Shouting At Each Other

Toes on the finish line

2010-07-22T12:03:00.001-07:00

It's down to getting signatures. Then I get a degree and a lollipop.

Something interesting, possibly

2010-06-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

It may or may not be interesting or meaningful to anyone here -- but I have reasonable suspicion that I may be able to prove that Ptime and Pspace are different.

Question

2010-06-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

So, after this mess with Helen Thomas, I have a question.

At the end of WW2, the world was in a cutting-up-Germany sort of mood, so I'm just going to declare, for some reason, that it was possible to carve out a piece of land (at least as the modern state of Israel) and just declare it a territory belonging to European Jews, put some kind of limit on non-Jewish immigration to it, and at a specified date declare it as an independent state. Would something like this have seem/seemed wrong to Jewish people?

Back to Portland

2010-03-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

So's y'all can keep your files on who you can stay with where when up to date, I wanted to let you know that I am beginning a new job I am tremendously excited about on April 15, 2010 that has me moving back to Oregon. I am the new City of Portland Arts & Culture Policy Coordinator, working in the Office of Mayor Sam Adams.

Not coincidentally, my column "Our Town Could Be Your Life" for the Portland Mercury has come to an end after three years.

Meri's pediatrics residency in Seattle concludes at the end of June, 2011, so we'll be back to a long-distance commuting arrangement for most of the time until then, but we'll still have our place up in Washington, so feel free to come visit her and Reid and Megan (and, depending on timing, me).

What's news with you all? And where are you? Any exciting developments or plans around the bend?

What American English Sounds Like To Italians

2010-01-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

This is really just too awesome.

I always wonder what English sounds like to foreigners. I remember asking Vasya (Zhenya's brother) what British English sounded like to him when we first met, and his answer was "Like a toilet flushing."

It's also interesting to speculate how a song like this might sound different if it were made today, as the sounds/phonemes are clearly influenced by American pop music (e.g. Dylan, the go-to slurrer of the time). I suspect we'd hear the influence of hip-hop and urbanized Southern black American speech patterns.

And isn't the song awesome, too?

Declaration

2010-01-01T00:25:00.000-08:00

The year of the Cambot starts right now. No limit, niggaz.

The plan?

2009-12-30T19:15:00.000-08:00

As I watch my DVDs of The West Wing, I am reminded of a pledge we all made back in the day. Are we still planning on taking over the world?

Belated congrats, Reid!

Liz Kellison

2009-11-05T16:40:00.000-08:00

Meri and I are having dinner tomorrow night with esteemed ex-Harvard-Westlake Russian teacher, Liz Kellison, along with her partner and two kids, all of whom live here in Seattle. Any questions or hellos you'd like us to pass on?

Good News from Seattle

2009-10-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

I passed the Washington bar exam, which hopefully means that I never have to take another one of those awful things again.

A theory

2009-08-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

So I have this theory:

Obama did a lot of chattering about bipartisanship during the campaign and after. Now that the GOP is full batshit-crazy freakout, there are a lot of people talking about how they predicted that Obama's hopes for bipartisanship were naive.

It seems to me, though, that most of these past few months of healthcare `debate' have been a great big head-fake from the administration: the GOP, including its elected officials, have I think successfully proven that they are intransigeant and unwilling to bargain in good faith. So, now Obama is empowered to completely ignore the GOP in working out a healthcare bill and probably a fair chunk of other legislation.

I imagine that working with Republicans on the stimulus was only necessary because the clock was ticking.

Thoughts?

Seattle

2009-08-19T17:25:00.001-07:00

While we're chronicling the further expansion of our diaspora, I should add that I will be moving to Seattle on September 1. Meri and I are renting a great little house together, and we have a guest room you are all welcome to. Said room features wallpaper we suspect can cause petit mal seizures, so you'd really be doing us a favor staying with us and testing that theory. If that doesn't mess with your cognitive function, Reid will also be moving to Seattle (along with Megan) in September, and looking into his withered face and lifeless eyes ought to push you over the pathological brink.

Hope to see you dudes soon! I will be in LA for about a week around Thanksgiving.

