I Didn't Write That!
30 September 2012
Shoegaze Double Feature: Souvlaki & Loveless
From Slowdive(1993) and My Bloody Valentine(1991), of course.
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From Slowdive(1993) and My Bloody Valentine(1991), of course.
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Labels: 1990s, music, shoegazer
¶ September 30, 2012 0 Comments
23 September 2012
Shivers (1975, Cronenberg)
A seriously disturbing early Cronenberg film. Like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, but with sex.
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A seriously disturbing early Cronenberg film. Like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, but with sex.
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Labels: cronenberg, film, horror, my influences, science fiction
¶ September 23, 2012 0 Comments
18 September 2012
Orwell's Favor To The Powers That Be
You could argue that George Orwell did the powers that be a great service by providing a vision of oppression as so absolute, cartoonish, and without color or hope within it, that anythng in real life that's less obvious, subtler, seems as though it's freedom by comparison.
But just because you're not in North Korea doesn't mean your soft-totalitarian society is really free.
You could even argue those who live in a hard-totalitarian society are nobler than those in a soft, that freedom is something more in their hearts, because they require such external pushing-down.
While those in a soft-totalitarian society don't need the external. They have internalized it, they have the policeman in their hearts.
It could be argued.
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You could argue that George Orwell did the powers that be a great service by providing a vision of oppression as so absolute, cartoonish, and without color or hope within it, that anythng in real life that's less obvious, subtler, seems as though it's freedom by comparison.
But just because you're not in North Korea doesn't mean your soft-totalitarian society is really free.
You could even argue those who live in a hard-totalitarian society are nobler than those in a soft, that freedom is something more in their hearts, because they require such external pushing-down.
While those in a soft-totalitarian society don't need the external. They have internalized it, they have the policeman in their hearts.
It could be argued.
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Labels: literature, totalitarianism
¶ September 18, 2012 0 Comments
17 September 2012
Mitt Romney's Loser Talk
Mitt Romney apparently thinks it's the quality, not quantity, of votes he will get that will decide the election.
Today Romney fucked himself yet again, another terrible moment in a campaign that has been mainly characterized by one terrible moment after another, and not a single positive one.(I defy you to name one moment Romney has not said something that has made him look worse) Affirming video from months ago that caught attention today as still his view, that he doesn't care about half the electorate.
This, coming on the heels of his utterly idiotic statements on the Syria riots, could not be more ill-times. He insulted almost half of the country, and said he has no intention of even taking how they feel about him, or any possible votes he could get, into consideration. That he does not intend to be president of...well, anyone really, except the members of his own class perhaps.
The idiocy of his...can we even call it a campaign?--is overtly illustrated in this moment. And its lack of any attempt to gain voters too is explained. There are many levels on which he's screwed himself this time.
Now we could just look at that at face value. That's bad enough.
We could also look at this map and see that the people he speaks of who pay no income tax are actually concentrated in the South and Idaho, not considered Obama strongholds. So who he insulted here are actually members of his own rapidly-dwindling voter base.
Or you could see how he utterly failed to spin his remarks in his 10 pm press conference, instead only doubling down, and tripling the damage, affirming what it sounded like IS what he meant.
Or you could consider the most damning fact: He was being asked how, only two months from the election(far less now) he's going to convince enough people to vote for him. What he was doing here was basically saying, "I won't, and I'm giving up trying."
This is Romney utterly undermining any confidence his own side could have in him. Forget whatever other effect this has. He is saying he can't gain more support. This is Romney knowing he is losing.
And consider that his own side has never been enthused about him. Even Rush Limbaugh said the only reason to vote for Romney is because he's the candidate who's not Obama. Romney has been embarrassing the Right. They dislike him now for this reason. They will probably stay home in droves.
Romney is right that almost half(actually, more than, and gaining, according to most polls without the word Fox attached to them) of the US will vote for Obama no matter what--regardless of how you characterize them, and on that point Romney is full of shit, but let's leave that aside and just look at that fact and how many.
