Friday Ephemera
I’m not entirely sure what it is, but you should buy some anyway. (h/t, Damian) || Cardboard piano. || Pretty good fingering. || Classical musicians react to K-Pop. (h/t, Elephants Gerald) || At all times, dignity. || The eternal struggle. || Ordia is a game. || Signs of cultural decline, #3,004. || Always respect the media. || They have bodies. || He has a business card. (h/t, Holborn) || Miracle breakthrough. || He was embarrassed, you see. (h/t, Dicentra) || Magnetic construction kit of note. || Question answered. (h/t, Orwell) || With nails and a single thread. || OK Soda was not a success. || Amplified cat. || Honey, Queen and Bumble are here to help. || And finally, the faces of dogs after eating bees.
Pretty good fingering.
Not what I was expecting.
I know. I’m going to hell.
Signs of cultural decline, #3,004.
From PC Nicole Short’s testimony on the death of Sheku Bayoh:
Someone had the mistaken view of policing as not a very physical service.
OK Soda was not a success.
Right up there with the McLean DeLuxe and Lay’s WOW Chips (sorry crisps).
The former had so little fat it was dry, hard to chew, and binding. The latter, thanks to fat substitute Olestra, caused abdominal cramps and “anal leakage.”
Is it just me, or do those “space helper” robots look an awful lot like something out of the game Portal ?
Those poor dogs. Not funny. Harrumph.
Daniel, are you there? I have one more question about Those Kids These Days. I have seen video of them in groups snapping their fingers in unison, but no one ever starts dancing or doo-wopping, so why are they doing it? Do you know?
I’m certainly glad MY generation behaved in a mature and dignified manner.
The ‘OK Soda’ campaign history reminded me of the time Coke tried to tap into millenial cynicism with their viral Coke Zero ads. I remember being in South Melbourne and seeing some – weirdly well-drafted, weirdly geometrical – graffiti on the pavement on the theme of ‘Zero’. There was also a lame red-black blog at the time that was quickly outed by other bloggers as being a viral advertising effort. Ah, Coke, forever trying to tap into the wrong Zeitgeist.
Pretty good fingering.
Well, she’s no Stormzy.
“Reporter: No, I wouldn’t have done the same thing.”
The most shocking thing about that interview, sadly.
With nails and a single thread.
That’s amazing.
Honey, Queen and Bumble are here to help.
Silent Running.
Morning, all.
That’s amazing.
It does suggest a certain… dedication.
The most shocking thing about that interview, sadly.
Now, now, Julia. We mustn’t judge. We must allow ourselves to be enriched.
Well, she’s no Stormzy.
Heh. Yes, the whole thing would have been greatly enhanced if Ms Turk had taken out almost all of the notes, and melody, and harmony, and instead had starting boasting about her sexual capabilities. While her homies smashed up cars in the background.
I do too behave in a mature and dignified manner.
Just not here.😝
Classical musicians react to K-Pop.
Not what I expected. 🙂
. . . about Those Kids These Days. I have seen video of them in groups snapping their fingers in unison, but no one ever starts dancing or doo-wopping, so why are they doing it?
Of the video(s?), are those doing the finger snapping first watching something intently, and then mebbe as someone finishes with talking, singing, whatever, at that point does the general cluster of people start snapping their fingers?
If So, I suspect that what you’ve got is just the latest generation iteration that goes all the way back to Wavy Gravy, back pre Woodstock, et al, back when he was still Hugh Romney, and hosting poetry recitals that had to be very, very quiet . . . .
Not what I expected. 🙂
It does have its moments.
For instance.
Honey, Queen and Bumble are here to help.
Silent Running.
Oh, My, Yes . . . .
And finally, the faces of dogs after eating bees.
I misread that as ‘the feces of dogs after eating bees’.
I misread that as ‘the feces of dogs after eating bees’.
Somewhere on the internet…
Thanks, Hal.
