Narcoskeptic

Things I have learnt in this year

2011-03-01T15:29:00.000+11:00

Quitting smoking is really, really hard. So hard, even this guy could barely manage it, and he's killed pirates. Pirates.

If X

2010-11-19T12:52:00.000+11:00

so what It turns out that I have all these saved drafts of blag(ish) material post saved all over the place. Here's something I did a while ago, when I could write and was still funny. Amusing things about D.C: it’s a common joke about D.Cists that D.C. is an expensive city. It is; there’s even a souvenir mug that quite popular which is effectively a semi-circle attached to a handle that says

The instrumenal and the intrinsic

2010-02-18T23:17:00.000+11:00

how liberals, conservatives and torturers get it wrong I've been harping on about this difference between conceptual and empirical questions for a while now, and have recently been stumbling on a related point of analysis regarding the intrinsic and the instrumental. When posing hypotheticals, asking questions, or doing whatever philosophy in general, it's important to separate out intrinsic

Seriously

2010-02-18T20:50:00.000+11:00

I mean, seriously, come on I've just did my long-overdue laundry, and feeling all stressed out. But i'm at that stage in life where you understand that feeling stressed out and shitty is all legitimate and shit, but come on: there are people starvin', folks a sufferin' and you're concerned about 30 dollars and credit cards and the goddamn fucking laundry powder (that somebody left out in the

Moderation and placebos

2010-02-10T18:29:00.000+11:00

Bus No. 1985: You need less shit. When is a placebo a placebo, and when is it not? Pour example, placebo buttons. There's an intersection near my house: There's a pedestrian crossing button there, which sometimes 'works' and sometimes doesn't. By works, I mean that if you push it, it stops traffic and changes the little red man to a little green man when the time to cross rolls around.

Watch what you say

2010-02-08T22:42:00.003+11:00

and watch where it goes "Too many philosophers...are content to simply invent the facts when they need factual claims to buttress their philosophical arguments." (Stephen Stich, pg 178, A Very Bad Wizard) "Findings in experimental philosophy undermine a major methodology that philosophers have been using for a very long time...It's the method of supporting philosophical theories using

Doin' Philosophy

2010-01-23T03:54:00.005+11:00

And doing it rightThis is a quick and dirty shortlist/summary of various aspect of doing philosophy well as I see it, academic and/or otherwise.1) Hypotheticals: crucial, and frequently will be outlandish. Learn to love them, respect them, pay attention to them; they are important in pointing out inconsistencies, illustrating key points, stating cases effectively.2) Outcomes/Conclusions - more

The perils of doubt

2010-01-07T15:53:00.003+11:00

A primer on informed agnosticismCynicism - why the bad rap?Cynicism gets lumped with these labels of do-nothingness, laziness or with pessimism altogether. And I don't think that's fair or true. You can be a cynic, and wholeheartedly idealist; I want to try and rescue cynicism from these do-nothingness/laziness/pessimism labels that it's been attached with.Cynicism is basically a form of informed

Last year was a hard year

2009-11-30T18:21:00.004+11:00

Until it wasn'tI got namechecked in an interesting way today, one i'm not entirely positive to characterise in any given manner. I mean, it was cool, and a little bit unexpected, in the way that unexpected eavesdropping, but you know, what to say about it? It certainly was a way though. It's like, you need the grain of sand to form the pearl; or it could end up being an infectious, festering

The inherent quality analogue argument

2009-11-27T14:20:00.004+11:00

Editor's note: Hey, whaddya know, I wrote this, and it's been sitting in my drafts for 7 months ETERNITY, in internet times. Cleaned, edited, and bits added. Clearing out those cobwebs!Line of thought that comes up:The institution of slavery is such that there is no particular application or version such that any particular version or application is morally right, not inherently degrading and so

Absurd

2009-11-27T01:17:00.004+11:00

This is the story of Zeitoun.The story of Zeitoun is set in the the complete clusterfuck that was the federal emergency relief effort of Hurricane Katrina. Like all clusterfucks, there are many factors to blame: levees that were ignored and improperly maintained; grandstanding by too many political officials to even begin counting, in nearly every position in the chain of command; a complete lack

Get this, motherfuckers:

2009-11-23T23:36:00.004+11:00

we own you now, and you owe us.You know how there's that hoary old cliche of pseudo-and actual intellectuals complaining of how modern/finance/late-capitalism has resulted in certain groups of people - namely those in the finance and banking sector - have culturally and regulatorily captured governing structures, in order to maximise their profits and minimise their losses?No? Me either. Well,

