February 2011
I’ve never met my dad. I thought I had until I was about 8 years old when my mom told me the guy I thought was him, her ex-husband, was not my biological father. I’d been pestering her to to spend weekends with him because that’s what my friend Jackson, whose parents were divorced, did with his dad. It wasn’t personal — it just seemed like a fun way to spend weekends.
A...
January 2011
The books you read about screenwriting say that, done well, a screenplay should read more like poetry than prose. None making movies today understand that better than the Coen brothers.
“Hunting a deer or antelope or harvesting wild berries or nuts is only a few...”
– Robert F. Smith, “Why I Hunt”
(found via the Utne Reader)
My Important Thoughts: New internet rules (for... →
indefensible:
dulltrev:
1. Everyone on the internet is a stranger.
You may think you know someone online. You don’t. The internet provides only a glimpse of who that person is, a highly edited view that they make themselves. Some are more open than others. Some hold back from shyness. Some hold back…
If I had followed these rules, I would have barred myself from meeting some of the most...
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I'm listed in Tumblweeds under photography,...
I’m listed in Tumblweeds, a user-generated community directory that rates Tumblr bloggers by their number of followers. Find me listed in #photography, #dadstuff, #opinion
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I'm Riding in a Spin-A-Thon and Could Use Your... →
Hi there. I’m not so great at asking for things for myself, but I have no problem asking for others, especially when those others are extraordinarily worthy of our support. My wife, parents and I are riding in a four-hour spin-a-thon called Pedal 4 Pattison’s, which supports the Pattison’s Academy, a wonderful group here in South Carolina that provides year-round programs as well...
“Fuck you, Kings of Leon. They’re self-centered assholes, and they missed the big...”
– Glee creator Ryan Murphy’s response to Kings Of Leon’s refusal to grant rights for one of their songs to appear on Glee, from the Hollywood Reporter. Apparently deciding that you have enough money and declining the “privilege” of having your song neutered to serve some saccharine pseudo-storyline...
Parent-Teacher Conferences this Morning
The boy’s teacher called him “my little Howard Cosell” because he provides the class with a play-by-play of the whole day. Yep, sounds about right.
I Will Now Say Something Nice About Facebook
First, thanks to everyone for your birthday wishes. You’re some awesome, kind people that I am honored to call friends. If I happened to miss something what with all of the tumblr dumbness today or because tumblr’s search is less than worthless, then please don’t hesitate to let me know because I’d love to thank you.
Anyhow, on to Facebook. I complain a lot about and only...
When the Citizen Journalist Is Your Husband
sasquatchmedia:
Just as my Sunday editing shift was ending at The Seattle Times the other night, we got word of a shooting at a Walmart an hour’s drive from Seattle in Port Orchard, Wash., possibly four dead, possibly some sheriff’s deputies.
Within seconds, reporters and editors off work that day were calling the newsroom to offer help — they knew I’d need extra hands. What we really needed...
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The lights just came on and I realize that I look like the guy that I used to assume was a narc.
I’m going to Girl Talk tonight, by myself and without a ticket. I haven’t raised my finger in front of a show for almost 10 years. Wish me luck.
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Fags and Child Molesters
I missed all of Louie when it originally aired, so I went back over the holidays and watched the whole season over the course of about two weeks. In my opinion, it’s one of the best shows on TV. It would be easy to say that Louis C.K. is a cringe-inducing dissecter of the ordinary, like Larry David. I like to think he’s more of a heat-mapper: he finds the hottest points of the most...
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Totally Unsubstantiated and Wildly Speculative...
What if…
Eric Schmidt’s stepdown and stock selloff is because Steve Jobs, who is once again grappling with his mortality, has always kept a healthy respect for the former Apple board member in spite of the public spats and has asked Eric to take the reins at Apple?
What if…
Sacred Cow Friday: Nope, Still Don't Like Parks &...
After M.A.S.H.
In my dream last night, my son woke up from a bad dream about his toys getting in a big battle. I comforted him by telling the story of Radar and Klinger, who confronted the horrors of war in Korea but were rewarded with a spinoff series. My parents were in the house and, despite my locking the bedroom door, they broke in and planted themselves on the bed next to us. They weren’t interested...
iBook Orientation Question
My mother-in-law likes to read in bed, lying on her side, but every time she tries the accelerometer flips the page from portrait to landscape. Any way to lock that?
UPDATE: Got it. Thanks!
Exercise, iPods could be causing pedestrian deaths... →
GHSA executive director Barbara Harsha said her organization doesn’t know why there were more deaths in the first six months of 2010 than in 2009…But the “get moving” movement, led by Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign to eliminate childhood obesity, could be to blame, Harsha told The Washington Examiner.
Yes, perhaps it’s Michelle Obama’s fault for getting people off their asses....
WatchLafix, I believe these are the photos you seek — and they’ve even been Ken Burnsified!
lafix asked: I have a message for you from Samuel L. Jackson: BABY PICTURES, MOTHERFUCKER!
Have a nice day.
Have a nice day.
Semantic Scatology
One of my strangest memories in the days following September 11 was that I saw about as many people urinating and defecating on the street out in the open in the space of about 10 days as I’d seen in the previous 15 months. It was San Francisco, so seeing people doing their business outside was a more common experience than most places. But still, it happened enough in those days after the...
“I think the people in America who are underrepresented, who are angry and who...”
– The New Yorker editor David Remnick speaking at 92Y last night. Read more on NBC New York. (via 92y)
“This is America, where a white Catholic male Republican judge was murdered on...”
– Mark Shields (via azspot)
And, yes, when he asks for a snack he asks for the entire proper name of the snack, i.e. “Scooby-Doo fruit snacks.” He’s a precise little turd with a fairly good memory and sense of continuity. He also likes us to tell him a story at the end of the day about everything he did that day. He asks for the story by basically telling us everything he did that day (“Dad, will you...
I Confuse Because I Care
Every two days or so, I have some variation of the following conversation with my son:
Him: Dad, is it tomorrow? Me: Nope, bud, it is today. Yesterday, today was tomorrow. But now tomorrow is today. Him: Today isn’t last day [his phrase for “yesterday”]? Me: Today is today. Yesterday, it was today, and today was tomorrow. But today, yesterday is yesterday and tomorrow is...
“Anyone from anywhere can be cruel, anyone from anywhere can be witty, but there...”
– As Ricky Gervais discovered this week, British banter - that playfully barbed conversational style used up and down the country - can baffle and perturb foreigners. America is a land of Regency etiquette in comparison. (via theeconomist)
Truthful Wednesday
I don’t track my follower count. I mean, I know exactly how many followers I have because it’s right there on the dashboard. But I don’t know things like how many people have started or stopped following me on a particular day or for a particular post.
Before you go and think something like “Well you probably have a lot of followers so of course you don’t...
“[W]hen [a person] fights he fights in the manner of a gentleman fighting a duel,...”
– H.L. Mencken
Just so we're clear...
I’m a Packers fan. I’ve been a Packers fan since I was 8 years old and read a biography of Vince Lombardi. I have been to Lambeau Field. I have stood in the Packer’s locker room only three feet from Brett Favre (ladies, he wasn’t wearing pants at the time). I have eaten at the Red Lobster where it is rumored that the Packers GM convinced Reggie White to sign with the team...
Truthful Tuesday
I have no idea who some of you are.
“It pops up in a machine in some administrative office, and is somebody there...”
– Judge Richard Owen of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan reportedly asked lawyers in 2007 to explain e-mail to him. Read more in our story on aging judges. (via officialssay) 