greenideas

October 04, 2005

"Just use that Shinnn of yours..."

So, I don't know about Kev, but my posting is going to be a little erratic for a while, as I'm busy and sick. So while I wait to see which will kill me first, please watch this hilarious "trailer" for a new inspirational story called Shining. Then watch the ones for West Side Story, and Titanic.

Posted by matt at 09:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 26, 2005

Fear of flying

Thanks to the miracle of properly functioning landing gear, I'm back in NYC. I'm also really busy, but I couldn't resist sharing today's Penny Arcade with you, as it relates to air travel, and made me have to stifle a laugh which would've surely made it 'round the whole office.

Florida was gross and humid, but it has an ocean, which is nice. It has other very compelling charms as well.

Oh, and I'm pissed that I'm not going to be down there for this thing, which might be the funnest thing ever.

Posted by matt at 01:17 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 13, 2005

Nothing will ever be right

So, at this rate, I don't think I'm never going to be not busy ever again, but I'd be completely remiss if I didn't point you all towards the single most disturbing Achewood comic that ever there was (and yes, that includes the time Ray hired Nice Pete to cut himself to scare the goth kids).

I think I will now suffer from a chronic case of the jibblies.

Posted by matt at 09:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 09, 2005

More t-shirt action

Man, as much as I love t-shirts that show my favorite television characters suffering fatal vascular crises, I have to say that this TV tee might be even better than the NARM! shirt. It's the perfect gift for bloggers who have birthdays coming up and wear size 'S' t-shirts.

Posted by matt at 02:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 08, 2005

NARM!

Disclaimer: rabid Six Feet Under fans who got way too messed up when the bad thing happened to Nate (people like me) prolly shouldn't look at this, but this might be the worst/best thing I have ever seen.

Posted by matt at 12:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 25, 2005

All the showers in the world won't save us now...

...or, "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand."

So Alan Cumming has a fragrance.

I'm so conflicted about this. On the one hand, I respect them for trying to market a fragrance directly to me (it's "all about Sex, Scotch, Cigars and Scotland" and I love all of those things!), but why do they think I'm so gay? I mean, did you watch the commercial? Speaking of which, don't watch the commercial. It's sooo NSFW, and also pretty much NSFanywhere.

(Thanks to infinitejess for sending the link)

Posted by matt at 03:17 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 06, 2005

Nice Riff

Jeff Johnson has some entertaining thoughts up on Fitted Sweats regarding the Mets game this past Sunday against the Marlins, specifically regarding the people who sat in front of him. I've decided that Jeff Johnson is to irritation what Proust is to nostalgia- he painstakingly catalogues and carefully describes every nuance and subtlety of his hatred. Refreshing.

Posted by Kevin at 08:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 22, 2005

This Ascot is Insufficiently Ruffley

Contrary to what diligent readers (or frustrated daily checkers) of her blog might assume, Rachis isn't actually dead. I can tell 'cause she sent me this yesterday. Read it and weep/cringe.

Speaking of dandies, and people who are M.I.A., whatever happened to Kevin?

Speaking of M.I.A., this is old news, but has everyone heard the M.I.A./Super Mario Mashup? Yes? Oh. Nevermind then.

Posted by matt at 10:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 10, 2005

Kneel Before the Delphine Master

Who will save us when Onion articles become terrifying reality?

(Of course, I'd link to the old "Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs. 'Oh Shit' Says Humanity" article, but The Onion blows, and now you have to pay for the archives)

Posted by matt at 07:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 09, 2005

It's About Time

I am forever indebted to Greg LOAG for alerting me to the existence of this. Man, I don't think I've ever rushed so quickly to put a link on the sidebar before.

Posted by matt at 10:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 08, 2005

All That Jazz

If you thought that Charles Mingus didn't write a pamphlet on how to toilet-train your cat, think again.

Also, and this is clearly unrelated, but the Chuck Schumer/Lindsey Graham Op-Ed piece in the NYT today reminded me of just how wrong those guys are on revaluation.

Posted by matt at 09:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 25, 2005

the boy who cried XML [updated]

Liars need your help. I guess that statement could hold both in general and in particular, but in this case, I'm talking about Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill, and Julian Gross. The band has posted a message on their website requesting help with maintaining their homepage. Julian said the following:

5/24/2005 Calling all binary lovers, would anyone be interested in managing our website? adding tour dates, new info, uploading the photos that people send us (sorry we have lagged on that. we suk. thats why i am asking for help). just small stuff like that. we can pay you a monthly fee and give you records, shirts, tattoo's (temporary), all sorts of free crap. if you would like to be down with Liars Familia, email me holmes, at liarsphotos@gmail.com need to know basic HTML type skills por favor. gracias posted by julian gross

One note about this- I'm glad Julian noted that the tatoos were temporary, but how awesomely insane would it be if you were paid for your html work via tatoos clumsily inked by the bandmembers themselves? That would make a story. If anyone reading this actually gets this job, plz cut me in on some of the aforementioned 'free crap'.