Recasting copyright

2009-11-04T23:16:00.000+11:00

EDITORS NOTE: This is something I wrote on copyright 7 months ago now? I've gone through this with people, but it seems like my notes are complete than I thought. I've even left in my very rough plan, which is the big blocked off bit that has DELETE surrounding it. And this is how I procrastinate, productively...An approach concerning artistic controlRoughly: Commercial publication rights and

On CMG being the greatest music review site to date

2009-10-30T13:14:00.003+11:00

Cranky, adorable young menIf you're smart, and hip, and indie and whatever other epithets appended to the youth of to-day, you're already/should be reading Cokemachineglow. I've taken the fact of CMG being balls-out great as self-evident for a while now, but a) never really understood why they didn't have a wider readership, influence or market share, despite being so perfectly on point with

It's a pittance, to be sure

2009-10-21T22:45:00.004+11:00

But you've sold me!I wrote this watching the guilty article in question while flying from Dulles to LAX, and have only just remembered that I finished editing it, sort of. I sent to Simon, who has rightly been pestering me about it for a while now, and realised it would be great filler material for the blagoblag! Especially given in the light of the recommendations by some people *cough* *cough*

It is happening, again

2009-10-07T16:43:00.007+11:00

It is happening, againOver coffee and delicious breakfast foods consumed at Single Origin, talk happened, and I want to talk more about emergence. So here, i'll wend through some stuff about emergence and consciousness and climatology and how they relate (sort of).Simply put, emergence is how complexity could arise out of simplicity: how complex systems and patterns can arise through a series of

Apparently, I like sad religiousy music

2009-09-23T00:22:00.004+10:00

what the hell does that even meanHeard this on the end of the episodes on Season 2 Deadwood, and went out and got it through the magic of interwebs. Now can't stop listening to it. Blog deserves more attention, which I'm hoping to remedy beginning with thisMadeleine Peyroux - A Prayer

Oh he's one of those

2009-08-17T23:44:00.002+10:00

yeah he's of those alrightWhile I look over this whole healthcare business and ponder whether I want to write some kind of thing about things, I came across this guy. He's one of those sickening intelligent people who come from sickeningly intelligent families who consistently write sickeningly smart, insightful things about their areas of expertise, in his case being public health (reminds me of

Comeex

2009-08-09T13:18:00.008+10:00

how many alternate spellings are thereA quick mini-review of Understanding Comics: it's good and you should probably read it, if you're interested in these whole pictures and words business. It's pretty straightforward stuff (atleast to me, and I figure to anyone moderately intelligent and interested in the medium), and pretty well set out in terms of being a comic talking about comics. He's

This is probably not exactly what I should be doing

2009-08-09T06:30:00.001+10:00

far too seriouslyI've had barely 4 days to decompress and process an aptly self-described epic journey across the United States, and yet here I am already looking at gigs that are happening in the short-term future. So with apparently the foolish intention that I wish to supplant A Reminder, here's a quick perfunctory gigroll of interesting acts coming up:In what looks to be a great

Your country needs you!

2009-07-30T11:53:00.002+10:00

To help me decide my consumption decisionsSo, cause I have decided to buy some comics, you can help! Given that these comics will probably reach you at some point in the future, it's advisable to help. I've got a shortlist of sorts, but feel free to add anything you think might be great. Arguments for and against will also be taken into consideration. Here's my what I can think of the top of my

Visions of tunnels and scenes from caves, etc

2009-07-29T13:00:00.001+10:00

meditations, etcAs you may have already deduced, i've semi/kinda/sorta decided on not giving you a strictly chronological travelogue diary type thing, and doing the whole random thoughts on a topic thing. So basically, i'm going to keep doing exactly what i've been doing on this blog the entire time, except with more seed thoughts in the form of traveling that i'm doing. With that disclosed,

Look at this face

2009-07-29T09:12:00.003+10:00

Can you tell I am excited?Because I am. Oh so excited.Actually, enough of whatever the hell emotion that is. I am actually extremely extremely excited. Seriously!I'm going to be back home soon (next week folks! Ready the standard celebratory hookers and blow), I just received a bunch of books from Amazon which I am extremely excited to read and slaver over, L.A. looks to have to stupidly amazing

Who'da thunk it

2009-07-26T15:06:00.003+10:00

in which I give myself a lot of rope, and hope not to hangI just opened up a bottle of Harbourfest wine ("Red"), and what with its shitty cork and bland mediocrity, while actually-not-bad-an-opening-kinda-like-a-softer-version-of-a-old-school-cabernet-sauvignon which unfortunately contrasts with a finish that's mediciney and 'bleh'. Look, given that i've still got cheap liquor and various