Romney has been unable to pinch independents and in fact has been bleeding support starting from an already...let's say limited place. Which is to say he only had 25% of GOP voters to begin with in the primaries.
The GOP base has never broken 33%, not in years.
Romney has no idea how to connect with anyone but his own kind, and definitely has never won over the GOP base, and this is what will undo him. Consider that Palin knew how to ladle out the kind of pap that works. Romney doesn't care to and doesn't see why he should, and indeed acts as though he's surprised he even had to campaign.
Yes, I just said Palin is better at political strategy than Romney. If that isn't damning I dunno what is. But it's so.
She was an effective demagogue. This is what they needed this year. That's what they've been building up to. It would have kept the heat on what they'd been trying to prepare the ground for the last four years, and Romney turned it all stale. And I couldn't be happier they were stupid enough to choose him.
And now he's had a series of unforced errors of a very egregious and embarrassing kind, showing an absolute tone-deafness and opportunism, without failure to fail.
Meanwhile nobody really has any idea what he stands for except, I'll just say it, class-based douchebaggery, something he never fails to reinforce. He's definitely not charismatic. And Obama hasn't been making him do this. He's been sitting back, mostly, and letting Romney punch himself in the face, over and over. And telling very obvious lies.
Even hatred for Obama is not enough because that's still only the hardest hard core of the base, which is not that big. As the grassroots of the conservatives schism from the GOP and Fox, something few have taken note of.
You'll notice I have all along been speaking mainly of Romney's support among Republicans. I haven't really even touched much upon the other side's assets against him. The comparatively small amount that the GOP base constitutes is not enough to topple an incumbent president. Especially one with a very loyal voter base--that much he's close to right about--who gains voters even as Mitt loses them, day after day. Who DOES whip up enthusiasm while Mitt inspires none.
There are not enough people who'd vote for Mittens no matter what and he needed that.
He will lose. I say this because I simply cannot see how he can win, even with voter suppression. The numbers are too far against him. And any Republican I see trying to defend him seems so very half-hearted. And I'm glad, not so much because I want Obama to win as that Romney should not be president. He would be awful. He does not deserve the job in any way. And never, ever, have I seen such a badly-run campaign.
What Romney basically said is a cynical (and loser-talk) statement that he has no intent of being a president to the whole country. That shit might work for a congressional candidate or even a governor, but it makes a presidential candidate look very small.
You beautifully stupid asshole, Mittens. "I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives," he said, so "my job is not to worry about those people." Good, then they won't vote for you. And neither will your own.
Mitt Romney & The GOP: An Illustration
___________________
Mitt Romney apparently thinks it's the quality, not quantity, of votes he will get that will decide the election.
Today Romney fucked himself yet again, another terrible moment in a campaign that has been mainly characterized by one terrible moment after another, and not a single positive one.(I defy you to name one moment Romney has not said something that has made him look worse) Affirming video from months ago that caught attention today as still his view, that he doesn't care about half the electorate.
This, coming on the heels of his utterly idiotic statements on the Syria riots, could not be more ill-times. He insulted almost half of the country, and said he has no intention of even taking how they feel about him, or any possible votes he could get, into consideration. That he does not intend to be president of...well, anyone really, except the members of his own class perhaps.
The idiocy of his...can we even call it a campaign?--is overtly illustrated in this moment. And its lack of any attempt to gain voters too is explained. There are many levels on which he's screwed himself this time.
Now we could just look at that at face value. That's bad enough.
We could also look at this map and see that the people he speaks of who pay no income tax are actually concentrated in the South and Idaho, not considered Obama strongholds. So who he insulted here are actually members of his own rapidly-dwindling voter base.
Or you could see how he utterly failed to spin his remarks in his 10 pm press conference, instead only doubling down, and tripling the damage, affirming what it sounded like IS what he meant.
Or you could consider the most damning fact: He was being asked how, only two months from the election(far less now) he's going to convince enough people to vote for him. What he was doing here was basically saying, "I won't, and I'm giving up trying."