Okay, nevermind- this just went up today:

dearest designers and square pushers,
thank you all for the support and the emails for wanting to help us out and kind words. but we have a new addtion to the family. he is just out of jail and a old friend. introducing Ryan Parr...welcome.
so really...start sending in those photos! we will make a section just for you. could still use some video footage of us playing live.
will send you a free shirt if you send us footage!liarsphotos@gmail.com send us stuff!
love,
Liars and Sade

Posted by Kevin at 09:18 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 24, 2005

guest riffs

Nick S. has got the absolute best Riff Central piece up that he's ever done. Plus the Game track at the end is pretty tight (it's an m4a file). Go there and ingest that text.

Posted by Kevin at 09:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 21, 2005

Fitted Silver Sweats Berman

Over at Fittedsweats, Jeff Johnson has a new feature up and running, starring David Berman (of the Silver Jews) and whatever questions you choose to send to him. David will provide hilarious and thought-provoking answers. What's not to love about this arrangement? (nothing).

Posted by Kevin at 02:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 12, 2005

Satanic Pet Tricks

Greg LOAG is trying to give me nightmares. Why else would he send me this link?

Posted by matt at 11:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 05, 2005

Damon, zinged to death

I like the Red Sox and everything, but this (on Jeff Johnson's site) is funny as hell. If you are in love with Johnny Damon, you might want to skip this one- meditate on JD bathing in a hot tub full of Pantene Pro-V instead.

P.S. Nick S. has a fantastic riff-interview with Panda Bear up, plus the title track from Animal Collective's forthcoming Prospect Hummer EP (which is v. pretty overall, esp. the instrumental 'Baleen Sample') that they did with Vashti Bunyan.

Posted by Kevin at 10:06 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

April 04, 2005

Philosophy, Chicago Style

In case any of you are philosophically inclined, or interested in law, jurisprudence, or professional smart people, you might want to check out Judge Richard Posner's guest week over at Brian Leiter's blog. Judge Posner talks about such hot-button issues as morality and public policy, free will, and citations of foreign law in domestic judicial decisions. It's worth reading. He's a very smart man.

Posted by matt at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 22, 2005

Kompaktvolk/WSB/NS

For those of you whose mouths water at the sight of a used Pop Ambient 200X CD, you'll be happy to know that Kompakt has opened up their own mp3 store, located right here. Nice things about this: you can download tracks that were previously available only on vinyl, and you can download absolutely everything from their back catalogue (you can also preview tracks before buying them). Bad thing about this: it's obscenely expensive. Worth it for those hard-to-find or previously format-difficult tracks, but overall it's a little pricey.

Second item- William Bowers, of Pitchfork and Magnet fame, has a blog called (what else) Puritan Blister. It's got a lot of (good) mp3s, and, obviously, a lot of Bowers' prose (also good). He's always been, in my opinion, one of the strongest writers on P-fork, stylistically speaking (check out his review featuring the excellent portmanteau 'godka'). If that's not your speed, then check out Nick Sylvester's (who's another great prose stylist) fantastic fake-interview-centric blog, Riff Central (also feat. mp3s). Hilarious. 

Posted by Kevin at 10:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 18, 2005

Friday Funny

Living the tropical life here in Miami has made me soft. This is the second day in a row that I'll be relying on somebody else for my funny. Mostly though, my point in showing you the comic below is to alert you to the existence of The Perry Bible Fellowship. It's a webcomic, it's awesome, and it looks a little something like a-this:

Posted by matt at 08:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 17, 2005

An Olive Branch Bronxward

I'm watching the congressional steroid hearings right now, so I can't say that I'm feeling that great about baseball. At least I wasn't until I found Coalition of the Darkside (via Soxaholix). It's 17 days until the Sox will humiliate the Spankees as a delightful coda to the ceremony in which they receive their rings, so I'm getting all kinds of amped. Reading CotD talk the smack about my Sox gets me even moreso.