Who would have thought it

2009-07-26T14:01:00.003+10:00

Pretty nearly everyone reallyI had an interesting and fun day today. To further explain this would require a lot of backstory and context and necessary and unnecessary justification on my part, which I'm not entirely sure i'm entirely prepared to do at this hour and place and mentality and so on. I'll dispense with the double-doubles (which is another story in itself, albeit definitely shorter

On the one hand

2009-07-24T06:26:00.004+10:00

but on the other handI'm helping! I reversed a wiki troll. I do not believe that Harvard University is infact known as:Harvard Racist Charging University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College)Or that it is widely asserted to be a:a left wing liberal nest and reverse racist - private university located in Cambridge, MassachusettsThough, perhaps out of charity, I should have

A cat curled up and a warm bed

2009-07-20T14:47:00.002+10:00

keys to happinessI've been searching for a while to say things that might be appropriate to say about New York City, but it's difficult, given the subject matter at hand, my own inadequacies as a writer, and the fact that I don't want to end up looking like a douchebag 'brilliant' thinker, albeit with an Antipodean twist. Besides, I think other, more abler authors have better captured some of the

Changed my mind

2009-07-18T11:57:00.002+10:00

That happens...or does it?I was going to write something about something most likely re: this holiday thing I am on, but i've changed my mind and do a plug for the upcoming Evolution, Emotions and Metaethics workshop, hosted by Richard Joyce (who has a very slick personal page, and is specialised in fields that I love so much that I have no idea why I haven't heard of him till now. He will now be

This would be funny

2009-07-17T17:06:00.002+10:00

Actually, this is pretty funny.So, a slightish confession. I've been getting pretty damn stoned with my cousins and assorted friends while i've been staying with my aunt in Oswego. In fact, i'm on the tail end of a buzz now, so forgive me if I uh...get, like...totally...rad.I mean, if I get a little distracted.The 'getting solidly blazed' thing (see? i'm picking up the lingo) can wait for and

This is what passes for food these days

2009-07-17T05:40:00.006+10:00

Sometime lateish at night in Washington, I wanted to get some icecream. Not really knowing where anything was, I ran into a snack truck offering icecream and other snack food products! Huzzah right? After much humming and froing between an ice-cream sandwich or a 'chocolate eclair', coinflip decides to get the 'chocolate eclair'. This is what that contained:"Cake CoatedArtificially

With malice toward none, with charity for all

2009-07-13T02:14:00.004+10:00

Lincoln's greatest speech.I'm on a bus heading up to NYC, after spending 4 great days in Washington D.C. The bus comes with free wifi, among many other conveniences, the foremost of which that it is very very cheap. But surprisingly comfortable. And you really can't beat the free wifi.Rishi the Tour Guide note: If you want travel anywhere in Northeast/Eastern Seaboard North America, your best bet

In the throes

2009-07-06T14:10:00.002+10:00

lust, deprivation and other storiesposts so good we never get to read them!-sam moginieTo snark on the snark, I think it's appropriate to further that quote by the metaphor of indie bands, given that I have just come back from Canada, home and birthplace of all indie darlings, now and forever:The best kind of indie bands are the ones you never hear; the more obscure a band, the better. I suspect

Really, it's not what you're thinking

2009-06-27T09:01:00.002+10:00

I've just been a lazy, lazy person.So by my reckoning, i've now been overseas nearly 4 weeks, and I haven't posted anything yet. This despite the fact that i've been basically completely free for the past two weeks or so after leaving NYC. There are multiple reasons to which this can be attributed:1) I am lazy, regarding editing/filling out my posts;2) Hulu is freaking amazing;3) There are have

We're just gonna have to taxi around till we find a gate

2009-06-06T04:08:00.002+10:00

God that is irritating.Hey guys! Sorry for teh lack of updation, i've had intermittent access to the interwebs while i've been here. I actually have a huge post that i've written regarding flights and L.A. and what i've done and all that crap, but have noticed that i've loaded it down with way too much minutae. I need to edit, but I can't as i'm just about to leave for Philly!A tasty tasty morsel

I've heard people like eating these days

2009-05-28T14:17:00.005+10:00

In this post in the Atlantic Business Channel, Daniel Indiviglio argues that people being underemployed is going to stunt economic growth:People have begun watering down their résumés to seem more appealing to jobs below their experience level. This is bad news for job seekers, but it's also bad news for the U.S. economy.A few responses to this: People like, you know, eating. And showering. And

