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Wooden Shower

#SoundCloud #Proto-Foreign #Psychedelic Rock #cape cod #monotribe #Drone

I've always really thought that Meat Puppets II was a cool album. It is what it is. It's so unique in the way that it was performed. We would never have been able to do that again. I mean, we probably could if we got totally messed up and tried to be ourselves when we were that old again. But people would just say we were being "sloppy." I like the fact that that album just completely sucks, it's sloppy, it sounds like shit...and everybody likes it.

Curt Kirkwood (Meat Puppets)

Probably the Best Movie Description of All Time

"There are seven days in every week, but... TUESDAY NEVER COMES. Empires are built on the streets, upon the backs of dope dealers and small-time hoodlums. Amidst the stench-soaked garbage and crack-heads walk men who fancy themselves as kings. From the desperation grows a drug empire, a syndicate. Capitalism, as a weapon. A weapon to be used against any and all who stand in the way of the bottom line. TUESDAY NEVER COMES is an insider's look into the life of drug czar, Mecilli (Erik Estrada). He lives the high life, stepping on the backs of his drones with their crack-soaked brains. We follow Mecelli slide down the ladder of success into the depths of decadence. We see the intricate web of deceit and crime he built. His web reaches across continents, across the lines of decency and kindness. From his perch high above the city, he pulls the strings on his puppets. We follow the F.B.I., as one secret agent, Druillet (Lawrence Hilton Jacobs) tracks down Mecelli. He finds a secret connection to an assassin, Zacharias McCormick (Jason Holt) with ties to the I.R.A. Zacharias kidnaps Mecelli's girl (Karen Black) and becomes addicted to her sex and her drugs, setting up a brutal clash of wills between the assassin and the gangster. TUESDAY NEVER COMES is an action-adventure of the classic type. Double dealing and double crosses, crack pipes and crackpots, all converge, as the back-stabbing and carnage build to a spectacular climactic surprise ending. In a world of deceit, murder is the only way out." [sic]

Description for Tuesday Never Comes

#Tuesday Never Comes #erik estrada #b movies #jason holt #karen black

Visit Original Link

Tumblr says:

"You can upload one audio file each day. MP3s only. 10 MB maximum."

Thanks a lot, assholes!

Well here's one demo (from the toilet bowl) of my most recent music.

#music #rock music #foreign power #indie rock #lo-fi

For the first time, investment of power did not pave the way for investment of money, but export of power followed meekly in the train of exported money, since uncontrollable investments in distant countries threatened to transform large strata of society into gamblers, to change the whole capitalist economy from a system of production into a system of financial speculation, and to replace the profits of production with profits in commissions.

Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism

#psychic ability #foreshadowing #hannah arendt #arendt

drink water

Scientific studies (conducted by me) prove that most cases of depression, anxiety, fatigue, and boredom are caused by lack of hydration.

Today, after not drinking water all morning I indulged in the sweet nectar pouring forth from the water fountain at my office. I felt like a wilted flower being brought back to life.

The moral of the story is STAY HYDRATED, FOLKS.

#hydration #water #depression

Wow, looks like they did a great job targeting dog lovers

Another Day with the MBTA

Lady on Train: hey you're not allowed on here! There's no room!!!

*pushes me with her arm in an attempt to keep me on the platform and off the train*

Me: there's some room. I'm small.

*proceed to push my way onto the train*

Lady on train: Oh is that a kitty in that bag!

Other lady on train: Yeah.

Lady on train: I have two kitties.

Dumb Phones are Great!

Last week, the Google Droid that Ava gave me started getting stuck in a loop on the startup screen, the screen where you see the weird freaky eyeball thing as a representation that the system is starting up. Anyway, it would go in this loop and overheat, so I figured it was time for a new phone.

I walked around the store, trying to decide between Droids, IPhones, HTCs, and other smart phones.

I finally found the oasis of "basic phones." You know, those ancient flip phones that don't contain luscious user interfaces or wild and crazy apps. The phones your grandma might use to call you. Or maybe this is the kind of phone parents are giving their kids these days as a "starter phone." "Don't drop it, asswipe!" heh heh.

Anyway, the Samsung flip phone I got was basically free (w/ mail-in rebate and signing another godawful 2 year contract).

This phone is awesome! It's small, durable, and I don't use it compulsively whenever there's a lull of inactivity in my life!

Yeah, I'm actually finding that during all these empty spaces of my existence, I can actually reflect on things, read a little bit, or even do some dishes!

The only drawback is that I can't check my work email 24/7...guess I'll have to live w/ out that!

#dumb phones #Google Droid #cell phones

The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky is really BAD

Is it possible that BLACK SWAN is anything but an overblown, boring shitfest?

