How did Kevin Rudd get his government associated with such inane policy?

A Blacklist for Websites Backfires in Australia. This is one issue on which Oz ought to look across the water at the Land of the Long White Cloud. Citizens in New Zealand have told the Kiwi government exactly where it can stick its 'net censorship. ..

What it feels like to fall in love

I love this representation of how the feeling of falling in love changes everything about the way life feels. Watching it while Flame-Haired Angel is thousands of miles away, however, may not have been the best idea. (Note to self: Might want to put off re-watching Once.) Found thanks to Le Love.

I think I may watch this daily for a while

..

Flame-Haired Costume Design

One of my true love's professional triumphs is being released in the US soon. The Butterfly Tattoo. Novel by Philip Pullman. Costume design by Geri Spencer. ..

The case for righteous anger as a force for good

I felt like this a whole lot during the Bush era. I wish I had been this articulate about it, then. The Virtues of Public Anger and the Need for More, by Glenn Greenwald, in Salon. "The public rage we're finally seeing is long, long overdue, and appears to be the only force with both the ability and will to impose meaningful checks on continued kleptocratic pillaging and deep-seated corruption in virtually every branch of our establishment institutions. Obviously, mass rage can entail its own excesses and, and if unchecked, can lead to mob rule, a form of majoritarian tyranny. ... But we are far, far, far away from the point where unchecked public sentiment plays too great of a role in how our political institutions function. Rather: we're a country that, for the last decade, acquiesced meekly and quietly as our Government transferred huge amounts of national wealth to a tiny elite; launched a devastating war based on purely false pretenses; tortured, spied on us and literally claimed the right to invalidate law and the Constitution; and turned itself over to the highest bidders. The overarching question is not: why is there so much public rage? The overarching question is: why has there been so little? A political establishment that can function without any fear of the citizenry will inevitably trample on its interests. The only thing that disappoints me about the current public outrage over the AIG (and other) bonuses is that we would choose, as a people, to let the amorality of the Bush administration cruise by for eight years without getting our hackles well and truly up. We'd only get really, really ticked off only when we was our pocket money stolen by bullies. Better late, and even petty, than never. ...

Now, there's a voice you don't hear every day

A long while back, I bookmarked this article, after it came up in some google search about something or other. It looked like an interesting read, but too long to digest quickly, so I thought I'd come back to it. Tonight, cleaning up my bookmarks, I happed upon it again and finally read it. That is one interesting man. A black Baptist preacher in Colorado writes about pictures of women in bathing suits and feminism and the role of women in the black church and... And, toward the end of his long, wandering jeremiad, throws in: Please don't let Jerry Fallwell or Ralph Reed fool you: God wants you to have sex. God wants you to have glorious, mind-wrenching, sweaty, fall on the floor, neighbors banging on the wall, call-the-cops, bruised in the morning unforgettable sex. Ladies, God wants you to have mind-wrenching, pass-out from the ecstasy of it orgasms. Got your attention? ..

Notte Sento

Notte Sento (English subtitles) A short film, made with 4500+ still photographs, shot on a Canon EOS 30D camera. ...which makes this the most beautiful flip-book ever. Notte Sento (English subtitles) from napdan on Vimeo. Hat tip to Le Love.

Power Law Distributions and the art of the chaotic long view

I'm addicted to TED. Sometimes I go for weeks without listening to a TED Talk. Then, for whatever reason, I'll seek out a new one, or I'll re-experience an old one, and I'll be transported. My most recent mind-altering TED experience was with this talk, by Clay Shirky. It's a little high on the wonk factor, but so worth it. The talk is a couple of years old, now, but never more relevant. ...

X-ray Specs

“Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot." Groucho Marx Via Big Fun.

Dante Bucci is well Hang*

* The instrument is a "hang".

Elections have consequences

From the almost always screamingly wonderful blog of John Taplin: Elections Have Consequences March 19, 2009 · 39 Comments At the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Wednesday that, over two years, he would all but eliminate an unpopular practice that has prevented tens of thousands of active-duty soldiers and reservists from leaving military service on time if they were scheduled to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. At the Justice Department. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Wednesday outlined a shift in the enforcement of federal drug laws, saying the administration would effectively end the Bush administration’s frequent raids on distributors of medical marijuana. In Congress. The House voted Wednesday to approve the largest expansion of government-sponsored service programs since President John F. Kennedy first called for the creation of a national community service corps in 1963. Before you give yourself a heart attack over the AIG mess, take a deep breath and know that Obama’s election in November really mattered.

Fortune cookie zen

"If you don’t enjoy what you have, how could you be happier with more?" — My Fortune Cookie just dropped some deep shit on me. via Dopezombie.

Tedious or charming?

“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious." Oscar Wilde is one of the few people who didn’t underestimate the value of charm. Via Beautiful & Depraved.

The Magic of Clint Eastwood

“I like Clint Eastwood because he has only two facial expressions: one with the hat, and one without it. Sergio Leone

“ The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense." Tom Clancy

Note to self: Don't forget.

Bush scandals list. ..

Just freaking beautiful.

Slices of Life. Hat tip to Nightmare Brunette, which is sometimes NSFW.

The Mother of All Funk Chords

...might actually be the mother of all mash-ups. Hat tip to Mash-up Town.

"America, you are getting played."

Jon Taplin loses his shit, just a little, and writes one of the best short diatribes I've seen about the current financial crisis / media gore-fest. His article: Bipolar Media. ...

Sexiest Car Ever redux redux

Oh, why did I get started on this? The 1938 Phantom Corsair.

From the Truck Man

I loved this response, from an old friend, to the post about the Anais Nin quote, yesterday: Marginally cute in teens, though worrisome (rationally) to their parents. Adults who feel this way, and act on it, are no longer romantic or cute – they become: -- wards of . . . someone – the state, dominating partners, etc. -- drug addicts -- dead early The brass ring is grasped neither by those who feel/act as Nin outlines, nor by those, like Mary Poppins’ employer, who dismiss Nin’s sensibility full cloth, but by those who can balance the below with the need to feed/clothe/shelter/nurture oneself –

Not sure this is an aspiration, but, holy crap, what an inspiration!

"I am an excitable person who only understands life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings are much stronger than reason. I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I can not transform into something marvelous, I let go. Reality doesn’t impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls." Anaïs Nin Hat tip to Beautiful & Depraved (which is sometimes NSFW)

Brilliant.

Hat tip to Big Fun, which is sometimes NSFW.

Best Bathtub Drain Plug Ever

Have been a bit quiet. Will have to get this jalopy moving again.