POLARITY 170
this entry brought to you by the white stripes, "denial twist"
Wikipedia.org Ever since I found out about this site in Wired magazine, I've fallen totally and completely in love. It's an on-line encyclopedia made entirely by its users. Anyone can write articles (without even having to log in), anyone can edit anything in any way that they want. Well, what stops people from turning every article into bullshit, like in on-line forums, you ask? Well, the users do. The writer on Wikipedia are very professional and take it seriously, and if someone takes a post on Russian politics and makes it a series of swear words, the users go back and change everything back the way it was. The brilliance of Wikipedia, though, is that it thinks like people think. If you were to look up Nigerian scandals in an encyclopedia, you'll learn about Nigeria's most popular exports, and stuff you honestly wouldn't care about unless you were writing a paper on it. On the other hand, someone has written in depth about the things you specifically want to know about Nigeria. Instead of thinking in generalities, it thinks in ways you want it to. Sheer brilliance.
Target selling music instruments We went to Target the other day and, much to our surprise, they had acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitars, an assortment of pedals, replacement strings, 8 piece drum sets, drum sticks... and while none of them were top-of-the-line, none of them were shitty off-brands, either. This is positively the coolest thing in the world.
Jake Gyllenhall I've noticed, with the marketting campaign of Jarhead, that Gyllenhall is uncomfortably sexy, and makes me want to see his hot sister Magge a little more.
Alien Loves Predator Not actually as funny as some of the other webcomics I've been linking you to, and there's way too many strips on sports, but the concept, an Alien and a Predator rooming together in New York, is hilarious.
Automatic Car Washes I was in the car the other day when it went through the car wash. It was the first time I had done that in... Jesus, like 15 years . And I remembered how absolutely enthralled I was doing it as a kid. Seriously, it's the single best thing ever. All those industrial sized brushes spinning, all the soapy water squirting at you... It's like one of those 3D roller coaster rides, only it's actually happening.
THE BAD
Sonic Youth, Sonic Nurse There was something about how Sonic Youth had been described in magazines that made me not want to run out and listen to them, despite that I've known about them since I first got into music. And now, more than a decade after I first knew who Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore were, I hear them, and I see why I'd never been in that much of a hurry. The songs are long, lazy jams that meander and often aren't willing to go anywhere despite promising riffs, cool guitar sound effects, groovy bass, and solid, kinetic drumming. It's the kind of record you'd expect an aging hipster band to release, except I get the feeling this is the exact music Sonic Youth has always made.
SPIN magazine names OK Computer as best album of the last 20 years Okay, so I missed this issue when it hit newsstands for various reasons, and I'm all pissed off about that. But anyway. SPIN named Radiohead's OK Computer as the best since 1985. See, I'm cool with Nevermind not being the best. It's an excellent, excellent album, but choosing it as the best album of my generation is really, really easy. It's without a doubt the most significant, important album of my generation, but is it the best? So I'm cool with SPIN not taking the easy, lazy approach in slapping Nevermind on top and picking 99 other easy picks in random order. But OK Computer? Don't get me wrong, it's a great album. But Kid A is head and shoulders better. If SPIN had picked Kid A as the best album of the past 20 years, I'd at first be shocked, but then I'd give a long smile and nodding approval. But... OK Computer? I don't know.
Christmas pay this year So get this. MCI doesn't recognize holidays on weekends, so when this happens, the company does holiday pay the following Monday. So when I work Christmas, I get paid the normal amount, as if it's a normal day. And Monday, when everyone works gets double time and a half? I'm not working that day! Thanks, assholes!
The new break schedule I work 10 hour shifts. It used to be we'd have a 15 minute break at 2 hours, a lunch at 4, another 15 at the 6 hour point, and a 10 minute at 8. That last 10 minute break might have seemed pointless, but it was a great bathroom pitstop in that last stretch. Well, someone got the brilliant idea that we would appreciate two 20 minute breaks more than two 15s and a 10. This means we have to endure long stretches of time without a break... One friend of mine has to wait four hours from break 1 to lunch. And keep in mind, we have a job on the phones, so we can't just jump in the restroom any time we like. What the hell is up with that crap?
Blimpie Subs I don't know if you have Blimpie where you are, but they're a sub shop, like Subway. Only they suck. The bread is boring, tasteless, and there is less variety. And they charge me more than Subway. They have pastrami, which would ordinarily have made all the difference in the world, high prices and limp bread or not. But the pastrami isn't prepared there, so even it seemed blah. Basically I could make these sandwhiches at home for less.
