Tension and Release

Portland, Oregon

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:57:55 -0400

Yes Im drunk and on vacation, with that said, Portland, Ore has lived up to every one of my pre-conceived notions of this place, and I freaking love it. Uber liberal, uber outdoorsy, its amusing how obvious this whole place is. I mean, think Eastern Mountain Sports, mixed with Magic Hat, mixed with goat cheese from some organic farm outside of Vancouver. Dont get me wrong, it aint Manhattan, but there are so many transplanted New Yorkers here, and the vibe is urban yet so laid back. Im a fan, a big fan. Pics and more news to come.

biteofpythias: I’m going to bed thinking it looks like Biden. I am hoping I wake up to a text...

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:51:54 -0400

biteofpythias:

I’m going to bed thinking it looks like Biden. I am hoping I wake up to a text messsge and find out it is not.

Nope, its Biden. Im on vacation in Portland, Oregon. One of the bluest places in the country, and people are depressed. The inner controversies of this decision, the lack of charisma in Biden, the overall void between Obama and Biden as politicians….i hope i am naive, but this would not have been my choice.

Vacation time....

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:38:27 -0400

Goodbye NYC….off to Portland Oregon for family, mountains, and beer. I feel like I have not stopped moving in weeks. I cant wait for some time to chill.

McCain opens 5 pt lead over Obama

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:32:10 -0400

As reported by the latest Reuters/Zogby poll….and the Tumblr world collectively gulps. As if it was really going to be that easy, dont underestimate the idiocy surrounding you.

On recession sob stories...

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:31:00 -0400

So I need to say something about this very touching and earnest re-blogging of the Our Cupboared was Bare sad story about a writer having to take his family to a soup kitchen. The story is sad, but my reason for writing is not the story, but the reaction to it. Reading about poverty, the recession, job loss, hell its not a good time in this country and while a part of me admits that its the natural impulse to do what you can, even if thats only going to a soup kitchen or offering to help a friend who gets laid off, I question such actions and the motives behind them.

For example, the Tumblr world as a specific focus group is probably more privileged and in all likelihood better educated than the average American. If you have 1 hour out of your week to do something which contributes to society in a way that may curb our present day downturn, is feeding a homeless guy lentil soup really the answer. To me, its completely selfish. You are reducing your self to the lowest common denominator and reaping personal satisfaction by doing what is essentially brainless activity. Altruism in this case would be better served through egotism. You are privileged, I am privileged, networks of people, intelligence, power, you name it and many of you have the world at your fingertips. So why do we settle and pretend that a $10 donation to Amnesty or an afternoon at the soup kitchen is what we are capable of. Its not purely selfish, but its falsely convincing oneself that by acting the least you are fulfilling some duty that you feel compelled to fill due to your general comfort and your neighbor’s general discomfort. Worse yet, many seek recognition for these deeds.

You know, to each their own. I feel great doing good rather easy deeds, but thats the point, it makes me feel great largely becuase Ive succeeded in doing something and have sacrificed very little doing it. I can float along in the upper middle class my whole life, dropping clothes off at amvets and serving soup at shelters, and the argument is valid, I will have probably assisted a few dozen people in making their lives more comfortable. To me, thats the easy road, thats the road that unfortunately our society applauds and gives out blue ribbons for volunteerism. There is no challenge in that, and very little to be applauded. You know what I say, I say keep doing what you are good at, if you think all you can possibly rise to in terms of influencing society is the act of pouring soup, well god damn, Im all for you going to the soup kitchen. But for the rest of you, rise above the rank and file and get into a position where you can make a fucking difference. Most people are capable of doing this, but would just as well settle and let someone else take the reins. Do not feel compelled to serve soup, there are others there to do that. You are better than that, and you can bring exponentially more to this society by relying on your ego to propel you to a position where your mind puts soup in a million mouths rather than 4. My regards to Ms. Rand for that little rant.

bikerfish: Greenwich Village, 1970 via Really? 1970? I swear...

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:12:30 -0400

bikerfish:

Greenwich Village, 1970 via

Really? 1970? I swear I bought weed from that dude on the right, in front of Village Cigars in 1995.

Blue Planet BBC series footage segued to one of the most...

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:09:00 -0400

Blue Planet BBC series footage segued to one of the most intriguing of the many Detroit tech-electro groups, Drexciya. Their style blended aquatic sounding pads and atmospherics against the dark analog blips and beeps. RIP James Stinson. Check out the meaning behind their name.

Snug Harbor, Montauk NY - Solid weekend at the beach.

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:20:01 -0400

Snug Harbor, Montauk NY - Solid weekend at the beach.

374 days until....

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:06:00 -0400

Burning Man 2009, here’s this year’s link BURNING MAN 2008 -

I am planning a trip of close and not so close friends out to the Nevada desert next summer. Is it worth 6 of your vacation days? The more the merrier. I need to experience this before I turn 30 is what this all comes down to.

