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| 04:22pm 03/10/2005 |
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errrm, strike that.
The car is alright. everything else still sucks, but the car survives. |
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| Avast! |
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| 12:45pm 19/09/2005 |
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Jeffrey Rowland is the last person I would ever to expect to get all hater-ific on National Talk like a Pirate Day. But he went and did. I never thought I'd say this, but fuck you, Jeffrey Rowland. Go walk off some planks. Or I'll stab you.
and Arrrrrrrrrrrr! |
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| blech |
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| 09:13am 06/09/2005 |
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i'm so over life it hurts.
labor day weekend was an interesting bit of running around. my gas tank hates me. Allie's bbq was fun, if only for the chance to put on my homemaker hat (we won't mention the gin & tonics, now will we?). Counteracting that, of course was my complete and utter failure at making hash browns at Brenda's yesterday. so it goes.
Also, I've been catching up on SG-1, since I've only ever seen scattered episodes. I'm up to season 5, and there's this one episode that involves an old homeless guy, who, upon seeing Samantha Carter abducted by men in black driving a white van, says "Ninjas!" That shit was the most hilarious thing that happened yesterday.
yup. My life is boring, carry on. |
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| holy shit |
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| 09:25pm 18/08/2005 |
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this is by far the funniest blog entry about Egyptian politics. EVAR.
I'll give you a hint. it's tangential to my earlier entry about waldo. |
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| 02:54pm 17/08/2005 |
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I would like to point out that Waldo just sent me a friends request on myspace.
Yes, that Waldo.
edit: Waldo left a comment on my profile. I am now officially way more hardcore than all of you. |
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| blarg |
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| 10:04am 17/08/2005 |
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last night was, i suppose, something of a debauched one as far as my nights go.
I called up ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) kingalziel because it was raining like a motherfucker and he kinda lives downtown, and all i wanted to do was buy the new issue of Asimov's, which is not worth getting soaked over. So, naturally, we go wander about Ann Arbor. We ran into murderedhearts in front of the Michigan Theatre, and she reminded me that the shopping cart races were last night. Since kingalziel is newly arrived to the (not nearly as cool as he thinks it is, but I don't have the heart to tell him yet. He lived in the birthplace of the republican party for the past year. nuff said.) village of Annarbour, I decided he must attend this great tradition (apparently Maxim wrote an article about it. bizarro).
So, we get there a bit early, and, in such situations, the only thing to do is to go to a dive bar. Once we actually get to the festivities, we do that damn thing, but kyle and I are retarded, and we missed the actual race. Oh well, it was still pretty OK. We also met some people from downriver, who turned out to be 17. This freaked Kyle the fuck out, since his job involves teaching people that age. We felt old.
I've got nothing else, really.
edit: I just need to express how much I love The Go Team! I saw them at Intonation (well, not so much saw as heard them while I was in line for food) and they were pretty ok, but they are pretty amazing in studio. The song "Power Is On" gets played in the office about 4 times a day. The other secretaries hate it. That's ok though, because, as Dre said "bitches ain't shit" |
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| 04:42pm 15/08/2005 |
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so, a few notes before i leave wage slavery and watch more stargate (oh bittorrent I laud thee! Bram Cohen you are a true hero for our time!)
1. This video makes me both uncomfortable and happy inside.
2. I was going to compile a list of the best anarchist facial hair styles, but I'm running out of time. I'll do taht when i get home.
Edit: here's my first draft. feel free to chime in, this is a stupid idea anyhow. it can't get any worse.
top five:
1. the reverse stache (see: proudhon)
2. the santarchist (see: kropotkin)
3. the mangy wolfman (see: bakunin)
4. the twirl-o-stache* (see: vanzetti)
5. the deity (see: Lysander Spooner)
honorable mention: the mexistache (see: Zapata)
*I also considered callign this the "what the fuck is on my lip?" and the "snuffaluffagus" |
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| hahahah |
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| 03:39pm 11/08/2005 |
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Today, I learned how to make a fairly advanced projectile weapon using everyday office supplies. I am now thoroughly prepared for office guerilla warfare. Soon my band of highly trained fighters will roam the cubicle farms of this great land, shooting people in the face with pencils and then disappearing into the night. I will be the ninja of the office world, feared, but seldom seen. My weapons are everyday office supplies. I cannot be stopped.
postscript: I regret to inform you that the strength of the weapon is greatly exagerated. I can penetrate cardboard, but not an aluminum can. Perhaps I need to go on a recon mission to acquire more powerful rubber bands.
edit: I have determined the problem to be the width of the rubber bands. I require medium width rubber bands to perfect this weapon. ph33r my l33t! |
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| heh |
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| 11:30am 10/08/2005 |
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When LARPers attack.