Inappropriate intrusions on emotions

2009-05-28T02:05:00.000+10:00

Someone from the internets made criticised me, and you know how important it is to go after people who say things on the Interwebs. The answer: Very Important.In his opening salvo, Mr Wojit has made some claims regarding the appropriateness of emotion in moral frameworks, namely utilitarianism. I'd like to respond to some of those claims, as well as defend myself against any crude caricatures

Please stand by

2009-05-21T23:54:00.004+10:00

An operator will be with you shortlyWhile I figure what the hell I want to say in reply to Mr Wojit's post, realising in the process I have no idea what the hell I want to say, and weave and dodge between arguments that make no sense to little sense and back again; then realise that I'm agreeing with him, then resolve not to. It's all very complicated.So in temporary lieu of what is likely to be

What freaks me out thusly

2009-05-16T13:08:00.004+10:00

It's not what I know about I don't know, it's what I don't know about what I don't know.So, one of the reasons that I rarely reach zero unread articles on my Greader is that I'm subscribed to a lot of things. No, it's probably more honest and straightforward to just blame The Browser, but that doesn't really mitigate the point. Either way, I have a lot of interests. As of writing, i've got about

Star Trek

2009-05-08T15:23:00.002+10:00

Summation: not that bad. Read on!You know how critics of all shapes and sizes wear out that hoary old cliche that runs something along the line of 'an exercise in tedium, punctuated by bouts of action'? Well, Star Trek could well be described as an exercise in action, punctuated by bouts of tedium. Thankfully, J.J. Abrams did not horribly mangle a wonderfully well-loved franchise that has seen

A thing that is starting to bother me

2009-05-04T00:55:00.003+10:00

First of many?So, something i've been noticing recently is this habitual bias people tend to have against non-institutionalised activity. It seems to be that if you haven't participated in some particular institutionalised method of activity, your activities (even if they're the exact same activities, without institutional recognition) are somehow illegitimate, or non-worthwhile.This bothers me,

The Paint On The Canvas

2009-04-18T21:55:00.004+10:00

(For A***, with love)you sit in soft twilight,sheets draped over you,knees drawn up, watching the waning sun.you're beautiful when you work,a measured erotic cadence of brush and colourI could watch for hours, and I do.we make love after the warthroat and tongue lashingsof kisses nipped in buds and necks.there's paint everywhere, on the sheets, on the floor, on each otherbut that doesn't

Last Night

2009-04-17T16:21:00.004+10:00

Screeching harrieryou think you're so fab-bu-loustone down voice and hips

The long awaited

2009-03-29T21:31:00.004+11:00

waiting with bated breathSo, as many of you are probably aware, I was planning to write something on this whole global financial crisis end of the world things, but have been roundly trounced in that department by many, many other commentators. So i'm going to a linkroll of sorts, with short summaries/extracts of each so you can make up your own mind (i.e. conform to my horribly horribly biased

How to make 20 dollars

2009-03-23T20:05:00.003+11:00

don't think of being honourableFrom TED: “Behavioral economist Dan Ariely studies the bugs in our moral code: the hidden reasons we think it’s OK to cheat or steal (sometimes). Clever studies help make his point that we’re predictably irrational — and can be influenced in ways we can’t grasp.”Personal note: If I cheat, I find I generally do it on a cost/benefit analysis. There's also all sorts of

Eviscerated is about right

2009-03-13T23:34:00.005+11:00

So you all probably know about the Jon Stewart interview of Jon Cramer that's making the rounds of the interscapes. Nate's Sean's right: this really is a not-to-be-missed interview (I recommend this one, as it's complete and uncut) that's trademark Stewart (almost) a la Crossfire, with possible similar repercussions too. Find out what the others are saying as well. Below, my impressionistic notes

Next up sandcastles

2009-03-12T01:14:00.002+11:00

Ephemeral art is all around youThis is a shout out for The Wooster Collective, whom i'll probably start spamming in my Reader for the next few weeks unless/until I get over it/annoy the crap out of people i'm sharing with/make all of you subscribe. Your choice really. And don't tell me that i'm late to the game or something (because I probably am) and say you've already been subscribed to it for

The scattered schizophrenic

2009-03-09T20:13:00.003+11:00

Focus lack muchMacaroon review! This is mostly me practicing my writing chops, and more specifically my food review/tasting/writing chops. I realise that EVERY SINGLE PERSON THE WORLD OVER has food blogged at some point, but you know, practice. Also, resolving not to use the word lovely in this entire review, which is harder than it sounds given that a) i'm doing a review of macaroons, something