UK and LA

2009-08-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

As many or most of you don't know, I'm going to Cambridge University at the end of September. I'll be there until the middle of February. I assume it will be possible for me to get to Paris at some point. I'll also be in LA thru most of September, so let me know if you'll be in town.

Next Year/Next Week

2009-08-19T12:53:00.000-07:00

Everyone may already be aware of this, but I'm moving to France at the end of the month. I won a fellowship to Sciences Po, a political science school (semi-obviously) and will be there for the year doing research. More importantly, I will be descending as like a plague of locusts upon the city's bakeries, cheese shops, and wine seller-guys. If anyone has the chance, come visit!

Water Slide Ski Jump

2009-08-16T21:12:00.001-07:00

I think this is probably BS but it's still totally amazing:

MEGAWOOSH Bruno Kammerl jumps

(via Leaving Home)

Small Light

2009-07-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

As you may have heard or otherwise gleaned from me, Will and Greg, At Dusk just played its final show this past Thursday, July 2. It was a fantastic time and just the way we would have wanted it. Maybe we'll get around to posting some audio or video from the show sometime soon.

Just as the live incarnation of the band was put to rest, though, we released our new, fourth and final album. It is called Small Light and we are very proud of it, having spent the past two and a half years writing and recording the little bugger. Actually, it's sort of a big bugger, with 20 tracks, albethey shorter than our previous predilection would suggest.

Anyhow, we would be delighted if you would check out our album and share our art with us. Small Light is available for order via CDBaby here.

Additionally, we were the beneficiaries of a great deal of local press coverage in conjunction with the release, with stories on The Oregonian, Willamette Week and The Mercury.

Thanks for all of your support over the years, dudes!

Drunk History: William Henry Harrison

2009-07-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

A vision of my future teaching methods?

A Decade in the Finding

2009-04-27T02:00:00.000-07:00

For those of us who were at the infamous Sonic Youth show at This Ain't No Picnic in 1999 where their irreplaceable modded gear was stolen, you will be comforted to hear that - one decade later - someone recently purchased Lee's red Mustang on eBay and put the pieces together.

Trotsky's ashes stolen and baked in cookies

2009-04-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

Eighty eight years of the day Trotsky directed the suppression of the anarchist uprising in Krondstadt, a group of bandits scaled the walls of his former house in Mexico City during the late hours at night. We broke the lock on his mausoleum and we expropriate the content inside it: a silver large vase that bears the inscription of his name, wrapped in the red scarf that he carried around the neck, containing the ashes of the corpse inside. We replace with care the lock in the monument with a reproduction that was similar in the appearance and escaped into the night.

Trotsky's ashes stolen and baked in cookies

Megan Othus, PhD

2009-04-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

As they say here in Boston, my girl is wicked smaht.

Extreme Sheep LED art

2009-03-31T23:32:00.001-07:00

This is amazing:

(Extreme Sheep LED art)

Justine Lai

2009-03-28T15:58:00.001-07:00

Justine Lai makes paintings of herself having sex with each US president. She's going in chronological order and just release Ulysses S. Grant with the above painting, "Join or Die".

(via andy)

The Next Two Years of My Life

2009-03-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

Seeing Reid's post, I realized not all of you now that I will be attending NYU ITP starting this coming fall. It's a two year program in art and technology that calls itself the "center for the recently possible". I'll be in NY starting the first week of August.

The Rest of My Life

2009-03-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

Megan got a faculty position at the University of Washington, her first choice, so I will be moving to Seattle when my clerkship is over in September 2010. I know this is a long way off, but I wanted to give people time to prepare themselves for the crushing anguish or overwhelming joy my move away from L.A. to Seattle will engender. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine which city's residents will be feeling which emotion.

Welcum to Fran & Gary's Pirate Dollhowz

2009-02-13T15:59:00.000-08:00

For those of you who, like me, base their entertainment schedules around which shows feature former classmates of yours this is a busy week. Following Stephen Fishbach's debut on Survivor last night (during which there was a tense moment where it seemed like his team might give hi the boot for having glasses, but then predictably ejected the older woman instead), tonight (Friday, February 13) is the premiere of the new Joss Whedon show, Dollhouse, in which Fran Kranz plays a regular roll. Given Tyson's relationship to this entertainment universe, I thought this was worth mentioning.

