A Monty Python Take On Socialism
Not bad. They don’t exactly seem like fans of monarchy either.
June 25, 2008
May 4, 2008
Stephen Colbert Before He Was Pretty Famous: Exit 57
You remember Exit 57?
This is the bottomless lake sketch:
His intelligence shows through.
March 26, 2008
From Treehugger: Snow White Was Really Green
Of course, the writer is in London, where the moon of cultural relativity is just about full…
Yes, green has gone glitz, and apart from some of the more patently moralistic (good people ride bikes, you should too) arguments for going green, treehugger has decided to show you pictures that support the work of two academics who praise Walt Disney. Apparently, he gets children to create a relationship with nature…
Clearly, this is how I want smart people spending their time…thinking about nature (though, in this case, mostly just poorly understood political ideas) through the lens of Snow White.
Addition: I get an angry email each time I write something like this: Why bother those who are trying to do some good? Maybe due to Disney’s lush backdrops, children will become more interested in nature…
This is perhaps true but also moralistic…it’s sloppy thinking..because there are ultimately consequences to everything we think about and most importantly, how we think about them. Hopefully, that point gets across, despite the tone.
Making such unclear, sentimental and now commercialized arguments for ’nature’ may do us more harm in the long run…but then again, now I’m being moralistic.
If you’re interested, see the comments on this post.
March 1, 2008
A New Breed Of Artist In Seattle?
From the AP wire…
…perhaps you haven’t heard of John Billings, but you may be hearing from him soon.
Billings is on the leading edge of a group of Seattle performing artists “exploring social justice with acts of creative defiance” at the Lumnik gallery this spring.
“I try to bring the dissonance of cultural diversity into my work,” the 33-year old, bearded Billings said as we toured his installation. “I try and find the spaces, the gaps society overlooks…so I can explore and identify the tonal landscape.”
Billings and a group of four others are self-procaimed “fartists,” who are just now emerging into the mainstream.
Their multimedia show is scheduled to run until June 4th at the Lumnik gallery which has agreed to temporarily bill it’s left wing…a ”fart museum.”
“We’ve heard it all” jokes Billings, I especially like ‘”artsy-fartsy.”‘
While the show itself is mostly silent, it’s deadly serious and getting rave reviews, having toured the UK and Austria with high ticket prices gallery-goers seem willing to pay.
The central piece,”Black 24″ is a multimedia exhibit consisting of a block of wood with a tin horn attached to the side. Inside is a loop tape of the various farts of different races and genders:
“I think of malaise,” Billings mused, “a lament at the price we pay for conformity.” He went on: ”it’s an attempt to recreate this mood of melancholy restraint, to defy the taboo. I want to point out the joy all of us must take in that which won’t last…”
Can this be real?
No, it’s not, but if you think you can do better…I throw my hat into the ring…
January 19, 2008
Interesting Physics Webpage At UNLV
John Farley is working to understand steel corrosion and avoid problems that nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain might have.
His webpage also has good links.
January 12, 2008
The Best Of All Possible Universe(s)?
Breitbart has an article that leads with:
“The deeper astronomers gaze into the cosmos, the more they find it’s a bizarre and violent universe.”
Okay…
then:
“The equivalent of post-menopausal stars giving unlikely birth…
and
“…galaxy-on-galaxy violence…”
Oh no….
and then a conclusion of:
“Intellectually and spiritually, if I can use that word with a lower case ’s,’ it’s awe-inspiring,” Wheeler said. “It’s a great universe.”
Would that be the best of all possible universe(s)?
Here are the links the article suggests: The American Astronomical Society and HubbleSite.
January 1, 2008
Gymkata: Anti-American Sentiment
You remember this cinema classic, don’t you?
Things have changed for Americans travelling abroad, and I’m glad that Gymkata is able, in some small way, to offer us wisdom.
December 27, 2007
The Differences Between Men And Women
By an Italian…a little too cute?…kind of like something some art council funded that they show before the movie.
December 10, 2007
November 20, 2007
Bob Saget: Old English Folk Song (Not Dirty)
Bob Saget’s still around. You might think differently of him after this.