A counterexample, of sorts

2009-03-05T22:13:00.002+11:00

A truly great American authorIt probably is weird that a overdue library notice inspires me to write these sorts of things, but that's not truly accurate, really. It's just one of many, many neuronal firings, but it's a cute one to pin down when you want to start something that seems more than a touch craven. I'm being a publicist, even for a good cause, but it still makes you feel dirty.The

Appreciate someone else's writing for a change

2009-03-04T01:33:00.003+11:00

Look at this:Consider a case report in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery of a three-year-old girl who fell into an icy fishpond in a small Austrian town in the Alps. She was lost beneath the surface for thirty minutes before her parents found her on the pond bottom and pulled her up. Following instructions from an emergency physician on the phone, they began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A rescue

We're talking about

2009-03-01T23:09:00.001+11:00

writingI'm interested to know how people write. By that I don't mean the writing itself, not syntax, prose or locution but rather the actual physical mode they write in.Are you lying down? (perhaps you should sit, that might help) Or sitting upright? (trying lying down and relaxing) Or standing even? (too much strain) What's around you? Lots of clutter? (organise them and they'll organise you)

And as we wrap one up

2009-03-01T23:00:00.000+11:00

Another one startsFestival wrap time! I went to a grand total of fourteen sixteen events during this Festivale that is of Sydney, and am cataloging for bragging/catalogue purposes. Also, because I did it last year as well. Featuring cameos from other events that I also went that weren't Sydney Festival, but were awesome anyway!Thursday, January 15th:After an enjoyable (if tardy) birthday

So, um, like a coda I guess

2009-02-21T02:40:00.003+11:00

To those of you who aren't Brendan, this probably won't make as much sense, but sense it will make! If I can help it. I'm trying to keep this short, as I need to sleep soon and i'm tired.So continuing on with my internalism rant (Brendan), consider this: Imagine a person who set herself extremely high standards on cookie consumption. This person will not eat a cookie unless she thinks it is truly

This should go elsewhere

2009-02-19T22:14:00.002+11:00

But shelves are shelves, and i'll take what I can.Wait. There's a whole lotta misinterpretation possible in that statement.Your chanson of the week, reminding you of the joys of indulgence:le Café - Oldelaf (english subtitles)Uploaded by BoebisThe art direction is especially lovely.Comments and input! Should I write something on internalism, and just how stupid it is? The problem(s) is(are) that

I'm gonna need to see an environmental impact assessment

2009-02-11T11:44:00.003+11:00

for this dam you're building on the stream-of-consciousness.We apologise for any interruption caused.A singular passage I have singularly liked:It was Jesus Maria's practice to go the post office every day, first because there he could see many people whom he knew, and second because on that windy post-office corner he could look at the legs of a great many girls. It must be supposed that in this

SIPS and gulps

2009-02-05T03:15:00.000+11:00

Statistically Improbable Phrases and gulps of airA gilded lily, the jeweled fragility of Harvard minds, the crystalline delicacy of the modern soul, a glass cathedral: talkin' shit.They lived in an ethereal limbo, a détante mediated by the pandas and ping-pong matches of consummation. A dangerous, whirling dervish of sex, punctuated [only] to remoisten dry mouths and turn off aging lights. A

I would kindly ask you to stop

2009-02-02T23:51:00.002+11:00

asking for those things of meRelations are rarely, if ever, truly reciprocal. Exchanges are not made same for same; the baker does not exchange his bread for more bread, nor the cooper for more barrels, nor do friends and lovers exchange the same secrets, thoughts, or feelings. Exchanges, mercantile or otherwise, do not operate on bland sameness; while an (a sense of, a feeling of) equality may

It's a matter of time

2009-01-27T15:38:00.002+11:00

Though you'd best be careful; in the long-run, we are all dead.Twelve and counting. This has been a productive Festival, and a great month. Freakouts were far fewer in frequency than forecasted.Except for that.Re: The 'dota' thing: Suffice to say, I have replies to all your misgivings and objections, but be satisfied with this for now:"Don't hate the playa, hate the game."I think that more than

Complex multivariate analysis

2009-01-09T01:45:00.000+11:00

...using DotaNo, wait, don't go away i'm being serious.Lately, i've been freaking out (and listening to that Jaydiohead mashup thing, which is really quite good) about evaluative procedures and judgments. The DoTA aspect of this is just another notch in the wall, so to speak, though it relates more specifically to issues of measurability and baseline testing.First: A little (humourous) context.

