This week’s homework involved experimenting with shutter speed. The content I chose was not exactly groundbreaking, but I thought this image was rather interesting. I did have to crop a bit off the top…
OK, I’ll do my best not to rely too heavily on Old Jews Telling Jokes when I’m having a slow-blogging day. But this one was too hilarious not to share…
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For some odd reason, I was just Googling “Francie,” a Mattel fashion doll who was Barbie’s “mod” cousin. At any rate, I came across this rather distressing link to an eBay sale of said doll…
Still a bit unclear on the ad, but I think it means that Francie’s merkins are included in the sale…
Oxalis, asleep for the night…
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from Old Jews Telling Jokes
Rep. Kevin Brady - Moron or imbecile? You be the judge...
Is this funny? Sad? Enraging? All of the above and more?
From the Wall Street Journal:
Protesters who attended Saturday’s Tea Party rally in Washington found a new reason to be upset: Apparently they are unhappy with the level of service provided by the subway system.
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) asked for an explanation of why the government-run subway system didn’t, in his view, adequately prepare for this past weekend’s rally to protest government spending and government services.
“These individuals came all the way from Southeast Texas to protest the excessive spending and growing government intrusion by the 111th Congress and the new Obama administration,” Brady wrote. “These participants, whose tax dollars were used to create and maintain this public transit system, were frustrated and disappointed that our nation’s capital did not make a great effort to simply provide a basic level of transit for them.”
Seriously, is this hypocrisy? Rank stupidity? Or maybe it’s some kind of performance art? Not to mention – what sort of public transit infrastructure exists in Texas? How would these rubes even know whether the service they got was above or below average? Don’t they usually travel one person per Chevy Suburban?
Oh, and the depressing and predictable punchline:
Back in July HR3288, a Transportation and HUD appropriations bill, came up for a vote. It included $150 million for emergency maintenance funding for the DC Metro.
Brady voted against it.
Remind me again why the Democrats are pandering to these imbeciles in hopes of a “bipartisan” solution to anything..?
Michael K., who writes the genius blog Dlisted, is the Oscar Wilde of his generation. One of his posts today opens as follows:
If we got a $1 for every time we heard about Jon Grosselin rubbing his fat man balloons all over some homely young thing, we’d have enough money to buy out Ed Hardy and burn it to the ground.
Believe it or not, it only gets better from there. Be sure to read the whole thing…
I am so envious of Michael K.’s skills as a writer – seriously, he can turn a phrase like nobody’s business. Of course, I don’t envy his having to spend his days reading about the Gosselins, Paris Hilton and La Lohan. But I’m glad he does it for us, the readers…
I rather enjoyed Lady Gaga’s performance at the VMAs. I mean, yes, the production was a little over-the-top/insane, but that’s pretty much her deal… Though I did laugh out loud at one comment I saw online about this performance: “DANCERS WANTED: MUST WEAR THONG ON FACE OR BE IN WHEELCHAIR”
But she has a pleasant voice and writes pretty great pop songs with the most amazing hooks… Seriously, Chris and I both kept randomly blurting out “papa – paparazzi” on our walk home from dinner…
Of course, it also made me reminisce about the all-time best VMA performance ever, namely Madge singing (I mean “singing”) Vogue in court dress. This was perfection… Well, near-perfection. As my friend Ron pointed out at the time, the one thing that would’ve made it better is if they’d had headset mikes coming out of those wigs…
Posted in music
Tagged can't read my poker face, lady gaga, madge, madonna, mtv awards, oh no she didn't, oh yes she did, strike a pose, vogue
Yes, I realize that re-posting cat videos found on other sites is the nadir of blogging… But, seriously, how could I not share this? I’m not made of stone…
from Cute Overload
My hero...
Judge Jed S. Rakoff just overturned the settlement between Bank of America and the SEC, in which BofA agreed to pay a fine of $33 million. The fine was penance for not revealing to stockholders of either BofA or Merrill Lynch that Merrill had paid out $3.6 billion (yes, with a “b”) in employee bonuses immediately prior to their acquisition by BofA.
Judge Rakoff concluded that BofA “materially lied” to shareholders – in other words, BofA’s pants were literally on fire.
He went on to add that the $33 million settlement “does not comport with the most elementary notions of justice and morality.” Oh snap, your honor…
He was also not especially thrilled by the fact that the burden of paying the fine was being borne by BofA’s shareholders – the very people injured by the failure to disclose the bonus scheme, writing:
It is quite something else for the very management that is accused of having lied to its shareholders to determine how much of those victims’ money should be used to make the case against the management go away.
As if all of this wasn’t enough to make me swoon with delight, Judge Rakoff also quoted from Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde (I know!), in which a cynic is defined as someone “who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
Can we please get this guy onto the Supreme Court – stat?