Meanwhile, in other filmed-medium news, Greg and are seeing an honest-to-god new Peter Greenaway this Sunday at the Portland International Film Festival. It's called Nightwatching and is about Rembrandt's Nightwatch painting. Apparently Greenaway has released a full five movies since 8 1/2 Women, none of which have seen distribution in the US, theatrical or otherwise. Bummer.

Lastly, this Newsweek interview with John Adams was kind of upsetting, I thought, in the way that it made him seem, well...old. And not very self-aware. Dude gets a by, though.

Notable Alumni

2009-02-05T23:54:00.000-08:00

I was just browsing the Notable Alumbni on the HW wikipedia page when I noticed that Ayda Fields was listed there. That seemed pretty sketchy to me so I clicked through to her page to find out what she's done that's so notable besides the few roles I'd heard of. There wasn't much and I suspect that her page was created by her publicist. But there was this interesting little nugget:

"She is the girlfriend of British singer Robbie Williams."

Also: Matthew Weiner, the creator of Mad Men went to HW.

Hicks, Animals, Lists

2009-01-28T14:45:00.000-08:00

Consider this a clearing post:

Bill Hicks' mom will be on Letterman this Friday to talk about her son when they broadcast his old censored (cut) bit for the show from '93. via Pop Candy

I've been enjoying this take on the cute animal blog that Greg brought to my attention: Fuck You, Penguin

Will and I have both put up a few Best Of '08 lists in different places on the internet. If you care to peruse, here are some:

Cary's Favorite Portland Albums of '08

Cary's Favorite Non-Portland Albums of '08

Cary's Favorite Portland Shows of '08

Will's Favorite Albums of '08

Will's Favorite Songs of '08

Survivor

2009-01-17T20:11:00.000-08:00

Check out who is on Survivor this season.

No, this is not a joke.

2 chickens break up a rabbit fight

2008-12-24T23:50:00.000-08:00

2 chickens break up a rabbit fight

The Company You Keep

2008-12-16T00:03:00.000-08:00

According to Netflix, Twilight was enjoyed by members who enjoyed: The Covenant; Batman & Robin; Catwoman; National Treasure: Book of Secrets; and Look Who's Talking Too. Ouch.

Parrot Loves Cat

2008-12-13T00:08:00.001-08:00

There's something weird and amazing about this...

on College Humor

(via Corey Menscher)

The Pinnacle of Music Video Making Has Been Reached

2008-12-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

(via the mercury)

uniquely ridiculous

2008-12-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share this section title from my purported dissertation:
"The homology of a super-rosy structure hypergraph."

Hamster on a Piano. Eating Popcorn on a Piano.

2008-11-13T16:15:00.001-08:00

on YouTube

Amen, Bill Hicks, Amen

2008-11-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

I am trusting MSNBC, CNN, and Fox, and they had better not all be wrong.

The video is audio only.

You Tube Metavideos

2008-11-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

a whole post full of them. This might be my favorite:

(via andy)

The Unfinished Swan

2008-10-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

The Unfinished Swan - Tech Demo 9/2008 from Ian Dallas on Vimeo.

(via andy)

Music Visualization on Your Face

2008-10-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

on YouTube

(via Chris)

Reid, remember that electric stimulus massager your dad brought back from Japan that we used to electrocute each other?

Parrots playing voice-activated war game

2008-10-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

gametrailers.com

(via Coding Horror)

How is Babby Formed?

2008-10-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

What happens when you animate some of the more asinine comments from Yahoo Answers? Sheer brilliance.

A Brief History of the 21st Century

2008-10-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

Crazy sci-fi author Chuck Klosterman's view. It's all worth it for the 2074 to 2078 payoff...

(via Andy)

Father to a Sister of Thought

2008-10-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

Nifty Wikipedia page listing all the people known as the father or mother of something. Who knew looking up Jim Corbett could uncover such treasures?

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - Shaft

2008-10-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - Shaft

(via coding horror)

Thing!

