Fascination with the Abomination

Tom Wolfe:
An intellectual ia a person who is knowledgeable in one field but speaks out only in others.

“Are You Unemployed?”

Funny/sad video from Mint.com.

Via TechCrunch.

Can Experience be Designed? « informationarchitects.jp

First, think about a number between one and ten. Then take a step back and look at the words “experience design” as if you had never seen them. Look at them closely until you hear them with with the voice of Christopher Walken: EXPERIENCE DESIGN. What do you think?

3 months ago

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zehnuhr:

Freunde von Freunden
We finally finished the project we’ve been working on for the last few months. Our new interview format Freunde von Freunden is now online with the first three interviews and great home photography. The format aims to document the NoMoreSleep’s network of friends, partners and creative people around Berlin in their living or workspace. With the help of professional photographers such as Ailine Liefeld and lots of love for individual visual details, FvonF transports great living perspectives and offers an exclusive look behind the scenes.

I’m glad to know the people behind this project – for the main part Ailine and Timmi – and to see its’ development from the first idea to the now online website.

They started with these three interviews this week: Nikolaus Jagdfeld (owner of Cabinet at Quartier 206), Victoria Chirita (enterpreneur & founder of designskins.com) and Tim Dobrovolny (photographer & music manager). + Follow FvonF via twitter and facebook.

5 months ago

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After some startling reflections on the relation of economic independence to civil liberty and republican institutions, Jefferson arrived at the principle that only farmers, owning their own land, tilling it with their own hands, looking to nature and to labor for their sustenance, could possess that independence of character which is the basis of democracy. Whoever depends upon the “casualties and caprices of customers” has set upon him the mark of corruption and subservience. Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, while those who haggle in the market place and those who labor for others in factories are on the highway to that moral decay and servility which marks the end of republics of free peoples.

Charles A. Beard (via azspot)

8 months ago

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travors:

(via growingup)

8 months ago

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Theme: Cavalcade

Our culture’s misreading of the Rosa Parks story speaks to a more general collective amnesia, where we forget the examples that might most inspire our courage, hope, and conscience. Apart from obvious times of military conflict, most of us know next to nothing of the many battles ordinary men and women fought to preserve freedom, expand the sphere of democracy, and create a more just society. Of the abolitionist and civil rights movements, we at best recall a few key leaders—and often misread their actual stories. We know even less about the turn-of-the-century populists who challenged entrenched economic interests and fought for a “cooperative commonwealth.” Who these days can describe the union movements that ended 80-hour work weeks at near-starvation wages? Who knows the origin of the social security system, now threatened by systematic attempts to privatize it? How did the women’s suffrage movement spread to hundreds of communities, and gather enough strength to prevail?

The Real Rosa Parks (via azspot)

3 months ago

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deleteyourself:

nom nom nom nom

5 months ago

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Eric Baum sets out to Beat Puff Daddy

baum:

Every great quest has a few large goals, and this marathon training program now has a new direction. It is now my unwavering mission to beat the New York City marathon time posted by Sean Combs, the artist known as Diddy, P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, Puffy and Sean John.

Just who is Diddy? For those of you who still listen to rock and classical music, Diddy is an award-winning rapper, actor and highly successful men’s fashion designer. Diddy won three Grammy awards for his singles “I’ll Be Missing You,” “No Way Out” and “Shake Ya Tailfeather” in 1998, 1999 and 2004, respectively. His performance opposite Halle Berry in “Monster’s Ball” was also quite good.

In addition to starting the highly successful Sean John clothing line in 1998, Diddy also completed the New York City marathon in 2003. His official time, 4:14.54, translates into a pace of roughly 9.45 minutes per mile. It was his first marathon, and he was 33 years old at the time. I turned 38 on Wednesday and quit smoking in January.

I believe Diddy’s record can be broken with proper discipline, training and support. Diddy may have had an entourage, dietician, personal chef, professional trainer and access to the best exercise equipment money can buy, but his time is still vulnerable. I have the full backing of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training and your support. Also, never underestimate the determination of a reformed smoker. Take a moment and think about the strength it takes to walk away from a daily dose of 20 Class-A cigarettes that sometimes enhanced the sparkle of New York City’s skyline at night, or took the edge off a frustrating day. These are probably the same delicious cigarettes that Barack Obama occasionally sneaks off to enjoy in Dick Cheney’s underground bunker.

Why bother challenging Diddy’s tizme? Every good sporting event needs a little professional trash talking to generate enthusiasm. More people following this challenge means additional pledges for LLS. When Diddy goes down LLS wins. The race starts in less than four months. Stay tuned for regular updates.

Check out some of Diddy’s music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvFMd9BQz_k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGZhuLVUkaQ

(The beat here sounds a little like “Fiddler on the Roof”)

8 months ago

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Only a small and diminishing fraction of work serves any useful purpose independent of the defense and reproduction of the work-system and its political and legal appendages. Twenty years ago, Paul and Percival Goodman estimated that just five per cent of the work then being done—presumably the figure, if accurate, is lower now—would satisfy our minimal needs for food, clothing and shelter. Theirs was only an educated guess but the main point is quite clear: directly or indirectly, most work serves the unproductive purposes of commerce or social control.

THE ABOLITION OF WORK (via azspot)

8 months ago

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deleteyourself:

Remember that time in Amsterdam when gonzo was flying through the crab nebula and two fish told him to shut the fuck up? Man that was a CRAZY night…

8 months ago

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