Archive for the 'Life and Society' Category

Tuesday 22 April 2008

the fireside chats

By spaceneedl | Religion & Folklore ~ Food & Drink

excerpt:

if old buildings could talk, what would they say?
mostly innocuous stuff, probably. the weather and settling foundations and the awful hat mrs. hoffenfeffer wore last time in.
but say, just for example, the building were situated on top of ancient native burial grounds. the conversation might be slightly different.
“holy shit, i’m on top of ancient native […]

more spaceneedl | more Religion & Folklore ∞ Food & Drink

Sunday 13 April 2008

tectonic revelation

By spaceneedl | Nature & Weather

excerpt:

it’s been entirely too quiet on the natural disaster front here in the northwest.
we’re due for something unprecedented that no one could’ve predicted.
an earthquake isn’t exotic enough. it’s time for something really big…like, maybe, a new volcano.
Scientists listening to underwater microphones have detected an unusual swarm of earthquakes off central Oregon, something that often happens […]

more spaceneedl | more Nature & Weather

Thursday 03 April 2008

Oh.My.God.

By Gonzo | Careers & Education

excerpt:

What the HELL was I thinking? Twenty years ago I had some well-used, very reliable neural pathways dedicated to school.
Last night, sitting in one of those terribly uncomfortable half-chair-half-desk contraptions (I mean, really, no improvements on these implements of torture in 20 years?!!) the teacher was likely doing a very good job, she seemed […]

more Gonzo | more Careers & Education

Tuesday 01 April 2008

Getting skooled

By Gonzo | Careers & Education

excerpt:

Well folks, it’s been 20 years since I last took a college course, so it is with some trepidation that, starting tomorrow, 5-9pm, I enter academia after a long break. I’ll be entering the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program offered by my employer, finally, after seven years, taking advantage of […]

more Gonzo | more Careers & Education

Thursday 20 March 2008

Global War on Stingrays

By Gonzo | Nature & Weather

excerpt:

Ok, this is getting totally out of hand.
September 4, 2006
Steve Irwin pierced through heart by stingray and dies.
October 18, 2006
Stingray leaps into boat, stings Florida man in heart, man narrowly survives.
March 20, 2008
Stingray leaps into boat, strikes woman in Florida, woman falls backward, hits head on boat deck and dies.
First there was the Global War […]

more Gonzo | more Nature & Weather

Monday 03 March 2008

Jamaica-bound, mon!

By Gonzo | Travel & Holidays

excerpt:

That’s right! It’s vacation time for my own self.
I’ll be back on March 19th, with some positive vibrations!

more Gonzo | more Travel & Holidays

Thursday 21 February 2008

Hey Taxi!!!

By Gonzo | Life and Society ~ Nature & Weather

excerpt:

While I’m an entrenched skeptic of billionaires, at least as long as we live in a world where, every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes–one child every five seconds…
…New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, despite his faults, is doing a fair job of redeeming himself after his brief stint in the Republican Party.
Wired […]

more Gonzo | more Life and Society ∞ Nature & Weather

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

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
What can I say? I'm a diehard Wilco fan. One of my earliest posts here at Transcendental Floss was in response to their previous record, and their latest, Sky Blue Sky, has captivated me just like everything they've ever done. Of course, it's been out for awhile and everyone's digested it and reviewed it to death, but still I can't keep my mouth shut about it. At this point, with their six albums sandwiching two Mermaid Avenue volumes of collaboration with Billy Bragg, I'd go so far as to compare their run of recordings to pretty much any of the great bands in history. Seriously, it's been one revelation, one evolution, one highly listenable album after another spanning twelve years! This latest offering continues to be drenched in references to their musical influences, and here the 1970s reign supreme. With nods ranging from Steely Dan to Led Zeppelin, this is a record that has that classic vinyl sound all over it.
— Gonzo

Loudon Wainwright III - A Live One
Here's a likely obscure one for many of you. Loudon, father of Rufus, was one of many post-Dylan singer-songwriters whom, if they didn't intentionally try to follow in Dylan's footsteps, ended up labeled as having done so during a surge of public interest in people who could simply sing songs and play an acoustic guitar. Loudon is a quirky writer and performer, and his songs range from very funny to shockingly raw and personal. I'm particularly fond of Clockwork Chartreuse, which plays around with a little of the old ultra-violence. If you watched as much M*A*S*H as I did when it was on, you might remember Loudon, who appeared as Captain Spalding, the singing surgeon, in three episodes in its third season.
— gonzo

Once
This low budget "musical" (I'll explain the quotes in a second) knocked me out and inspired me to quit my job, take off for Europe with my guitar, and spend the rest of my days busking, but then I remembered that I'm married and have a 10-year old son, both of whom I like an awful lot. Sigh. Anyway, Once has been labeled a musical only because songs are performed in the film from start to finish. But, the songs aren't obviously contextual, the actors don't just break into song to backing music coming from nowhere, and there are no dance numbers through the Dublin streets where it was filmed. The chemistry between the two leads is wonderfully sweet and funny, the music is at times lovely and tender, other times deliciously melodramatic and passionate.
— gonzo

Ode Magazine
Here's a twist, our first ever magazine recommendation in the Brain Candy department. With the tagline "To People - To Passion - To Possibilities", Ode is a breath of fresh air, good news for a change and lots of it. Articles are easily digestible without being dumbed down, and they regularly highlight ideas and people I later hear about via other media sources. Co-produced in The Netherlands and the U.S., there's a decidedly European feeling to the zine that I enjoy immensely. From science to spirituality, sustainability to the arts, I love getting my hit of optimism every issue. If you aren't a magazine reader, the Ode website offers a lot of the content from the magazine, as well as reader blogs and social networking interactivity.
— gonzo

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

Navigation

Search

Recent Comments

Archives

Archive for the 'Life and Society' Category

Tuesday 22 April 2008

the fireside chats

Sunday 13 April 2008

tectonic revelation

Thursday 03 April 2008

Oh.My.God.

Tuesday 01 April 2008

Getting skooled

Thursday 20 March 2008

Global War on Stingrays

Monday 03 March 2008

Jamaica-bound, mon!

Thursday 21 February 2008

Hey Taxi!!!

Floss Endorsement

Cascadian Links

Circle of Blog

FlossQuotes

Barack Obama

ear candy

eye candy

brain candy

Hard Candy

The (Candy) Man