July 2010
1 post
“Ask someone who reads Vogue: “Imagine I have two different copies of Vogue...”
– from an interview with Flipboard CEO Mike McCue.
June 2010
1 post
“Corporal Gardner, a helicopter mechanic who was working with the female Marines...”
– from a NYT article, In Camouflage or Veil, a Fragile Bond, that describes the efforts and challenges of the Marines’ “female engagement teams.”
April 2009
1 post
Pseudo Echo — “Funkytown”
March 2009
7 posts
“If we come to an impasse, we’re going to move forward with our reforms anyway,”...”
– from a recent Kristof column in the NYT. I admire her grit and will hopefully be working with her this summer.
WatchHow did I miss this? It’s sorta oldish, but really, “like, awesome,” just like being a mom.
This might be reason enough to hop on a Greyhound... →
February 2009
9 posts
““There was never any inappropriate (contact) between me and anyone...”
– Enough said. (via)
“Newspapers can’t entice us into small payment systems, because we care too much...”
– from Clay Shirky’s “Why Small Payments Won’t Save Publishers.” The quote is long, yes, but it gets at the main point I’ve been trying to make about plans like Steve Brill’s: if I am charged for one news outlet’s content and not charged for its...
WatchTitle: “Married to the Eiffel Tower.” This video is a must-see. I’ll agree—it’s fun to make fun of people different from us sometimes. But these people (“objective sexuals”) are so genuine and overall normal. They just love buildings, fences, and bows instead of humans. (via Jezebel)
American logos in other languages →
To see all the logos and their foreign counterparts, click the link and find the flash slideshow. I think a lot of the logos look classier across the ocean.
The Break and Repair Method — “This...
WatchWhat a great segment. Colbert (or someone on his staff) really understands this issue. Then again, a fourth grader could understand this issue. Look for the three sentences at the middle of the video. Pretty self-explanatory. (via DCist)
January 2009
6 posts
Inauguration postscript: waiting, watching,...
After getting some much-deserved sleep last night, I’m back with my second Inauguration journal entry. After hearing about internet users’ trouble with the live webcast and a fellow Duke Chronicler’s unfortunate lockout, I’m increasingly grateful for my relatively smooth, yet tiring, January 20.
After our disappointing failed attempt to attend the free concert on Saturday,...
Inauguration weekend journal: libraries, lines,...
As I write this, I’m sitting in a cramped library in the heart of Georgetown. Libraries here are not like Duke’s. They’re more like a doctor’s waiting room; long rows of chairs line every wall and corridor and everyone is talking as loud as he wants.
What are they talking about? Mostly upcoming school projects, actually. These D.C. college kids have been given Tuesday off (and some even Wednesday)...
Where the heck is Ron Paul?
Gail Collins, the funniest New York Times columnist, and former editor of the whole Editorial Page, wrote an end-of-the-year quiz. Though it is, as usual, filled with her own commentary about TARP, Bush, questionable governers and pop culture, it also does have its facts straight. Here’s the most fun part of the quiz. Good luck!
Match the presidential candidates:
John McCain
John...
“Please understand that holding the dearest people in my life hostage is not...”
– From McSweeney’s. This humorous very brief essay really puts the “got” into “you’ve got to watch ‘The Wire.’” Sometimes I wish I were more effective at getting people to watch the show. It really is the best show ever.
“The institution of marriage is simply too far out of sync with the realities of...”
– from Steve Pavlina, the goofy advice-dealing-self-help-guru-whose-ideas-often-make-too-much-sense. He has recently decided, with the agreement of his wife of over a decade, to begin living a polyamorous lifestyle — one that lets a person grow emotionally and physically intimate with many...
Showtime's new "The United States of Tara" has... →
The show, called “The United States of Tara,” is written by Juno’s writer, Diablo Cody. Produced by Steven Spielberg with Toni Collette starring, the show has already gotten buzz for the big-name raw talent involved.
But the show (first episode available from Showtime here, password TARA) revolves around a character with dissociative identity disorder, or DID. The disease...
December 2008
13 posts
“—Do Jews wring their hands too much? I didn’t notice a great deal...”
– from an interview between The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg and David Wolpe, one of the “greatest American rabbis,” about the recent Madoff situation and a potential excommunication. Goldberg authors a really great blog over at The Atlantic.
“Nearly every blogger I spoke to agreed with this sentiment. If you’re...”
– from Slate’s “How to Blog.” Sorry, readers, but I actually think it is important to spend the time to come up with quality, polished, and (gasp!) proofread content.
What America should focus on, according to... →
I voted for universal health care, economic recovery and job creation, and improving public schools.
I know, this story's only about an amount of money... →
There actually is some other news today in addition to the failed American auto company bailout.
