Official promo for Gil Scott Heron’s collected lyrics and poems, Now and Then. Produced by Peter Collingridge and directed by Julian House (Intro) in 2001.
November 4, 2009
10:03 pm
Anxious Times
1:59 am
A court decision that reflects what type of country the U.S. is
Even when government officials purposely subject an innocent person to brutal torture, they enjoy full immunity.
Glenn Greenwald
Nov. 03, 2009 |
QUOTE: In January, 2007, the Canadian Prime Minister publicly apologized to Maher Arar for the role Canada played in these events, and the Canadian government paid him $9 million in compensation. That was preceded by a full investigation by Canadian authorities and the public disclosure of a detailed report which concluded “categorically that there is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offense or that his activities constituted a threat to the security of Canada.” By stark and very revealing contrast, the U.S. Government has never admitted any wrongdoing or even spoken publicly about what it did; to the contrary, it repeatedly insisted that courts were barred from examining the conduct of government officials because what we did to Arar involves “state secrets” and because courts should not interfere in the actions of the Executive where national security is involved. What does that behavioral disparity between the two nations say about how “democratic,” “accountable,” and “open” the United States is?
12:49 am
November 3, 2009
QUOTE:
On a cool spring eve, March 15th, 2009, a bat, crippled and wistful, clung to the Space Shuttle Discovery as it was thrust toward the great beyond. Goodbye and godspeed, my magnificent Spacebat.
At some point during the countdown, Spacebat—a Free-Tailed Chiroptera—was spotted latched to the foam of the external fuel tank, occasionally moving but never letting go. Wildlife experts deduced that he had injured his wing and shoulder, leaving him with little chance of survival. He remained on the tank until launch. NASA’s cold report?
The animal likely perished quickly during Discovery’s climb into orbit.
True! But here’s how it should have read:
Bereft of his ability to fly and with nowhere to go, a courageous bat climbed aboard our Discovery with stars in his weak little eyes. The launch commenced, and Spacebat trembled as his frail mammalian body was gently pushed skyward. For the last time, he felt the primal joy of flight; for the first, the indescribable feeling of ascending toward his dream—a place far away from piercing screeches and crowded caves, stretching forever into fathomless blackness.Whether he was consumed in the exhaust flames or frozen solid in the stratosphere is of no concern. We know that Spacebat died, but his dream will live on in all of us.
Shuttle-Riding Bat Dies The Most Glorious Death Imaginable Gizmodo
To die… Chasing a dream!
11:57 pm
I say do it.
I don’t care what, just do it.
Jam me, jack me, push me, pull me,
TALK HARD!
I don’t care what, just do it.
Jam me, jack me, push me, pull me,
TALK HARD!
Pump Up The Volume
Nora Diniro: The ‘Eat Me Beat Me’ Lady
11:23 pm
QUOTE:
I just watched the film again and had forgotten about all the other songs that didn’t make the final cut. I’ve also included the original or alternate versions of some of the songs included on the soundtrack.
Here’s the track list:
1) Everybody Knows - Leonard Cohen
2) Love Comes In Spurts - Richard Hell
3) Girls L.G.B.N.A.F. - Ice-T
4) Weinerschnitzel - The Descendents
5) The Scenario - The Beastie Boys
6) Me & The Devil Blues (Take 1) - Robert Johnson
7) Me & The Devil Blues (Take 2) - Robert Johnson
8) Talk Hard -Stan Ridgway
9) If It Be Your Will - Leonard Cohen
10) Kick Out The Jams - MC5
11) Wave Of Mutilation - Pixies (alternate version)
12) Heretic - Soundgarden (alternate version)
13) Everybody Knows - Concrete Blonde (live in Brazil)
14) Dad, I’m In Jail - Was (Not Was)
15) Fast Lane - Urban Dance Squad
16) Stand!- Sly & the Family Stone
Though the following songs are not actually in the film, I’ve included them because of their roles in the film. ‘Get Together’ becomes the butt of Harry’s summation of the 60s and the Swaggart tune is included only because it happens to be the album Harry picks up from his father’s LPs.
17) Get Together - The Youngbloods
18) You Don’t Need To Understand - Jimmy Swaggart
If you watch closely in the film, there is a Motown album Harry spins but I haven’t been able to make out the song on the label. It’s also one of the film’s goofs as he takes the needle off this record having just spun Cohen’s “If It’s Your Will” (which is on the Columbia label).
Missing Songs from the Pump Up The Volume Soundtrack (1990)
Also link
10:03 pm
A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language.
11:14 am
The Love Police (via JohnNada80)
11:04 am
November 2, 2009
Chronology of James Bond Novels
John Griswold’s chronological sequence of James Bond’s fictional career
1. Casino Royale (1953 novel)
2. Live and Let Die (1954 novel)
3. Moonraker (1955 novel)
4. Diamonds Are Forever (1956 novel)
5. From Russia with Love (1957 novel)
6. Dr. No (1958 novel)
7. Goldfinger (1959 novel)
8. ‘Risico’ (1960 short story)
9. ‘Quantum of Solace’ (1959 short story)
10. ‘The Hildebrand Rarity’ (1960 short story)
11. ‘From a View to a Kill’ (1960 short story)
12. ‘For Your Eyes Only’ (1960 short story)
13. Thunderball (1961 novel)
14. ‘Octopussy’ (1966 short story)
15. ‘The Living Daylights’ (1962 short story)
16. ‘The Property of a Lady’ (1963 short story)
17. Chapters 1–5 of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963 novel)
18. ‘Agent 007 in New York’ (1963 short story)
19. Chapters 10–15 of The Spy Who Loved Me (1962 novel)
20. Chapters 6–20 of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963 novel)
21. You Only Live Twice (1964 novel)
22. The Man With the Golden Gun (1965 novel)
6:01 pm
Ian Fleming writes in third person about his visit to the From Russia With Love set…
QUOTE: “Fleming’s official business was to unravel a snarl in the script, but his secret purpose was to make sure that the rats & bats in his book got into the film (his man-eating crabs got lost in Dr. No) & he returns satisfied about the rats (550 at 10 shillings each in the authentic grey) but the bats in the Istanbul cisterns are proving difficult to marshal & photograph in the underground murk.”
3:54 pm
IMPROV EVERYWHERE:
For our latest mission, six undercover actors burst into song in a grocery store in Queens. Three minutes and lots of silly choreography later, they returned to their roles as shoppers and stock boys. The mission was filmed with hidden robotic, lipstick, and wearable cameras. The song was played over the store’s PA system live.
Song by Scott Brown & Anthony King:
http://gutenbergthemusical.com/
1:05 pm
November 1, 2009
Monclair, NJ
2:44 pm
Songs are like tatoos.
Joni Mitchell
2:30 pm
October 31, 2009
Egon Schiele with Bach, solo piano (via ForeverIsis)
HPK
1:30 pm
As every married person here knows, love is a rotten substitute for respect.
Kurt Vonnegut, “Religion,” essay within Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage (via sarahspy)
12:56 pm
