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?
but was that, or what was that with, a dig at Neil Gorsuch?
totally dishonest and gratuitous. Indeed, that Wolf failed in basic research to find out the real meaning of the entries actually undercuts the snide remark aimed at a SCOTUS justice who DOES want to find out the real contexts rather than just rewriting precedent to conform to his own whims.
Emily Litella moment in real life.
Yes, I saw that earlier on Twitter. A beautiful challenge by the host, Dr. Matthew Sweet, who is somewhat of an expert on the Victorian era.
Via Cathy Young, Amanda Marcotte reviews popular TV, judging Daenerys to be a person with ‘a deep capacity for cruelty that is only checked when her ego is being sufficiently fed’.
It’s unclear from the article whether she watched the show or simply looked in a mirror.
Julia M: 😄
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2019/05/rainbow-village/?mc_cid=50f04d4a7e&mc_eid=d63b7b651c
I think they oughta keep this town and change the name to Huangville.
Emily Litella moment in real life.
You’ve got to marvel at the, shall we say, dissonance of writing a book about the “criminalisation of love” and then citing – unwittingly, one hopes – the molestation of a six-year-old child as an example of the “love” being criminalised.
Our betters, you see.
And let’s not forget Ms Wolf’s history of unhinged conspiracy theories.
Good news, everyone, gay white men are symbols of heterosexuality.
You will be surprised to note that this revelation is the product of this esteemed academic who offers us profound insights.
It is not so much that these people are insane, except that they are.
And let’s not forget Ms Wolf’s history of unhinged conspiracy theories.
The author of the Vox article on Wolf concludes (my italics):
This is not to argue that all of Wolf’s earlier work must be discarded on the basis of these Facebook posts, but rather to urge others to see the broader context of Wolf and her thinking. In other words, it is important for readers who may encounter Wolf’s ideas to understand the distinction between her earlier work, which rose on its merits, and her newer conspiracy theories, which are unhinged, damaging, and dangerous.
If the writer hopes to to suggest that Wolf’s earlier work is somehow more reliable, this is simply not the case.
In fact, Wolf’s cavalier approach to the use and interpretation of sources apparently dates all the way back to 1990 with the publication The Beauty Myth as this 2004 critical review paper from the journal of Eating Disorders makes dazzlingly clear:
[I]n her chapter “Hunger” [the] eating disorder figures were dramatically high: according to Wolf (1990), 20% of American female students suffered from anorexia and 60% from bulimia. Only [a] small minority had no eating disorder! Her mortality figure — 150,000 deaths from anorexia each year in the U.S.— caught the most attention in the media […]
All 23 statistics on anorexia nervosa (see pp. 181–183 in the newest edition of The Beauty Myth [Wolf, 1991a]; p. 148–150 in the first edition [Wolf, 1990a] were compared to statistics in recent reviews of epidemiological studies (Hoek, 2002; Van Hoeken et al., 2003). [ … ] When her mortality statistic (150,000 annual deaths) is divided by the true statistic (525), her exaggeration can be quantified [as] 150,000/525 =286 … almost 300 times as high as the real statistic. [ … ] On closer inspection only five out of 23 statistics (22%) were accurate … Once she underestimated a little, three times she mentioned the same correct percentage of female patients. For one statistic there was insufficient evidence … More than three-quarters of her statistics were too high. Half of her statistics were more than ten times overdone [ … ]
It has been suggested that the Wolf statistics were not refuted, because in 1990 the experts did not have access to good data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality of anorexia nervosa. This is not true, however. At that time, Williams and King (1987) had already questioned the “anorexia epidemic” in the Lancet. Several well-designed studies on prevalence and incidence of eating disorders had been published (for a review, see Hoek, 1993). Sixteen studies on outcome (including mortality) of anorexia nervosa had been reviewed in 1980 (Hsu, 1980). In fact, this outcome review was refered to by Wolf herself (see statistic 11 in Table 1). Hsu stated: “The mortality in the different series varied from 0% to 19%. In over half the studies, mortality was below 5%” (p. 1042). This finding was summarized by Wolf as:“Researcher L.K.G. Hsu gives a death rate of up to 19%” (Wolf, 1991a, p. 182).
On closer inspection only five out of 23 statistics (22%) were accurate… Half of her statistics were more than ten times overdone
Racist.
47% of all statistics are made up.
On closer inspection only five out of 23 statistics (22%) were accurate… Half of her statistics were more than ten times overdone
But Nik, using wildly inaccurate and/or fabricated statistics is a proud and ancient feminist tradition.
gay white men are symbols of heterosexuality.
About that lunatic professor:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/greta-lafleur/
“Greta LaFleur is Associate Professor of American Studies at Yale University, where she teaches courses on early American studies, the history of sexuality, and queer and trans studies….”
Reminding us once again that lesbians tend to hate men (not just heterosexual men).
Emily Litella moment in real life.
…
Our betters, you see.
And she has a degree from Oxford.
“Woke capitalism in a nutshell.”
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/woke-capitalism-in-a-nutshell/#post-comments
Emphasis on “nut.”
Wasn’t it nice of them to put a rush on it like that?
Reminds me of my favorite joke told me by a 4-year-old: What did the snail say when it rode on the back of a tortoise? “Wheeeeeee!“
😄
I like it!
Since David’s a gay man, and might even be white, we were going to get his thoughts about being a symbol of heterosexuality, but he mumbled something that was either “…brilliant parody” or “…bloody morons,” and started polishing the bar again. Quite vigorously.
NASA missed a trick not naming them Huey, Dewey and Louie.
David’s GAY?! That’s it… me and my masculine fragile heteronormative whiteness are OUT of here!
(Also “Bibblyboo” or whatever sound it is I’m supposed to make now)
It’s my belief that Peterson gets REALLY close at this point in his discussion with Prager:
https://youtu.be/L47oJxwp6yg?t=1460
By that I mean how people can go so wrong in an innocent way.
Dibbly-doo.
how people can go so wrong
Best line:
Tyranny is broken by the truth of the individual.
Bibbity bobbity boo?
Scooby dooby doo.
Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron.
Innagoddadavida, honey…the long version.
…what?
Dey do?
Innagoddadavida…
…as performed at the First Church of Springfield?
Also “Bibblyboo” or whatever sound it is I’m supposed to make now
Bibble-ee-doo was the closest approximation I could come up with. And bless you, sir. May you never know the small but grating irritation of people pronouncing ‘H’ as ‘haitch’.
John Cage as you haven’t ever, er, *not* heard him before!
No. No no no no no. I’m talking Inagaddavida The Long Version. Like when Iron Butterfly played Pirates World back in the day and all those nice, clean cut young people showed up, and there was business propositions made, and it was groovy. Like this:
https://youtu.be/TMEeUlkLe1o
“Inagaddavida The Long Version”
Drum solo! :-O
Play your bibble-ee-doo, Blue
Play your bibble-ee-doo
Keep playin’ till I shoot through, Blue
Play your bibble-ee-doo
Tie me kangaroo down sport
Tie me kangaroo down…
John Cage as you haven’t ever, er, *not* heard him before!
Still, it is better than listening to any sort of metal crap.
Tie me kangaroo down sport
None of that here, please. David might lose his liquor license.
As a private club, I didn’t think we needed a liquor license. And I’m sure the 501 (c)(7) non-profit organization paperwork was filed with the proper authorities…right?
John Cage as you haven’t ever, er, *not* heard him before!
Still, it is better than listening to any sort of metal crap.
And far better than listening to even two seconds of Yoko Ono.
(Better 30 minutes in the Correction Booth than 30 seconds of Yoko Ono.)