I couldn't pass this up

2009-01-08T02:04:00.003+11:00

It's just too funny!See, back in the day (and still true to some extent in the presentish sense), Mr. Edelstein was my favourite movie reviewer. He possesses a keenness of wit and vigour; that indie movie sense that saw through the semi-shallowness of "I-don't-drink-fucking-Merlot" Sideways and gave Eternal Sunshine best movie of the year. Most importantly, he maintains this idiosyncratic

Sexual or otherwise

2009-01-04T01:31:00.002+11:00

Union forever motherfuckersBad, dreamy juju. I went fishing, and the cold and the beer didn't keep me there. I like the sitting around drinking beer thing than the casting out and catching, stabbing, scaling, gutting a fish thing. I gots me a fish. Too small though. The other fish we caught though was delicious. Really, really good, soft and tender with that sweet saltwater tang. The crabs were..

A sobering reminder

2008-12-25T00:52:00.010+11:00

When you wake up on Christmas Day, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, looking forward to all the wonderful scooters and knitwear and shiny gadgetry Santa the home invader has deposited under whatever kind of arboreal arrangement you've got going, remember this:Somewhat unrelated, that sentence above is quite likely by far the longest sentence I have ever done.Mix and match:1) Happy/Merry/Sad 2)

Technocratic linguistics

2008-12-23T11:48:00.002+11:00

We should all learn Esperanto dammit!From here, as always: I'm a native German and English speaker myself. Sitting in both boats as I do, I can understand the sensitivities involved with favoring one language over another. But I find that English is really easily the best language for international communications.English has several features that I think make it a better language. It's

Matter of time I suppose

2008-12-22T13:12:00.003+11:00

Begun has, the Photoshopping

A distinguished pantheon

2008-12-22T01:50:00.002+11:00

OKAY

Nickels in front of fucking bulldozers

2008-12-17T01:19:00.004+11:00

You've all seen this by now, I sincerely hope.BUT HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT. Selling crack-laced baby formula will make you less money than this scheme, and is (probably) illegal in many many countries.But who the hell invented picking up nickels in front of a bulldozer...from consumers?!?

Too much awesome?

2008-12-12T01:25:00.002+11:00

Perhaps.This is seriously good. Fans of Crooked Timber should have already seen it, but for the rest of you, this is quite funky. What is that music?

I think we have a winner!

2008-12-10T02:24:00.003+11:00

Another snarky statesman!The Coolidge effect:The term comes from an old joke, according to which President Calvin Coolidge and his wife allegedly visited a poultry farm. During the tour, Mrs. Coolidge inquired of the farmer how his farm managed to produce so many fertile eggs with such a small number of roosters. The farmer proudly explained that his roosters performed their duty dozens of times

Goddamn it

2008-12-10T02:12:00.002+11:00

How many times does this need to be saidThis. is. Bullshit. I sincerely hope that this is appealed, and smarter heads prevail.What is wrong with people? Can we stop legislating against thoughtcrimes already? I don't care how many impure thoughts you have, and I don't care how they're represented. Until you come back to me with some goddamn actual evidence of harm committed, I don't give a shit

A question we all need the answer to

2008-12-08T18:44:00.003+11:00

So, umm....yes?I especially admire their incredible jaw muscles. Originally from this.

Cute little placeholders

2008-12-06T00:50:00.002+11:00

Dotting coffee tables of idlenessThis has to stop. Today. Forever.

Neat

2008-12-04T14:16:00.003+11:00

Trying to put it all togetherJonathan Haidt - 5 Moral Values Behind Political ChoiceIt's a nifty video. Watch it.A couple of things I gathered: 'The for or against disease' How to interpret/apply this in political (social, intellectual) life? I think it's the idea of compromise. Though even that feels like i've compromised on the meaning of the phrase.See, I agree that we should try and

The way dialogue should be

2008-12-04T01:16:00.002+11:00

The way my entire goddamn life should beThis really happened.On trying to get rid of a dusty pile of Richard Dean Anderson (that's "MacGyver" to you) figures from SG-1:ASSISTANT: I wonder if I am adequately explaining the freeness of him.CHRIS: I really think I’ve got it.ASSISTANT: He could go home with you right now.CHRIS: Uh huh.ASSISTANT: I could just, you know, pop him in your bag.CHRIS: Or

Slooooooow

2008-11-28T12:50:00.002+11:00

as anti-gravity snailsI like this story. Jonathan Lethem is a pretty cool guy, and I am wayyyyy behind the times. What to do.