2008-10-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

(via FiveThirtyEight.com)

Wario -- Shake It!

2008-09-24T02:46:00.000-07:00

Very creative promo for the new Wario Game on YouTube.

(via Andy)

Timothy McSweeney Is Devastated and Lost

2008-09-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

McSweeney's has devoted itself, for the time being, to eulogizing David Foster Wallace. I know I'm not the only contributor to this blog who was touched by his work, so I'm sure I won't be the only one comforted by the memorial.

Far Surpassing Our Darkest Nightmares...

2008-09-15T23:20:00.000-07:00

The Bill we should all be scared of

(via mattly)

Double Kucth

2008-09-10T02:06:00.000-07:00

Huh. I see you blogged that already, Reid. Does my second, scooped post get any compensatory cool points because I learned about this news item from Liz (Ms.) Kellison's facebook feed?

How To Punk a Football?

2008-09-10T01:17:00.000-07:00

Do you think Ashton Kutcher is making the frosh eat onions and calling them names?

Ashton Kutcher

2008-09-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

Apparently Harvard-Westlake was really hurting for a new football coach, and went with the most logical choice. In related news, Vlade Divac is coming out of retirement to chair the chemistry department.

Seinfeld and Gates

2008-09-07T00:50:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to revitalize their sagging public image, Microsoft recently announce a new ad campaign featurin hip young of-the-moment comedian Jerry Seinfeld and their new dynamic incoming CEO, Bill Gates. The first ad is, I must say, confounding:

First Gates and Seinfeld ad

Reunion?

2008-09-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Is anyone planning on going to the 10 year one? I plan on attempting to attend this one.

Holmes and Watson

2008-09-02T18:49:00.001-07:00

Sacha Baron Cohen + Will Ferrell = Sherlock Holmes + Dr. Watson

In a World...

2008-09-01T23:24:00.000-07:00

Legendary Voice actor Don LaFontaine has died

Here's a great YouTube doc about LaFontaine:

The question all america is asking

2008-08-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

http://doesmccainwearadiaper.com

Q&A with Slavoj Zizek

2008-08-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

Dude's grumpy:

What makes you depressed?

Seeing stupid people happy.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

That it makes me appear the way I really am.

What is your most unappealing habit?

The ridiculously excessive tics of my hands while I talk.

What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?

A mask of myself on my face, so people would think I am not myself but someone pretending to be me.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Watching embarrassingly pathetic movies such as The Sound Of Music.

What do you owe your parents?

Nothing, I hope. I didn't spend a minute bemoaning their death.

full q&a on guardian.co.uk

portland in august?

2008-07-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
If I were to come up north in august (sometime after the 15th) for 2-3 days, when would be the best time?

Ari's Caption

2008-07-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

The one and only Ari Stern has been selected as one of three finalists in a New Yorker cartoon caption contest! Since it takes only seconds and since his is unquestionably the funniest of the three, vote for him!

Portland (and Greg) on MTV

2008-07-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,Greg's on MTV!

PDX Pop Now! helped out with this montage documentary bit that MTV came to shoot about Portland one weekend a couple months ago.

Finally all the retarded hipsters can learn to count

2008-07-15T18:12:00.000-07:00

(via drnic)

Dr. Horrible

2008-07-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

Joss Whedon is making a straight-to-web musical starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion: Dr. Horrible:

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

(via Lennon)

edie murphy's giant head on the interstate

2008-06-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

eddie murphy's giant head on the interstate on Flickr

Movie Remakes

2008-06-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

Will and I were talking about the remakes of The Birds and The Day the Earth Stood Still, and I decided to look around for other upcoming travesties. I found an article on the subject. The list includes:

Porky's
Footloose
Fame
Short Circuit
The Fly
The Dirty Dozen
The Warriors
Hellraiser
Friday the 13th
Meatballs
Prom Night
Death Wish
Funny Games
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!
Child's Play
The Evil Dead
Logan's Run
Carousel
St Trinians
The 39 Steps
The Birds
The Seven Samurai
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Rififi
Clash of the Titans
The Taking of Pelham 123

For some of them, like Friday the 13th and Hellraiser, I wonder whether these will be remakes or just sequels, but others (The Seven Samurai!) make me want to barf out of my face.