A New York lawyer, described as “a Houdini of impersonation and false documents” and “a person of exceptional ingenuity and exceptional resourcefulness,” has been arrested in both Canada and the U.S. for stealing $380 million in a ready-made-for-TV scheme that involved fake...
Because "make me a Blagojevich" is too hard to say... →
The Illinois governor scandal has inspired a drink, the “Dirty Governor,” at a Chi-town bar. The best part about it? It’s made with Effen vodka. (One only has to take a quick look at the afadavit to see why that’s hilariously fitting.)
“Still, Mr. Obama is viewed favorably by two-thirds of the public, up from 56% in...”
– from a Wall Street Journal article about Obama’s latest poll numbers. He’s apparently impressed a lot of people, but he has so much to live up to now. I’m rootin’ for him.
“Reporter’s [sic] notebooks are also essential to journalists because of the fact...”
– from Stuff Journalists Like. I’d love to see what’s in those notebooks. Too bad copyright applies and we only get to see them 70 years after a reporter’s death. (image licenced via CC by RogueSun Media)
WatchPart One of my upcoming series entitled “Reasons Why You Should Watch ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’” on FX or Hulu. This video is only two minutes long and will have you in stitches if you’ve got a functional sense of humor.
The show is not unlike a rough mixture of “Seinfeld” and “Arrested Development,” but it is admittedly not as...
Gimme a beat
I’m looking for CDs to request for Christmas. Could you suggest one or two albums you think I should definitely ask for?
To give you an idea of my musical taste(s), here are the last 10 songs I’ve listened to:
The Roots - The Next Movement
Kaiser Chiefs - Like it Too Much
The Raconteurs - Attention
‘N Sync - Pop
AC/DC - Skies on Fire
Pulp - Common People
The Notorious...
“More than one student didn’t drop out because Mr. Oxford found a place on a team...”
– One response to Chris’s (of Cynical-C fame) question, “Who was the best teacher you ever had?” Mr. Oxford sounds like someone I wouldn’t mind being like. Other notable responses included “LSD” and “Me, honestly.”
Ask not what Lipton you can drink, but what Lipton... →
James Lipton—who frequently comes across as uptight and condescending on his “Inside the Actor’s Studio” TV show—shotguns a beer on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” (via mental_floss)
November 2008
2 posts
I've cheated on you (but I think you'll still love...
Sorry for my absence! I’ve been knee-deep in work, both academic and otherwise. But I write with good news: I actually am blogging, but just not here.
My position as the Editor for New Media at the Duke Chronicle has led me to create the Chronicle Blog Network, the main culprit behind my lack of posts here. My online time has been dedicated to creating, maintaining, and improving these...
October 2008
1 post
September 2008
7 posts
Palin & Fear
I’m really sorry to post a political statement on my blog, but I feel like this one is necessary:
If John McCain is elected president of our great country, I will be upset at a lost opportunity, but I will not fret about the nation’s future too much. It will remain largely at is is now. Maybe a few things will even get better while a few get worse. However, if Mr. McCain dies in...
“Advertising is often seen as a prisoner’s dilemma among firms, because...”
– from the answer key to a question that asked why, even with the ban on cigarette commercials, there was no drop in smoking.
The truth
On a recent trip across Ghana, I played the game “Two Truths and a Lie” with a group of 16 other people—mostly highly cultured, well traveled, and intelligent adults—and I was able to correctly guess people’s lies with astonishing success.
The game is simple: people make three statements about themselves or their life experiences, two of which are true and one of...
WatchShe’s going to have the nuclear codes!
Metallica's Hetfield and Trujillo (vocalist and... →
These two men, interviewed exclusively for I Heart Music, discuss six of their new songs with an openness and clarity rarely seen in other bands, let alone metal ones.
Of course*, if you actually want to listen to those songs, you may. But I’m not sure how much of my audience is Metallica-friendly. (*This wasn’t always the case with Metallica—they have long angered music fans...
August 2008
6 posts
Mark Spitz, former American Olympic swimmer, gives... →
“I never got invited. You don’t go to the Olympics just to say, I am going to go. Especially because of who I am.”
That trademark sound
If you were to name the 17 most recognizable sound bytes, how many would be the same as the ones mental_floss listed?
1. NBC’s musical notes G, E, C played on chimes. NBC was the first to trademark a sound for its radio broadcasting services in 1950. 2. MGM’s lion’s roar 3. The song “Sweet Georgia Brown” for The Harlem Globetrotters 4. Tetris’ “electronic Russian folkstyle tune,” owned by...
Watch
We as a nation have got to ask ourselves, “What the hell is going on?”
A lady is amazed at the sight of a rainbow in her backyard sprinkler. She insists that there is something oozing from the ground, and that it’s time to “wake up” and notice that this wasn’t happening 20 years ago. File this under “Misinformed American of the Day.”