It's official

2008-11-24T16:05:00.005+11:00

And I believe I can call this:Boston Legal has jumped the shark. Or nuked the fridge, if you prefer it that way.What makes me say this: the teaser sequence for the eight episode of season five. When you resort to slo-mo action sequences, badly choreographed "fight" scenes with funny noises, you have lost.The show was increasingly looking this way anyway; it's a formulaic show, and this was bound

Seriously

2008-11-24T01:25:00.001+11:00

Is there anything Bruce Lee can't do? In this, he sells me a phone:Purchase his product! Otherwise, he will turn those nunchucks on you.

Long overdue accounts

2008-11-20T23:44:00.003+11:00

Amidst all these recounts, I felt I should I add my own.I realise that I haven't been entirely honest recently. This is not an admission of wrongdoing. I have mainly been omitting, possibly embellishing, rather than fabricating. Very few things survive in thin air.Most of this has come from oversight, tiredness, impulse, laziness and acquiescence: this is not an admission of blame. I'm wondering,

And as the 1790 race heats up

2008-11-20T14:05:00.002+11:00

The first attack ads begin to arise:Is THIS the kind of man you can trust with YOUR perception of reality?See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.Yes, I realise that Nietzsche was born 40 years after Kant. but treat this as a cute anachronism. For all we know, all these people were time travelers.Psychic time travelers *dun dun DUNNN!!*

It's really not what you're thinking

2008-11-18T01:15:00.002+11:00

I really don't like kids, but I don't think even I would go so far...maybe.WARNING (especially to you members of the fairer sex who like whiny poop machines): A kid gets hurt in this. The Internet finds this funny.Especially the parts of the internet the fairer sex is distinctly non-prevalent, except in jpeg form.Yes, yes parenting fail, zomg lols and all that. It is amusing, in that way bottoms

That's just unfair

2008-11-12T15:49:00.006+11:00

Ouch. ASIDE: I should start agglomerating these into a best of slashdot or something. There exists something like that already (Seen on Slash) but that better for teh funnyz. And lots of comments require more context, though they do a pretty good job of that since i've last seen them. On with the show!Someone makes a (slightly) ignorant comment:Actually, "philosophy" means "love of wisdon", not "

I agree, llamas are out of control

2008-11-11T23:13:00.002+11:00

Seriously, this is entirely worth it just for the end bit.

That is so true

2008-11-07T23:57:00.003+11:00

Steven Seagal really does do that.DILEMMA(esque): I want to support this by purchasing said product. But said product is only available overseas (Amazon), and were I to purchase said product, I would be paying (relatively) exorbitant fees in terms of exchange rates and shipping costs and so on, probably more than the actual cost of the product itself. It deeply lessens my feeling of supportage

I gotta turn this into a slogan, a motto, a creed

2008-11-07T21:53:00.004+11:00

a proverb, an adage, a precept, but best of all: the reductionist rhyming chant."In my experience, experience is about as useful in learning about the world as every single other method of learning about the world; that is to say, absolutely useless. (and perfectly valid)"Wrangling out essays and thoughts. My vocab, my expressiveness (my perspicacity, to be ever so droll) isn't there...right now?

McCain FTW

2008-11-06T02:59:00.001+11:00

Fails to win?Amusing. It's all over, and yet I feel exactly like this.IT NEVER ENDSI got out of the house. It's a good feeling! But back to non-essaying! Yay.

Redundancy

2008-10-30T04:30:00.002+11:00

How much caffeine is in this?NEVER ENOUGHQ: What does Karl Marx put on his pastaA: Communist Manipesto!Stephen hopes you liked his Karl Marx joke, because once Obama redistributes punch lines, it's the only one you'll have.

Woah

2008-10-30T04:02:00.005+11:00

Last eight years my friendsGet the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.Looooong overdue site design yes. Blogging has come a fair way.EDIT: In case the embedding doesn't work, the link.

This is starting to become something of a regular occurence

2008-10-29T04:13:00.003+11:00

Late nights and young lovesI wish these sorts of things were more available.E-mail from Afghanistan:I arrived in Bagram Air Force Base (BAF), Afghanistan on Sept. 27th, 2008, and over the course of two days, turned in my ammunition and sat through briefings about vehicle safety, family discord, suicide awareness, and mental health. Collectively, soldiers call them the “don’t-beat-your-wife

Shock and Awe(some)

2008-10-27T18:50:00.003+11:00

Take this Condorcet!Skipping the electoral college this year, we've moved on to the real deciding contest:Really, only one thing to say: Badonkadonk.November looks to be a busy year.

