So, after the first couple, I recorded a version of “Northern Downpour” by Panic at the Disco. I’m not the only one: Aldrine has a version of it too. (his is better)

Then I went and covered one of his songs, “C.M.J.” from his album Suite 409

I know, I know, fo rmost people, they pick up a hobby and keep it for a lifetime, but, jeez, don’t they get boring? I guess not all of them. Or, I hope, not all of them.

The remainder of Serious Play has been somewhat less enthusiastic about the project, but with a PhD program and a horse, I can see how time is lacking, so I don’t hold it against them.

But anyway, I had posted up two vids I did (here), and I’ve added some more. (My YouTube channel is tadam3000 (comment! rate! subscribe!))

Since YouTube has changed their video format for embedded videos, I need to do some theme editing so embedded videos will fit. But, I’ll get back with you soon and have some for you. Cheers!

The directions (translated)

On a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree, how accurate are the following statements:

The statement

I am a decisive person.

The answer

3- I neither agree, nor disagree

Okay, You can go about your business.

(hat tip PZ)

00:00:48: QUEEEEEEEEENN! Goddamn, you forget how much you love Queen’s music. It’s anthemic pop, the kind of music you play in the car before you’re about to go drinking or punch someone in the face. “Princes of the Universe” trumps even “We Are The Champions” or “Another One Bites the Dust” for soul pumping. It’s like the St. Crispin’s Day speech committed to rock.

Pajiba

“We few, we happy few…”

You are the definition of originality. Your music is really cool. I enjoy watching your stuff. And I love that you play a Ukelele. It’s so much cooler than guitar. You rock, keep posting stuff.

Well, sarahbear618 isn’t talking about or to me in that comment on “Gone” by Danielle. Still, the unrelenting AWESOME of the ukulele will transform the world (and is much more awesome than guitars. this is all).
Oh, and check out Danielle’s songs. They’re good.

/whimper

Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhh…. NOT happening. Seriously, I’m tempted to never open my mouth except to order food at a drive-thru ever again. So, no musical dedication. Or, at the least, not this musical dedication. So, one here:

“Oh person to whom I now realize I was a total asshole for a long period of time, I’m so terribly sorry. I wish I had realized earlier and at least been able to tell you that I get it-I understand. But, as is the nature of regret, it comes along too late, so I send this out to the aether in the hopes that someday, somehow, you’ll find it.”

Leonard Cohen + Hanson? Actually, yes, and I thought, “Okay, wow, this can’t be beat.”  But, ho ho! I was wrong. Soon thereafter Aldrine posted his entry. Nothing like a little Mrazzy-reggae style to spice up MmmBop:

Does it beat Ken out? Well, no, but it’s a contender (cue Brando impersonation*). AND THEN, not to be outdone, RussBuss tosses up a blues version!

It’s like a freakin’ battle of the titans at this point! Seriously, MmmBop has never been this good. So, to everyone out there who is going to enter, may the Ukulele Gods smile upon you**. You’ll need it…

*I had to look this up. Quotefail.
**Actually, I might enter. There’s NO WAY I could be a contender in terms of musical ability, but! I can tap dance. They don’t have any tap dancing. That’s what we in the business*** call an “ace-in-the-hole”
***By the business I mean the business of making shit up that doesn’t make sense.

i was thinking about the party metaphor from the last blog. and about what bands in general go through. a party, a scene, a band, nobody wants to be a member of a club thats huge and non-exclusive. wait, i take that back, lots of people do. thats why we have sports. sports sort of represent the opposite. but the downtrodden, the self artists and misanthropes, the thinkers, the hopeless romantics, they all want to find a smaller elite. – Amanda Palmer

Anyway, I guess she has just finished a North American tour for that album and, well, let me quote her blog on the subject:

3. MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT OF U.S. TOUR CAUGHT ON YOUTUBE.
this is us, in aspen, colorado, playing to like 32 people. we decided to go for broke and make people sing “the rose”.
no joke, we have proof.
my favorite part was steven miming slicing his wrists during “some say love, it is a razor”.
classic:

So, there’s also a book (written with Neil Gaiman), WKAP, which I don’t think has been released yet, but I could be wrong about that. If (and I don’t know if it’s still valid) you ordered(ed) it from her website you got entered into a contest with the grand prize:

1st Prize (1 winner) will receive:
• A performance by Amanda in the winner’s living room (valid only in lower 48 states unless previously negotiated location is discussed). The performance shall take place on a mutually agreeable date before September 16th, 2009. This show will also be presented as a live webcast
• 4 concert tickets to an AP concert of the fan’s choice + private Meet ‘n’ Greet (must be used before September 16th, 2009)****

!!!!!! WhAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!! In case you missed it:

A performance by Amanda in the winner’s living room

Okay, from here on out, “the coolest thing ever” just had its notch moved up a bit. Now, I must merely wait for payday and order the book. I mean, I was going to get it anyway. So….

