Tag: awesome

light as a favourite song

I was reading when when the tiny, bright bird flew in through the window and attempted, I suppose, to drink from the bright colours of my hair. To my credit, though it nearly surprised me out of my skin, I did not give in to my initial impulse to swat whatever was thrashing, panicked, a few inches away from my head. Instead I froze. I froze, and very gently began to turn, hoping sincerely that it was not a mouse, while putting my hand up, the better to support the creature as it was lifted from the cushion, held only by the tangled net of my hair. Imagine my surprise as I gathered the mystery in the palm of my hand, still swaddled in threads of hair, only to discover a hummingbird!

It was a beautiful thing, vibrant, green and red and amazing. I was astonished. Not only by the random luck of it, but the pure shock of discovering hummingbirds can be so far north. To my mind, they are practically tropical, another reason to love California. To discover one here in Seattle, a block away from the I5, against the backdrop of a gray, middling day, was shocking. It looked like a creature escaped from a fairy story, too much like a living jewel for rain or brick buildings, yet there is was, bound in my hair, beak like a black pin, feathers gleaming, chest thrumming, a lucid dream in the palm of my hand.

Costumes! Bring out your dead!

our six month lunaversary

It was our six month anniversary this past weekend, so we went to Teatro ZinZanni, the dinner theater circus we went to on our very first date, as part of our glorious Halloween. Teatro ZinZanni celebrated with us, in turn, by signing us up for their costume contest, where we won third place! I’d never been in a costume contest before, so I was nervous, but it was ridiculously fun, and we won silly Teatro ZinZombie t-shirts. Plus, as a bonus, we were informed after that we were the number one staff pick! We’re still thrilled. What better way to start an evening?

-::-

What was your costume(s)? Post pictures!

instant platonic anything friends

  • Extremely rare shark found, then eaten

    Been addicted to Omegle all day, the chat program which connects you to a completely random stranger. I just wished a gay Brazilian teenager good luck on his exams, after spending a quite significant chunk of my day in a rather gratifying discussion with a Swedish student named Phillip about med school, music, Italian earthquakes, and, finally, the current global economic downturn and what it’s been going to Iceland. It’s also freaking fantastic for surreal fun, so much so I’m going to start a file of my favourite saved conversations. Have you got any?

  • Extinct bird rediscovered, then eaten

    • because I need distraction after being kicked in the teeth

    Six-Word Reviews of 1,302 SXSW MP3s
    via jwz:

    “You know, when I listened to all of the 2007 and 2008 SXSW torrents, I thought that was kind of hardcore.

    I was wrong.

    Paul Ford is hardcore. He listened to all of the 2008 songs, all the way through, and wrote six word reviews of each.“

    Brilliant reviews, even. Fun, sparkling, delightful reviews like “This guitarist has too many feelings.” rated with a well thought out yet amusingly arbitrary rating system gently broken into sections by band name anecdotes, clever charts, perceptive bon mots, and the occasional entertaining short-yet-rewarding paragraph about a particular song/artist/title/genre, like, “ANTHEM: This song by Born in the Flood is inexcusable. Consider: (1) It is called “Anthem,” and it is an anthem. (2) It sounds like Bono and the Edge riding around on Sparklehorses. (3) I can’t understand the lyrics but there’s a crown mentioned. It was heretofore considered impossible for any singer to overcome these cognitive challenges in order to create a distinct and memorable song. And yet this man does exactly that. Or to put it another way: When you were 23 and living alone without many friends and definitely no girlfriends, did you ever jerk off and cry at the same time? This is your song.”

    In a word, the article was glorious. Even better, thankfully, oh so thankfully, Paul Ford has done it again. Click. Read. Enjoy.

    ps. Dan‘s review, four out of five stars, “It’s difficult, living as an automaton.”

    what mash-ups are meant to be, when the medium is partly the message

    thru-you.com, by Kutiman

    Music + (Video/Sample) x Mash-up = Sexy

    “What you are about to see is a mix of unrelated YouTube videos/clips
    edited together to make ThruYou. In other words, what you see is what you hear.
    Check out the credits for each video – you might find yourself…”


    Unbelievable. Kutiman’s ambitious project, to create an astonishing album of meta-song videos slash home-sampled music made up of a ridiculously complicated collection of cleverly layered YouTube videos, is entirely successful. It sounds half-baked, especially given every song is a different genre, like the sort of thing an undergrad would try to throw together for a media studies class because it sounded relevant on paper and they could use words like “synergy” and “interscape” in the artist statement. Instead? It’s amazing and I’m thrilled. The videos are bloody brilliant, super impressive, as unexpected as they are incredible and compelling. As someone on StumbleUpon said, “I can’t favorite this hard enough.”

    I’ve actually been trying to post this for days, but the site’s been down. Hit by too many people, Kutiman’s bandwidth went bork. Now that it’s back, set aside twenty minutes, turn up your volume, turn off your power saving screen settings, and expect to have your socks knocked off.

    the dusty flowerpot cabaret is what the kids call the bomb

    The Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret, makers of a magical and fantastical world,

    in collaboration with

    The Pivot Legal Society, purveyors of justice and equality,

    present to you…

    The Listening Jar.
    (facebook event page)

    Thursday February 26th
    until Sunday, March 1st
    Doors 7:00pm Show at 8:00pm
    Followed by a dance party and social

    Russian Hall 600 Campbell Ave. in Strathcona
    Advance Tickets $16

    Also available at
    Pivot Legal (678 E Hastings)
    $20 – $30 sliding scale at door

    One performance by donation
    Saturday, February 28
    Doors 2:00pm, Show at 3:00pm

    I’m lining up between noon and one o’clock on Saturday with treats from the Elizabeth Bakery.
    Come join me for a line-up picnic! Bring sandwiches!

    next: glow in the dark fetus kittens

    Meredith for Victory: Associated Press just covered her DIY home-genetically-engineered “glowgurt”

    Meredith and I met in SF earlier this month through (The Amazing) Julia and immediately bonded over my improbable desire to have kittens implanted in my womb. She is, how you say, awesome. I’m glad everyone else is starting to find that out too. Of course, as it likely goes without saying, I really like people with unexpected hobbies and passions and ideas. As far as I’m concerned, they make the world go ’round. I love the future. I love that we create it, that we have no choice but to carry on. I love that two people can look at the same moment in time and come away with staggeringly different ideas. I love that we invent, create and discover daily, that we have filled our world with language, poetry, mathematics, music, and ideals.

    Who are your bright favourites who make a difference, who spark in the night and inspire you to new plateaus of fascination? Who is it that makes life bearable, that springs eternal hope in your veins, that keeps making tomorrow seem an alright place to be? What do they do, how do they do it, and why does it matter to you?

    I want to know. Will you share?