I just wanna say this!

Pointing out the obvious

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:14:36 -0800

Glenn Greenwald: “…this is all about cultural identification and personality admiration and has nothing to do with the factors that ought to be used to judge political leaders.”

Exactly why I could never buy into the Obama cult of personality bandwagon. When you’re dispassionate about the man and simply take note of his administration’s terrible policies (especially in light of his brilliantly marketed, faux populist campaign promises), the brutal truth is self evident.

The Daily Show: Barbara Ehrenreich - Bright Sided, Positive Delusions

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:41:13 -0700

The Daily Show: Barbara Ehrenreich - Bright Sided, Positive Delusions:

This made me cackle with glee. I’m all for positive thinking, but not when it eclipses critical thinking and enters the whimsical realm of delusion and magical thinking, and believe me, as a cranky east coaster living in Sonoma county, I’m practically drowning in the ”Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking”.

"If you really want to know why the financial system nearly collapsed in the fall of 2008, I can tell..."

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:52:07 -0700

“If you really want to know why the financial system nearly collapsed in the fall of 2008, I can tell you in one simple sentence.”

- So said a barfly to Calvin Trillin. Read the rest, it’s short and doesn’t disappoint. Op-Ed Contributor - Wall Street Smarts - NYTimes.com (via dbreunig)

You really do want to read this.

(via benkraal) (via jhnbrssndn)

A fantastic Op Ed and continuing this train of thought, also read The Real Battle Over America’s Banks and the equally mind blowing The Necessity of Michael Moore, Part 3 with it’s reference to the depressing Citigroup “plutocracy” memo.

God in the Box

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:20:30 -0700

God in the Box:

Hilarious and cool!

Occasional Peace Indeed

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:40:05 -0700

Occasional Peace Indeed:

“I have no idea what his award means, but I do know one thing; it doesn’t have a lot to do with peace.”

Word.

Feverish

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:53:32 -0700

As much as I can relate to the urge to fetishize and quantify my adoration of music, art and pop culture, I don’t do “top five”, Hi Fidelity type lists. What’s the point when there’s so much music and art to love and keep discovering? How can I settle on a “top” anything for too long? Depending upon my mood I may flat out lurv me some Tuvan throat music or “Barracuda” by Heart with equal, it’s all that fuckin’ matters in this moment intensity and of course there’s plenty of music that elicits that response in me over and over, but waaay too much of it to even conceive of making a list. Hell, I have a hard enough time making mix CD’s with my relatively modest 60GB collection of digital music (and vinyl and CD’s) and I long ago gave up any notion of thinking I’ll ever really be satisfied with all the music I own that I already can’t possibly critically listen to. There’s always more, newer, different stuff out there.

As of Monday night however, I now have a list with a single item in it. Best concert ever: Fever Ray at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. I’m not sure any of the superlatives or metaphors I could imagine would do justice to the experience, but I’ll try. Ancient, epic, Norse mythos feeling, train of thought, incense, lasers, masked and tall hatted figures shrouded in smoke, distorted guitars, soul shaking bass (the likes of which I’ve never heard or felt) swinging melodies, aching vocals, crazy percussion, ultra modern electronics, all creating a brew of the most intensely organic, personal, moving and simultaneously melancholy and spiritually uplifting music I’ve ever heard. Somehow it makes sense that the inspiration for this album was the primal, visceral experience of birth and postpartum depression.

My friend Chris, said to me right afterwards, “I feel like I was in their world and… it made me want to leave the United States, cause… this is just bullshit, and where they are is where I want to be..” and I knew exactly what he meant.

My attempts to capture the experience via the video camera of my iPhone was ultimately futile as the transcendent sonics were simply too much for the little mic, but I wanted to re-live the experience a bit, so I hit YouTube last night and found some professionally shot live footage (of a different show on the same tour) to share.

So, if you can tolerate the annoying, but mercifully short promo animations at the start and end of each of these videos, you’ll be rewarded with a high quality taste of what it’s like to experience live Fever Ray.

