BRILLIANTISM

WALLA+ROBBINS

2009-10-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

Chris Walla and J. Robbins wrote and recorded this song in a day.

Listen/watch HERE.

WILD

2009-09-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

Vice set up another outlet for Wild Things Mania. They commissioned a bundle of amazing artists to interpret the story/movie/fantasy collaboration. Furie! Millionaire! Skinner!

I am fired up.

DIRTY QUEST

2009-09-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

So Dirty Projectors walk into The Roots studio and this happens.

Via @questlove on Twitter.

YO

2009-09-28T11:05:00.001-07:00

MGMT on Yo Gabba Gabba.

Q: Must one have a child to enjoy a children's show this much?

A: Nope.

WORDS OF THE WEEK

2009-09-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

1. Tetchy
2. Manqué
3. Gryke

CAPTION CONTEST

2009-09-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

"Everything always works out for me."

WOW

2009-09-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

"Film critic Roger Ebert gave Apple's VoiceOver technology two thumbs up in allowing him to communicate after losing his voice to cancer surgery, but said his health insurance would only offer to cover an $8,000 device that didn't work nearly as well."

GREAT SENTENCE

2009-09-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

Great sentence: "Even more distressing, he was wearing Crocs."

From the GQ article by a Bush speechwriter, Me Talk Presidential One Day.

THIS GUY GETS IT

2009-09-14T10:42:00.001-07:00

Anthony Weiner on Bill Maher. I don't know much about his record, but what he's saying is just right.

NEW SPECIES

2009-09-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

I love when scientists discover new species of things. It gives me hope that someday someone might discover me.

Ha ha, etc. These animals are from a volcano crater in Papua New Guinea.

CAPTION CONTEST

2009-09-11T13:36:00.001-07:00

"We had Thai last week, though."

TOP THREE

2009-09-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Top Three things that don't make sense from New Scientist's list of 13 More Things That Don't Make Sense:

1. Dark Flow
2. The Lithium Problem
3. Noise from the Edge of the Universe

DAVID CROSS' BIO

2009-09-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

Via Aziz!

I WANT THIS, TOO

2009-09-10T10:24:00.001-07:00

Wall clock from Uncommon on Etsy.

I WANT THESE, OBV

2009-09-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Frattelli Rossetti Nubuck Wingtip Oxfords. From Gilt.

SPEECH

2009-09-09T23:18:00.000-07:00

After reading Matt Taibbi's doomsday assessment of the congressional health care reform bills (a must read!), I came home to find my dad "depressed" by how out of control our country has become. Obama's speech on the subject was excellent, which I found slightly consoling. I felt obligated to try to lift my dad's spirits, if temporarily, with the below email.

Dad:

The Dish corrals a lot of excited blogging about the prospects of the Obama speech. I don't expect a blog to make anyone feel much better, especially since I have Taibbi open in another tab pointing out ten trillion other ways my tax dollar is being criminally misappropriated, but I think we should appreciate the thought and effort Obama puts into ringleading the circus - a circus he neither created nor choreographed. He doesn't need to be any more thoughtful than the scoundrels on the congressional floor who are so removed from anything real going on in this country, just scampering towards money clips of lobbyists (and their corporate overlords) that should really all be in "for profit" private jails. (There would be plenty of room for real bad guys if the government stop prosecuting - and started regulating/taxing - non violent pot dealers!)

My favorite part of the speech was when he explained the public option in terms of public universities. This was not only easy to understand - there can be public healthcare (UC Davis) without the private sector (Harvard; bad example!) suffering - it was a correction of Obama's less-sound earlier analogy from June or July (when he compared a public option to the Post Office, private to Fed Ex). People need multiple easy-to-understand examples before they can even begin to understand actual issues. We are used to good/evil politics: countries without democracy, bad; surge, good. Everything was black and white in the Bush years, and the country is dumber because of it. For Obama to give everything the color needed to attract the interest of our fat, spoiled, disinterested country will probably take more time than he has.

All I'm saying is separate from the actual change he affects (which we should be critical of) he should also be judged on his effort and patience, because basically we're very lucky that even a single person in Washington cares.

SOLAR

2009-09-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, those little dots equal the space required to power the world with solar panels alone. From Evan.

I WANT THIS

2009-09-07T16:46:00.001-07:00

Nobuhiro Teshima's Crank Trick #2. Via Designboom.

GREAT GIFS

2009-09-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

From FFFFound.

POGO VS. HOOK

2009-09-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

RETRO

2009-09-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable list of retro-type here.

DESIRABLE CAREER

2009-09-03T02:56:00.000-07:00

"Jonze was an executive producer for “Jackass: The Movie,” a desultory collection of stunts and pranks that was made for just $5 million and became an unexpected hit, ultimately grossing more than $79 million at the box office."

SJ in the NYP. Fascinating!

DAVE SMALLEN

2009-09-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

Between hearing this song strummed in bedrooms to listening to the orchestral studio version, this song made the biggest leap (for me). There are a lot of ideas at work here, is what I'm saying. Just listen.

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://davesmallen.bandcamp.com/track/nyc"&amp;amp;gt;NYC by Dave Smallen&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

I WANT THESE

2009-09-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

These modular shelves are made of paper: "Our patented, environmentally sound manufacturing process turns post-consumer recycled paper into superbly strong boards that weigh 62% less than particle board." Seen on Design Milk because of Way Basics.

OPTICAL ILLUSION OF THE YEAR

2009-09-02T12:31:00.001-07:00

From Scientific American. These pictures are the same!