You know, on reading about the objectification of Easter Island, I realized that the days of silent subjection must end, that the days of being powerfully angry, of seizing our power, of vocalizing our rage at the violently heteropatriarchic assumptions of white men about the great stone heads, those heads whose Easter Island bodies have been colonized by toxic masculinity, measured, touched, handled, dug up with phallic shovels, raping their tender stone flesh, these androgynous heads who by their very existence threaten the blah blah blah blah of the blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah…
As they say on Easter Island, “Even though you may annoy the neighbors, if the dog’s poop is buzzing, don’t pick it up with one of those little bags.”
Words to live by.
Built by NASA, these three bots — named Honey, Queen, and Bumble —
Public funding + public reality entertainment = NASA commonly comes off like Sesame Street.
Someone had the mistaken view of policing as not a very physical service.
Well, quite. As I’ve said before, the spectacle of small, female police officers struggling to restrain or even briefly impede one burly wrongdoer has serious consequences. Not least in terms of demoralising the public and undermining any remaining confidence in the police. Hiring front-line officers who are physically unable to enforce lawfulness, even in pairs, or even in threes, resulting in open mockery, is a recipe for disaster. But according to the current Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, the terminally incompetent Cressida Dick, it’s more important to have women “in every role,” at “fifty percent,” because people mustn’t “see policing as primarily a male-dominated job.”
Apparently, we live in Clown World.
Apparently, we live in Clown World.
Yes, yes we do.
In all my years of service I have never needed to use my baton or spray at all and usually, because I am so short and petite, this serves to de-escalate situations with men.
Interesting.
She’s not trying to be a butt-kicking babe, which is some acknowledgement of reality. And she might have to go back to Feminist Charm School – women in traditionally male spheres are supposed to complain about being held back by sexism, not to advertise that they get an advantage from chivalry. She’s “don’t you know there’s a lady present”-ing violent men into compliance. It’s a great non-lethal technique. When it works.
It sounds nearly the same as traditional, de-escalating, British policing – Dixon of Dock Green instead of Cops, “let’s not play silly buggers, sir” instead of “hands up against the wall, motherfucker”. But the “let’s not play silly buggers sir” tone takes its power from the knight-side rather than the damsel-side of chivalry. It doesn’t signal weakness and invite you to do him a favor, it signals strength in reserve and invites you to recognize that he’s doing you a favor by not escalating.
She’s “don’t you know there’s a lady present”-ing violent men into compliance. It’s a great non-lethal technique. When it works.
As you say, it presupposes both a residual sense of bourgeois propriety and the implicit threat of a more physical alternative. But given no obvious physical leverage to threaten, and given the kinds of people with whom the police are most likely to interact, the sight of a petite lady in a funny hat may not elicit the hoped-for response.
Incidentally, the charmless and unimpressive Ms Dick has been mentioned here before. Her gift for evasion and displacement, for carefully avoiding obvious facts, seems to be her only obvious talent and, presumably, the basis for her promotion.
Apparently, we live in Clown World.
Last stop before the Zombie Apocalypse. Which is already happening in Venezuela. Contrast and compare and then explain how the end result would be any different than a zombie apocalypse. See also, Detroit. And increasingly, San Francisco. Or Los Angeles.
Apparently, we live in Clown World.
But people keep telling me political correctness is just about politeness. /sarcasm.
Apparently, we live in Clown World.
Still, could be worse.
Her gift for evasion and displacement, for carefully avoiding obvious facts, seems to be her only obvious talent and, presumably, the basis for her promotion.
People like her get away with this because “reasonable” people are too polite and/or lack the sufficient backbone to push back. Thus it falls to the more impolite, who also feel the social pressure to not “be that guy”, but internalize it for a few years/decades. And then ladies and gentlemen, THIS is how you get Donald Trump. Then some of those internalized impolite ones start to rediscover their backbones. And then bad things happen. At which point, much like what happens in sports, we blame the retaliators but at least the Dicks of the world get their fingers burned and being the bully sympathizers that they truly are, retreat and reassess. We then punish those who reacted, both physically and socially. Then (oddly, hopefully) “ruling classes” come out of their temporary hiding places to pretend it was their steady hand at the till of leadership (the “good cop”) all along and not at all the retaliators (the “bad cops”) which restored order. A new order that pretends to be the same old order assumes predominance. After a while, the chavs find their chi again and the cycle continues.
Apparently, we live in Clown World.