Triangle Walks »

When I Grow Up »

Here Before »

Oh and here’s another one item list. Fever Ray is definitively my favorite album of 2009.

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/logged_in/abansod_iphone.html

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:27:59 -0700

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/logged_in/abansod_iphone.html:

Flash on the iPhone! Not exactly, but as good as it’ll get for Adobe.

A Don Norman Nightmare

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:28:00 -0700

A Don Norman Nightmare

http://www.kungfugrippe.com/post/199148868/adobe-bricks

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:42:23 -0700

http://www.kungfugrippe.com/post/199148868/adobe-bricks:

This is why I’ve no interest in “upgrading” my Adobe poo.

More On Chrome Frame

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:05:34 -0700

“I have not said that I was a single payer supporter.”

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:48:39 -0700

“I have not said that I was a single payer supporter.”:

“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care plan.”

– Obama, at a Senate campaign rally in 2003.

proponent |prəˈpōnənt|nouna person who advocates a theory, proposal, or project : a collection of essays by both critics and proponents of graphology.ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from Latin proponent- ‘putting forth,’ from the verb proponere (see propound ).

Subterranean Homesick Gruber

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:34:45 -0700

Subterranean Homesick Gruber:

Embrace your geekdom!

stevenf: WARNING: A long, rambly exploration of the state of computing with no real conclusion...

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:49:00 -0700

stevenf:

WARNING: A long, rambly exploration of the state of computing with no real conclusion follows.

Every geek I know shares, to some degree, the notion that the “desktop” metaphor for computers is outdated. What nobody seems to have a solid opinion on is what would take its place.

Word!

10 Ponies

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:57:45 -0700

10 Ponies:

I love me some Macalope!

How much more...

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:43:34 -0700

How much more...:

of this kind of systematic BS will it take for progressives to realize they’ve been had?

Quantum Obama

Thu, 14 May 2009 10:09:30 -0700

Quantum Obama:

The photos are both inflammatory and “not particularly sensational”.

Why should I question that?

Joining the 11%

Mon, 11 May 2009 18:22:09 -0700

For the last almost three years I’ve worked as a web developer at Louddog Corp, but as of Monday, April 27, 2009 I’ve joined the 11% of laid off or unemployed Californians.

With all the free time I suddenly have, I’ve updated my website (I’m still tweaking this tumblr template for pesky IE, so bear with me) and I actually got a great freelance gig right out of the gate that I may blog about more later, but if anyone knows of something appropriate for my “luke warm water” skills, please do ping me.

Cheers!

We Live In the Future I’m late to the party about this,...

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:16:18 -0700

We Live In the Future

I’m late to the party about this, but goddamn if this isn’t some of the most astonishingly creative stuff I’ve ever seen and heard. This guy Kutiman is like the DJ Shadow of the interwebs. Utterly fantastic!

Merlin Mann’s got a great article about how much this must make the suits squirm.

Powerless to Resist

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 14:28:00 -0800

Powerless to Resist:

I love the word “douche”, and it’s just used so goddamn appropriately here, how could I resist? More change we’re being deceived in. Awesome!

lonelysandwich: “Parenthood: Slappin’ the Salami”...

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:36:19 -0800

lonelysandwich:

“Parenthood: Slappin’ the Salami” (1989)

Joaquin Phoenix is one messed up little dude.

It’s okay, Joaquin. That’s what little dudes do. They chew gum in Dave’s house.

Parenthood and Letterman. Two magnificent pop cultural references for the price of one! If you think about the disparity between the arc of Reeves’ career and Phoenix’s, it’s kind of mind blowing isn’t it? Keanu was and still is the perfect Todd, so it was only logical he’d become the perfect Neo in the inscrutably feted, warmed over Philip K. Dick ridiculousness of the Matrix.

I’ll take depressive nutter over mouth breathing nincompoop any day.