Friday, October 31

Tumbrel Remarks

From an article by Christopher Hitchens. The rest of the article's pretty dull--shocking, I know--but this part was pretty neat:

I like to consider myself an expert on what writer Joyce Cary once called "tumbrel remarks." A tumbrel remark is an unguarded comment by an uncontrollably rich person, of such crass insensitivity that it makes the workers and peasants think of lampposts and guillotines. I can give you a few for flavor. The late queen mother, being driven in a Rolls-Royce through a stricken district of Manchester, England, said as she winced at the view, "I see no point at all in being poor." The Duke of St. Albans once told an interviewer that an ancestor of his had lost about 50 million pounds in a foolish speculation in South African goldfields, adding after a pause, "That was a lot of money in those days." The Duke of Devonshire, having been criticized in the London Times, announced in an annoyed and plaintive tone that he would no longer have the newspaper "in any of my houses."

See what I mean? It's easier for some reason to imagine this in the tones of the English upper class, though you do get examples of it in American accents as well. A Bostonian donor to my old college at Oxford was named Coolidge, and when I asked him if he was related to the president of the same name, he acted offended, and said: "Why, no. I believe he was one of the working Coolidges." Barbara Bush, acting the gracious hostess to refugees from New Orleans after the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, managed to say that since many of them were underprivileged, life in a Texas sports stadium was "working very well for them." One sees what she was perhaps attempting to say.

Monday, October 27

Toaster Concept

Designer Sung Bae Chang has just unveiled a new kitchen appliance concept - the Scan Toaster. Using a flexible “module” unit heated by wire, the Scan Toaster can burn images or text of your choice onto your morning toast.

Saturday, October 25

Go cry, emo kid


Teddy Roosevelt’s diary the day his wife Alice died from Bright’s disease. He was 25, she 22.

Friday, October 24

Subtle Attitude of Awed Listening

The one test of the really weird is simply this: whether or not there be excited in the reader a profound sense of dread and of contact with unknown spheres and powers; a subtle attitude of awed listening, as if for the beating of black wings or the scratching of outside shapes or entities on the known universe's utmost rim.

HP Lovecraft
Supernatural Horror in Literature

Thursday, October 23

A Burger By Any Other Name

I have a theory that you can tell how much a restaurant thinks about its food by the quality of its veggie burger. The item has become the quintessential menu add-on for restaurants that want to show that they "care" about vegetarians.

Restaurants, let me share a tidbit right now: Warming a pre-packaged Gardenburger, slapping it on a bun, and charging $9 for it is not caring for vegetarians. It's caring for vegetarians' friends who want to go to a restaurant and say, "Oh, look, they serve something for you." Meaning: you eat boring meatless crap, and this place serves one boring meatless item.

Wednesday, October 22

Moskau

Learn how to disco dance, Finnish style:




I was amused by the video until around the 2:30 mark, when my mood changed to "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck I have to get that song." Turns out it's "Moskau," by Dschingis Khan.

PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR LIFE UTTERLY CHANGE WITH THE SINGLE CLICK OF A PLAY BUTTON:



Wow.

Wikipedia says this song and video were an internet meme four years ago--they had memes back then?--but this is the first I've ever heard of it.

*

In this short blog post about that idiot Sarah Palin wearing a donkey scarf--apparently it was a gift from those non-existent PUMAs--a commentator puts forth the following reasoned argument:

Everywhere I go online I read the most ignorant, biased, mean-spirited, uncouth posts from [O]bama voters. For the most part you all personify the absolute worst in human behavior.

Compassionate liberals...what a joke.

BURN!

I'm just going to repeat part of that again because it cracks me up:
For the most part you all personify the absolute worst in human behavior.
Man, just think...this time next month, we'll never have to hear about Sarah Palin ever again. I hope.
*

Finally, courtesy of Ben, here's a song you guys might be interested in:

Love Of The Ride

Thursday, October 9

Wednesday, October 8