For the record, I originally typed up this post starting with "So," but then deleted it. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY, PARSIMON.
And when people are bored with this they can take pictures of each other lying on their backs with their legs in the air; standing on one leg holding a teaspoon; sitting on other people's hats; reading telephone directories.
The trouble with the availability of effectively free storage is that people feel obliged to use it.
reading telephone directories
I went to that exhibit!
The trouble with the availability of effectively free storage is that people feel obliged to use it.
Yeah! I'm-a take this thread to 4!
I didn't actually read the linked article, but how do you hurt yourself lying face down? It seems like a really difficult position to fall off anything from.
6:The article was unclear, but since planking on the balcony floor would not provide an outstanding photo, my guess is that he was laying on the balcony railing.
I like how the wikipedia entry likens it to pole-sitting. It makes the whole thing a bit endearing to me, as in "the kids think they're being soooo 2011 but they're kind of being 1911 too."
Thank you, Stanley. I really appreciate it!
So, is appreciating Stanley going to become an internet meme?
Which means what -- expressing appreciation for not doing something? I can get behind that, I guess. Thank you for not planking, Stanley! Sure.
Meanwhile, goddamn is it hot: mid-90s or so. Forget gardening, forget outdoor grilling.
goddamn is it hot: mid-90s or so. Forget gardening, forget outdoor grilling
I agree with the first sentence abslootely. ZBut isn't the hotter the better for outdoor grilling? There is no upper limit. You just need a cooler full of cold beer.
You just need a cooler full of cold beer.
And probably also shade, of course. You might not want to be out in the sun.
If you have a big enough cooler, you have shade right there.
That all sounds like the perfect recipe for sunstroke.
grilling outdoors is cooler than cooking indoors without a/c.
i suppose instead of cooking one could just eat cold things on hot days.
17: And, topically, if you do it with Icehouse, that's known as Plank-Roading.
We should invent an Internet fad. Something with a catchy name and a not-too-difficult (in deference to one's prolonged adolescent awkwardness clumsiness) manipulation/posture: "hobo handstand," "swandive into a sundae," "Capability Brown vs. Bugs Meany for Small Apartments," etc., etc.
OT: Has David Mamet always been so unimaginative? I don't believe I've ever been a fan or anything, but I never had the impression that he was as enthusiastic about mantling himself in other people's clichés as this little interview suggests.
22.2:Sometimes I think some great artists have their talents in close observation, mimicry, and making intuitive connections...and these can be at genius-level...but are not really good at abstract thinking.
Do The Trial or The Castle really contain any big "ideas"?
Corollary:
Abstract thinkers have a shitload of trouble communicating their good conceptualizations.
I have just spent an hour at Steve Randy Waldmann's blog where he tries to graphically reconcile three kinds of Keynesianisms with quasi-monetarism.
I love this in that Mamet interview:
You wrote that Karl Marx "never worked a day in his life." But how is his writing "Das Kapital" fundamentally different from the way you make a living? You realize you're not a plumber, right?
Jesus Christ. Listen, here's the thing about an English degree -- if you sat somebody down and asked them to make a list of the writers they admire over the last hundred years, see how many of them got a degree in English.
A hit! A most palpable hit!
22.last: Huh. That Mamet interview is bizarre. I have no idea if he's said anything more nuanced at other times.
26: Yes, but not on this particular topic.
25: T.S. Eliot? John Updike? I want to say Kingsley and Martin Amis, but am too lazy to check.
As near as I can tell, English departments at mid-level American universities exist to feed law schools.
28: Of course I'm not kidding. What more graceless way is there to admit being unable to satisfactorily answer a question then to respond "Jesus Christ" and then yammer about something unrelated?
I don't know if Mamet really buys all the canned libertarian bullshit. I suspect, as a recent convert to wingnuttery, he's just taken it up as the party line. There are a lot of hints that what's really motivating him is nationalistic, the fact that much of liberal opinion has become disenchanted with Israeli militarism and with Zionism and he can't process it. Since American wingnuttery talks a big game about siding unequivocally with Israel, it scratches that itch.
29:I was going to list some of the High Critics I used to love, Keller, Empson, Bloom. Cast of thousands, I like litcrit slightly more than literature. And a lot of them can write.
But see 23,24, acknowledging that there is some overlap. Is the literature (fiction) produced within the academy 1st class art? Do Travesties or Jumpers actually make any intellectual sense?
I think all of Eliot's degrees were in philosophy. Not that this makes Mamet less of a douche.
Did anybody see the yahoo list of top 10 most stressful and least stressful white collar jobs? Philosopher was on the least stressful list. I nearly choked laughing.
34: Come to think of it, the younger Amis may have studied PPE or something like that. Weren't David Foster Wallace's degrees in philosophy and something else?
31: There are a lot of hints that what's really motivating him is nationalistic, the fact that much of liberal opinion has become disenchanted with Israeli militarism and with Zionism and he can't process it. Since American wingnuttery talks a big game about siding unequivocally with Israel, it scratches that itch.
This is the first I've read of Mamet's explanation of his conversion, but based at least on the NYT condensed interview and the one linked in 27, this may be right.