(stolen from my brother) |
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| 01:49pm 09/08/2005 |
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oh man, I totally just used my ub3rl33t unix skills to fix a professor's computer. I am teh haXXXorz. |
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| Reza Aslan, continued. |
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| 01:53pm 05/08/2005 |
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I finished the Reza Aslan book "No god but God" yesterday. Its quite a good read, even if I disagree with him on a few points (as a for instance: I find his treatment of al-Ikhwan to be a little gracious, and his categorization of al-Ikhwan as originally socialist to be not terribly convincing.) But, at the end of the 9th chapter, he says what I've been trying to say for a few months now.
Despite the tragedy of September 11 and the subsequent terrorist acts against western targets throughout the world, despite the clash-of-civilizations mentality that has seized the globe and the clash-of-monotheisms reality underlying it, despite the blatant religious rhetoric resonating throughout the halls of governments, there is one thing that cannot be overemphasized. What is taking place now is an internal conflict between Muslims, not an external battle between Islam and the West. The West is merely a bystander - an unwary yet complicit casualty of a rivalry that is raging in Islam over who will write the next chapter in its story.
This is why the idea of a "War on terrorism" is a faulty meme. Even if this ideological struggle (the now rescinded language of "Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism" strikes me as a slightly better meme) can be called a "war", it is not one the West can win. Non-violent, non-extremist Muslims can win, but we in the West cannot. It is not our war, even if it has spilled over into our laps.
And what then? I have no idea. Reza Aslan, though, has a notion that an "Islamic Reformation" can happen.
What followed [The Thirty Years' War] during which nearly a third of the population of Germany perished was a gradual progression in Christian theology from the doctrinal absolutism of the pre-Reformation era to the doctrinal pluralism of the early modern period and, ultimately, to the doctrinal relativism of the Enlightenment. This remarkable transition in Christianity from its inception to its Reformation took fifteen vicious, bloody, and occasionally apocalyptic centuries
Fourteen hundred years of rabid debate over the interpretation of the Quran and the application of Islamic law; of trying to reconcile a fractured community through appeals to Divine Unity; of tribal feuds, crusades, and world wars - and Islam has finally begun its fifteenth century.
His book ends with a note more positive than one might expect. Whether he is right in his assessment is up for debate, but I sincerely hope he is.
It may be too early to know who will write the next chapter of Islam's story, btu it is not too early to recognize who will ultimately win the war between reform and counterreform. When fifteen centuries ago Muhammad launched a revolution in Mecca to replace the archaic, rigid, and inequitable strictures of tribal society with a radically new vision of divine morality and social egalitarianism, he tore apart the fabric of traditional Arab society. It took many years of violence and devastation to cleanse the Hijaz [northwest Saudi Arabia] of its "false idols." It will take many more to cleanse Islam of its new false idols - bigotry and fanaticism - worshiped by those who have replaced Muhammad's original vision of tolerance and unity with their own ideals of hatred and discord. But the cleansing is inevitable, and the tide of reform cannot be stopped. The Islamic Reformation is already here. We are all living in it.
(All quotations from "No god but God" by Reza Aslan, published by Random House, 2005.) |
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| more moderate islam stuff |
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| 03:39pm 04/08/2005 |
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"And then there's Walid Phares, who insists that Zawahiri represents the views not only of the majority of jihadists, but - if I heard him correctly (I'll check the transcript when it's published) - of most Arabs and Muslims. How bizarre, hearing an America-based pundit lecturing al-Jazeera about how popular and influential bin Laden and al-Qaeda are, and to minimize the importance of moderate Islamists calling for democratic reforms. Which, oddly, is exactly what Ayman Zawahiri was saying. Why are so many conservative analysists so insistent on taking bin Laden's side in intra-Islamist debates? (never mind, rhetorical question.)"
-Marc Lynch |
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| boring shit |
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| 02:50pm 02/08/2005 |
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so, yea, bored. at work. and shit.
Basically, I've spent the entire day listening to Spoon and the Album Leaf and reading Wapsi Square. Its a pretty damn good webcomic. Plus it involves the Aztec god of alcohol. And, I mean, on the 10 point pimp scale, that shit is like 11.
Also, I have the world's best farmer's tan. Fuck you the Netherlands, and your cold, sun-less climate!