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with love from CRS @ 7:03 PM
Monday, November 21, 2005
Wikipedia.org Ever since I found out about this site in Wired magazine, I've fallen totally and completely in love. It's an on-line encyclopedia made entirely by its users. Anyone can write articles (without even having to log in), anyone can edit anything in any way that they want. Well, what stops people from turning every article into bullshit, like in on-line forums, you ask? Well, the users do. The writer on Wikipedia are very professional and take it seriously, and if someone takes a post on Russian politics and makes it a series of swear words, the users go back and change everything back the way it was. The brilliance of Wikipedia, though, is that it thinks like people think. If you were to look up Nigerian scandals in an encyclopedia, you'll learn about Nigeria's most popular exports, and stuff you honestly wouldn't care about unless you were writing a paper on it. On the other hand, someone has written in depth about the things you specifically want to know about Nigeria. Instead of thinking in generalities, it thinks in ways you want it to. Sheer brilliance.
Target selling music instruments We went to Target the other day and, much to our surprise, they had acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitars, an assortment of pedals, replacement strings, 8 piece drum sets, drum sticks... and while none of them were top-of-the-line, none of them were shitty off-brands, either. This is positively the coolest thing in the world.
Jake Gyllenhall I've noticed, with the marketting campaign of Jarhead, that Gyllenhall is uncomfortably sexy, and makes me want to see his hot sister Magge a little more.
Alien Loves Predator Not actually as funny as some of the other webcomics I've been linking you to, and there's way too many strips on sports, but the concept, an Alien and a Predator rooming together in New York, is hilarious.
Automatic Car Washes I was in the car the other day when it went through the car wash. It was the first time I had done that in... Jesus, like 15 years . And I remembered how absolutely enthralled I was doing it as a kid. Seriously, it's the single best thing ever. All those industrial sized brushes spinning, all the soapy water squirting at you... It's like one of those 3D roller coaster rides, only it's actually happening.
THE BAD
Sonic Youth, Sonic Nurse There was something about how Sonic Youth had been described in magazines that made me not want to run out and listen to them, despite that I've known about them since I first got into music. And now, more than a decade after I first knew who Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore were, I hear them, and I see why I'd never been in that much of a hurry. The songs are long, lazy jams that meander and often aren't willing to go anywhere despite promising riffs, cool guitar sound effects, groovy bass, and solid, kinetic drumming. It's the kind of record you'd expect an aging hipster band to release, except I get the feeling this is the exact music Sonic Youth has always made.
SPIN magazine names OK Computer as best album of the last 20 years Okay, so I missed this issue when it hit newsstands for various reasons, and I'm all pissed off about that. But anyway. SPIN named Radiohead's OK Computer as the best since 1985. See, I'm cool with Nevermind not being the best. It's an excellent, excellent album, but choosing it as the best album of my generation is really, really easy. It's without a doubt the most significant, important album of my generation, but is it the best? So I'm cool with SPIN not taking the easy, lazy approach in slapping Nevermind on top and picking 99 other easy picks in random order. But OK Computer? Don't get me wrong, it's a great album. But Kid A is head and shoulders better. If SPIN had picked Kid A as the best album of the past 20 years, I'd at first be shocked, but then I'd give a long smile and nodding approval. But... OK Computer? I don't know.
Christmas pay this year So get this. MCI doesn't recognize holidays on weekends, so when this happens, the company does holiday pay the following Monday. So when I work Christmas, I get paid the normal amount, as if it's a normal day. And Monday, when everyone works gets double time and a half? I'm not working that day! Thanks, assholes!
The new break schedule I work 10 hour shifts. It used to be we'd have a 15 minute break at 2 hours, a lunch at 4, another 15 at the 6 hour point, and a 10 minute at 8. That last 10 minute break might have seemed pointless, but it was a great bathroom pitstop in that last stretch. Well, someone got the brilliant idea that we would appreciate two 20 minute breaks more than two 15s and a 10. This means we have to endure long stretches of time without a break... One friend of mine has to wait four hours from break 1 to lunch. And keep in mind, we have a job on the phones, so we can't just jump in the restroom any time we like. What the hell is up with that crap?
Blimpie Subs I don't know if you have Blimpie where you are, but they're a sub shop, like Subway. Only they suck. The bread is boring, tasteless, and there is less variety. And they charge me more than Subway. They have pastrami, which would ordinarily have made all the difference in the world, high prices and limp bread or not. But the pastrami isn't prepared there, so even it seemed blah. Basically I could make these sandwhiches at home for less.
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