Apparently, however, there's one thing that real Sox fans and real Yanks fans can all agree on, and that's that A-Slap is a fucking tool. To wit (from CotD):

Derek Jeter: "Hey Shef, How many home runs you have today?"
Gary Sheffield: "Two"
Jeter: "Well, that's two more than that little bitch A-Rod!"
Jeter and Sheffield: "BWAHAHAHAHAH!"
A-Rod: sheds a single tear

It can even work in reverse:

Bernie Williams: "So, how'd you do today Jorge?"
Jorge Posada: "One-for-three with a walk, why?"
Williams: "Because that little bitch A-Rod was three-for-four with a double and two RBIs."
Posada: "Oh, snap! I'll be down at the cage."
A-Rod: sheds a single tear

And don't think this phenomenon will be limited to just the English-speaking members of the team.

Hideki Matsui: "Asahi ga nobotta higashi no sora ni *"
Interpreter Rogelio Kahlon: "Itsumo no you ni A-Rod-san kirei da ne *"

*Matsui: "I just don't like him. Even the geisha girls whine less."
*Kahlon: "I agree. A-Rod-san is a total bitch."
A-Rod: sheds a single tear

Also, RIP, Dick Radatz.

Also also, congratualations to Steve Buckley on his new book.

Posted by matt at 04:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 13, 2005

Mustard Gas & Roses

I love it when people we write about here get in touch with us. So I was just tickled when Tim from Sweet Billy Pilgrim dropped me a note to let me know that he's got his very own weblog. If you recall, SBP made a contribution to the outstanding album of David Sylvian remixes (which I wrote about here). Go check out the blog, and avail yourself of the bounty of downloadable goodies.

Posted by matt at 10:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 11, 2005

Laugh at your Internets

Today's Achewood is funnier than any comic strip has a right to be.

Posted by matt at 12:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A Shout and some Murmurs

Jon from Slatch (a great site) has started up a new venture, and it's very cool indeed: Tiny Showcase has small-run (and small-sized) prints for sale for about the price of a CD. All original artwork (they'll be accepting submissions from the public soon) and printed on some insanely nice paper, these pieces are definitely worthy of your attention. Stop by if you get the chance- check out Jon's fantastic 'Mr. Doggie gets a job' and Shea'la Finch's badass 'Blue Mussel'.

And now for some music gossip-

Thom Yorke stopped by the Radiohead message board and announced that they've started working again. Hopefully that means 'working on a new release', and not just, you know, hanging out on the farm, putting up some fences, working out, jogging in the countryside, etc. [via the always excellent Greenplastic]

Goldkixx evidently did some hard-journalism or has some nice connections, because they found out both the title and release date for Sunset Rubdown's (Spencer from Wolf Parade) forthcoming Global Symphonic release: "Snake's Got A Leg", out on June 21st 14th.

Finally, Belle & Sebastian are preparing a compilation of all their old Jeepster singles, to be released in the near future (they're finishing the artwork now, apparently). No tracklist or release date is available, or even what label it's being released on (maybe Jeepster?). Stuart Murdoch mentioned in his diary that it'll most likely be a triple-LP (i.e. vinyl only). Also, according to an interview this past summer with Chris Geddes (keyboards), the band hopes to compile all their radio sessions and release those sometime around when the singles comp. is available. B&S are on a roll.

Posted by Kevin at 09:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 04, 2005

Look, Now Look Again

Just to keep you guys up to speed on sidebar links n' such, rachis has emerged from its chrysalis and become The Coinstar Years. Boo yeah...?

Posted by matt at 01:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 25, 2005

Not Sport, Martial Art!

Breaking news: It turns out that, much like Shakespeare's blind soothsayer, buddy boy from Hi-Fi on Tuesday is now two for two. We give you: rachis. Incidentally, she has her own take on the way-too-creepy events of earlier this week.

Posted by matt at 10:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 17, 2005

Sunset Rubdown, Wolf Parade, and Goldkixx

Well, Dan over at Said the Gramophone beat me to this one, but I'd like to echo his sentiments: Goldkixx is indeed awesome. Featuring some great write-ups about bands in the Canadian music scene, this blog should definitely be a daily visit. I came to it in a bit of a roundabout way, after Google-strolling for information on Spencer Krug's (keyboardist/vocalist for Wolf Parade) side-project, Sunset Rubdown, which I had heard of via a note on Global Symphonic's front page (they're releasing an LP ("Snake's Got A Leg") from Sunset Rubdown on June 14th).

Anyway, Golldkixx does an excellent job of keeping an ear to the proverbial ground- with posts about Sunset Rubdown, Atlas Strategic (Dan Wolf Parade's old band), Besnard Lakes, and Sinoia Caves (with mp3s!), there's just a trove of info for the musically curious. Go and enjoy it.

