romeo juliet sierra

You may have read by now the official lie about this treatment,...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:04:46 -0700

You may have read by now the official lie about this treatment, which is that it “simulates” the feeling of drowning. This is not the case. You feel that you are drowning because you are drowning—or, rather, being drowned, albeit slowly and under controlled conditions and at the mercy (or otherwise) of those who are applying the pressure. The “board” is the instrument, not the method. You are not being boarded. You are being watered. (via Believe Me, It’s Torture: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com)

(via angelspukeinyourbrain)

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:13:47 -0700

(via angelspukeinyourbrain)

Bike Snob NYC

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:18:31 -0700

True to their mandate of telling readers things they already know, The New York Times recently reported that more people in New York are turning to scooters in the face of high gas prices. Tell me about it. Dealing with moronic drivers, moronic cyclists, and moronic pedestrians is bad enough, but now we’ve also got to deal with the newbie scooter owner. This is a distinct breed from the Mod or Ska scooter dork of old who rides his two-stroke Vespa to the bar in a cloud of smoke or tunes his Lambretta so it can reach blistering speeds of up to 48mph. I mean, I hate those people too, but I hate them in the normal, friendly way that I hate any subculture that’s not my own. Every subculture knows it is hated by every other subculture, and vice-versa. In fact, this truth is so universal I think it’s time people simply acknowledged it by greeting each-other with a friendly middle finger when they pass. The world would be a better place for the honesty. “Screw your two-tone side panels and your Davida helmet.” “Screw your Deep Vs and your Chrome bag.” “Uh, wanna grab a beer?” “Sure!”

(via bike snob nyc)

Q: What’s heaven for you?A: Me and my wife on Route 66...

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:13:00 -0700

Q: What’s heaven for you?

A: Me and my wife on Route 66 with a pot of coffee, a cheap guitar, pawnshop tape recorder in a Motel 6, and a car that runs good parked right by the door.

Tom Waits interviews himself

Woman caught in traffic while heading southwest on U.S. Route...

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:03:40 -0700

Woman caught in traffic while heading southwest on U.S. Route 101 near the Topanga Canyon Boulevard exit, Woodland Hills, California, at 5:38 in the summer of 1989

From 1989 to 1997 Andrew Bush took photos of people driving in Southern California.

"Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather..."

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:57:49 -0700

“Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all. Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do. But in a pluralistic democracy, we have no choice. Politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of common aims based on a common reality. It involves the compromise, the art of what’s possible. At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise. It’s the art of the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to God’s edicts, regardless of the consequences. To base one’s life on such uncompromising commitments may be sublime, but to base our policy making on such commitments would be a dangerous thing.”

- Barack Obama (via marco)

George Carlin 1937 - 2008“How come when it’s us it’s an...

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:40:41 -0700

George Carlin 1937 - 2008

“How come when it’s us it’s an abortion, and when it’s a chicken it’s an omelet?”

"He’s got the gas prices, in His hands. He’s got the gas prices, in His hands…"

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:34:06 -0700

““He’s got the gas prices, in His hands. He’s got the gas prices, in His hands…””

- Rocky Twyman, founder of Pray at the Pump, and his congregants ask the good Lord for gas prices to come down in Holland, Ohio.
Twyman explains: “God is telling us to stop depending on ourselves so much and trust in Him. Bush can’t solve this. McCain and Obama are not going to be able to solve this.”
The Toledo Blade notes that the prayer circle was a “diverse crowd,” which in those parts means that there were teenagers as well as adults.
The group was last seen holding hands around a gas pump and rocking. A middle-aged woman was speaking in tongues about OPAC. (The petroleum fumes were particularly strong that day.)
(via noraleah)
These are what I consider “nutters”.

An exaggerated color image mosaic of images from NASA’s...

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:49:18 -0700

An exaggerated color image mosaic of images from NASA’s Mars Rover Opportunity. The clouds can be composed of either carbon dioxide ice or water ice, and can move swiftly across the sky. (NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Edith Macefield, 1921-2008 (via Ballard woman held her ground as...

