style: italic;">In Color</span>. Bun E.'s drums are not well served in the studio on that album.<br /><br />This song is rumored to be on the band’s set list for the reception celebrating the wedding of Eric & Rin. Best wishes to them for a wonderful, happy, and AWESOME life together.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I Want You To Want Me</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Performed by Cheap Trick<br />Lyrics by Rick Nielsen</span><br /><br />I want you to want me.<br />I need you to need me.<br />I'd love you to love me.<br />I'm beggin' you to beg me.<br /><br />I want you to want me.<br />I need you to need me.<br />I'd love you to love me.<br />I'll shine up my old brown shoes, put on a brand-new shirt.<br />I'll get home early from work if you say that you love me.<br /><br />Didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?<br />Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?<br />Feelin' all alone without a friend, you know you feel like dyin'.<br />Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?<br /><br />I want you to want me.<br />I need you to need me.<br />I'd love you to love me.<br />I'm beggin' you to beg me.<br />I'll shine up my old brown shoes, put on a brand-new shirt.<br />I'll get home early from work if you say that you love me.<br /><br />Didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?<br />Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?<br />Feelin' all alone without a friend, you know you feel like dyin'.<br />Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?<br />Feelin' all alone without a friend, you know you feel like dyin'.<br />Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?<br /><br />I want you to want me.<br />I need you to need me.<br />I'd love you to love me.<br />I'm beggin' you to beg me.<br />I want you to want me.<br />I want you to want me.<br />I want you to want me.<br />I want you to want me.<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dnB4pyjLyeY&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dnB4pyjLyeY&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11112435984286196080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-68991587236618172662007-10-26T14:34:00.000-07:002007-10-26T14:35:32.173-07:00Star Wars Trumpet Solo -- Oh Yeah!<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wffwg7pA0t8&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wffwg7pA0t8&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11112435984286196080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280468.post-38643512260742737372007-10-24T12:47:00.000-07:002007-10-24T12:53:04.572-07:00Googled to DeathI lovingly use a half-dozen Google products every day (like the one I'm using right now), but <a href="http://adweek.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Google%3A+What+Goes+on+Behind+the+Curtain%3F&expire=&urlID=24427700&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adweek.com%2Faw%2Fiq_interactive%2Farticle_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003658396&partnerID=3620">this interview with Siva Vaidhyanathan is kind of a buzzkill</a>. Vaidhyanathan is writing an online book, <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.googlizationofeverything.com/">The Googlization of Everything</a>, to analyze the pervasiveness and power of Google, "the most interesting institution in the world right now." He claims that Google<br /><blockquote>is working its way into our consciousness and daily lives at a remarkable rate that is unmatched by any company in human history. And it is doing so in a fairly novel way through the aggregation of our choices. We are choosing to use Google every day. We are not forced or seduced into using it. It actually means Google is laying out a new model for advertising and communication. </blockquote>That's interesting, and a bit scary. Wholly scary, and just as interesting, is this:<br /><blockquote>We can't expect a company to be as transparent as the government is. That doesn't mean we shouldn't push at it to be more responsive to our concerns, especially about user confidentiality and privacy. That is the hot-button issue. Most of us are not Google's customers. We are its content. It sells our attention and our user data to its customers and they are all the businesses that advertise with Google. Google is not necessarily more secretive than Coca-Cola, but the difference is Google knows everything about us. </blockquote>*gulp*Christopher Tassavahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04547273541099162779noreply@blogger.com0