wooden spoons & bougainvillea blooms

littleblackjbook: Last copy log of the semester at...

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:56:02 -0500

littleblackjbook:

Last copy log of the semester at @thedailytexan

Edits courtesy of Shabab. Not pictured: blood, sweat, tears.

The Excel Depression

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:00:36 -0500

The Excel Depression:

Did a coding error basically destroy the economies of the Western world? You be the judge.

“…What the Reinhart-Rogoff affair shows is the extent to which austerity has been sold on false pretenses. For three years, the turn to austerity has been presented not as a choice but as a necessity. Economic research, austerity advocates insisted, showed that terrible things happen once debt exceeds 90 percent of G.D.P. But “economic research” showed no such thing; a couple of economists made that assertion, while many others disagreed. Policy makers abandoned the unemployed and turned to austerity because they wanted to, not because they had to.”

“Judgements” - Rosea Lake

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:30:31 -0500

“Judgements” - Rosea Lake

You Were Cool - The Mountain Goats it’s good to be young,...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:41:55 -0500

You Were Cool - The Mountain Goats

it’s good to be young, but let’s not kid ourselves / it’s better to pass on through those years and come out the other side / with our hearts still beating / having stared down demons and come back breathing

So often, we forget to be kind to ourselves. The first few times I heard this song, I thought, god, I wish someone would tell me this. Today it occurred to me that I can tell me this. My mental headspace right now is stuck in the years between roughly 2004 and 2007, and I had forgotten how fairly lonely I was for a fairly significant chunk of those years. I needed to give myself this song today.

"Moffat’s “feisty” female characters all seem to speak in the same quickfire, gimmicky manner which..."

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:53:46 -0500

“Moffat’s “feisty” female characters all seem to speak in the same quickfire, gimmicky manner which grates ever so slightly to my ears. Whatever faults one might have attributed to Russell T. Davies’s series openers, he always sketched out convincing characters incredibly well. Even minor figures could take on a dense weight of realism. By contrast, many of Moffat’s characters carry an air of stylized unreality, something which I’d say has been true of Amy Pond in the past, and seems true yet again of the major new character here, thanks partly to things like the “chinboy” and “beaky” shtick.”

- Matt Hills (reviewing Asylum of the Daleks)

the boy i love left me for a revolution

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:00:40 -0500

the boy i love left me for a revolution

Tallahassee - The Mountain Goats there is no deadline / there...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:00:36 -0500

Tallahassee - The Mountain Goats

there is no deadline / there is no schedule / there is no plan we can fall back on / the road this far can’t be retraced / there is no punchline anybody can tack on

there are loose ends by the score / what did i come down here for? / you

Dirge Without Music

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 02:38:23 -0500

“Dirge Without Music”

Edna St. Vincent Millay

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains, —- but the best is lost.

The answers quick & keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,
They are gone. They have gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

Then the Letting Go - The Mountain Goats saw you coming through...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 18:04:10 -0500

Then the Letting Go - The Mountain Goats

saw you coming through / I turned my head away from you / why do you come here? / why do you come around / why’d you go home / why’d you head on home to Rockaway?

teethofthenight: THE OFFICE (Theme song on acoustic guitar)

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 02:43:57 -0500

teethofthenight:

THE OFFICE (Theme song on acoustic guitar)

Photo

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 23:07:24 -0500

fursasaida: the-cinnamon-peelers-wife: mochente: Hari...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:40:11 -0600

fursasaida:

the-cinnamon-peelers-wife:

mochente:

Hari Kondabolu tells a feminist dick joke.

Fuck. Yes.

So I thought I should let everyone know that I’m in love, no big deal.

…new favorite person.

Chief Justice John Roberts: "Are the citizens in the South more racist than the citizens in the North?"

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:30:00 -0600

Chief Justice John Roberts: "Are the citizens in the South more racist than the citizens in the North?":

From The New York Times:

In a vivid argument in which the lawyers and justices drew varying lessons from the legacies of slavery, the Civil War and the civil rights movement, the court’s conservative wing suggested that the modern South had outgrown its troubled past and that the legal burdens on the nine states were no longer justified.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked skeptically whether “the citizens in the South are more racist than citizens in the North.” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, whose vote is probably crucial, asked whether Alabama today is an “independent sovereign” or whether it must live “under the trusteeship of the United States government.”

Justice Antonin Scalia said the law, once a civil rights landmark, now amounted to a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.”

That remark created the sharpest exchange of the morning, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the other end. “Do you think that the right to vote is a racial entitlement?” she later asked a lawyer challenging the law, with an edge in her voice that left little doubt she was responding to Justice Scalia’s statement. “Do you think that racial discrimination in voting has ended, that there is none anywhere?”

MoneyGrabber - Fitz and The Tantrums

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 01:23:00 -0600

MoneyGrabber - Fitz and The Tantrums

I'm not usually a clothes person, but...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 02:19:34 -0600

Have you ever been so obsessed with a particular piece of clothing you see on TV that you email the costume designer’s AGENT to try and find out where the dress was purchased?

I hadn’t…until now.