Ah, never mind, stupid rules. Contest is over. Still, gonna have to order that book.

Since November 9th, there has been quite a bit of movement on this front. Lucas, Barbara , and I have all acquired our instruments and have taken our first, faltering but vital steps to learning to play them.

Personally, I’d want to give great thanks to the great folk at Ukulele Underground (particularly Aldrine) for having such a great site and having so many people willing to share their experience and just be so all-around helpful.

The band, Serious Play, performed its first song on New Years Eve, a most stereotypical Auld Lang Syne. I think, for the first time we played together after only such a short time with these instruments, it’s a great start.

(available on YouTube in HD)

Even aside from that, I’ve been doing quite a bit of work on my own. I have learned (sort of) two songs and created two videos where I (sort of) play them!

The first being “Ukulele Malaguena” from the How to Play Ukuleles for Peace e-book, arranged by Woodshed (available, again, in HD on YouTube:

The second, performing “Creep” by Radiohead (YouTube, HD, etc.):

That’s all for now. I apologize if there are any typos, but this post was written at an obscenely early hour! I hope everyone’s 2009 started well and has less suck than their 2008.

"For The Benefit Of Mr. Buffet, There will be a show tonight on Ukulele."

The Beatles Complete In One Day On Ukulele

A benefit for Warren Buffet..

Darlings:

Sunday December 7, 2008, a day that will live in Infamy,

From Noon till Midnight at Spike Hill In Williamsburg, Brooklyn

http://www.spikehill.com/

Roger Greenawalt, Will perform all 189 original Beatle Songs in one day on Ukulele.

Many of Roger’s famous friends and clients will be singing along.

We wanted to do this show as a benefit, but were unable to decide whom to give the

money to.

Then it came to us.

Let’s give it to Warren Buffet!

Frankly if we kept the money we’d just spend it on Viagra, records, and cat food.

Otherwise we would just waste it.

Warren will know what to do.

Just… wow.

Now, if only self-interest didn’t leave me in favor of this bailout….

Why yes, MySpace, it is someone I know! But, as I ask in a complete lack of seriousness, how does one befriend their ex-wife? (Hm. Need punchline. Suggestions?)

-Chris

• should be intellectually challenging. Tom + Rote = Dis As Ter
• should be beneficial to the growth and support of a rational, free society rather than merely a job for money. However, money is important because it pays for things. Like food.
• should be viewed based on the result but done for the sake of the doing. Results oriented, but process driven.
• should be left to me in terms of the how. The what can have input, but other than that, it’s better if I can just do things the way I think they should be done without having to explain every moment or step.
• should not involve interaction with a large number of people. A large number of equals might be okay, but having to "serve" clients is not something I care for.
• should not have a set schedule or a set location except where necessary.
• should either incorporate new areas of experience of shift focus frequently. I get distracted by shiny, new ideas and work should accommodate that. I am an idea-klepto.

Where I live:

• should include the trappings of culture: bookstores, cafes, museums, theatres, and a variety of restaurants serving a variety of cuisine (not that I would eat most of it, but I want the option!).
• should have an eclectic, vibrant, exciting and passionate atmosphere.
• should be socially liberal but increasingly secular (and I think those things go together). should have high speed internet.

I:

• should increase my knowledge because knowledge is the closest thing I have to an intrinsic good.
• should establish better baselines for diet and physical activity levels.
• should live more in enjoyment of the moment rather than in the myriad probabilistic outcomes I think about when it comes to personal choices.
• should allow myself the freedom to experience relationships experientially, as experiences of human connection, rather than trying to fit them into a predetermined mould.

