Leash



I'm a serious Pearl Jam junkie, so it bemuses me to admit that until recently (like 5 minutes ago), I've been an unwitting victim of the Kiss-This-Guy syndrome. I've been mishearing the lyrics as, "Thought police! Thought police!"

Evidently, I'm not the only one. For the translating-Vedder-impaired, he's actually saying, "Drop the leash! Drop the Leash!"

Yeah, I even have this CD. I have the song in my playlist. I'm so ashamed.
It's George Orwell's fault now.

This image is from the concert we went to Saturday night at the Machine Shop. Travis Meeks and his crew gave an excellent performance lasting nearly two and a half hours! Glad to hear he's working on releasing the Purple album under his own label. He came out with a swollen right cheek bone. Said he'd been literally beating himself up onstage the night before. An artist, suffering for his work? Or a mildly-autistic musician trying to make a statement? It matters not. Travis is a true talent and it was an honor to have him back in Flint, Michigan.

Michael is a big sci-fi fan. He bought a couple new books at the bookstore today, one of which was The Year's Best SF 13. When we got home he showed it to me, I flipped it open and the first thing I read was this quote from John Kessel's The Last American:

Artist

"The great artist is a rapist. It is his job to plant a seed, an idea or an emotion, in the viewers mind. He uses every tool available to enforce his will. The audience doesn't know what it wants, but he knows what it wants, and needs, and he gives it to them.

"To the degree I am capable of it, I strive to be a great artist."
—Andrew Steele, 2037
"Man of Steele"
Interview on VarietyNet



Just wanted to share.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Ed McGowin aside from his fantastic body of work, is that he's not Ed McGowin. This Baltimore artist legally changed his name 12 times, and under each name, creating and submitting artworks to the Baltimore Museum of Arts. See, McGowin has a theory that an artist’s will to change has been denied by the repressive demand that an artist's work develop in a sequentially logical, linear progression.

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Just a few songs you won't hear on mainstream radio because it frackin' sucks.

It is a game that you must enjoy. The pants command it!




People Bucket

Downloads available for Mac and Windows.

True pioneers...




The making of House of Cards:



They've opened this to the public to explore and experiment with the data to create your own visualizations. Find out more about the first camera-free video in history over at Google Code. It's beautiful in it's simplicity, no?

...and then deliberately crossing it!


Found this over at Random Vandal

There'll be no Meredith Brooks crap on this here blog. Maybe I'm just being a bitch, but I can't stand her and that effin' overplayed Bitch song of hers.

Chaos. Infinity. Immortality. The idea that there is something beyond what we know, something larger than our existence, yet perhaps something as simple as a single string of code. These concepts fascinate me and provide the foundation of my passion for fractals.

The first is from an installment called Displacements by Michael Naimark. First he filmed 3 people in an archetypal Americana living room then he spray-painted the whole room white and placed a projector in the same location of the camera. This was done three different times between 1980 and 84, but the version above is from 2005.

The later is an excerpt from the movie Waking Life, a digitally enhanced live action rotoscoped film directed by Richard Linklater in 2001. You might recognize the name (if not the style) if you're A Scanner Darkly fan. The movie — sometimes captivating, sometimes dull — can be viewed in it's entirety (98 minutes) via Google Video.

Viral video, I know, I know. Just wanted to share this with my daughters.

I made a couple of these pies to bring to a friend's birthday party this weekend. The recipe came from my Grandma Luxton, who probably got it out of a magazine or something back in the day. It's super easy — no cooking or baking — and the pies disappear rather quickly when I take them to picnics or potlucks!


You'll Need:
2 ready-made graham cracker or Oreo pie crusts
1 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
6 oz. cream cheese
16 oz. tub of Cool Whip

Directions:
1. With a beater, mix the sugar and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl.
2. Beat in cream cheese.
3. Beat in the whipped cream.
4. Smooth mixture into pie crusts and freeze.
5. Serve frozen

I usually make the pies a day in advance so they have plenty of time to chill. Right before serving, drizzle some chocolate syrup over the pies or add some chocolate shavings. There are many variations of this recipe floating around out there, but this one is the easiest one I've found to make. Some recipes call for chunky peanut butter, some call for sweetened condensed milk. I didn't think to take pictures of the pies before we ate them, so the image of the pie above came from this guy's blog where he offers a "light" version of the recipe for those who are looking for a reduced-fat alternative.

