My name is Josh, and this is my corner of the internet.
I was entirely sure of (and saddened by) the fact that Mitch Hedberg died back in 2005. But I guess Mitch hooked up with Tupac in heaven, or something.
A new album came out earlier this year, “Do You Believe in Gosh?”, and I just downloaded it. It’s quality, if you can handle laughing at a ghost telling jokes.
I saw a couple of solid videos online featuring a bunch of celebrities with the message “Don’t [not] Vote.” You can watch them here and here.
I thought about this whole voting thing for a little bit.
Know what the best way would be to convince people to vote? Change the constitution: “If you don’t vote this year, you lose your right to vote forever.” Granted, there are oodles of legal and moral hazard “well I had a Doctor appointment” problems here, but run with me for a second.
What does this do to all the people who take their right to vote for granted? Gives them a huge kick in the ass. As lazy as Americans are, and for how much we take our rights for granted, we’ll put up a hell of a good fight for anyone who tries to overtly take away our rights. That’s why we’re semi-quasi-okay with the american military going into dictatorial regimes to instill democracy and give people rights, and that’s why whenever the government decides to take our rights away they do so under facades with names like “The Patriot Act.”
But if you had to vote if you wanted to keep your right to do it? That’s some real motivation. That’s American.
If you haven’t heard it enough already, go out and vote on Tuesday. All the patriotic people are doing it.
A couple of years ago, I wrote a groundbreaking column for Eleven titled “How to Become a Hipster.” It was written at a time when I knew next to nothing about music, and it was entirely tongue-in-cheek full-of-shit.
Years later, I’m beginning to see signs of my progression in snobbiness.
Last year, Kanye came out with “Stronger,” which got awfully popular on the radio even though I thought it was mediocre. I distinctly remember berating two friends on two separate occasions for claiming to profoundly enjoy the song while being unable to correctly answer the question “Who is Daft Punk?”
(For the record: The background music in “Stronger” is a sample from Daft Punk hit, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” which is ironic because that song blatantly samples another song, “Cola Bottle Baby” by Edwin Birdsong.)
The second sign came maybe a week ago. Two of my music elitist friends, Fritz and Strom, both had a song by The Ting Tings (“That’s Not My Name”) stuck in their heads. I’d been listening to The Ting Tings since May or June.
And…I got off on that. Look how cool I am! Look how hip!
What’s next? Maybe I’ll start downloading music from bands that I’ve never heard of before just to see if I can’t find the next big thing. Maybe I’ll start writing for a music magazine and thinking my opinion is right about everything (it is). Oh, dear…
///
Seriously, though. Go listen to Daft Punk and The Ting Tings and then come tell me how cool I am. Look how hip!
Question 38: If you can see the eyes of someone in a complicated system of mirrors, is it possible for that person to see your eyes? Explain.
My Response: Not if you’re wearing sunglasses.
Let’s see what kind of a sense of humor my TA has.
This is kind of a difficult idea to convey, especially when I’m constrained by title. Most accurately, these are my 10 favorite movies that I’d cancel whatever plans I had for the day if I chanced upon them while channel surfing. You know these movies. The kind of flick when no matter what you’ve got planned to do in the next hour and a half, it gets put on hold to watch. Like maybe you’ve got plans to go to your friend Matty’s house in 20 minutes and want to burn some time; you’ve already seen those highlights on Sportscenter like a hundred times so you scan through whatever else is on and OH GOD, I guess I’m going to be late to Matty’s. …Like a day late.
It’s the kind of movie that doesn’t necessarily require you to be in a certain kind of mindset. The Matrix is an awesome movie, but maybe you’re not in the mood for that kind of an adrenaline rush right now. It’s also the kind of movie you can watch time and time and time again, even though at this point you pretty much know the plot development better than the director does. In special instances, this might even enhance your enjoyment of the movie.
When I start a TV channel of my own, I’m just going to round up a massive list of these movies and play them all the time. The channel would be called “Guess I’m Not Going Out this Weekend,” or GINGOW. Still has a better ring to it than the Versus Network, no?
Here’s my top 10 movies that I will absolutely stop everything to watch:
10. Galaxy Quest
“Never Give Up, Never Surrender.”
This movie should have been terrible. It had all the ingredients, specifically: Tim Allen. But somehow, it works. Pre-Snape Alan Rickman is delightfully antagonistic. The film has just the right amount of taking itself seriously and poking fun at Star Trek and other bad TV, which is appropriate because the plot of the film is about actors who find that, all of a sudden, they have to take their Star Trek-esque bad TV show very seriously.
I had been planning on writing a thing on travel notes, and then Seth Godin wrote about his travel thoughts today, too. My favorites among his thoughts:
Read the whole thing here.
Of course, my personal view on the matter is that the whole airport security thing is a sham designed to convey a feeling of security, rather than actually providing any. Which is why they still check people’s shoes, sweaters, and 20oz. soda bottles. And it’s why I’ve managed to sneak things like 20oz. soda bottles, pocket knives, and metal umbrellas onto flights. But that’s besides the point.
I’ve been looking into doing some serious amounts of traveling this year, and have plenty of experience from last semester. So here are some tips for you guys:
Places I’m looking to travel in the next six months: Chicago, Kentucky, Connecticut, Israel, Tennessee, and I guess New York (if I have the time).
1) Go to facebook.com, or any page on Facebook really.
2) Scroll down to the bottom.
3) Change the language from English to English (Pirate).
4) ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
I really like soup. I ought to pick some up the next time I go to the supermarket.
I had an idea though. One thing I kind of don’t like about soup is how there’s always that little bit at the end of the bowl that you can’t pick up with your spoon, and you either have to drink from the bowl or if you’re in a kind of a place you just have to let it go.
Here’s what they should do: make a soup bowl that’s got a little spoon-shaped indenture at the bottom, where you can rest your spoon and shimmy the rest of the soup in. Think about it. It’d be good for cereal too.
Lots of people like to send birthday wishes via Facebook message these days. But do you know what’s really special, and really doesn’t require any more effort? A simple phone call. You might not realize what kind of a difference it makes until you recieve one, but trust me. Try it out the next time one of your friends has a birthday (*ahem*).
Thanks Jillian, Matty, and Marius (and you?) who thought to call. I really appreciate it. And even more thanks to Ozzie and Action Steve, who came all the way out to St. Louis to help me celebrate. And even more thanks to Mom & Dad for flexing their creative muscles. You guys blow me away.