My art:

• should BE MORE!!!!!!!!!
• should be more creatively active and explore more artistic genres.
• should be more accepting of failure as a part of artistic growth and achievement; I should look upon failures not as failures but as elements of learning or critical guidance- finding the best path sometimes requires feeling around for loose rock and mud
• should more actively interact with the art of other artists either within r cross-genre.
• should be more free in mixing genres (visual and literary, visual and 3d e.g.).
• should integrate my desires for society and culture into my art- let it reflect more fully what I believe.
• should be less abstract and more based in the beauty in the world in color and line and grow to include more reality.
• should be the artistic representation of a human experience.

It is difficult to get what you want out of your life if you don’t even know what it is. For myself, I’ve had a really hard time trying to figure that out, so I made a list. Some revision and it became this manifesto(-ish thing). These 21 (I think it’s 21… Calculus yes, counting no.) statements are more or less clear areas in which I can attempt to bring reality more in line with what I desire. Sadly, whim is not sufficient for changing the world (despite what some people believe) and real work will have to go into these. Planning. Goals. Successes and disappointments. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

Most of these are probably going to be difficult. But! Most things worth having in life don’t come easily into our hands. Effort seems to imbue the results with greater value than they have based on their utility.

But why now, I can imagine some people asking, why now? Why is today a write a manifesto day and yesterday wasn’t?

Well, for one thing, all days, for me, are manifesto days, but often they exist only in my mind and are never actualized. I tend to think in terms of systems and change, so it is not uncommon for a gaggle of "oughts" to be noisily traipsing through my head. However, concretizing these ideas into words and sending those words, these words, into the world is a step above normal.

It’s probably because yesterday was my birthday (yesterday as of the time of writing, December 5th by more precise measurement) and being reminded that death looms ever ominously is a good reason to look over the historical topography of your life and see how much you like the landscape. In comparison with the list above, I think I’m doing really well in one item, and passably in a few others. There is still quite a bit of room for improvement. Anyone know any good landscape architects?

Poor attempts at humor aside, and apropos of nothing, I had these two thoughts while going through this process:

• Determining is more about exclusion than inclusion.
• The patterns of behavior we create are greatly influenced by our relationships and when removed from that context often make little sense, but they become ingrained: little arroyos in the mind where thought most easily flows after it has fallen. Changing those is as difficult as carving rock. The hands cannot easily replicate the work done by wind and rain and time.

You have perfect color vision!

Probably, this test from x-rite would have been easier with a properly calibrated monitor, but I’ll take it!

(via Lines and Colors)

Now, remember: Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

The Rugged Adventurer!

16 Humor, 28 Skill and 16 Morality!

Take The Imaginary-Job Employment Test at HelloQuizzy

My Favorite part was this question answer combo:

If you were in a popular band, what role can you see yourself playing? Lead singer.  I am overwhelmingly awesome, not to mention humble.

I guess I need to find a whip and a hat, right?

(via here)

INTP - The Thinkers
The logical and analytical type. They are especially attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into. They are great at finding subtle connections between things and imagine far-reaching implications.

They enjoy working with complex things using a lot of concepts and imaginative models of reality. Since they are not very good at seeing and understanding the needs of other people, they might come across as arrogant, impatient and insensitive to people that need some time to understand what they are talking about.

IT’s the same result I get 80% of the time when I take those for me rather than the blog, and I have no idea what that means overall. The other 20% I come up as INTJ. Those 20% are wrong.

Why is the universe trying to grind you in a mortar and pestle? - Yodiepants

Which is more amusing removed from context.

And, penultimately, something to keep in mind during the recession/economic downturn/fiscal crisis:

If you will miss a product, a service, a book, a site or a professional when they close up shop, stand up, speak up and bring them masses of new business.

We get what we promote.

-Seth Godin

Finally, it seems like I may have tendonitis in my hand and there is snow on the ground. The universes (which remains incapable of feeling or action) hates me today.

Perhaps as technology marches onward and carries into more facets of our lives, it is frightening to think there are aspects of existence that words cannot encompass. Despite the ability to use audio and video, the internet is still, largely a text-based medium, and as more and more of our lives become caught up in its web**, we limit and restrict that aspects of our lives that cannot fit within the framework.

I’m reading Poetry and Consciousness by C.K.Williams and he begins that essay with a similar point. Language does not have the capacity to describe some elements of life, viz. emotion. As he says, we can call something sadness or depression, we can describe what seems to be the physical experience of them, we can talk about the reasons and effects of these emotions, but language cannot describe of the emotion qua emotion. Ultimately emotions can be talked about, can be talked around, but can’t be talked. Ineffable***. We can say fear is a cold knot in the stomach, but that doesn’t include the sharp stabs of terror when that fear may be actualized before we can think. And even then, what is the experience of that fear?

