garfield minus garfield, cop rock, vbs

"it still counts, even though it happened when he was unconscious. it counts doubly because the conscious mind often makes mistakes, falls for the wrong person. but down there in the well, where there is no light and only thousand year-old water, a man has no reason to make mistakes. god says do it and you do it. love her and it is so. /miranda july
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The Great Schlep aims to have Jewish grandchildren visit their grandparents in Florida, educate them about Obama, and therefore swing the crucial Florida vote in his favor. Don’t have grandparents in Florida? Not Jewish? No problem! You can still become a schlepper and make change happen in 2008, simply by talking to your relatives about Obama.



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Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.










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cop rock seems to be some show aired in 1990 portraying what must be a cop's vision of his own world should said world be the victim of a massive bombing during what could only be described as psychedelic warfare. in 2002, tv guide ranked it #8 among the 50 worst tv shows in history.

"let's be careful out there"

-"several reports of nefarious sorts"


notes:
-nice rhyming of morality/illegality
-"it's a pleasure doing business the american way"
-refers to himself as a baby merchant
-"i'll have your baby for you"

this is not what jail was like:


somewhat related: Basically, VBS will exploit every utopian vision the internet has thus far failed to live up to.

there are some very unexpected guides to places like north korea (below) and afghanistan. i highly recommend watching all the north korea guides, they're uber fascinating.



"it's so surreal. there's nothing normal that happens in this whole country, ever.

things not allowed into north korea:


also from vbs: the vice guide to sex - a piece in the valley



I got bored after a while. When I was getting ready for the shoot I was wondering whether or not I was going to get a boner, cause part of my shtick was interviewing everyone in my black underwear--which is really liberating by the way. And on top of that, everyone has less on than you. Interviewing people in the nude is something I particularly enjoy doing. And the actors are so cavalier about it on porn sets, you could start talking about the new Audi and they're just like, "Oh, fantastic car. The mileage and rack-and-pinion steering is just incredible," and their dick is hanging out. There was one part where she was wiping cum off her mouth while she was talking to us as if it was a little mustard she'd gotten on her face.
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why not:

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at judgeby.com, you can guess a book's Amazon.com reviewer rating by looking at its cover.


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some lhb goodness:

Philip Pullman discusses book banning in the Guardian.

In fact, when it comes to banning books, religion is the worst reason of the lot. Religion, uncontaminated by power, can be the source of a great deal of private solace, artistic inspiration, and moral wisdom. But when it gets its hands on the levers of political or social authority, it goes rotten very quickly indeed. The rank stench of oppression wafts from every authoritarian church, chapel, temple, mosque, or synagogue – from every place of worship where the priests have the power to meddle in the social and intellectual lives of their flocks, from every presidential palace or prime ministerial office where civil leaders have to pander to religious ones.
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Downtown Journal interviews Chuck Klosterman about his novel, Downtown Owl.

Why did you decide to try fiction?

...There are certain things you can’t do in nonfiction. There are certain things about writing...If you write in a nonfictional, journalistic context, any sort of opinion or idea you have is going to be associated with the way you view the world. Sometimes it’s sort of nice to be able to create a character, have them say something interesting or entertaining, but isn’t necessarily my perspective or my world view.
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from howitworks.net:

Have you ever heard of a scribbling ring? In sixteenth century England, uncut diamond crystals were set into rings and exchanged by lovers. The wearers of these scribbling rings would use the points of the diamonds to etch (or “scribble”) romantic writings to each other in glass, mirrors or windows.

Another popular ring exchanged during Shakespearian times was called a Posey Ring. Posey rings are inscribed with poetic phrases or dates significant to the wearer.
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i recently added some deviations to my deviantART account.
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from nyt:

Israel From Cliff Top to Desert Bottom

With terrain that ranges from snow-capped mountains and vast desert to lush valleys and continuous coastline, Israel is being recognized as an ideal destination for adventure travelers. “For years, Israel was known in the U.S. as the land of the Bible and a place to visit relatives, but in the last decade we see a major change in the reasons people are coming to visit,” said Arie Sommer, Israel’s tourism commissioner for North and South America. “Between the hiking, biking, snappling” — rappelling — “and jeeping, people are discovering that Israel has a lot to offer.”