Seriously, if all 10 or 12 or however many of you there were want to have lunch together, far be it from me to stop you. But you know what? Don’t do it at Farm:Table, which measures about 6′ x 6′ and holds maybe 8 people comfortably. Besides managing to take up all the seats, tables and air, three of you were milling around blocking access to the cashier where I was trying to place my order. I know it’s a difficult concept to wrap your heads around, but there are in fact other people in this world who are trying to go about their lives, performing their quotidian chores and mundane tasks – even despite their lack of elaborately groomed facial hair, plaid shirts, ironic glasses and fixed-gear bikes. And you’re in our way…
Of course, as it turned out, the point was moot. Despite charging $8.50 for a sandwich, it’s cash only – and I had only $7 on me. Honestly, who the hell carries cash anymore? It’s not like I’m some senior citizen headed out for an afternoon playing the slots at the local Indian casino. “Cash only” – I really should have gone back over there and paid with a sock full of nickels… Of course, then I had to fight my way past the two dudes standing in the doorway having a conversation – perfect location for a chat! Wasn’t there an escalator around for you to stand at the top of..?
Good thing Pearl’s is right down the street. Not only did they take my debit card, they prepared me a delicious cheeseburger and fries.
Posted in restaurants, why?
Tagged farm:table, get out of my way, hipsters, pearl's burgers, use your heads
I can’t figure out whether I’m the lazy and inattentive boyfriend or the demanding girlfriend. Though I suspect if you asked Chris, he’d totally peg me as the shrew… OK, I’ll admit it – I can be just a tad shrewish… At any rate, this PS3 commercial made me laugh.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Posted in funny
Tagged aroma-therapy candle, commercial, internet, playstation 3, ps3, sony
I start my photography class tomorrow. But I have been muddling my way through in the meantime and have managed to snap a few good shots. I liked this one – a close-up of some one of the very pretty sunflowers Chris brought home last week…
Saw a sexy young man on his bike the other afternoon – a not-unusual occurrence here in SF. So why did I grab for my camera in this instance?
Because his license plate made me laugh out loud…
A calm and reasonable discussion about health care reform – WTF? Are Minnesotans just saner than residents of other states? This seems unlikely considering that Michele Bachmann has been elected to public office in that state more than once.
Maybe it’s just because Al Franken is likely one of the smarter members of the Senate? Note for example his use of the correct “preventive” rather than the non-word “preventative.” I’ve always believed that it’s pretty much impossible to be funny without also being intelligent… (My own Senator Feinstein appears to be neither – though I do ♥ Senator Boxer, even if she does enjoy the theatrics every once and again… But I digress.)
Whatever the case, imagine how delightful it would be if the citizens of this country could engage in actual discussions of policy rather than simply screaming “Socialist!” – “Teabagger!” – “Hitler!” at one another.
By the way, this video is ten minutes long – but it’s like a ten-minute trip to a spa… Such a lovely and refreshing change from the shoutiness we’re all so used to hearing when it comes to the debate over health care reform.
from Ana Marie Cox via Gawker
Posted in politics
Tagged al franken, health care, health care reform, logic - what a concept!, minnesota, refreshing
I’ve been changing the header image on my site with a little more frequency, no doubt since I’m taking a lot more pictures with my new camera (and I start my photo class in a couple of weeks!). Here’s my prior image (click to enlarge):
I quite liked this photo – a tight close-up of a marshmallow treat made with Froot Loops. Chris and I saw it while in NYC. I thought the colors and the textures made a great composition and that the tight crop really emphasized those details.
At any rate, I just received the following message from my sister:
Why do you have a photo of semen-covered fruit (sic) loops as the banner on your website? It looks disgusting.
Of course, my reply was “Because that’s how I like them…” Though I also asked if she really thought it was that gross…
Yes, it is that gross. It would be OK if it weren’t such a close up and you could see that it is something normal instead of something dirty.
But what say you, dear readers? I’ve changed the banner to accommodate Sissie’s very delicate sensibilities. But I’m genuinely curious as to whether anyone else was repulsed by this photo – or if, like me, they thought it was a well-composed and interesting image.
NYTimes staff members prove to be stiff competition in the always-hard task of writing headlines… In other news, fabulous erect penises.
from Gawker
Posted in funny
Tagged double entendres, it's real - and it's spectacular, mr. johnson, pitching a tent
I suppose I shouldn’t be laughing at this… But I am. Though I’m thinking rather than “Out of Service,” the sign on the phone should just read “Oh screw it – go ahead and jump, loser.”
from sfist
Just up the street from home is a tiny little place called Farm:Table. Only ate there one other time, when I was home with my broken elbow, and had a fantastic prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich. Stopped by again today and ordered salmon with hard-boiled egg and yogurt-dill sauce. I was expecting something more sandwich-like, rather than the open-faced little morsels I got. But they were very tasty (the eggs still warm – mmmm…) – and just the right amount since I’ll be dragging my fat-ass to the gym shortly… Another plus: very handsome tattooed young man placing an order as I left – though I think I might’ve been staring in way that was creepy… Actually, I guess I’m at the age now where any staring I do would be considered creepy…
It's a Complete Outrage 