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Jul 2, 2009
So I’m trying out this new photoset thing with pictures of my Michaelmas term in England that I found on my computer.
At Oxford University Parks with Saki
Jo Ling _really_ wants to see the horses
Chilling on a bench at Blenheim Palace
Ladies.
Something’s up
Enjoying a drink at The Turf Tavern
Jul 2, 2009
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
St. Vincent - Now, Now
I’m not the pawn to your king
I’m not your world on a string
I’m not anyone you’ll beat
I’m not anything
Jul 1, 2009
mlq3:
LIFE magazine photo, February, 1945, of the ruined gate of Fort Santiago.
My great-aunt has been working at Fort Santiago for as long as I can remember. When I was much younger we used to visit her often, and we’d run around near the dungeons, under the gates, and around the entire facility, check out the museum, and almost get hit by the golf balls from the course nearby.
It was awesome.
Jul 1, 2009
Apparently I am a giant dumbass
And because I forgot my receipt for my Nonimmigrant Visa payment to the US Embassy, I’m going to have to come back in two weeks.
Which might be too late for my July 26th departure.
Son of a bitch.
Jun 28, 2009
The rise of Idiot America today reflects—for profit, mainly, but also, and more cynically, for political advantage in the pursuit of power—the breakdown of the consensus that the pursuit of knowledge is a good. It also represents the ascendancy of the notion that the people we should trust the least are the people who know best what they’re talking about. In the new media age, everybody is a historian, or a scientist, or a preacher, or a sage. And if everyone is an expert, then nobody is, and the worst thing you can be in a society where everybody is an expert is, well, an actual expert.Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free, by Charles P. Pierce (via You Don’t Say). I need to read this book now.
Jun 27, 2009
Affogato Corretto, AKA what might be the best dessert ever: vanilla ice cream. Shot of espresso. Shot of liquor (bourbon, rum, liqueurs like amaretto, whatever). Boom. What else do you need? Nothing, that’s what.
Affogato Corretto, AKA what might be the best dessert ever: vanilla ice cream. Shot of espresso. Shot of liquor (bourbon, rum, liqueurs like amaretto, whatever). Boom. What else do you need? Nothing, that’s what.
Jun 26, 2009
How good one feels when one is full—how satisfied with ourselves and with the world! People who have tried it, tell me that a clear conscience makes you very happy and contented; but a full stomach does the business quite as well, and is cheaper, and more easily obtained.From Three Men in a Boat. Apparently there was a BBC version of this, with Tim Curry as the narrator and Michael Palin as Harris—is it any good, if you’ve seen it?
Jun 25, 2009
Steve Forbes Misunderstands Augustus, Caesar and Hannibal
The Awl carves a place in my heart with this takedown of Steve Forbes’ book subtitled ‘The Stunning Parallels Between Great Leaders of the Ancient World and Today and the Lessons You Can Learn’.
File the book under:
A Failed (and Selective) Application of the Qualities of Classical Leaders to Today’s Business World (which, incidentally, is falling apart), and
Goddammit Why Does Every Classical Reference These Days Have to Be Grossly Uninformed AND Douchey at the Same Time? Jesus Christ
The comments are great—
Shit, I had best get cracking on my Management Secrets of Hesiod: Plow Naked! before Steve Forbes beats me to it.
Jun 25, 2009
Bonnie Tyler - Holding Out for a Hero
He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast, and he’s gotta be fresh from the fight, I need a hero!
If you have not seen this visual masterpiece yet, you are doing yourself a massive disservice (I hadn’t seen it before today, and I only knew of the song from Shrek 2). You know how you thought the literal version of Total Eclipse of the Heart was hilarious? I would contend that this video is even better: at least the visuals here make a little more sense. There is a house on fire which Bonnie Tyler needs to be saved from, and there are threatening, masked men with glow-in-the-dark whips. And a hero.
Oh, and the song is pretty great too, which is why it was stuck in my head in the first place.
Jun 24, 2009
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Japandroids - Wet Hair
This is a bit of a departure for me, as I’m usually more of a lyrics person, but there’s something about the noisily insistent and increasingly frantic repetition of only a few lines, culminating in the ridiculous stanza about French kissing some French girls or something, that makes this song stand out for me.
We want them common
Let’s get to France
So we can French kiss some French girls!
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About
Classics almost-grad student, a Philippine export, re-routed through Ohio. You can find me on Last.fm, Twitter, Dopplr, and Flickr. I contribute to Word Journal sometimes, like things on Tumblr, and keep a longer blog here.
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