People can be understood. the actions of large groups are easy to understand. groups don’t have the same level of choice and valuation that individuals have. But an individual is so much more difficult to encompass.

The experience of an other is something that exists outside the realm of words. Sure, we can impart categories to people as we do to emotions. They can be funny or smart or cynical. They can be blonde. They can be slender. They can enjoy Mexican cuisine. They use a lexicon that is individual but listable. Their Her**** hair can have the smell of faded roses when you first smell it in the morning.

So go ahead, describe the person you love. I’d bet you can come up with a lengthy list of traits and historical facts. And I’d go further to bet that, no matter the length, that list fails at explaining that person. To paraphrase Viktor Frankl: Love is what allows us to experience an other in their uniqueness. I wouldn’t call it their soul (because I am not religious), but perhaps their logos*.

And that is something about each of us that transcends the descriptive capacity of language. It is something that can only be experienced, and only then, through love.

* Ineffable; Sublime; Logos (though Anima may be as usable)

** See what I did there: it’s after my bedtime, bad puns are excusable.

*** Yes, my love of this word is irrational. Most words I love are smoother, more elegant. Ineffable, pronounced as it should be, is clumsy. It’s the sound of a sweatshirt, not the smooth glide of hand over satin-clad curves.

**** Screw being gender-neutral. This really isn’t gender neutral in its explanation, though it is in its essence.

…

Permitting your child to lie in a bed covered in Hello Kitty dolls, you are allowing her to lie in a mock Egyptian burial chamber! This seemingly harmless fascination with these dolls can lead your child down the path of the occult. The so-called “goth” teens who paint their faces to resemble corpses and worship death are also often seen with Hello Kitty memorabilia and stickers incongruously affixed to their usually black attire. This is because these poor, misguided youngsters who have given their eternal souls over to the darkness, know the masked meaning of these cuddly idols. The Hello Kitty, the ChocoCat, The Badtz Maru are just sugar coated stand-ins for Sekhmet, the Anubis and Ra. These are the same gods that The Lord cast down into the sulfur pit of hell and made into demons! Their power, which allowed Ramses to turn his staff into a serpent, cannot be underestimated today.

New thing I’ve learned today: Poe’s Law

A More Civilized Age
It both cheers and saddens me to think that glow-in-the-dark condoms plus lightsaber sound effects comprised the high point of our relationship.

Typist
I hate when people ask me what my “type” is. Because I always end up describing you.

From the xkcd forums:

BorisTheBrave:
Also, his computer cannot handle real numbers, which our universe has in abundance. Just to type in a single real number into his computer would require an infinite amount of rocks, so he’d never finish to get onto the next step. Not insurmountable, by using arbitrary precision rationals, but the fact that his computer has a countable number of states he can put it in, while we usually presume our universe has an uncountable number of states, has some interesting implications.

Moody7277:
So basically, the uncertainty principle is just round-off error?

1. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names)

Marie Thomas – comes with gender reassignment for extra security!

2. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother’s dad, father’s dad)

Bill Robert (I think. I don’t know much about my mother’s father)

3. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 2 letters of your last name, first 4 letters of your first name)

Ad’thom

4.DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)

Grey Lion

5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you live)

Kevin Bettendorf

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite alcoholic drink, optionally add “THE” to the beginning)

The Pink Amaretto Stone and Sour (yes, I like pink. and this is a terrible name)

7. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)

Thad (it’s not funny when it ends up like a real name)

8. GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie):

New York Superfudgechunk Milano

9. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pet’s name, current street name)

State (I don’t have a pet)

10. PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on)

Phantom Laurel

That is the roughly 6’ square center of my living where I have neatly piled the contents of my living room so they can be jettisoned into space properly put away. The trick is going to be finding places to put all of these things =/

A short rundown on what is currently residing on my floor:

1. Not strictly on the floor- XBox360 with the drive open. Resting in the tray is The Princess Bride, which I just finished watching. Soon, I will be looking for Stardust to replace it.

