rants and ramblings of utter randomness

The thing about Bruce Springsteen is that his lyrics would be sheer poetry even if the music never existed. Case in point: Even if you know the song, try to read this without thinking of the music.

Then listen to this, because the music is just as awesome:

Bruce Springsteen - 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

Globe Genie is the coolest. thing. ever. It's also horribly addicting.

Gacked from bas_lag--this is really cool:

Dispatches From a Troubled City: Art Inspired by the Works of China Miéville.


*submerges back into RL-land*

Look what _scally found!






Accompanying article is here. Read it, it's lovely (and basically Martha/Toronto).

"In some ways we are – bit by bit – affecting how America thinks of
itself."


Oh, come on. You know you want to read it, and not just because of this:

I've been a fan of the Winter Olympics since I was a kid (not so much the summer ones, because I'm not all that interested in watching gymnastics or swimming or running, stuff like that).

I love the Luge and the bobsleds and the hockey (without fighting!) and especially, especially the figure skating--ironic because I've never been able to do much more than stand up and wobble my ankles while on skates. A complex skill--like, say, stopping, for instance--is totally beyond my level of expertise.

Annnyway, over the past few years I've been hearing all these bad things about the Olympics, like the way the homeless are displaced how the IOC is evil and the Olympics are more about sexism and homophobia and corporate greed than about peace and love and gold medals, and that environmentally and a bunch more other ways, the Olympics basically suck. And this year, the Olympic resisters are adding one more thing--they're saying that the venues where the games will be played are on land stolen from indigenous peoples.

It all sounds pretty incriminating, so I've decided to investigate. I'm still at square one, basically, but I wanted to share a talk I found that not only makes sense to me but also talks a lot about the history of activism in sport, which I'd really like to know more about--people like Muhammad Ali, Billie Jean King, and a whole bunch of others.

So here's the talk: The hidden history of activism in sport. The speaker is David Zirin, sports writer for The Nation.

I'd really like to know what you guys think about the whole argument, pro-or anti-Olympics. Feel free to give me links, ideas, arguments pro or con.

I'm planning to watch this year either way, but maybe by the time I get done investigating, I'll decide not to, or not to in four years (like I said, I don't really like the Summer Games that much, but that really has nothing to do with anything political). It looks bad, but I have to see for myself.

For those of you who don't have ds_recsredux on your flist, I thought I'd let y'all know that ifreet has asked me to be guest reccer over there for December. I'll be doing character study recs.

My first post is all vid recs, and you can find it here. Yay, recs!

This is one of the most ridiculous things in the history of, oh, EVER.

West High bans signs, face paint at games.


The "we can't see who you are under all that paint" is bad enough. But the kids have to wear name tags. NAME TAGS. To HIGH SCHOOL. Jeebus, do they have naptime after lunch, too?

Well. Something is finally being done about the real threat to our planet:

Scholars put braaaaains together to thwart zombies.

Book meme from mijan.


Instructions: Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.


Even considering that I'm counting series that tell one story as one book, this list doesn't even come close to the total number of books I could list.

1. The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.

2. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

3. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin.

4. Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.

5. The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom.

6. The Children Who Stayed Alone by Bonnie Bess Worline.

7. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewen.

8. Fire And Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values by Michael Adams.

9. The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key.

10. Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy.

11. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

13. The Stand by Stephen King.

14. The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.

15. Time and Again by Jack Finney.