I dunno, man. That's one angry, angry man. I find it a little bewildering.
37: What has he to be angry about? Isn't he very successful and widely admired?
I have no idea. Israel/Palestine, I guess.
I wonder if he considered just getting rid of the brain-dead part.
The best part of the essay is "the economics of Thomas Sowell (our greatest contemporary philosopher)".
The whole thing is pretty demented. Like, what are you even talking about, dude?
Oh well.
||
I have carried on a longstanding family tradition by training Newt to mix margaritas -- two parts tequila to one of lime and one of triple sec. Sadly, I failed to successfully communicate the absolute quantities rather than merely the appropriate ratio, meaning that there was an unfortunate excess of margarita to dispose of.
|>
I remember the first time my mom asked me to bring her a drink. Whiskey topped off with a bit of soda, she said, on the rocks. No problem! I returned shortly with a water glass filled to the brim with whiskey, a bit of ice, and a touch of soda.
Yes, well, I have a completely pointless settlement conference tomorrow that I may be less than razor sharp for. Given that the only thing on the agenda was "We can't say yes or no yet, go back to Queens", it probably won't make any difference. (A sane person would ask, so why not cancel the conference? There are wheels within wheels.)
I should really buy some Drambuie and start drinking Rusty Nails, just to really preserve the family traditions.
"We can't say yes or no yet, go back to Queens"
The superposition borough.
48: that's a quality drink. I had one the other night.
You know what else is good? The Nutty Monk. It requires that you have walnut infused cognac on hand, but who doesn't, right?
Do they sell walnut infused cognac, or do you have to infuse your own?
You have to infuse your own, but it's actually pretty easy; you roast the walnuts, then leave them in the cognac for 24 hours or so.
So it's a walnutty B&B? I can see that. Not clearly enough to go infusing cognac with walnuts, although I have an infusion-happy friend who might if I mention it to her.
I have had quite a bit more margarita than I ought to have.
I'm at the point in the evening where I'd be about to go out and do something really ill-advised if I weren't home and about to go to bed. Stable family life is a drag sometimes.
Walnutty B&B is exactly it, yup. Dunno if it's much of a hot weather drink, really.
53: They have a whole archabbey less than an hour down the road.
Climbing down the fire-escape would just leave me in an unpleasant rat-infested vacant lot behind the peculiar dance studio on Broadway. Not, in fact, a fun option.
I'm having a vodka tonic, but it's been infused with walnuts lime.
Does the walnut infused cognac keep, or do you have to know you're going to want to drink one of these twentyfour hours ahead of time every time? Because that sounds implausibly cumbersome.
No, it keeps. We recently polished off the balance of the bottle we prepared for thanksgiving.
60: Well, my father did in the late 70's, when I was toddling back from the kitchen with the fruits of my childish mixological attempts. Presumably Drambuie is still sold somewhere.
There really isn't any plausible mischief I can get up to under the circumstances. Perhaps I will go and sexually harass Buck.
I discovered this weekend that making fruity-seeming rum drinks that are actually insanely high alcohol is really quite easy.
I see Drambuie behind the bar when I go out, I think.
I still drink Drambuie. Mostly in rusty nails, and I'm not sure I've ever actually bought it myself, but still.
There's also always weird bottle with a lid like a crown (but isn't Crown Royal). And some green bottle that I'm afraid to ask about. I'm always afraid it's Barbicide or something.
And some green bottle that I'm afraid to ask about?
One of my most treasured memories of my mother is the moment when she cracked open a bottle of something and poured me a shot. As I sipped it, I asked what it was and she said "Probably rum. I bought it at an estate sale."
I need to pick up some Luxardo Fernet.
You people are insufficiently amusing. I will go bother Buck now.
You have to infuse your own, but it's actually pretty easy; you roast the walnuts, then leave them in the cognac for 24 hours or so.
You say this as though you did it yourself or something.
We used to go to this bar in Chinatown in SF (Li Po) that had a selection of strange chinese liquors. You can get to some wild flavor landscapes if you're working with ginseng and various asian herbs.
70: My sister came back from an estate sale with live ammo. It was in the box with whatever she wanted.
73: I definitely watched carefully for part of the time you were doing it.
I suppose I could put some ginger in my vodka tonic.
Not that I will, but I could if I wanted to.
weird bottle with a lid like a crown (but isn't Crown Royal)
Chambord?
80: That's it. I had to hunt around their website because apparently they make a regular bottle and a stupid bottle and I've only seen the stupid bottle.
On further research, I see that the stupid bottle is being replaced by the regular bottle. The problem, for the brand, is that I was only aware of it because of the stupid bottle and I doubt I'm the only one.
I wonder if there are good drinks made with Chambord? There are definitely goofy club drinks with names like Grape NASA or whatever, but it seems a little unsubtle.
I once made a drink that consisted of Jack Daniels and domestic sparkling white wine. I told everybody how great it was, but they were all either too drunk to care or too sober to like it.
A couple friends of mine recently started ordering Rusty Nails; one even showed up to a recent barbecue with the makings for them. Is it the new it thing?
If Rusty Nails are the new thing, it's good that I just got my tetanus shot.
