Faris Badwan on The Enemy: “You’ve got to hand it to these boys. They’re hungry, young and they’ve defied natural selection.”
# 2009 Jun 05
How to convince a friend you’re in love with to have sex with you and possibly leave her boyfriend.
Step Twelve: Raise your left hand to your face. All women are very observant, so your friend will immediately notice the tanline on your wedding finger. If she is educated to a decent standard she will realise that you are married and your ring has simply disappeared, because clothing and other items cannot travel through time. Your nudity will support this.
Disturbingly hilarious.
Via kottke.
# 2009 May 28
2. During this angry period, we are jerks.
An incomplete list from Rands.
# 2009 Apr 15
Like John Gruber said, “his voice is more a part of the Phillies brand than the color red.”.
# 2009 Apr 13
1948, Penn State was set to play Southern Methodist University in the Cotton Bowl. Triplett said he remembers that rumors circulated that SMU wanted to meet with Penn State to discuss the team not bringing its black players. During this time, Triplett credits guard Steve Suhey with coining the now-famous Penn State slogan.
“We are Penn State,” Triplett recalled Suhey saying. “There will be no meetings.”
I had no idea. What a neat story.
Via BSD.
# 2009 Feb 19
John August, on why he could remember Kevin Williamson), but even after being introduced, Kevin Williamson did not remember him:
The problem was the complete disparity in our rememberability. The fair question wasn’t, “Why can’t Kevin Williamson remember me?” It was, “Why can I remember Kevin Williamson?”
YES THIS EXACTLY.
# 2009 Feb 04
This is huge for me. With around 1,300 purchased tracks, upgrading the entire library was costly, especially for tracks I felt no need to upgrade (free tracks, lead singles for albums I purchased on release, etc., songs I hate now*, etc.).
Ice Ice Baby? Was I drunk?*
**Probably.
# 2009 Jan 29
Guy loses his job, starts sneaking into Phillies games, and ends up celebrating with the players in the locker room after winning the World Series:
Now Lionel starts going lotto-champagne crazy, squirting multimillionaire athletes up the nose, in the eyes and down the shorts. He pours an entire bottle over the head of slugger Ryan Howard. Matt Stairs gives him a head butt. He kisses pitcher Jamie Moyer on the cheek and yells, “Thank you for everything!” And Moyer yells, “No, thank you!”
# 2009 Jan 29
Bruce Springsteen once wrote a song called “I Wish I Were Blind.” The tune appears on Human Touch, easily the most reviled album in a recording career that goes back to 1973. Released in 1992, after a five-year drought of new music wherein Springsteen — gasp! — fired the E Street Band, Human Touch gave us The Boss at his Billy Joel-iest, a synthy, syrupy snoozefest that even die-hard Boss fans (Hi!) omit from their iTunes libraries.
But while Human Touch might be the worst Springsteen album to listen to, it’s far from the worst to look at. No, that dubious honor might have to go to The Boss’s imminent Working on a Dream, which officially arrives tomorrow (though it leaked online two weeks ago and has already been streamed via NPR’s website) wrapped in a velvet-Elvis style tableau that looks like something a member of the Backstreets staff paid an art teacher at Freehold Community College to paint on the side of his van.
I’ve always found Lucky Town and Human Touch particularly egregious.
# 2009 Jan 28
U2.com released details on U2’s No Line on the Horizon, including the gorgeous cover (by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto).
The first single “Get On Your Boots” will be released digitally Feb 15 (I’ve heard rumors of a streaming next Tuesday), with the album following on Mar 03.
Tracklisting:
I’ve yet to hear a note, but the constant invocations of Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop get my ears all tinglingly in anticipation.
# 2009 Jan 16
King Kaufman, on the limitations of the current replay system in the NFL (and last weekend’s controversial touchdown call bin the Steelers/Ravens game):
So why doesn’t the NFL, rather than relying on network cameras, just set up a permanent camera at the goal line on both sides of the field? It’s ridiculous that this prime angle is only available on plays that start at or near the 1-yard line.
Amen. It doesn’t even have to be fancy; simple camcorders would work!
I’m sure the Patriots have a few extra laying around.
# 2008 Dec 18
I live in fear that every text and email I send is addressed to the wrong person.
# 2008 Dec 09
In honor of Texas Tech’s success, it’s worth revisiting the New York Times Magazine’s profile of Mike Leach.
From his unique technique:
The big gaps between the linemen made the quarterback seem more vulnerable - some defenders could seemingly run right between the blockers - but he wasn’t. Stretching out the offensive line stretched out the defensive line too, forcing the most ferocious pass rushers several yards farther from the quarterback. It also opened up wide passing lanes through which even a short quarterback could see the whole field clearly. Leach spread out his receivers and backs too. The look was more flag than tackle football: a truly fantastic number of players racing around trying to catch passes on every play, and a quarterback surprisingly able to keep an eye on all of them.
…to the pirate himself:
Each off-season, Leach picks something he is curious about and learns as much as he can about it: Geronimo, Daniel Boone, whales, chimpanzees, grizzly bears, Jackson Pollock. The list goes on, and if you can find the common thread, you are a step ahead of his football players. One year, he studied pirates. When he learned that a pirate ship was a functional democracy; that pirates disciplined themselves; that, loathed by others, they nevertheless found ways to work together, the pirate ship became a metaphor for his football team. Last year, after a loss to Texas A.&M. in overtime, Leach hauled the team into the conference room on Sunday morning and delivered a three-hour lecture on the history of pirates. Leach read from his favorite pirate history, “Under the Black Flag,” by David Cordingly (the passages about homosexuality on pirate ships had been crossed out). The analogy to football held up for a few minutes, but after a bit, it was clear that Coach Leach was just … talking about pirates. The quarterback Cody Hodges says of his coach: “You learn not to ask questions. If you ask questions, it just goes on longer.”
# 2008 Nov 19
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