There’s an unhappy symbolism too – one that tracks quite well with the ongoing failures of policing and the public’s subsequently lowered expectations. We’ve gone from the ideal of burly chaps who will apprehend lawbreakers as forcefully as necessary and send them on their way towards the nearest dungeon, to ladies in funny hats who will be terribly sensitive and empathise with our loss, while we get used to the idea that whatever wrong was done to us will most likely go unpunished.
OK Soda was not a success.
Doesn’t that make it a success from the bullshoi proto-hipster nonsense perspective, though?
Pretty good fingering.
Spellbinding, thank you.
…led to a mistaken view of policing as a “very physical service”.
Tires* are the single most important variable to your car’s performance, since for all the engineering marvels displayed by an automobile the only surface in contact with the ground are the tires. Despite this hardly anyone fantasizes about a new setlike they would, say, a new Ferrari, and purchasing replacements seems to be more annoying than other maintenance costs.
Policing is one of those “tire” functions in society. For all our technology, legal protections, wealth and abundance when someone is determined to do harm we come in contact with unadulterated reality, for which no amount of style or nuance is sufficient to get a grip on the situation. Keeping with the metaphor, Ms Dick seems to be very concerned about the sunroof while blithely ignoring the car careening into the ditch.
*or Tyres as the locals say
Keeping with the metaphor, Ms Dick seems to be very concerned about the sunroof while blithely ignoring the car careening into the ditch.
Yes, that. It’s very fashionable right now.
I’m not entirely sure what it is, but you should buy some anyway.
Translated: ‘Thank you very much. Crotch Warrior Emzan sequel published! Empress brothers also protect the crotch of the demeanor!’
Last stop before the Zombie Apocalypse.
There’s an extant theory that horror films reflect the subconscious anxieties of the populace and I’m more than half convinced that the popularity of zombie movies/TV is being driven by news footage of what happens when the EBT cards glitch.
Psychiatrist’s meeting observations.
Psychiatrist’s meeting observations.
From the link…
**PAGING TIM NEWMAN**
There’s an extant theory that horror films reflect the subconscious anxieties of the populace and I’m more than half convinced that the popularity of zombie movies/TV is being driven by news footage of what happens when the EBT cards glitch.
Almost. The zombie metaphor of staggering cretins moaning for Brains, brains, brains definitely fits the hipsters, et, al. that have been staggering about for the last ~40 years. The reality that we keep seeing is Brands!! Brands!! Brands!! as they go frantically shopping for the brand name label covered tchotchkes that One Must Be Seen Having . . .
In all my years of service I have never needed to use my baton or spray at all
I suspect that she was being assigned to “easy” beats: no neighborhoods full of chavs, etc. Not much need for physical strength when your job is to stand outside the British Museum and remind American tourists to look to the right before crossing the street.
Weight Watchers Removes “Weird Al” Statue After Controversy
Murder? Rape? Burglary? Embezzlement? Harrassment? DUI?
Oh, for F…
That’s a parody article, Mr. Duncan.
That’s a parody article, Mr. Duncan.
“Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore —
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; —
‘Tis the wind and nothing more.”
Is it just me, or do those “space helper” robots look an awful lot like something out of the game Portal ?
No, it’s not just you. Was looking for a little heart. I don’t think that’s a random design
“That’s a parody article, Mr. Duncan.”
Dammit. It’s so hard to tell these days.
Slothfully ephemeral:
https://www.ted.com/talks/lucy_cooke_sloths_the_strange_life_of_the_world_s_slowest_mammal/up-next
I joined the Sloth Appreciation Society about 4 years ago and just the other day I received my free sloth! Wasn’t it nice of them to put a rush on it like that?
I swallowed the hook until I read the comments.
easter Island heads
I kid you not
https://www.dpreview.com/news/9985444771/easter-island-tourists-put-iconic-statues-at-risk-to-get-nose-picking-selfies
Emily Litella moment in real life.
Emily Litella moment in real life.
She tried to write about sodomy, but screwed the pooch. 😐
Emily Litella moment in real life.
OK, I suppose I’m a little too buzzed right now but was that, or what was that with, a dig at Neil Gorsuch?