Posted by Kevin at 01:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 04, 2005

we love to entertain

Real quick: for those of you who are as obsessed with Wolf Parade as I am (all 9 of you), Said the Gramophone just posted two of the tracks from the CBC session WP did a little while ago. Both are, naturally, amazing. Spencer sings the first one (he sings 'Grounds for Divorce', if you know that one), and Dan ('It's a Curse' singer) sings the Untitled one. I'm doing my best to turn this into a Wolf Parade fansite (if you couldn't tell), probably to greenideas Matt's extreme and violent chagrin.

[I've been in a board meeting all day = all cleverness and creativity that might have been in my body has been drained by answering questions posed by men in tweed sports jackets, brown leather shoes, and bald heads.] So, my Super Bowl pick will be short and sweet (in the style of my younger brother's emails):

Patriots fans are mouth-breathing jackasses. The Eagles have talent and passion. With any luck, Tom Brady will consume 73 lbs. of rancid Dunkin Donuts blueberry buttermilk glazed baking dough and vomit out all 6,000 ft. of his digestive tract. However, if that doesn't happen (and I have a source on the inside that tells me it will), you can rest assured that McNabb, Owens, Westbrook, Dawkins, Kearse, Trotter and co. will take care of Mr. America and the 'Titletown' puds.

Eagles- 34 Patriots- 21.

Posted by Kevin at 05:04 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

January 31, 2005

Yes, Funny "Ha-Ha"

Seeing as how it's Monday morning (and we don't really have anything else to write about), we just wanted to direct your attention to a couple of things we thought were funny.

There's an NYT op-ed piece about Mozart that's kind of hilarious. We don't really keep up on Mozart scholarship, but we get the feeling that this piece is an inside joke between the writer and the people who, you know, do keep up with Mozart scholarship. Our ignorance notwithstanding, it's still funny.

Also, Friday's Achewood was f-ing hilarious. Chris Onstad deserves a Pulitzer for funny or something.

Lastly, Jeff R. (Wigu, Overcompensating) is selling a t-shirt that we hereby declare to be awesome.

Speaking of Jeff R., if you haven't looked at it in a while, you should go back to wigu.com to see his new post-Wigu project. There've only been two full weeks of it, so it's difficult to say for sure how it's going, but it is Jeff R., so it stands to reason that goodness will continue to grow by leaps and bounds.

Posted by matt at 11:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 16, 2004

Pitchfork vs. Time Travelers

Have you ever wanted to get a jump on the next year of music? Or the next 5 years? You'd be able to tell all your friends about the brand new, totally effing rad album from Jim O'Rourke, '5 Strings 4', that's set to drop in March of '07. If you want to know what the hell I'm talking about, check out this guy's hilarious guide to the top albums of the Aughts (link via Catbirdseat).

Also check out that Hot Dog King (pictured above-left, in case you couldn't tell). He's a cannibal. His arched eyebrow is implying that he would sooner tear out your aorta and lightly sear it in a pan with butter, rather than allow you to devour him, or his drone-dogs. It's the logo for a fast-food hot dog chain in central PA. How insane is that?

Posted by Kevin at 10:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 07, 2004

Abierto vs. Cerrado

Open letters, in general, seem to be enjoying a sort of renaissance, thanks (at least in part, I'd guess) to the popularity of the feature on the McSweeney's website- if you've noticed, the form has become extremely widespread, particularly among bloggers (this site has featured one, addressed to Kirsten Dunst, I think). However, if you enjoy the open letter format, and would like to read some amazing writing, head on over to the now-defunct Open Letters (2000-2001), which features the writing of, in no special order: Paul Tough (editor and founder of the site, also wrote for Harper's), Paul Maliszewski (former editor of McSweeney's website), Jonathan Lethem, Rick Moody, Jonathan Ames, Sheila Heti, Sarah Vowell, and Todd Pruzan (those are just the names I recognize- all of the writers that participated in the experiment are pretty fantastic). I'd like to recommend all four of Paul Maliszewski's letters, which detail his move from Syracuse, NY to Durham, NC. Those letters are the best examples of clear, concise writing that manages to be both semi-instructional and laugh-out-loud funny. If you do go to the site, do yourself a favor and download some of the back issues as pdf files, print them out, and read them in the way they were assembled, since Paul Tough's introductory notes were oftentimes even more enjoyable than the letters themselves.