Mr. Holmes

2008-06-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

I don't remember which of you took A.P. English Language from Mr. Holmes, but there was an article about him in today's L.A. Times.

Human Face Bag

2008-06-08T00:35:00.000-07:00

Human Face Bags - Headstrong Hand Bags by Yael Mer:

These bags, embossed with images of human faces, are more than a little creepy, yet somehow they ooze appeal. The quirky totes were created by Yael Mer who makes the mask-like bags in different shapes and colours.

(via szymon)

Elmo Puppy

2008-05-21T23:56:00.001-07:00

This video just keeps giving more with each viewing, of which I have had about 50. Seriously - study it, learn it, it will reward you with laughter immense. What is this? How can it be? Something is wrong. Something is right.

The World's First Walltoon

2008-05-16T01:30:00.000-07:00

And there's pretty much no describing how awesome it is.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Korean Baby Singing Hey Jude

2008-05-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

Korean Baby Singing Hey Jude

(via Robyy)

'Charlie Rose' by Samuel Beckett

2008-04-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

'Charlie Rose' by Samuel Beckett on YouTube

(via KmikeyM)

Star Wars according to a 3 year old.

2008-04-25T00:20:00.001-07:00

Star Wars according to a 3 year old.

They Say of the Acropolis Where the Parthenon Is

2008-04-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

(Quite Interesting: They Say of the Acropolis Where the Parthenon Is)

Quite Interesting is the brilliant british quiz show on which NPR based Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. It's hosted by comedian Stephen Fry and there are no penalties for wrong answers, only for obvious wrong answers. In light of your last post, Tyson, you might find this clip interesting: QI: E-commerce

Entering a New Era at Harvard-Westlake

2008-04-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Have you guys seen this: Entering a New Era at Harvard-Westlake?

PS. I just made this with some friends: zombieurl.com

Bad Domain Names

2008-04-14T14:14:00.001-07:00

Apparently, political bloggers decided to cut loose today. Via Matthew Yglesias comes this list of hilariously bad domain names.

Some favorites:

penisland.net

powergenitalia.com

heh.

Death Spiral

2008-04-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

Via Ezra Klein, I found this nifty graphic representation of likely causes of death. First order of business: procuring safer-than-lightning fireworks.

Greatest Collection of Wrestling Promos Ever

2008-04-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

From WWF Royal Rumble 1990: two videos' worth. Just... wow.

My Ten-Year-Old Student Colin Is a Genius

2008-04-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

C: "Hey Will?"

W: "Yeah?"

C: "You know what would be a good title for a comedy movie?"

W: "What?"

C: "Honky, the Fat Child."

Peeps Show II

2008-03-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

I rather enjoyed this collection of photos of dioramas made using Peeps.

Keep your eyes out for "No Country for Old Peeps," as well some other great ones.

And now I'm headed off to Guatemala for a month with Meri (who, for those of you who haven't heard, will spending the next 3 years in Seattle doing her Pediatrics residency)!

Why Won't Phone Books Die?

2008-03-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

This Slate article tackles the question, which is one I have pondered for a long time.

In Portland, Ore., alone this year, the Dex directories tipped the scales at 10.5 pounds per pair, consumed the equivalent of 49,779 trees, and could be stacked nearly 12 miles high into the stratosphere. And that's just one of several directories that Portlanders receive. On a national level, the figures become mind-boggling. If we assign the not-terribly-scientific figure of just more than three pounds to the average directory, then the 615 million volumes produced last year come out to 1 million tons of phone books. Still, the Yellow Pages Association claims that phone books produce only 0.3 percent of the household waste stream—while "newspapers, in comparison, represent 4.9%." Alas, customers ask for newspapers, and they do offer an opt-out—it's called canceling your subscription.

Also, make sure to click the article's first hyperlink, to watch the Dutch Mythbusters try to pull apart two phone books that have been interleaved together.

A Surprising Death

2008-03-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

I wasn't the dude's hugest fan, but still. A shame.