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:13:00 -0700

Edith Macefield, 1921-2008 (via Ballard woman held her ground as change closed in around her)

(via noraleah)

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:12:20 -0700

(via noraleah)

‘Black Guy’ booth livens up Corvallis Saturday marketThe booths...

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:14:01 -0700

‘Black Guy’ booth livens up Corvallis Saturday market

The booths at the Saturday Corvallis Farmers’ Market have a wild mix of fresh produce, tasty food, plants and flowers.

But this week, a table just outside the bazaar offered something more bizarre — “Meet a Black Guy.”

Those who participated in the free service could chat with 21-year-old Corvallis resident Jeff Oliver, and get pictures taken with him.

Sherry Littlefield of Corvallis said the booth was unnecessary. She and friend Ron Naasko said they have black friends, and would be voting for Barack Obama for president. (via Corvallis Gazette Times)

irrationalblog:This is from “Pictures from the Sky” which is...

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:56:06 -0700

irrationalblog:

This is from “Pictures from the Sky” which is worth a look. This is the abandoned city near Chernobyl.

"When we launched, we launched with over a million titles. There were countless snags. One of my..."

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:32:24 -0700

“When we launched, we launched with over a million titles. There were countless snags. One of my friends figured out that you could order a negative quantity of books. And we would credit your credit card and then, I guess, wait for you to deliver the books to us. We fixed that one very quickly.”

- Jeff Bezos in a recent Vanity Fair article about the early days of the web.
That’s right, amazon.com allowed a negative quantity of books at one point. We’re all allowed our mistakes.
(via strelau)

THE (CODED) MORAL OF A (TRUE) STORY

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:16:00 -0700

cursivebuildings:

“did you see me back him up against the wall? huh? did you see me pick him up w/one hand? i could have killed him. did you see his little cartoon character? honestly i could have killed that little twerp. Did you see me lift him up like that? man, what a wuss.”
i’ve been awake for just over twenty-five minutes now. i have no faith in wednesday anymore. please, deliver me back to my bed.

I often had magical experiences similar to this one when I lived in San Francisco.

One involved a whore walking home at daybreak yelling and crying to herself (beautiful), a woman rolling out of a car in the Mission and having a seizure (her companion in panic), a bloody fight in the Mission Burger King (a river of blood), and lastly while walking home pleasantly buzzed on the first day of a new year someone tried to mug me and I simply pushed them out of the way and continued to walk into the sunrise energized and tired from the night.

buzzandersen:Sunset on Mars(via Heading East)This photo...

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:48:49 -0700

buzzandersen:

Sunset on Mars
(via Heading East)
This photo makes Mars seem like a real place to me like no other photo I’ve seen.

Clinton Supporter Thrown Out of Rules Committee Meeting

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:18:24 -0700

Clinton Supporter Thrown Out of Rules Committee Meeting

New York Times API Coming - ReadWriteWeb

Mon, 26 May 2008 19:59:00 -0700

New York Times API Coming - ReadWriteWeb

Photos of office spaces abandoned to bankruptcy

Mon, 26 May 2008 13:40:48 -0700

Photos of office spaces abandoned to bankruptcy

Tom Waits Interviews Tom Waits

Mon, 26 May 2008 13:28:00 -0700

Q: Most interesting recording you own?

A: It’s a mysteriously beautiful recording from, I am told, Robbie Robertson’s label. It’s of crickets. That’s right, crickets, the first time I heard it… I swore I was listening to the Vienna Boys Choir, or the Mormon Tabernacle choir. It has a four-part harmony it is a swaying choral panorama. Then a voice comes in on the tape and says, “What you are listening to is the sound of crickets. The only thing that has been manipulated is that they slowed down the tape.” No effects have been added of any kind except that they changed the speed of the tape. The sound is so haunting. I played it for Charlie Musselwhite and he looked at me as if I pulled a Leprechaun out of my pocket.

NPR: Tom Waits Interviews Tom Waits

“We get a lot of promotional press releases from labels and normally don’t run a word of them. They are, after all, promotional and full of an often comical amount of untethered praise for an artist. But when Anti records sent us this interview Tom Waits did with himself, we had to pass it along.”