I just sent a sincere and vaguely stalker-ish email to the costume designer for the very excellent movie “Save the Date,” featuring Lizzy Caplan, Alison Brie, Martin Starr, Geoffrey Arend, and Mark Webber. The movie’s a small-ish Sundance thing (that seems like it was casted with people like me in mind), and I’d been waiting to rent it from iTunes ever since seeing the trailer a month ago.

Weirdly, though the movie was wonderful, the two things that stuck with me most from the trailer were a song (“Accidents,” by Wolfbird) and a particular red dress worn by Ms. Brie. Neither the song nor the dress disappointed me when I saw them in their full glory in the film. What’s funny is, I’m not even sure I want to buy this dress- I just want to LOOK at it, because I think it’s gorgeous.

So fingers and toes crossed that this costume designer doesn’t think I’m a crazy person, but in the meantime, if you see the dress below, let me know, and I will make you between seventeen and forty million cookies (you can choose the kind).

Review: "Emergency Response," Parks and Recreation Episode 5x13

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:56:00 -0600

The landscape and supporting characters of Leslie Knope’s life are very different than they used to be. Over the course of a few years, she’s found a best friend and a fiancee, gotten elected onto City Council, purchased a new house, and saved her town. Just a short while ago, it looked like Pawnee was on the verge of economic devastation- but now the budget’s been balanced, the park seems in reach, and best of all, the raccoon population is down.

I mention this because, as tonight’s episode showed, Leslie has changed just as much as Pawnee has. Just a few seasons ago, Leslie would have dealt with the setbacks in tonight’s episode- setbacks which were actually pretty significant- by either ramping up the manic enthusiasm or collapsing into despair. The Leslie of seasons past was more volatile, emotional, and naive. Sometimes she even threw tantrums.

Compare that to the way Leslie behaved tonight. She wasn’t a perfect model of serenity- she kept Ben on handy speed dial and we could feel her stress level when she was trapped in that meeting- but on the whole, she remained calm, knowing with confidence that she could handle a little rash of Avian Bird Flu and adapting with grace to a new strategy once Jam’s malicious intentions became clear. Leslie knew she couldn’t be everywhere, and she didn’t try to be- she kept an eye on everything, but maintained focus on the problem at hand.

My point is that Leslie Knope is changing. She’s still the enthusiastic, positive government employee she’s always been, but she’s finding herself increasingly capable of responding to setbacks with grace and with action. Leslie doesn’t let herself get sidetracked by despair, and, best of all, lets her team help her when needed.

A lot of shows struggle with natural character development, but that’s never really been an issue for Parks and Rec- Ben transitioned from a heartless auditor into a practical, generous, and patient Pawnee citizen in front of our eyes, and April is slowly but surely becoming a serious, goal-oriented young adult (while still maintaining the part of herself that will stuff a rabbit and remove all its feet as a good luck charm, or buy two crows at the local Food ‘n Stuff). Ron has a girlfriend, and that girlfriend isn’t named Tammy. Even Jerry seems to be slowly (and ineffectively, because he’s Jerry) finding his voice (although Tom probably won’t notice, because he still doesn’t have Jerry’s phone number).

There are so many other things I could talk about from “Emergency Response”- the way Ron handled pretty much every aspect of taking over for Joan Callamezzo (the “Herbie, Fully Loaded” shout-out was a great touch), the sadness and frustration of watching Andy coming so close to achieving his dream and falling just a little bit short, or the great ensemble lines pretty much everyone got this week. I’m honestly shocked I got this far without mentioning the ending, given how happy I was to hear confirmation of next week’s story- but I’ll save the wedding fever for next Thursday.

That excess of material is why I loved tonight’s episode of Parks and Rec- it gave Leslie a chance to appreciate her team, and in turn allowed us to appreciate Leslie. She stepped away, and they stepped up, and it was a pleasure to watch.

Grade: A

Final thoughts:

1) I expect to see GIFs of Ron Swanson’s performance on Pawnee Today (now “It’s On With Ron”?) for years to come. It’s not often that Nick Offerman gets to do smash cuts- his character is not a verbose one- but he knocked this out of the park.

2) Bring Animal Control Guy back once a week. Perfect delivery. I loved that I never really knew if those birds were actually going to die- his offer to kill someone for Leslie, followed by “after I kill all those birds,” struck just the write balance between enthusiastic and menacing.

3) Did anyone else think there would be a twist ending? I expected Pawnee’s 13th consecutive Emergency Prep failure to result in some sort of major fine that Leslie would need to pay with the park money, and I was pleasantly surprised that the episode chose to go in a different direction. After all these roadblocks, it’s hard to imagine that the park, once a pit, might actually soon be a reality. Imagine how Season 1’s Leslie would feel about that.

4) MouseRat!!!!!!!

carpe-cerevisi: coming soon: z’s political valentines 2013 for...

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 03:41:19 -0600

carpe-cerevisi:

coming soon: z’s political valentines 2013

for 2011 and 2012, click here.

Oct. 19 isn’t just a date, it’s a state of mind!

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:53:55 -0600

Oct. 19 isn’t just a date, it’s a state of mind!

theavc: Community is coming back tonight! Did you forget? If...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:51:48 -0600

theavc:

Community is coming back tonight! Did you forget? If so, please see your way out. You have no place here.

roaring-softly: They went to there. (by Tyler Feder)

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:16:00 -0600

roaring-softly:

They went to there. (by Tyler Feder)