Have you seen this yet?

And don't miss the Gorrilaz gallery!

TURN IT UP!
Man, my ears are still ringing...

We were at The Machine Shop last night to see Filter and caught a couple of the opening acts too. Opiate for the Masses opened up right before them and effin'' rocked the place! Their drummer is a mad man! I was completely astounded... and then when Filter came out, Richard Patrick apologized for his voice because he's been sick — but OMG — he really didn't have to because his vocals were right on!



In a couple weeks, we're seeing Days of the New at the Shop. Already printed up the tix. That place is the rock capital of Michigan, ya'll, and it's right here in Flint. They've always got great live bands, smokin' hot waitresses, and the bar staff really know how to mix drinks!

(Summer, you little vixen.)

Reverse Graffiti Project
Muto by Blu

My husband turned me onto this great blog about our lovely city titled Flint Expatriates by Gordon Young. The site has a lot of great current information and history about Flint as well as interesting links and relevant videos. Today he blogged this, and I just had to share...



I LOL'd for real.

Warning: Adult content through and through. I mean, it's George Carlin. Do I really have to state that?



(It's funny because it's true. You know this.)

This photo was taken here in Flint and posted on cloudedmaple's photostream on flickr. It was spotted on Court St. and Miller Rd.

Thanks for sharing, Charon. That's classic Flint right there, ya'll.

Flint, MI Group Pool

"He's hurt
He's dying
Claimed he was a terrorist
Claimed to avert a catastrophe
Someone should'a told him
That the buck stops here
No one ever said
That he was involved with thieves
And they're blind, blind
blind, blind, blind, blind, blind
blind, blind
blind, blind, blind, blind, blind"


Artistic genius, ladies and gents. David Byrne defines the term "cutting edge" and don't even try to deny it. Blind isn't one of my favorite Talking Heads tunes (I have several favs), but I chose this one because I think the political statement is apropos considering our upcoming election and the current wrench in office. Not to mention, the bizarre head shaking bits are more trippy than any modern day Tool video, hands down! Hey look, it's Anthony Kiedis on speedballs! *ducks the tomato*

Our children's children will still be talking about Byrne decades, nay, centuries from now. And aren't we the fortunate ones to see it all first hand?

David Byrne's Blog
Radio
Wikipedia
Stop Making Sense

I feel like a Debbie Downer today, but comedian George Carlin died yesterday afternoon at the age of 71 from heart trouble. I saw him perform live in Detroit once and absolutely loved the show. He was quite the enlightened genius.

I want to say a word or two about the recent controversy surrounding two of the most commented articles here at SDID:

Andrew Tower is a lying lizard
Andrew Tower is a lying lizard Update!

I hate to even draw more attention to these posts because they involve events that took place years ago and therefore, I no longer find them relevant, at least not to my own life and I can assume that would apply to the majority of my current visitors as well. Secondly, they are about someone I've never met and hope to keep it that way. Lastly, the language in the articles is a bit harsh, and although I was not the one who wrote them, I can understand why the author (my husband) was so irate because I feel the same sense of outrage whenever I hear about assholes like this guy taking advantage of naive women. Over the years, these two articles have received numerous comments from all sides — several women he has lied to and betrayed, his wife, someone who's apparently spying on him, his friends, and even his son, all of whom are strangers to me. The only reason I am writing today is to clear up some misunderstandings...

This one goes out to all the lefties.

Lefties will rule the world!

Heavy man. Talk about an existential crisis.




P.S. Anyone know who this comic is attributed to?

Of the numerous Dan Dennett videos available online, these rank pretty high among my favorites. I especially like what he says about teaching children at an early age about the different religions, giving them only the facts and allowing them to make their own choices...

11 Reality Shows That Prove the Apocaplyse is Upon Us

This article made me snort milk out my nose. No, seriously.

Alright alright, I will admit to watching a couple of these ridiculous shows on occasion. *ducks*




Interesting tidbit about the infamous Trading Spouses God Warrior episode, the woman who traded places with her was a Unitarian Universalist.

Bret Michaels, I didn't miss a single minute of Rock of Love. I gotta say, I love ya now like I loved ya then, but it's time to follow Jon Bon Jovi's lead and cut the locks. Also, I bet you're kinda sexy without any eyeliner.