Posted by Kevin at 11:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 23, 2004

What to Get for the Blogger Who Has Everything

We've never been inclined to set up a wishlist or anything for greenideas. Nonetheless, the holidays are approaching in a manner not unlike if we were Indiana Jones pilfering a booby-trapped idol. So, if any of our readers want to show their appreciation for the way in which we aid and abet the squandering of their productivity, there's really only one thing we want this holiday season. If you want to say "thanks," say it with a Roomba robotic vacuum.

Man, so cool!

Posted by matt at 12:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 19, 2004

Our Maternal Side

If your Moms were anything like ours, then they always used to point out (or clip & save) comic strips they thought you'd think were funny. "Sweetie, did you read For Better or for Worse this morning?" "Doesn't today's Luann remind you of Mr. Kerbin?" "That Funky Winkerbean..." (Incidentally, did your Moms also speak in italics?)

Well, in that same spirit, we just wanted to let you know that Achewood is really funny today. Also, call your Grandma.

Posted by matt at 11:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 16, 2004

Putting Our Bandwidth Where Our Mouth Is

So, so, so. We've got the Wolf Parade mp3 up on Molars, as promised. Blessed by the copyright-holders themselves. For those of you who enjoy good music, you might want to stop on by and download that piece. Apparently there either was or is a secret show at Webster Hall last night/Bowery Ballroom tonight, featuring Modest Mouse with WP opening for them. Did anyone go? Or will you? This tense-switching is getting a little tiresome, so we'll stop now. Coming up next week: big post about the No Things (ex-Liars, Pat Noecker and Ron Albertson) show, and attendant sound media for your right-clicking-save-as pleasure.

Posted by matt at 08:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 15, 2004

Ardor Music

The Labor Camp Orchestra might not be in possession of, um, the most marketable name ever, but they definitely make some interesting music. There are well over 175 mp3s of their work posted on the website, and if you're any kind of fan of experimental music (like we are), then you'll do well to stroll interwebbily on by their site and get to downloading. Hard.
The guy responsible for the LCO is from Minneapolis College of Art and Design, which since it's in Minneapolis is pretty much automatically great. Thanks to JW for the link.

Posted by matt at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 14, 2004

All Montreal, All the Time

So, if you're arriving here by Googling either Arcade Fire (a.k.a. We Beat out the Fiery Furnaces in the Pitchfork Beauty Pageant) or Wolf Parade, and you'd like to read some more information about them, check out Jeremy Brendan's two excellent interviews with both bands, here, and here, respectively. In other Wolf Parade news that, truthfully, has nothing to do with the band, Molars will have an mp3 from the Totalosity EP up soon (maybe Thursday), and hopefully before the end of the month, we'll also have a contest up and running, to win a copy of the first untitled EP. The mp3 posting has been OK'd by Dan Wolf Parade himself, via the magic of electronic mail, so it's legit. Don't worry your pretty little heads about it.

Posted by matt at 08:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 08, 2004

Teeth are for Chewing

We wanted to let you know that the new project from the greenideas media party is up and running, and wow, is it INTENSE. It's called Molars, and it's an mp3blog, and it's run by Kevin. Now, many of you might be saying, 'Jesus, another mp3blog? The interweb is going to buckle under the strain. There are already 3 bazillion of those out there, what makes this one worth my time?". Well, for starters, no one is really reading it right now, so you can be one of the first people to write in hate-comments regarding the music selection. Plus, it's in pink, and it has a freaky logo. Not much more you can ask for, really. Also, at some point in the future, there will be contests with PRIZES! And sweaty hugs. Heck, Gothamist and Gawker don't even have mp3 divisions in their respective empires. We here at the little 'g' are proud to extend you this service as a courtesy. In exchange for hot love, and free CDs.

Posted by matt at 02:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 02, 2004

Disco du Dracula

Two days in a row, Said the Gramophone comes through by posting mp3s from bands that we referenced here last week in the SAME post. Hot damn. That is synergy. Interweb = magic. And so forth. Anyway, cruise on over there and right click your heart out. By the way, it's WOLF PARADE that we're talking about, and the cut is from their second EP, Totalosity. Buy it from Cheap Thrills as Gramophone suggests- the people who work there are ridiculously nice.

Posted by matt at 05:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 01, 2004

Greenideas...On Tour Forever!

Remember when we mentioned Arcade Fire last week? Well, here's your chance to hear the tracks from the album and decide for yourself if it is, in fact, the greatest thing made of molecules. Said the Gramophone, the mp3blog run by Sean M. and the place where we first heard of this band, has posted 2 mp3s from 'Funeral'. So go check those out. And then hop on by Keith's amazing Teaching the Indie Kids to Dance Again to download two more tracks from the album. Be sure to read Sean's description too, he always does a ridiculous job of just nailing exactly what a record sounds like. Enjoy.