A mite creepy

2008-10-25T01:39:00.002+11:00

I suspect she keeps them in the basement:ICYMI - 7 Yr. Old Break Dancer On Ellen @ Yahoo! VideoAlso amusing:In which I write of paint continuing to dry October 22nd, 2008, 10:32pm by Sam Wang There’s just so many posts like this a guy can write. Today, Obama is still crushing McCain. Still. Crushing. McCain. The Popular Meta-margin is approximately Obama +7.5%.

A little more to the east

2008-10-24T01:45:00.002+11:00

I'm seeing a themeIs there anything Hitler can't do? Oh Hitler.By the way, this is the one true Kitler.

He must be a busy man

2008-10-23T01:01:00.003+11:00

Just one thing today:Is this real? If it is, awesome, and if it's shopped, still awesome. That Hitler fellow looks like a dapper young chap...I'd let him take my daugh^H^H^H^HBelgium any day of the year.

Age is a terrible thing

2008-10-20T06:05:00.004+11:00

And always behind youBefore I nap:Cool. Oddly enough, this has a last.fm entry as well.Err. W. T. F. Something for the whole family!Cute. Recognise any? Favourites? Why does it seem like the Mitsubishi one seems to be covered in flecks of blood...And because Halloween is around the corner, halfway around the world:

Ding Ding Ding

2008-10-20T02:39:00.003+11:00

According to the meter, this is my 500th post! So sayeth Blogger. And what better way to mark this momentous occasion, then to engage in that practice I do so well, 'originality'.Wait. Is that how you spell plagiarism?Speaking of spelling, here are an excellent selection of videos doing something that I have an inordinate love affair with: Kinetic Typography.It (re)started with this: Obama '08

The Original Maverick™

2008-10-17T07:22:00.000+11:00

Now with more zany!Being the zany guy that I am (and reading about McCains's ads on 538), i've decided to go watch all the political ads that both the parties have thrown out on Youtube, starting with McCrazy. I understand that a) i'm way too much a political junkie at this point, b) I have way too much free time and c) I'm engaging in a activity that many people in the United States actively

It is a little weird, I agree

2008-10-17T05:58:00.004+11:00

but i'm willing to let reciprocity workJust for the record, my internet has spontaneously fix itself, and hopefully will stay fixed and continue giving me great download speeds (seriously, why can't more technology do this???). In celebration, i've decided to download the first season of Mad Men. Anyone wanty?? Say, in exchange of THE WIRE, or Studio 60...or anything else great.Putting this in a

And coming to you not-so-live

2008-10-17T05:50:00.005+11:00

CUT TO VTRIn honour of my really not doing my assignment(s), I present to you a video special!Because Sesame Street set to hip-hop really is sublime (and quite amusing). Via this.Donna Brazile isn't moving to the back of the bus. Full video is the bottom one, which is also something I haven't seen, but you can just watch the top one for all its racially goodness.For something a little more

It may just be me

2008-10-15T08:06:00.004+11:00

I don't want it to ever changeSO, while I sit here, still with an uncompleted essay on hand, due in a few hours, I get distracted. So I decided to download Big Rigs. I'm not actually sure what particular course of events/hyperlinks lead me to that particular wiki page, but it's by far one of the most entertaining and funny wiki pages ever written. Though this could be crazy fucked up sleep

Disturbing parallels

2008-10-14T10:52:00.002+11:00

it may just be me (you)In these Annals of Culture, Gladwell points out economists are clever. However, if you're into lyric poetry, you'd better hurry the fuck up and publish something good. In poetry terms, late twenties means you're waaaayyy over the hill*.Do you who else thinks that? NAMBLA, that's right. Think about it.Poetry = paedophiliaMore economist lovin': Article on Nathan Silver, the

You talk too much

2008-10-11T03:32:00.004+11:00

is that even possible?While being generally frustrated by various (technological-related) imbroglios' (getting my damn wireless working, annoyed by the lack of unified feeds for both the New Yorker and NY Mag, and being unable to decide to whether I should just subscribe to all the feeds they have; but that seems like a grave and grievous decision, with much rash consequences), I came across this

Heads up

2008-10-11T00:44:00.003+11:00

Or should that be brains up...The World Mind Sports Games (unwieldy much) is up and running for the first year. So, finally, all that time playing draughts plays off into fame and recognition. Rejoice.

It's been obvious for a while

2008-10-10T15:38:00.001+11:00

But i'm more or less completely (yes! split those infinitives!) out of original ideas. And so I present:Interview with a Search Engine: If you enjoy strange, surrealist, stream-of-consciousness sagas, much in the style of that fantastic skit that the (s)Arts revue did this year.Que Será, Cera? An Open Letter to Michael Cera: The folks over at CMG are, as always, kicking butt. And for the record,