flickering pictures

Between tax, duties, shipping from Japan and the cost of the actual album, I just spent a little over ¥5700 on this CD. If you know how many dollars that is — and how “frugal” I tend to be — you know it’s very likely the most expensive record I’ve ever bought, and it […]

[Read more →]

From a Flickr gallery devoted to the “most interesting” photos taken by Cory Doctorow, the Canadian sci-fi novelist, Guardian columnist, public speaker, copyfighter, civil liberties campaigner and co-editor of the most linked-to blog on the Net.
And I haven’t met him or anything, but he appears to be an all-around awesome guy.

[Read more →]

In lieu of a snappy headline and a barrage of overused adjectives like “dazzling,” “heart-rending” and the like, I thought I’d just refer you here and let you hear him for yourself. Check out “I Need You” and “Hey Ruth.”
For more music, you can also meander over to his MySpace page, or pick up […]

[Read more →]

For the last little while, vacation time, jet lag and three weeks worth of e-mail/voice mail have joined their sinister forces to create a great sucking whirlpool of unproductiveness and exhaustion — one that pulled my desire to post down to the deepest darkest abysses of the undersea. As of today, I’ve returned home, […]

[Read more →]

Kermit Scott, the inspiration behind Jim Henson’s most beloved muppet character, has died.
The real Kermit taught philosophy at Purdue and Yale before his desire to help others led him to earn a Master’s degree in counseling and launch a new career at the age of 57. He and his wife co-founded the Welfare Rights […]

[Read more →]

I be liking chess
Cuz chess is crazy, right there, that’s the ultimate
It’s like a great hobby right there, playing chess
The board, the pieces, the squares, the movement
You know, war, capturing, thinking, strategy
Planning, music, it’s hip-hop, and sports
It’s life, it’s reality

Those are the last lines in GZA’s “Queen’s Gambit,” a chess-inspired track written by one of […]

[Read more →]

Steven Jay Russell escaped from prison an astounding four times, each time on Friday the 13th. Apparently, most of his escapes were motivated by a desire to be with Philip Morris, a cellmate he fell in love with during his second stint in jail.
Here’s a sample of his exploits, from Wikipedia:

Russell got out […]

[Read more →]

How’s that for a headline?
Florence and the Machine are a good old-fashioned British ass-kickin’ band. Here’s the video for their song “Kiss with a Fist”:

According to her BBC bio, she “makes the kind of music Lily or Kate would make if they’d grown up locked in a cage full of snakes in the basement […]

[Read more →]

You know the old joke: “What do you get when you cross Vincent Price, Michael Jackson, 1,500 Filipino inmates and a transvestite?”
I think I missed the boat on this one, and some of you have probably already seen this. But sweet mercy it’s fantastic. If you ever go to jail in the Philippines, […]

[Read more →]

Brazilians, Italians and Brits all claim to be the world’s biggest sports fans, but flag-waving and beer-swilling is lightweight stuff compared to this guy’s latest stunt. Looking to show off his patriotism and his excitement for the upcoming Beijing Olympics, a Chinese man named Wei Sheng did the natural thing and jabbed 2008 pushpins […]

[Read more →]