Red Wine and Coca-Cola is an actual drink.
That's basically Sangria, but from whatever passes for WalMart in Spain.
87: Yep. When I was in Chile (where it's called "jote") we some people would sing, "Jote, Mote, Holiday Inn!"
You have to infuse your own, but it's actually pretty easy; you roast the walnuts, then leave them in the cognac for 24 hours or so.
Making nocino with green walnuts and high-proof vodka doubtless has a completely different result, but it is very tasty.
87: I just threw up a little in my mouth.
69, 71: You need to pick up some Luxardo Maraschino, and some green chartreuse, and start drinking Last Words.
If you want a nonalcoholic drink, you can make a Fred Rogers. It's like a Roy Rogers, except you wear a cardigan sweater.
I had heard of 87, but not the Basque spelling. It is useful if you're going to the park and need to conceal your alcohol.
You were in Chile, Stanley?
LB, you should definitely get drunk more often. And earlier in the evening, when I'm around to appreciate it.
Lizardbreath is cute when she's drunk.
If you want a feminist drink, you can make a Ginger Rogers. It's like a Roy Rogers, but you drink it backwards in heels.
Another option is to have some Roger Ales; they'll make you feel all white.
98: If you've looked at cowboy boots, you'd see that at least half of that applied to Roy Rogers.
50: Judging by my own experience, I'd like to suggest "The Nail in the Coffin" as an alternative fanciful name for "The Nutty Monk."
People still drink Drambuie? Wow.
People may say what they like about the decay of Christianity; the religious system that produced the Nutty Monk can never really die.
Is there anyone who can easily pass money and instructions to Newt, to make LB drunk-comment more often?
I wonder if there are good drinks made with Chambord?
Some places will make you a kir (I know, I order them, I am once again an Upper East Side matron) with Chambord but it isn't a succesful substitution, not at all.
Oh hey I invented a cocktail once! My ex went to the Baltics and brought me back a bottle of Vana Tallinn, the syrupy Estonian vanilla liqueur. I figured it'd probably be good with vodka, kahlua and cream, et voila: the Vana White.
What's wrong with Drambuie? I've bought more bottles of that than any other type of liquor (two). It's basically waht people claim Southern Comfort is, in my opinoion.
Given that the only thing on the agenda was "We can't say yes or no yet, go back to Queens", it probably won't make any difference.
Wasn't that the response to Anthony Weiner's hacked tweet?
104: Do lots of people go around making claims about Southern Comfort?
you will all be not surprised at all to learn of my startling childhood mixology ways. at 11-12 I often used to deliver to my mom and step-dad, on a tray: 2 cups of coffee, one with sugar; two viciously strong screwdrivers, whatever pastries were about, and like 6 aspirin or tylenol. sometimes I put the tylenol in a fancy little dish; this was meant to communicate ironic disdain.
Do lots of people go around making claims about Southern Comfort?
I knew somebody who claimed she could drink a bottle of it in an evening, starting late enough to be drunk enough already to claim such a thing. She was right. More surprisingly, she survived.
this was early in the morning, obviously. I guess I fed the baby first? it's a little hazy. on weekends this would be normal, but it was sometimes called for on weekdays as well.
this was early in the morning, obviously. I guess I fed the baby first?
Coffee or screwdriver?
...this was meant to communicate ironic disdain.
I'll never look at the Lenox store the same way.
and did I learn? when I was 25 a friend used to call me the FDA, the food and drugs administrator. because in the morning-ish I would get up and go buy poppy-seed bagels with lox and cream cheese, and coffee, and fresh-squeezed OJ, and half a gram of heroin, while my boyfriend waited in bed. (the linguist, Solzhenitsen-reading one). I ask you. what the fuck. I think I might have had self-esteem issues of something.
Poppy-seed bagels can lead to a false positive on a drug test.
I fed the baby formula, thank you, that I obsessively tested on the inside of my wrist for appropriate lukewarmness. I myself didn't really start drinking till I was 14. I can't imagine what kept me, really.
115: In for a penny, in for a pound... Might as well get addicted to heroin.
Just stay away from the bagel.
114: I'm making a very in pop culture reference.
I want my children to bring me things, rather than demand that I bring them things.
Do you demand they bring you things?
119: it definitely would have chambord in it, too.
I would get up and go buy poppy-seed bagels with lox and cream cheese, and coffee, and fresh-squeezed OJ, and half a gram of heroin, while my boyfriend waited in bed.
Not just the only (as far as I know) Unfogged heroin addict; the most unfogged addict in the world.
I am probably revealing a shameful ignorance, but is half a gram of heroin a lot?
I've figuring that it can't be more than a dose or two, because subdividing a half-gram of anything would be too finicky. If it were enough for several doses, it seems like they'd cut it down enough to make the quantity easier to handle.
it would be a hell of a lot of you were shooting up, or if it were good of NYC powder (which is partly why I switched for economy reasons), but it was tar and smoking it is wasteful, the two of could of done it up in a day mostly. otherwise I wouldn't have had to go out again. My dealer did 8ths as the smallest
I love that lizardbreath got this totally right with a priori reasoning.