Posted by matt at 12:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 30, 2004

John Cougar Mellencamp = the Cicero of Our Time

Do yourself a huge favor and go check out Fluxblog's by-the-minute commentary on last night's MTV Video Music Awards. Best comment: "The guy from Yellowcard looks like Alan Cumming playing Eminem in a tv movie." So on the $$$.

Posted by matt at 07:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 28, 2004

It's a Small Blogosphere After All

Joy of joys! We just found out that an official Friend of greenideas (FoG) has a blog, and a damn fine one at that! So, anybody who likes things that are good should high-tail it on over to infinitejess tout suite!

Lest there be any confusion, the above image is from the "Small World" Disney thing, and refers to the title of the post. One should not make any connection between infinitejess and hippos. For that matter, she's not (to the best of our knowledge) Polynesian. Then again, neither are hippos. What the hell?!

Posted by matt at 04:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 25, 2004

Pizza on your Pod

As the road to the White House has grown increasingly well-trod, one of the clear watchwords of the Kerry campaign has been "Innovation." In light of this fact, we can think of nothing more patriotic than Slice's development of piPod, an iPod-native guide to the best pizza in New York.

If you're anything like us, you've often found yourself in, say, SoHo with no idea where to find the perfect slice. Well, gentle reader, your wondering/wandering days are over. PiPod contains all sorts of useful information, including location, oven-type, as well as Slice's own insightful reviews.

Be a good American and download it today.

Also, did you see that pie they grilled up at Slice HQ? God damn, that looks tasty.

Posted by matt at 10:53 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 24, 2004

Things that are Funny are also Good

If you find things that are funny to be enjoyable, you might consider checking out the following:

Homestar Runner. Homestar is a patriotically-attired something-or-other who, along with a supporting cast of dim-witted friends and non-friends, gets into situations that range from the weird to the really weird. Also, it's funny. Greenideas recommends: "A Jorb Well Done."

Fensler Films. Remember those PSAs they stuck on the end of old GI-Joe cartoons? Well, some guy nemed Fensler edited out the sound and retrofitted them with some truly surreal and painfully funny overdubs. (Note: All fenslerfilm.com has right now are a bunch of 404s. You can still check out some of the films at eBaum's World) Greenideas recommends: this one.

Posted by matt at 11:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 21, 2004

Our Bad

Damn, it's Saturday already. That means we missed out on Judas Priest Friday.

Damn.

Posted by matt at 01:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 13, 2004

NYT: Hoot and a Half in Lower Manhattan

Those of us who are lucky enough to live in New York know that there is a nearly endless supply of fun to be had in Lower Manhattan. What you might not know is that it's possible to spend several event-filled days there and have exactly no fun at all. The Times shows you how.

Posted by matt at 10:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 10, 2004

Monday "Morning" Webcomix

Former Morning Edition host, Bob Edwards, is playing some highlights from Edward R. Murrow's WWII reportage on WNYC right now. We can't help but think that it would be a lot easier to take a moment of somber reflection while we hear about Pearl Harbor if Achewood wasn't so goddam funny today.

Also, Jeph at Questionable Content has a little mini-project called Velociraptor Boyfriend which you can check out here and here.

Posted by matt at 12:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 06, 2004

Owie! Owie! Owie!

Seriously, ouch (Don't worry. Somehow, he's expected to make a full recovery).

Thanks to Lee.

Posted by matt at 01:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 05, 2004

The Benefits of Careful Reading

If you glance quickly at the headline: "Pilates, milk reign at 'junk free' schools", it might look to you like it says: "Pirates, milk reign at 'junk free' schools." Rest assured, it does not say that.

Posted by matt at 10:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 30, 2004

Poem in Your Pocket!

NYers, don't forget that today is Poem in Your Pocket Day. So, whatever you do today, don't forget to take a poem with you, so you can share it with whoever else is doing whatever it is you do all day.

If you're at work or something, and don't have access to your home poetry library, just go here for more poetry than any reasonable person could hope to fit in their pockets--even if they were wearing cargo pants (seriously though, don't wear cargo pants).

Posted by matt at 10:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 29, 2004

Phong O'Shaugnessey, the Thai Irishman?

If you're anything like us, you've wanted to go to Thailand for a long time, but couldn't bear to be so far from a good pint of Guinness. Friends, our day has come. Behold: Shenanigans, the Thai Irish pub.