Human Giant

2008-03-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

I'm kinda late to the game here since it's been getting a lot of press, but Human Giant does have some genuinely funny stuff going on. It's nifty to see sketch comedy that's appropriately concise. Here are two good ones:

Funny, though possibly a smidgeridoo over the line:

And I really like the details on this one:

Six-Word Reviews of 763 SXSW Mp3s

2008-03-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

Paul Ford slogged through all of the 763 mp3s included on this year's SXSW download and wrote six word reviews of each of them. Here are some of my favorites:

"Not bad from 2:28 to 3:16." (Akron/Family - Phenomena)

"You know what? Enough organ already." (The Breakup Society - 13th Angry Man)

"Quite catchy. But likely precious live." (British Sea Power - Waving Flags)

"Fun party until Matisyahu shows up." (c rayz walz + kosha dillz - childhood ft. Matisyahu +Kosha Dillz)

"But I’m not hungry for skull." (Eat Skull - Seeing Things)

Six-Word Reviews of 763 SXSW Mp3s

Dikembe Mutombo's Lighter Side

2008-03-02T23:42:00.000-08:00

And opening for Foghat...

2008-03-02T11:47:00.000-08:00

Via Carolyn, here is what may well be the funniest music clip I've ever seen:

Just gets better and better

Things for Sale That I Will Mail You

2008-03-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

Things for Sale That I Will Mail You:

If you give me $1,626 I will go to the small Okinawan island called Iriomote and send you an envelope filled with star-sand (don't worry, I've been there before, I know where to go). I will send it from there.

If you give me $75 I will go see a psychic and ask them for advice on my life. I will tape-record the session and I will mail it to you. If you give me $1,689 I will go see a psychic, ask them where in the whole world I should go to, and then I will go there. I will mail you documentation of this from where ever it is I go to. If you give me $9,999 I will go see a psychic and ask them where I SHOULD NOT go to in the whole world. I will then go there and mail you documentation of it from there.

For each purchase I will go to different psychics.

(via Anarchaia)

Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein write the perfect song

2008-02-29T00:34:00.000-08:00

Apparently Fred Armisen hangs out in Portland a lot, Carrie Brownstein does comedy, and Corrin Tucker is married to Lance Bangs...

Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein write the perfect song

Still Alive geeks

2008-02-26T23:39:00.000-08:00

I know at least Will will be excited to watch this video of Jonathan Coulton, Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann, and Veronica Belmont playing Still Alive on Rock Band in front of a live audience.

Governor Mecham's Legacy

2008-02-23T14:53:00.000-08:00

Arizona just lost former governor Evan Mecham to an undisclosed illness at the age of 83. One of my first cousins married into his family about ten years ago, so I thought I'd read his Wikipedia page to get a sense of the man. Here are some choice excerpts.

"Evan Mecham gained national attention several days after inauguration by fulfilling his campaign promise to cancel a paid MLK Day holiday for state employees. ...Mecham replied to comments from civil rights activists and the Black community after the cancellation by saying 'King doesn't deserve a holiday.' This was followed by him telling a group of black community leaders, 'You folks don't need another holiday. What you folks need are jobs.'"

"Claims of prejudice were made against Mecham after he defended the use of the word 'pickaninny' to describe black children, claimed that high divorce rates were caused by working women, claimed America is a Christian nation to a Jewish audience, and said a group of visiting Japanese businessmen got 'round eyes' after being told of the number of golf courses in Arizona. In response to claims that he was a racist, Mecham said, 'I've got black friends. I employ black people. I don't employ them because they are black; I employ them because they are the best people who applied for the cotton-picking job.'"

"Having served from January 6, 1987 to April 4, 1988, Mecham was removed from office following conviction in his impeachment trial of charges of the obstruction of justice and the misuse of government funds."

"Throughout his administration, Mecham expressed concern about possible eavesdropping on his private communications. A senior member of Mecham's staff broke his leg after falling through a false ceiling he had been crawling over, looking for covert listening devices. A private investigator was hired to sweep the governor's offices looking for bugs. The Governor was quoted as saying, 'Whenever I'm in my house or my office, I always have a radio on. It keeps the lasers out.'"