This is Romney utterly undermining any confidence his own side could have in him. Forget whatever other effect this has. He is saying he can't gain more support. This is Romney knowing he is losing.
And consider that his own side has never been enthused about him. Even Rush Limbaugh said the only reason to vote for Romney is because he's the candidate who's not Obama. Romney has been embarrassing the Right. They dislike him now for this reason. They will probably stay home in droves.
Romney is right that almost half(actually, more than, and gaining, according to most polls without the word Fox attached to them) of the US will vote for Obama no matter what--regardless of how you characterize them, and on that point Romney is full of shit, but let's leave that aside and just look at that fact and how many.
Romney has been unable to pinch independents and in fact has been bleeding support starting from an already...let's say limited place. Which is to say he only had 25% of GOP voters to begin with in the primaries.
The GOP base has never broken 33%, not in years.
Romney has no idea how to connect with anyone but his own kind, and definitely has never won over the GOP base, and this is what will undo him. Consider that Palin knew how to ladle out the kind of pap that works. Romney doesn't care to and doesn't see why he should, and indeed acts as though he's surprised he even had to campaign.
Yes, I just said Palin is better at political strategy than Romney. If that isn't damning I dunno what is. But it's so.
She was an effective demagogue. This is what they needed this year. That's what they've been building up to. It would have kept the heat on what they'd been trying to prepare the ground for the last four years, and Romney turned it all stale. And I couldn't be happier they were stupid enough to choose him.
And now he's had a series of unforced errors of a very egregious and embarrassing kind, showing an absolute tone-deafness and opportunism, without failure to fail.
Meanwhile nobody really has any idea what he stands for except, I'll just say it, class-based douchebaggery, something he never fails to reinforce. He's definitely not charismatic. And Obama hasn't been making him do this. He's been sitting back, mostly, and letting Romney punch himself in the face, over and over. And telling very obvious lies.
Even hatred for Obama is not enough because that's still only the hardest hard core of the base, which is not that big. As the grassroots of the conservatives schism from the GOP and Fox, something few have taken note of.
You'll notice I have all along been speaking mainly of Romney's support among Republicans. I haven't really even touched much upon the other side's assets against him. The comparatively small amount that the GOP base constitutes is not enough to topple an incumbent president. Especially one with a very loyal voter base--that much he's close to right about--who gains voters even as Mitt loses them, day after day. Who DOES whip up enthusiasm while Mitt inspires none.
There are not enough people who'd vote for Mittens no matter what and he needed that.
He will lose. I say this because I simply cannot see how he can win, even with voter suppression. The numbers are too far against him. And any Republican I see trying to defend him seems so very half-hearted. And I'm glad, not so much because I want Obama to win as that Romney should not be president. He would be awful. He does not deserve the job in any way. And never, ever, have I seen such a badly-run campaign.
What Romney basically said is a cynical (and loser-talk) statement that he has no intent of being a president to the whole country. That shit might work for a congressional candidate or even a governor, but it makes a presidential candidate look very small.
You beautifully stupid asshole, Mittens. "I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives," he said, so "my job is not to worry about those people." Good, then they won't vote for you. And neither will your own.
Mitt Romney & The GOP: An Illustration
___________________
Labels: bad ideas, barbie mcmooseburger, bastards, election 2012, have you seen the little piggies, right wing
¶ September 17, 2012 0 Comments
02 September 2012
A Message To Apple Cultists Everywhere: Shut The F%#k Up
Everyone who whined about Microsoft being a monopoly, and gushed over Apple: You do realize that Apple have, all along, been the real monopolists, right? Does the Samsung case and Apple's total desire to crush a competitor change your mind even a little?
Did Microsoft also make the machines that could only run their software? No, it was on a machine you could even build yourself. I know, because I HAVE. And if I can build a PC ANYONE CAN, because I'm a technological retard.