We hope at least someone else out there thinks this as funny as we do. Of course, if nobody does, it probably wouldn't be the first time.

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More Academic Shenanigans

The Brian Lehrer Show right now is about how much it sucks to be a grad student, complete with interviews with striking Columbia TAs. My chest feels tight all of a sudden. Is anybody else hot?

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April 28, 2004

Sox Bloggers

Woo hoo! A Red Sox blog! (via Lockhart Steele)

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Apparently There's No Money in Grad School

There's an article in the new Village Voice about how graduate students in the humanities are effectively selling themselves into poverty. Here are some highlights:

The average holder of a graduate degree spends 13.5 percent of his or her income paying back loans (eight percent is considered manageable). Fifty-three percent of those holding master's degrees, 63 percent of those holding doctorates, and 69 percent of those holding professional degrees are over $30,000 in debt.

The premise of graduate education in the humanities is a lie: Students are not apprentices preparing for a life of scholarship and teaching....They are a cheap source of labor and status for institutions and faculty and, after they earn their degrees, most join the reserve army of the academic underemployed.
Thomas Benton, a professor at a small liberal arts college

My experience as a working-class kid who finally earned an Ivy League Ph.D. is that higher education is not about social mobility or personal enrichment; it is one trap among many for people who are uninitiated into the way power and influence operate in this culture.
Benton again

If something happened to empower those people, there would be an incredible efflorescence of culture in this country, because there's more of them now than there ever has been. But they are too busy scuttling around getting shitty jobs.
Dave Friedman, a newly minted comp. lit. Ph.D.

If the above quotations aren't sufficient to make you think that grad school might be a Really Bad Idea, then you might want to check out Invisible Adjunct, a blog by an adjunct professor of history. IA will be leaving her job (and her blog) after this semester.

If this selection of quotations sounds like an apologia for someone who is strongly considering leaving the cloister of the academy, then you, gentle reader, are quite correct.

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A Many Splendored Thing

For those of you who doubt the enduring power of love, we give you this eBay auction.

Thanks to Lee for sending this along.

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April 23, 2004

New SY at Stereogum

Stereogum has a track from the forthcoming Sonic Youth record, Sonic Nurse. Go check it out. It bodes very well for the rest of the record.

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April 21, 2004

Webcast: "In C"

NewMusicBox is hosting a webcast of one of the great masterpieces of 20th century American music, Terry Riley's In C. The piece was a groundbreaking work of minimalism, establishing the drone as a legitimate part of musical vocabulary. The piece (along with LaMonte Young and a few others) also broke with hundreds of years of conventions about tuning.

The scope of this piece's influence is evident when one considers how often it is performed, and by whom. Even Japanese psych-metal giants, Acid Mothers Temple, have recorded a version.

Check it out now--it comes down on May 15th.

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April 13, 2004

Intercontinental Blogging

One of the fun things about blogging is seeing just from where referrals to your site are coming. Today, we found that we had a referral from La Ferme Celebrites, which is apparently French (or possibly Quebecois). Being naturally curious, and somewhat worldly, we went to see what was going on in the high-culture world of French blogging. Here is what we found:

Bon, eh bien ils font bien de se moquer des célébrités de la ferme. Ok c'est le lundi de paques et on dit que le ridicule ne tue pas, mais je vous laisse constater...

En bref, Massimo est la tête de turc du jour, il ne fout rien ou presque, il a à peine accepté de veiller durant la nuit avec Mouss Diouf pour surveiller la chêvre qui doit mettre à bas. Donc, mise en place d'une ligue anti-massimo, qui (ce dernier) essaye de négocier avec les uns et les autres de menus services en échange de soit disant couvertures de son magazine.

Sinon, avec l'eau froide seulement 4 célébrités se sont lavé, des groupes commencent à se former, et la vie à la ferme ne plait pas forcément à tout le monde, mais bon, c'est le jeu non...

Unfortunately, we don't speak a word of French, so we enlisted the help of web-based translation service, Babelfish, to see what our Gallic neighbor in the blogosphere was actually on about. Here's what we got:

Good, eh well they make well make fun of the celebrities of the farm. Ok c'est Monday of barrel and it is said that the ridiculous one does not kill, but I let to you note...

In short, Massimo is the Turkish head of the day, it fout nothing or almost, it hardly agreed to take care during the night with Mouss Diouf to supervise the chêvre which must put at bottom. Therefore, installation d'une anti-massimo league, which (this last) tries to negotiate with all and sundry of menus services in exchange of is saying covers of its magazine.