In planning ahead type things, I would like to point out that Sufjan Stevens is going to be in Detroit on September 11th, and Bloc Party is in Royal Oak on the 13th. I intend on going to both if possible. If I have to choose one, you know I'mma have to go for my Michigan boy Sufjan, though. Anyhow, the Voorheis brothers will probably be carting our pale asses down for that shit, so if you want to make it a caravan, holla. Plus MIA is coming to Detroit on Sept. 28, and I missed her last time.
Also, I would like to point our that nachobel left a chopstick in my car, and I dropped it off at his house yesterday. Cuz I'm a good friend. |
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| jokes about kings |
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| 10:23pm 01/08/2005 |
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Perhaps the best description of Abdullah, the new king of Saudi Arabia: "[H]e is well-connected in the region perhaps because half of Arab men are his brothers-in-law, due to his compulsive marrying and divorcing." (Asaad abu Khalil) |
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| and the shit goes dah dah dah dah dah dah |
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| 09:13am 29/07/2005 |
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So, yea. I had a pretty momentous day yesterday. It was a bit like I had a life. strange happenings, son.
SO, first on my list of things to do was see the movie Hustle and Flow. On the serious, this was a damn good movie. It has all the flaws of a pimp movie - violence against women, fucked up power relationships, etc. - but it humanizes all the characters in a way that results in an ambiguous end result, which is pretty much how meditations on poverty, prostitution and violence against women usually go. Also, for the second time this year, Ludicrous has a significant role in a serious indie film and doesn't fuck it up.
After that, I went down to the Border's conglomerate ground zero, and picked up a few books. The first was "No God But God" by Reza Aslan, which I've been meaning to acquire for some time. It is, for the uninitiated, a non-specialist history of Islam, told in a narrative, informal style (but nonetheless with rigorous scholarly backbone). Juan Cole and Fareed Zakaria both gave very favorable reviews to the book, which probably means Aslan has done something right. It won't convince the hardcore anti-Islam section of the population, but it does illuminate what is often an ill-understood tradition for many in the west.
Also, I picked a book entitled "A History of Inner Asia". You know, to go along with my whole interest in the Islamic periphery. Tried to find a book on the Bulgarian Turks' struggle in 1985, but I left my list at home and didn't feel like looking through the entire European history section.
After that, I had bubble tea with Rachel and went to Chris' house, where nothing really happened, although there was a girl with full Sioux headdress and a tomahawk. |
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| the fuck? |
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| 02:28pm 25/07/2005 |
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Further proof that bad taste respects no international boundaries or cultural barriers: LBC (a Lebanese satellite network) recently premiered a reality show called al-Wadi. The premise? Lebanese pop star Haifa Wehbe lives on a farm with some people, and... well, that's all I really got.
The only thing that would redeem this in any way is if they do a crossover with the Simple Life in which Paris Hilton and Haifa Wehbe fight to the death. |
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| re: the supreme court |
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| 09:35am 20/07/2005 |
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There seem to be quite a few people, on both ends of the ideological spectrum, who expect that, with the nomination of John Roberts, Roe v. Wade will be overturned in the near future. Without getting into that argument, I'd like to point out that there is still a 5-4 majority in favor of retaining Roe. Just so you know, that's Kennedy, Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer.
Just a friendly reminder. |
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| intonation festival, part a |
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| 09:49am 17/07/2005 |
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Even though no one cares, here's my rundown of the shenanigans of the first day of the intonation festival.
First off, its hot as balls in Chicago. And muggy. Luckily, water is cheap at the fest. Nice move. Second, there's a particular brand of corporate sponsorship going on that i'm actually surprisingly ok with. Goose Island Breweries, amongst the finest of micro-breweries in the country, has a monopoly on beer at the fest. So, typical beer tent overpricing exists, but since its actually good beer, it almost makes it worth it.
As for the bands, the first few were alright but not great. Four Tet was thoroughly awesome, including a gaggle of little girls from the neighborhood dancing on the side. (The Go Team later brought them on stage.) Broken Social Scene was decent, but had about half the members missing, so, well, it was a little off. Prefuse 73 was doing some weird shit with two drummers that worked occasionally, but kinda ended up sounding a lot more like his Savath & Savalas project than Prefuse 73. Death from Above 1979 was noisy and every bit as annoying as they are on cd. Tortoise was really good, but tom and i were both so tired that listening to them kinda made us want to pass out on the grass. so we went home.
Now, for the single most hilarious bit of the festival: the DJ tent. Hipsters trying their hardest to bust a move? possibly the best thing ever. Also the best thing ever is the tag team set with Jean Grae:
and Will Oldham:
 You cannot find me a more hilarious looking dj tag team ever.
Anyway, more tomorrow sometime. Decemberists play today, which will be hot. |
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