Stuff White People Like

2008-02-22T00:50:00.000-08:00

Stuff White People Like is a blog about stuff white people like. For example:

Recycling

Expensive Sandwiches

Mos Def

Bicycles

President Santos

2008-02-22T00:46:00.000-08:00

Turns out Matt Santos, the character played by Jimmy Smits in the last few seasons of the West Wing was inspired by Barack Obama. People are starting to make a big deal over the correspondences between the events of that show and this year's political season (brokered convention, etc.)

Is it a bad thing that I would've voted for Alan Alda in that election?

Iron Chef Unmasked

2008-02-22T00:35:00.000-08:00

Behind the scenes of an Iron Chef America taping. It turns out to be highly questionable from a competitive fairness point of view...

Kim Gordon Backs Obama

2008-02-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

Since there's no primary today, here's a bit of political fluff for everyone. Kim Gordon, of Sonic Youth, supports Barack Obama. The weird part, as pointed out in the text accompanying this video from Wonkette, is the fact that Gordon is 8 years older than Obama.

See some of you dudes in Portland soontime!

Yes, another Slate article; Yes, another article about Juno

2008-02-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

This is probably the best article I've read about Juno so far. Its thoughts on the trouble with the first twenty minutes could not be better expressed.

Swedish Pop

2008-02-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

I have an unusual affection for this song by Lykke Li:

That guy on the left is my hero.

(Via Carolyn)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

2008-02-06T01:54:00.001-08:00

Jason Seigel stars in the new Judd Apatow:

Puzzle: Solved!

2008-02-05T23:41:00.000-08:00

How to make legendarily irritating comic Garfield funny? Simply remove all Garfield's dialogue.

The chunk at Feb 07, 4:21pm contains at least two of my favorites.

(h/t the apparently defunct Norbizness)

So very slow

2008-02-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

For some reason, this video really cracks me up:

Sloths rule, dude.

Hilariously Brutal Reviews

2008-02-01T14:11:00.000-08:00

These two columns have nothing to do with one another other than my having read them within a few weeks, but in their individual ways, they're two of the funniest negative reviews I've ever seen.

Meet the Spartans

Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend

Caioti Owner, Inventor of California-Style Pizza, Dies Young

2008-01-30T14:27:00.000-08:00

As a follow-up to Greg's posting about Slice, here's a story I found on there from earlier this month when I checked out the California pizza section. Sad.

Regional Pizza Breakdown

2008-01-30T01:49:00.000-08:00

Interesting description of variations of pizza throughout the country. Here, for example, is something freaky:

SAINT LOUIS–STYLE

Might be mistaken for a Chicago thin crust at first, just on looks—and maybe for the fact that Saint Louis and Chicago are only a few hundred miles apart. But this style's very thin, crackerlike crust is unleavened. And it's topped with a special three-cheese blend (provolone, Swiss, white cheddar) called Provel that's used in place of mozzarella (and sometimes, but not often, in addition to mozzarella). Like Chicago thin crust, it's usually done party cut. Imo's Pizza is thought to be the originator.

(Slice)

The Richest Secondary School in America

2008-01-29T00:48:00.000-08:00

In this recent NY Times article on secondary schools with big endowments, I was totally shocked to see that the #1 richest school wasn't one of the famous east coast elite prep schools, but The Kamehameha Schools, a Hawaiian institution created by the ancestors of Kamehameha, the founder of Hawaii.

Here's an interesting snip from the wikipedia article:

Kamehameha Schools was established in 1887 under the terms of the last will and testament of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a direct descendant of Kamehameha the Great and last of the House of Kamehameha. Bishop's will established a trust currently called the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, the largest private landowner in the State of Hawaiʻi. Income from the trust is used to operate the schools.
The schools' controversial admissions policy gives preference to Native Hawaiians as Pauahi intended, and has effectively excluded all but two non-Hawaiians from attending since 1965. Legal challenges to the schools' admission policy have resulted in favorable outcomes for Kamehameha.

Hardest Video Game Boss Ever

2008-01-28T01:37:00.000-08:00

Oh teh noes.