2. Wii. I don’t play it as much as it deserves.

3. Large stack of dvd’s. Well, 2 stacks. Smaller than the four stacks behind me.

4. Notes from university. I stopped attending in May.

5. Milano cookies. YUM!

6. Bills, paid.

7. Handwritten and printed sheets of poetry (mine). Several issues of Poetry Magazine (unread).

8. Nintendo DS (it may be that I have a fondness for electronic toys).

9. The Watchmen. Enjoyed the graphic novel. Cautiously optimistic about the upcoming movie.

10. 2 World of Warcraft Battle Chests. I don’t play anymore.

11. Scented markers (unused), but the blue (mango) smells awesome!

12. Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. Excellent book.

Oh, between 4 and 5 is the sack of garbage from cleaning. One of those large, kitchen sized bags. Mostly, it contains envelopes.

I think it a worthwhile goal, to overshadow the Not-Joe, Not-Plumber, Not-Tax Expert and have a Joe who is a plumber get the search love.

Joe the Other Plumber

Incidentally, we’ve only got about three years to teach the American public how to choose good candidates and support platforms designed to further global progress (and I do not mean progress in American impeorialism). Ideas?

You’re a little flat there, Romeo.

Take What’s your key signature? at HelloQuizzy

The Dead Parrot joke was originally by some guys Hierocles and Philagrius. It would be infingement if the original had not been public domain for 1500 years.

but but but

WHERE are the pictures of the Witch Elves?

It’s not like the costume would have required too much work…

The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

George Washington

(via Ebonmuse)

There was a picture circulating the internet, I don’t recall if it was the Gore-Bush fiasco or the Kerry-Bush fiasco, separating North America into three countries: Mexico, The United States of Canada, and Jesusland. While I think that map reflected many of the divisions regarding politics and religion currently afflicting this continent, the recent election (a.k.a. The Obama Landslide), shows how clearly that map missed the boat.

It isn’t that people living on one side of a state line are rational, reasonable people and the ones on the other side are hate-mongering bigots. Most of the country is filled with hate mongering bigots! At a nearly 50% rate! And in some places where it’s unexpected, they got out and voted for some really bad, really dumb, really unAmerican things.

What is unAmerican these days? If you listen to the right (good for generating rage or humor) voting for Obama, preferring peace, respecting the rights of individuals to worship and marry as they chose is definitely unAmerican. Wait, no, UnAmerican, big “:U”.

While it is true at the founding of the USA they didn’t have everything figured out, and wrote some really vague sections of the constitution (2nd amendment anyone?), they were headed on the right track. UnAmerican is “to sanction bigotry, assist persecution.”

So I say, to the people who voted for Obama not because he is black but because he was the better choice, good job. To the people who got out and voted against those horrid abortion bans in several states, thank you. And to the people who supported and/or voted for Proposition 8 in California:

FUCK YOU

Oh, and go read that Ebonmuse link.

Background: I play Rock Band. Since I purchased the game, it has one of the most common forms of entertainment when gathered with friends. However, it isn’t like Super Mario Brothers—you cannot just sit down and play it at the harder difficulty levels. It takes quite a bit of practice and dedication to get good.

The Idea: I have two friends whom I play Rock Band with frequently (most of the time we see each other). They also spend a fair amount of time becoming good at Rock Band. My thought: if we’re spending a fair bit of time pretending to play guitars and to actually, if minimally, drum, why not spend that time being a real band.

However, having a rock band for fun just seems so 70s. And, for a poet, a philosopher, and a social worker, it just doesn’t seem to follow. I though, “there must be a better idea out there. something more unusual. something more fun.” And I found it.

We need to be a ukulele band.

Yes! A ukulele band that is the most awesome idea ever! Now I had to convince people of this. It must be said that I had some inspiration for this idea.

Julia Nunes is awesome.

Now, everyone I have told this idea to is amazed at the sheer awesomeness of it. Even my friends, whom I think may be convinced that this idea is so awesome it cannot be denied. The one small problem, of course, that none of us knows how to play the ukulele. But we can learn! And it shouldn’t take much more time than we already devote to Rock Band. But we wouldn’t have to be in front of a television.

We could go out into the world and share the awesome! (on an unrelated note, John and Hank Green, thank you for improving the word awesome.)

What leads me to believe my friends may be convinced is that they were YouTubing ukulele videos and called me to tell me they had found videos by Jake Shimabukuro doing a ukulele version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. WOW. Is all I have to say to that.

Certainly, the problems caused by some segments of unregulated securities trading are having unpleasant effects on the economy which our government has drastically and probably very poorly responded to.

In the US, today we “vote” to “elect” our next president. Unless, of course, there are voting irregularities which the Supreme Court can rule on thus determining the next president. (Not that there is any chance of that happening.)

