Category Archives: Culture

Crush Luther

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It seems that good cousin PJ has been busy lately, what with the recording of the new Crush Luther disc and all.  There is some new content on the band’s MySpace page, which I highly recommend checking out.  The two new songs on there so far are excellent, they have matured in sound a bit, but there’s no rough edges at all.  Good stuff.  The album will be available in an all you can steal, er, pay what you can promotion on September 29th, which I would imagine would be a good way to get this stuff.

Nice job guys, can’t wait to hear the rest of the album.

CrappyTaxidermy.com is the best site on the Internet

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This blog post is brought to you by the letter AAAAAGGHHH!

and the number OOOOOOOOOO!!

The thing is, not only does this website celebrate truly horrendous taxidermic crimes against nature’s beauty, there are other inexplicable horrors that never, ever appeared in nature.  For instance, try forgetting you saw this little gem.

I have awakened screaming every night since I saw this one, and I predict you will too.  I’m just hoping it’s a photoshop job, since seeing this “in the flesh” would end me.

There are many many others, I suggest you go and take a stroll yourself.

Saw it on Boing Boing.

Writer’s Caves

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I love these pictures of some well known science fiction writer’s “offices” where they get their work done.  Overall, the level of clutter is stupendous. I couldn’t imagine getting anything done in some of these rooms, except maybe having an anxiety attack, let alone write a book.  It makes me wonder how someone could focus on any one task in that kind of space.

I love the unabashed crapulence of it all.  Clearly some of these writers love their space.  These are “man caves” of the highest order (the ladies seem to have a much higher level of aesthetics and organization overall).  Wilson, you clearly need to start adopting some habits from these crazy old hermits to become a successful writer.  Also, sweatpants and a huge beard help with the mystique quite a bit:

Saw it on Boing Boing this morning.  Great stuff.

Makes me wonder why I don’t have a man cave.  Although I don’t really have anything to put in it, nor any time to be there.  Hm, that’s probably why I don’t have one.

One Liners

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The best part about the Internet is how it self-organizes information into ever more useful forms all the time.  For example, Wikipedia is a wonderful crazy source of semi-reliable information, there’s never a dull moment there.  YouTube has replaced America’s Funniest Home videos a thousandfold.  LimerickDB distills the best limericks in the world into one fascinating place (we already talked about that one).

Now I have found www.onelinerz.net and I was compelled to spend at least 10 minutes reading the top 100 list.  Some of these have been gleaned from countless joke email forwards, but most I have never heard before.  It’s like a gold mine for the people who actually create those pointless email jokes, I have no idea who they might be and what makes them tick, but man, they work hard, don’t they?

Anyway, good work Internet, keep organizing useless data for me to basically ignore after I find it.

I saw the link on Neatorama.

These Are My Heartsongs

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Sometimes I get the urge to share my taste in music with others, it’s uncontrollable and it usually happens when I happen onto a particularly excellent song on the iPod as I work away at my desk.  The best moments are when the song gives me goosebumps, a rush of emotion, and a sense of the impossible awesomeness of the song.  The drive to immediately tell someone about it, and let someone else either agree completely with me, or realize that yes, I am in fact a musical genius and yes my taste is impeccable and compelling.

Before you start on me, I know I’m not a genius, and I also know that for most, artists like Bob Dylan (heard House Carpenter today, had a religious experience, and then wrote this post) and John Prine aren’t going to appear on any “Five Star” iTunes playlists like they do for me.  There’s just no arguing with that feeling, though, so sometimes I attack Nikki with this stuff.  She’s very patient with me, and seems to even enjoy some of the stuff I make her listen to.  Sometimes it’s too much even for her though, like if I push a particularly twangy or bluegrassy Steve Earle song.

Even though I have been listening to that same stuff for literally more than a decade now, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen with newer stuff.  For instance I recently have become addicted to Weezer (the post title is a nod to a Weezer song) like it is crack.  You just can’t find better crafted, hookier pop rock these days.  It’s clever and sometimes funny, it’s not all the same, and it will grab you by the ears and make you listen over and over.  On the less rocky side of things, there’s Moonlight Graham (the guy from Barstool Prophets) which is excellent, thoughtful and his voice is a pleasure to listen to.  Then all the way to gravel road, whisky bottle, dusty pickup folk-country is Fred Eaglesmith (thanks Shawn), who writes and sings as raw as it gets.

I could go on, but there’s only so much music you can really process to this extent.  I mean sure I listen to the radio, but most of those songs come and go without really staying with you.  Quality is hard to come by it seems.

Are there any songs like that for you, or is it just me?

Three Wolf Moon Shirt

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It’s hard to describe how awesome the Internet really is.  It’s a vast swirling pool of weirdness, but sometimes things align just so and the chance collision of just the right ingredients produces something new and amazing.  Take the Three Wolf Moon Shirt, for instance.

threewolfmoon

All by itself, it is nothing.  But, add almost 500 reviews created by random Internet people, some judicious blog coverage (I saw it on Neatorama), and suddenly sales of this shirt have risen by 2300%, and the world is made a better place, sauteed in awesomesauce.

I mean it, the world is better because these shirt reviews exist.  I love this strange, meaningless, hilarious, brilliant snark.  Why would anyone take the time to write a review of a silly shirt?  Let alone invest some time and thought into it.

Here are just some of my favourites, they are all great.

So I’m looking for threads that say, “Hey baby…I’m real boss!” when I stumble upon this epic creation. The wolves spoke to me in a language all their own; it was like German, Mongol, and Bitchin all mixed together. I mean, one wolf howlin at the moon is major…but three???

I ordered next-day air (if only there was same day!), and, of course, a size smaller than usual to ensure the closeness of the wolves to my chest hair. When the package arrived, I tore it open, and I SWEAR angels sang. I think it was Freebird. I immediately removed my “No Fat Chicks” shirt, and replaced it with this finery. Lemme tell you: AW YEAH.

I’ll spare the details of my conquests since I started wearing this shrit; suffice to say, I’m swimming in a sea of babes the likes of which are usually found on those K-Tel infomercials. I’m also more confident at work, and expect to be promoted to cashier soon. I owe everything to this shirt (I should say “shirts”, since I now own 23 of them).

The top rated review:

This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that’s when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to ‘howl at the moon’ from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn’t have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a wolf-shirt shouldn’t settle for the first thing that comes to him.

I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my wolves would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the wolves on my shirt, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you wolf shirt.

Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women
Cons: Only 3 wolves (could probably use a few more on the ‘guns’), cannot see wolves when sitting with arms crossed, wolves would have been better if they glowed in the dark.

Extra points for the use of “girthy”.

You must go and read them, the Internet demands it.  Then, if you dare, maybe buy a shirt….