If not, with l'eau cold only 4 celebrities washed themselves, of the groups start to be formed, and the life with the farm did not plait inevitably with everyone, but good, c'est the play not...

We sincerely hope that this exchange of ideas will continue, and that it will bear as its fruit an enduring peace and fraternity among nations and their citizens.

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Those Wacky Russians

If you need to convince yourself that sober, level-headed reporting and journalistic responsibility are the provinces of a depressingly small number of world media outlets, just look at a few headlines from Russia's Pravda. They make the Post look like... well, the NYT.

"Jesus Christ born in Ukraine" -- This is pretty obviously just about somebody named Jesus Christ, but the title is shamelessly sensationalistic.

"Israel opens the gates of Hell" -- Sure, it's disturbingly anti-semitic, but the content is ostensibly "fact-based" reporting about Hamas.

"Extraterrestrial visitor in Russian province" -- Actually, there's nothing to redeem this one. It seems pretty sincere.

Seriously though, it might actually be worth looking at the Pravda site, since it's strongly anti-American--particularly in respect of our involvement in Iraq. We can't help but wonder how accurate this site is as a barometer of Russian sentiment towards the US.

Should anyone choose to venture to the Pravda site, we'd like to warn our more sensitive readers to steer clear of their forum on "Who killed Jesus Christ and Why?" In fact, we're not even going to link to it.

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April 11, 2004

Zombies in the City

Those of you who've been reading the site for a little while know that we love zombies. We also love New York. So, we're sure you can imagine our joy when Gothamist linked to Monster Island, a serial novel about a zombie plague set right here in the very city we love so dearly.

It's especially heartwarming when we think about how chilling it was to see the zombie hordes slowly plodding over the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan at the end of Fulci's Zombie (or Zombi 2, as it was known in Italy).

It may seem like just a little light reading, but we prefer to think of it as a reminder of the ever-looming threat of the encroaching zombie menace. Maybe that's just us, though.

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April 07, 2004

"A camera, crap! I have to try to seem literate!"

John Edwards campaign staffer, Jenna Slosson, practicing her upside-down reading skills, via Slate.

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March 31, 2004

When Good Blogs Go Bad

We're sorry for being lame. Today it's Philosophy of Language, and tomorrow it'll be Epistemology. After that, it's spring break, and we can spend all the time with you that we want. Maybe you and we could just go away together. You know, just get out of the city. Wouldn't that be nice?

We wouldn't dare leave you guys without mentioning how impossibly funny Manhattan Transfer is.

Before we get back to work, we'd like to put something out there for our readers to think on. Say you were writing a list of the "50 most loathsome New Yorkers." Imagine further that you included Choire Sicha on the list, for ruining Gawker after Elizabeth Spiers left, and that you similarly indicted everyone who still reads Gawker now that it's so lame. Here are a couple of questions for you:

1) On a list of 50 people, including folks from all walks of life, from 50 Cent to Rudy Giuliani, if you list Sicha in the top 20 (at, say, #15), don't you kind of implicate yourself as part of the same pack of "obnoxious, humorless" sorts who do read and enjoy Gawker? It obviously bothers you a lot.

2) Don't you have to be pretty obnoxious and humorless to write a column about how obnoxious and humorless other people are? We know we are, but do you know you are? Jesus, at least Gawker is funny.

In case you were curious, here's what Choire himself has to say.

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March 30, 2004

New Link Slackin'

As we were looking for reasons to put off getting back to work on our Philosophy of Cognitive Science paper (not to say that we're not totally into it), we thought this might be a good time to introduce our readers to a few new additions to the greenideas link family.

First, there's neighbor, philosopher, and blogger (not necessarily in that order) Hominy Grits. You really ought to look at his pics from the Botanical Garden. Nature is entirely too weird.

And then we've got a couple of new music-related links. There's Dusted, which is kind of the best. They cover pretty much everything that is new and good. We're lucky to have them.

We're also very lucky to have stumbled across Tiny Mix Tapes while looking for books on John Fahey's guitar technique. Apart from having lots of great reviews of all kinds of new music, they compile mix tapes upon request for just about any conceivable situation, from the painful to the painfully funny.

Not that we're linking his page on a sidebar or anything, but since we're working on this paper, we should mention that there aren't too many people around who are smarter than Rob Cummins.

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March 25, 2004

Someone Else Weighs in on Bush's Science Aversion

We're not going to go into how much we hate the Bush administration's hatred of all things scientific (at least not now), since we've done it in lots of other places, but we wanted to at least link to this similiarly themed piece from the Skeptical Inquirer.

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