Archive for July 2008

Thursday 31 July 2008

just a coincidence, i’m sure…

excerpt:

let’s play a game.
let’s see if you can find the underlying theme, the common thread, the dank, smelly basement beneath all these items…
1. senator ted stevens indicted, seven times over
2. monica goodling, former “justice” official, systematically debased the justice department
3. u.s. home prices fell in may by the steepest rate ever
to elaborate…
1. The indictment Tuesday [...]

more spaceneedl | more Law & Politics

Wednesday 30 July 2008

He’s the biggest celebrity in the world.

By Gonzo | Uncategorized

excerpt:

You know, if Obama had called himself “the biggest celebrity in the world” something tells me that it might be perceived as egomaniacal hubris.
So, this is great. In my estimation, John McCain did Obama a HUGE favor by establishing Obama’s superlative celebrity status and it didn’t cost Obama a penny.
Brilliant!
Even in an attack ad, I [...]

more Gonzo | more Uncategorized

Tuesday 29 July 2008

Sovereignty. It’s all so subjective.

By Gonzo | Uncategorized

excerpt:

sov·er·eign·ty (svr-n-t, svrn-)
n. pl. sov·er·eign·ties
1. Supremacy of authority or rule as exercised by a sovereign or sovereign state.
2. Royal rank, authority, or power.
3. Complete independence and self-government.
4. A territory existing as an independent state.

Funny thing is, Iraq and Afghanistan were sovereign nations…at least until we invaded.
So, what exactly is McCain talking about?

more Gonzo | more Uncategorized

Sunday 27 July 2008

can you hear this?

By spaceneedl | Uncategorized

excerpt:

the spaceneedl computer underwent some changes this week.
which is to say, it suffered a massive, irreversible breakdown. the silence of the ensuing news blackout was deafening. and for a short time, i discovered i could actually hear myself think. i know, crazy, right? anyhoo, i clearly heard the low sound of a country in much [...]

more spaceneedl | more Uncategorized

Wednesday 23 July 2008

the road(s) not taken

By spaceneedl | Law & Politics

excerpt:

“…the butterfly effect” refers to the idea that a butterfly’s wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of [...]

more spaceneedl | more Law & Politics

Monday 21 July 2008

thanks, mr. win-a-war

By spaceneedl | Uncategorized

excerpt:

hey, john mccain!
here’s a thought…when prominent americans are traveling to a war zone, how ’bout you don’t give up their itinerary?
it makes it so much easier to maintain security.
that’d be great. thanks.

more spaceneedl | more Uncategorized

yawn mccain

By spaceneedl | Law & Politics

excerpt:

do you know anyone who’s excited about john mccain?
seriously, is there anyone out there who is fired up about a mccain administration because, by golly, he’s just so darn personable and competent and has a bright, shiny vision for america?
don’t misunderstand: there are a lot of people who want mccain to be president, but their [...]

more spaceneedl | more Law & Politics

FlossQuotes

And where we are met with cynicism and doubt and fear and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the American people in three simple words — yes, we can.
– Barack Obama

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Naturally
If anyone's been paying attention, I listen to a wide variety of music, only a fraction of which I've reviewed here at Transcendental Floss. I tend to go through phases when I'll be stuck on a particular artist or genre, really immersing in it for a few weeks at a time, and what I find so interesting and exciting is that during each phase I have this experience where I feel like there's no better music than what I'm listening to right then and there. Well, I've just discovered Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and I can say with complete confidence that this is the best music I have ever heard. Seriously, this is magical stuff. Brooklyn, New York's Daptones Records have managed to produce record after record of fine R&B/soul/funk music using vintage musical equipment and analog recording techniques in the ultimate homage to the legendary Motown and Stax catalogs. The Dap-Kings, serving as the Daptone house band, are the modern day equivalent of Stax's Booker T & The MGs, laying down the tastiest grooves, sweetest guitar riffs, and of course the horns that make this music so electrifying. Sharon Jones is the quintessential soul singer, able to capture moments of tenderness just as easily as moments of gritty passion. Enjoy!
— Gonzo

Van Morrison - His Band & The Street Choir
As much as I love the 1991 movie The Commitments, Van Morrison, some 40 years earlier, had already proven that the Irish have plenty of soul. Perhaps my favorite album of his, His Band & The Street Choir could easily be said to share some DNA with the music of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (soulful crooning, grooves, horns, etc.), yet with a decidedly unique twist that is all Van The Man. This music simply makes me feel good on a deep, deep level. What's so great about Van Morrison is that he's covered such a variety of genres, from soul to blues to country to jazz to celtic to a kind of meditative, almost new age sound that is all his own, and so as I move from phase to phase of musical immersion he's very often right there with me.
— Gonzo

Be Kind Rewind
I was not prepared to love this movie nearly as much as I did. While I've liked a lot of Jack Black's work, he's a guy with limited range who I can easily see wearing out his schtick. However, teamed with a very sweet and funny turn by Mos Def, an equally sweet Danny Glover, and under the direction of the mad genius of Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep), Black's occasionally formulaic performance does nothing to keep this film from achieving success as a comedy and a bittersweet slice of life in Passaic, New Jersey. I was surprised over and over again how Gondry unapologetically went sentimental, eschewing so much of the cynicism that passes as gritty realism these days, which is music to my unapoligetically sentimental ears. I laughed. I cried. I learned that Mos Def is by far the best artist to crossover from music to acting that I've seen in a long, long time.
— Gonzo

Franny & Zooey - J.D. Salinger
I work at a university where I supervise a team of student employees. One employee, in painfully embarrassing hindsight, reminds me an awful lot of me, but before this hindsight came into focus he was a big, fat pain in my ass. Relentlessly sarcastic and arrogant, yet brilliant, this guy pushed my patience to the limit. Then, one day, I saw him sitting under a tree on campus reading Franny & Zooey and it hit me like a lightning bolt. I know this kid. I WAS this kid. So, I stopped to talk to him about the book and about Salinger in general. He'd read The Catcher in the Rye first, then moved on to Nine Stories, which, with the story A Perfect Day For Bananafish, introduces the reader to the inimitable Glass family. Franny & Zooey, then, becomes the natural next choice, with Raise High The Roofbeam, Carpenter & Seymour: An Introduction to follow, and this was exactly the same sequence that I followed 20+ years earlier. Ever since, while we're not buddy-buddy, there's been a new-found understanding between us, a sense that I'd been his shoes, that we shared some interests. Oh, and I went back and re-read Catcher, Nine Stories, and am currently falling in love all over again with Franny & Zooey.
— Gonzo

Lick your chops and chip through the nuggets of past Floss Aid recommendations.
— floss aid

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Archive for July 2008

Thursday 31 July 2008

just a coincidence, i’m sure…

Wednesday 30 July 2008

He’s the biggest celebrity in the world.

Tuesday 29 July 2008

Sovereignty. It’s all so subjective.

Sunday 27 July 2008

can you hear this?

Wednesday 23 July 2008

the road(s) not taken

Monday 21 July 2008

thanks, mr. win-a-war

yawn mccain

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