I don’t care for democracy at all.  I think it is a woefully inadequate system pandering to the whims of a poorly educated and emotional populace, rather than a system where rational discourse and effective problem solving is rewarded. I think that America being reduced, de facto if not de jure, to a two-party system means a plethora of possible political views are not even discussed in politics. We are left, unless shining beacons of a platform, to picking someone close. Picking, in some cases, the lesser of two evils.

I believe John McCain would be an absolutely terrible choice for president. even more than most, he is campaigning on a platform of fear, fear of terrorism, fear of change, fear of “The Other.” Fear of accepting that the world, while strongly influenced by, is not the playground of US politicians. We live in a shared world, and I don’t believe McCain recognizes that fact. And I’m fairly certain Palin barely recognizes a world outside her hockey rink exists.

Obama… I support some of his platform. Or, rather, there is some alignment between the political ideology of the his campaign and things I believe. When I go vote later, it will be for him, because the alternative is untenable.

I would like to see, as a people, as a country, as a world, better discussion about the role of government. I am very uncomfortable with the system we have and it is an outgrowth of a belief about what government should be doing. There is a section from Ludwig VonMises book, Human Action, that I think is especially pertinent today, calling into question the choices we make.

Liberalism realizes that the rulers, who are always a minority, cannot lastingly remain in office if not supported by the consent of the majority of those ruled. Whatever the system of government may be, the foundation upon which it is built and rests is always the opinion of those ruled that to obey and to be loyal to this government better serves their own interests than insurrection and the establishment of another regime. The majority has the power to [p. 150] do away with an unpopular government and uses this power whenever it becomes convinced that its own welfare requires it. Civil war and revolution are the means by which the discontented majorities overthrow rulers and methods of government which do not suit them. For the sake of domestic peace liberalism aims at democratic government. Democracy is therefore not a revolutionary institution. On the contrary, it is the very means of preventing revolutions and civil wars. It provides a method for the peaceful adjustment of government to the will of the majority. When the men in office and their policies no longer please the majority of the nation, they will?–in the next election?–be eliminated and replaced by other men espousing different policies.

The principle of majority rule or government by the people as recommended by liberalism does not aim at the supremacy of the mean, of the lowbred, of the domestic barbarians. The liberals too believe that a nation should be ruled by those best fitted for this task. But they believe that a man’s ability to rule proves itself better by convincing his fellow-citizens than by using force upon them. There is, of course, no guarantee that the voters will entrust office to the most competent candidate. But no other system could offer such a guarantee. If the majority of the nation is committed to unsound principles and prefers unworthy office-seekers, there is no remedy other than to try to change their mind by expounding more reasonable principles and recommending better men. A minority will never win lasting success by other means. (link)

What worries me is that the majority of this nation maybe “committed to unsound principles and prefer unworthy office seekers”. On top of an election with one clearly horrible choice, we also have several states trying to ratify into law more odious bans on gay marriage. I could go into the many, many things the government should do regarding marriage, but this a failure of the government to protect the rights of its citizens in bowing to religious pressures. Just say no to religion! And if not that, at least say Yes! to protecting the rights of American Citizens to have different beliefs.

Some other peoples views:

Seth Godin
Poet With A Day Job
Robin
Cuppycake
Scott Jennings

(via Broken Toys)

http://cad-comic.com/comic.php?d=20081103

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

I’d never heard of BLU But he’s (or she’s, I don’t know) got a book, and drew on the Tate Modern. That’s kinda cool. The video is interesting, less because I find the art of it enjoyable, but because of the method used. I wonder, though, how the graffiti artists feel about having their artwork obscured by the white?

Mia: Daddy?
Me: Yeah sweetheart?
Mia: Is McCain going to be president?
Me: Uh, where’d you learn about this?
Mia: Don’t know. Is McCain going to be president?
Me: I hope not.
Mia: Why do you hope not?
Me: Because I don’t think he’s the right guy for the job.
Mia: Why’s he not the right guy for the job?
Me: Well, because I don’t think he’d do a good job. I think he’s part of the problem, not the solution.
Mia: We could help him do a good job.
Me: Yeah? How about we just vote for someone we’d think would do a good job?
Mia: Like Obama?
Me: Yeah. Obama.
Mia: But we could give McCain money and he’d do a better job.
Me: Sweetheart, I think the last thing McCain needs is more money.
Mia: Why?
Me: He has enough. And twelve houses.
Mia: Okay, then we can give him a puppy.
Me: That might make him less angry. But I don’t think we should give him the presidency.
Mia: Okay. We can vote for Obama but give McCain a puppy.