#Black Swan #The Fountain #Darren Aronofsky

Recipe For Baba Ganoush

2 Eggplants

3 or 4 tablespoons of tahini sauce

2 lemons worth of lemon juice

A big pour of olive oil (five seconds or so)

2 or 3 cloves of minced garlic

Pre-heat oven to anywhere above 350

Turn on two stove burners (if you use a GAS STOVE)

Place an eggplant each burner and let it cook for 5 - 7 minutes, turning over at the half-way point. Skip this step if you don't have a gas burner or grill of any sort.

While eggplants are on stove, dump the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic in a bowl or food processor. HINT: cut lemon and half and twist around a fork inside the lemon pulp with while squeezing the lemon to extract juice easily.

Remove eggplants from stove and place on an ungreased baking pan. Sprinkle some olive oil on the eggplants for good luck.

Puncture eggplants with a fork. Place the eggplants in the oven and let cook for 35-40 minutes. Cook for 45 minutes if you didn't put them on the stove originally.

Remove eggplants from the oven, cut eggplant near the stem so that it cools more quickly.

After eggplants have sufficiently cooled, peal the skin. It's okay if there's still a little skin on the eggplant, it won't kill you.

Put eggplant pulp in bowl or food processor with the other ingredients. It's slimy!

If you have a food processor, press the "ON" switch and let it zoom away. If you are doing this manually, I suggest using a potato masher.

Serve with PITA BREAD and any other toppings/accessories. I've found that baba ganoush with spinach and tomatoes in a pita wrap tastes great.

FYI -- feel free to dump some salt and pepper in there if you want. I've also mixed a tomato into the baba ganoush itself and it's pretty tasty.

#baba ganoush #middle eastern food #food #recipe

Bathrooms: A New Networking Opportunity

It’s no secret that successful professionals turn to a variety of social situations into networking opportunities. In this day and age you need to always be ready to make a contact.

We’ve all heard of the elevator speech, the golf game, and the industry conference. And we’ve certainly learned to exchange business cards at dinner parties, weddings, and concerts.

But there is a vastly underexplored networking environment for men in particular, one which falls under the radar of even the most ardent networkers. A place you may visit two, four, even ten times a day.

I’m talking about the public bathroom.

For men, the public bathroom has long been a place to simply do one’s duty. You attempt to stifle any unseemly noise, you try not to make eye contact, and you rush out, as if you’d just committed a shameful sin.

It’s time you liberate yourself from bathroom silence. You’ve doubtless seen a pair of gal pals rush off to the bathroom together to have a heart-to-heart. You need to adopt this attitude with everyone you meet in the bathroom environment.

An ice-breaker can be as simple as the hearty exclamation “Man, am I glad to take a piss!” You will be surprised at the many laughs this will elicit, and the bond of empathy that will form between all individuals in the bathroom.

Once you’ve gotten a friendly reaction, everything is fair game. The weather, the workday, how much sleep you got last night. Everything.

There are many techniques ranging from the “fart-monster” to the “how’s-it-hanging,” but my personal favorite is the “fake-masturbation-session.” Oh, you’ll have the boys in the bathroom shaking with laughter, as they do their dirty deeds. Furthermore, this display of gentle perversity is the perfect lead-in to discuss matters of a sexual nature in a male-only environment.

So, I implore men everywhere to smile and make eye contact, shake hands, and let the farts rip to the glee and delight of any other man who is lucky enough to be in the bathroom when you are. You may even get a business card out of it.

News

Hey do you ever ready one of those annoying posts where someone desperately tries to rescue a public journal that they let languish and spoil in the vast swampland of the internet?

So for those of you who don't know (most people) and who see this, I think we're going to try and get married on Christmas. We may have a large party in our honor at some point. At least that's the Plan.

#marital bliss

A Poem By Google Auto Complete

"is there school tomorrow is there a god is there going to be a transformers 3 is there life after death is there mail on presidents day is there no help for the widow's son is there a cure for herpes is there life on mars is there life on other planets is there anybody out there lyrics" - Google Auto Complete

The Weird Backwards World of BRANDING yourself

Recently, a woman posted a comment on the UMass Alumni LinkedIn forum:

"6 weeks ago I drove through Starbucks and paid for the car behind me. What follows is the unlikely story that unfolded.

www.gertz-pileofideas.blogspot.com"

Does that sound like a crappy story to you or not? In any case, this story started a heated debate on the merits of her act and her authenticity as a human being. This was my response to the discussion:

It’s strange how a pretty important issue is being brushed under the table and devolving into an increasing barrage of ad hominem attacks. On the other hand, this conflict IS about the nature and motivation of humans. At the heart of this debate, there is a question of authenticity and morality. Was Lori being inauthentic by making this story public and using it as a tool to advertise for her business? Is her charity in the Starbucks drive-thru negated by communicating this charity in a public forum? The truth is, her charitable act stands on its own. You can make of it whatever you will and ascribe any number of devious motivations to it, but, if we assume the story is true, then you can also evaluate this act on its own, independent of these other contexts. You could say the act was a lame, ineffective act of charity, or you could say that it is a heartwarming and inspiring act of charity. But you can't say that this act of charity is somehow materially different because Lori is now utilizing it as a form of advertisement. But this isn’t the issue. The issue isn’t the act itself, but with Lori's presentation of the act. And this presentation, in fact, is part of a larger trend. Especially within marketing circles, there is the strange and backwards concept of "branding" yourself. You are your own brand and, by thinking of it that way, you can tweak and promote certain aspects of your individual "brand." Lori's story fits seamlessly and elegantly within this weird world. The concepts of private experience and public persona become confused and muddled, until there is little distinction between the two. Lori’s story is a great example of this trend, a trend which can flourish and prosper on the internet. But people feel like they're being conned or duped when they’re presented with a personal story of doing good in such a public context, especially when the story is linked to the selling of a product or service. Is there something wrong with publically announcing that you are doing good in the world? I don’t think so, although this does strike some people as either wrong or in-poor-taste. Is there something wrong with using a personal story or stories as an indirect method for selling a product or service? Not in my opinion. But, I think there IS something very dangerous and dehumanizing about relishing in the mining of your personal life in order to sell. The totalizing concept of the “brand” turns you, as a person, into a business. Your personal issues are increasingly seen through the lens of anecdotes which you are sharing with a target audience, potentially consumers, potentially not -- but you're promoting yourself for the sake of business, you are branding yourself as a commodity on the market. You can’t get off by saying that you are just “sharing” your experiences. The second you make it known that you are selling a product or service which is linked to your story ((either directly or indirectly), then you will be confronted with your story and your private life being morphed into a dehumanizing, arbitrary anecdote.

#branding #marketing #online marketing #authenticity #morality

the one and only member

Winter Hill Bicycle Gang

Some Thoughts On Writing in A LinkedIN Forum

There was recently a long and emotionally charged conversation in a LinkedIn forum on self-publishing versus traditional publishing or Alternative(?) publishing...

These are my thoughts on the subject, which nobody responded to, probably because it wasn't really on-topic and it also wasn't a personal attack:

"It seems to me that it matters not how the book gets to the market place, it only matters that it DOES get to the marketplace and find an audience." - Hank Shrier Hi Hank! If your goal is to make money through your writing, then I think the difference between a self-published book attracting a paying audience versus a traditionally published book attracting a paying audience lies in the distribution of profit and labor, as you alluded to in your post. "the distribution of profit and labor" of course is a complicated and rich subject which has large implications for the writer's lifestyle, time/money constraints, and maybe even the writing itself. You decide to reduce these differences in publication methods, and emphasize the end result of Finding a Marketplace, as if this is the Holy Grail for writers. I think this ties into the emotional need for writers to enjoy a sense of fame or status beyond their circle of family and friends. This dovetails very cozily with the idea of a "target audience" within the context of marketing and selling products--the inclusion of a product into the super-important Marketplace. The need for fame and money combine, and Instead of appreciators of your writing, you have consumers of your product...and maybe FANS. Maybe I'm talking to the wrong crowd, in the wrong forum, but I think that once you remove the presupposition that it's important for your book to "get to the marketplace," you might be able to stress out less about differences in publishing methods."

"It matters not how the book gets published. What matters is that it does get published and both the writer and the readers benefit from the experience. " - Hank Shrier, "It seems to me that it matters not how the book gets to the market place, it only matters that it DOES get to the marketplace and find an audience." Hank Shrier Hank, I think you've summed up a healthy perspective for writers itching to get their books published, as well as writers who have valuable knowledge to share, the kind of knowledge that necessitates an audience. However, there is another perspective that I want to bring to the table: Your writing can exist completely outside the sphere of your professional life and it can still be highly enriching and rewarding experience. There's no need for you to be involved in the business of publishing and marketing in order to have a fulfilling engagement with your writing. I wonder if this attitude seems trite/obvious to some people -- maybe so, but it's an attitude I rarely see among writers who are serious about their craft. If you do end up getting published, it's an added benefit, rather than the holy grail of your writing career. In any case, I think I ended up joining this discussion just as it was sputtering out of energy! I enjoyed the opportunity to read opinions from writers coming from many different places.."

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