Does Microsoft train their consumers to be a cult? And did Jobs ever support cancer and AIDS research or try to improve sanitation for the Third World(I've worked for institutions that have gotten grants that saved lives from Bill & Melinda Gates), or is he the one that actually bragged about never giving money to charity and spent years trying to deny his own daughter, and culminated in thinking he could wish his cancer away, only getting treatment when it was too late?
And frankly, good. He was a disgusting marketing scumbag who, by the way, never designed a thing or wrote a line of code in his fucking life. And what does Apple do when faced with competition? The same as MS did. But even more vindictively. At least MS would try to buy them out often. Apple simply wants to crush them.
And the monopolistic behavior that MS got pinned on wasn't even that. It was forcing IE on your desktop. Let me ask you this: when you chose to use Netscape back then instead, or Firefox later or Chrome, did you have ANY PROBLEM ignoring IE?
At the least, you cannot claim Apple is any better than MS, and in many ways they're far worse. And if you think Samsung and Android is where Apple is going to stop, you're an idiot. They're going to proceed from here to try to wipe out any Smartphone but theirs.
It's funny to me Apple cultists are also the ones who claim to otherwise support open-source software, and that information should be free. Except when it comes to your favorite corporation. I have never and will never own an Apple product because I will not touch technology I can't modify myself, and if by the time I get a cell(that's right, I still don't own one) the only ones left are iPhones, then I guess I'll never have a cell ever. Because I will not give Apple a dime of my money, nor should you, iSheep.
Or is your ego flattered by their calling it a "Genius Bar?" Of course they think if you buy their expensive shit, you're a "genius." How much more pathetically brainwashed a consumer could you be?
So Apple cultists: shut the fuck up and admit you just like thinking of yourself as part of an elitist club. 'Kay?
___________________
Everyone who whined about Microsoft being a monopoly, and gushed over Apple: You do realize that Apple have, all along, been the real monopolists, right? Does the Samsung case and Apple's total desire to crush a competitor change your mind even a little?
Did Microsoft also make the machines that could only run their software? No, it was on a machine you could even build yourself. I know, because I HAVE. And if I can build a PC ANYONE CAN, because I'm a technological retard.
Does Microsoft train their consumers to be a cult? And did Jobs ever support cancer and AIDS research or try to improve sanitation for the Third World(I've worked for institutions that have gotten grants that saved lives from Bill & Melinda Gates), or is he the one that actually bragged about never giving money to charity and spent years trying to deny his own daughter, and culminated in thinking he could wish his cancer away, only getting treatment when it was too late?
And frankly, good. He was a disgusting marketing scumbag who, by the way, never designed a thing or wrote a line of code in his fucking life. And what does Apple do when faced with competition? The same as MS did. But even more vindictively. At least MS would try to buy them out often. Apple simply wants to crush them.
And the monopolistic behavior that MS got pinned on wasn't even that. It was forcing IE on your desktop. Let me ask you this: when you chose to use Netscape back then instead, or Firefox later or Chrome, did you have ANY PROBLEM ignoring IE?
At the least, you cannot claim Apple is any better than MS, and in many ways they're far worse. And if you think Samsung and Android is where Apple is going to stop, you're an idiot. They're going to proceed from here to try to wipe out any Smartphone but theirs.
It's funny to me Apple cultists are also the ones who claim to otherwise support open-source software, and that information should be free. Except when it comes to your favorite corporation. I have never and will never own an Apple product because I will not touch technology I can't modify myself, and if by the time I get a cell(that's right, I still don't own one) the only ones left are iPhones, then I guess I'll never have a cell ever. Because I will not give Apple a dime of my money, nor should you, iSheep.
Or is your ego flattered by their calling it a "Genius Bar?" Of course they think if you buy their expensive shit, you're a "genius." How much more pathetically brainwashed a consumer could you be?
So Apple cultists: shut the fuck up and admit you just like thinking of yourself as part of an elitist club. 'Kay?
___________________
Labels: bastards, capitalism, technology
¶ September 02, 2012 0 Comments