…

Here are the facts: Puppies are much cuter and easier to take care of than the whole of these United States of America. And? Puppies are great for old people.

over at Rude Cactus

Handcrafted White Bronze Rubik’s Cube

A fully functional, reproduction of a Rubik’s Cube, hand cast in white bronze. It was cast in such a way as to have even shrinkage, but an unstable and rough surface.
After being cast in bronze, and assembled, it was treated by being buried in a mixture of dirt, various acids and salts, inside of a hand made birch box designed to keep the environment moist, but also to allow some passage of air and water, for about a year.
I completed this piece in college, in 1999. I just finally got around to properly photographing it. A long winded breakdown of its manufacture is on my website, here. (image from flickr)

Custom “Companion Cube” Rubik’s Cube (weee! Portal)

Behold, the Rubik’s Companion Cube!

I know the cube loves me because, no matter how I turn it, it’s always solved.

Knitted Companion Cube

This is a set of notes on how to knit and assemble your own knitted weighted companion cube. I have tried to write it in a straightforward way for experience and inexperienced knitters alike. My goal is for everyone reading to understand how the cube is knit and assembled, without necessarily having the exact techniques called for yet.

…

The Enrichment Center reminds you that the weighted companion cube cannot speak. In the event that the weighted companion cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice.

Most of the people who know me (know me for real, at any rate) would willingly admit that I hold… interesting beliefs about government. it seems you can hardly turn your head without finding some political commentary, in some cases nearing the level of hate speech. We have campaign workers being assaulted for campaigning (via); campaign workers getting media attention for NOT being assaulted, speeches speeches speeches, commercials, commercials commercials. Rhetoric, vitriol, probably some outright lies and fabrications. It. Is. EVERYWHERE.

The US takes a lot of crap internationally these days for our activities as a nation-state both abroad and at home. Personally, I deplore much of our foreign policy and I question the wisdom of spreading democracy at gunpoint.

I do not, however, support Obama. If I vote, I will be voting for him, because McCain winning is a terrifying thought. Aside from the distaste I have for the Republican party for its over kowtowing to the religious right, the prospect of Sarah Palin becoming president is untenable.

I’m not a liberal. I’m not a conservative. I’m not much of anything currently represented by political parties. Small government. Rational laws. Social freedoms. A more representative system than the currently broken republic we have. Whatever.

This next election is going to be one of the most important elections in recent history. We’re embroiled in multiple conflicts, we have an economic crisis, we have a government barely respecting human rights, let alone the civil liberties of its citizens, and I don’t see this getting any better with the election of the Republican party. Most of the developed world prefers Obama.

This is, of course, not to say Obama is without flaws. There has been issue raised of his associations with colorful characters, attacks on his “experience” (though, I marvel at the hypocritical nature of this since the Republican party has put in slot #2 Sarah Palin). I don’t support very much of the Democratic Party platform, mostly because I think social change should never be mandated. But that’s a quibble, and a question for utility I suppose.

I don’t follow the news, mostly because I don’t care. But you can hardly get anywhere these days without hearing about the “economic crisis.” When hearing pundits talk, it’s booooooooooooooo….

…ooooooooring. However, this is funny. This, apparently, is not news, per se, but something Daily Show-ish, which is to say, it’s news but not full of suck. Also, I want to postulate the British Accent Amusement Principle: anything said with a British accents is immediately 300% funnier. Discuss.

On the other hand, this video has a guy drawing champagne bottles on a whiteboard. Go dry-erase! (via Presentation Zen) This one is probably more informative, really.

Though, I guess the tension-causing elements start here: http://cad-comic.com/comic.php?d=20080714. But it’s not resolved yet. Fingers crossed.

Yes, it’s a comic. Is that a problem?

One work by Philadelphia Poet and Filmmaker Ish Klein.

“Way Back In To Love” from Music and Lyrics. A film starring Hugh Grant. Pretty typical sort of romantic comedy. Good music, though. This is, obviously, not Hugh Grant. She, I think, is quite good (once she stops being nervous). They have some other duets as well, and I quite like “Lucky’” by Jason Mraz and Colby Caillat.