Video: Georgian TV reporter shot by Russian sniper during live broadcast carries on with her report | Mail Online

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:23:19 -0400

Video: Georgian TV reporter shot by Russian sniper during live broadcast carries on with her report | Mail Online:

soupsoup:

(via adamiss)

Thats dedication.

via ArtKrush

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:46:59 -0400

via ArtKrush

Valparaiso, Chile (taken a year ago to the day)…i think my...

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:52:00 -0400

Valparaiso, Chile (taken a year ago to the day)…i think my favorite part of this pic is the discarded dime bag on the step.

Great meal and great conversation

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:28:27 -0400

I can sleep content tonight. If you haven’t already, treat yourself to a meal at Blue Ribbon Brasserie on Sullivan Street, oh; and if you are lucky go with a woman you met at 3 am in a quiet sake bar the saturday before, who is four years your senior, a chef herself, as well as a burlesque dancer, and part time dj and who is vacationing in NYC, but actually lives in LA and realize you can converse with her as though you’ve known her your whole life, say goodbye like adults on the corner of houston and sullivan, and smile as you enter your cab home. I may never see her again, but nights like this make this city worth every penny.

Good to see

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:12:00 -0400

UPDATE: AUDIO LINKS FIXED!!! News: Over the past year Breakbeat Science has gone through a series of changes, but we are now back in NYC, under the original management of DJ Clever, DJ Dara and DB. We’ve gone back to basics that we’ve built this brand upon, with the same quality and service that Breakbeat Science is known for! So, whether you are a new customer, a steadfast customer, or a customer that may have strayed - we would like to take this time to thank you for your patience with Breakbeatscience.com and ensure you that we aren’t going anywhere (our physical space is located within Halcyon at 57 Pearl Street in Brooklyn, NY) and we plan to strive to make this the best Drum & Bass, Dubstep and Breakbeat mailorder in North America once again!!!

via

What it sounds like when James Wood analyzes children's literature:

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:33:32 -0400

rach:

[In Robert McCloskey’s “Make Way for Ducklings,” Mr. and Mrs. Mallard are trying out the Boston Public Garden for their new home, when a swan boat (a boat made to look like a swan but actually powered by a pedal-pushing human pilot) passes them. Mr. Mallard has never seen anything like this before. McCloskey falls naturally into free indirect style: “Just as they were getting ready to start on their way, a strange enormous bird came by. It was pushing a boat full of people, and there was a man sitting on its back. ‘Good morning,’ quacked Mr. Mallard, being polite. The big bird was too proud to answer.” Instead of telling us that Mr. Mallard could make no sense of the swan boat, McCloskey places us in Mr. Mallard’s confusion; yet the confusion is obvious enough that a broad ironic gap opens between Mr. Mallard and the reader (or author). We are not confused in the same way as Mr. Mallard; but we are also being made to inhabit Mr. Mallard’s confusion.] - From How Fiction Works

Hee. {via}

Mr.Wood (Professor Wood to me circa 2002) was and always will be an influential literary mind and I owe him a great deal of gratitude for making me realize that the literary form, especially the modern novel, is still capable of great things.

Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:54:00 -0400

So my nightly surfing led me to the above titled Adbuster’s cover story. Wow, does this guy lay it on thick. Commentary is begged by hyperbole such as:

“An artificial appropriation of different styles from different eras, the hipster represents the end of Western civilization – a culture lost in the superficiality of its past and unable to create any new meaning.”

I need not further criticize, read the article if you want to hate on hipsters. I will say that the hipster phenomona is not nearly as bad as this naysayer professes. As accurately refuted by Momus, all groups like this add something and propel society down a certain path that in the end, I trust we will be appreciative for. Certainly there are ample characteristics of hipsterdom that raise eyebrows for the wrong reasons, but in the end history shows that if you put enough kids in a room with cheap beer, drugs, and bad clothing, something good will come from it. I look back at the scenes I have been a part of , and the old adage, those in greenhouses shall not throw stones comes to mind. Its inescapable to hold some disdain toward the kids who are doing what you once did, only with different music, different drugs, and different motives. Dont get me wrong, hipsters can be criticized, but they are not the destructive force this guy thinks.

Morphine - Candy (a long time favorite)

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:27:00 -0400

Morphine - Candy (a long time favorite)

Bill never pulled his punches. You know I still love you all, I...

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:01:00 -0400

Bill never pulled his punches. You know I still love you all, I can only imagine what he’d say about my career.

Im lying out in Newport RI when I look up and see this bullshit....

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:32 -0400

Im lying out in Newport RI when I look up and see this bullshit. Leave me the fuck alone marketing scum….figures its a car insurance company. This calls for a little bit of Bill Hicks. See above.

Now you can hate on Pitchfork via T.V.

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:23:24 -0400

Hell, I like Pitchfork, never been one to deny it. So I look forward to the premier of their programming on I.F.C. later in the month.