http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/jnitrous.html
______the effects of nitrous oxide on the dialectical method

http://bravecows.dreamwidth.org/7595.html
______ASEANs, in Space!

http://ayalesca.livejournal.com/83279.html
______The Little Vulcan. With pictures! ♥

http://gordongartrelle.blogspot.com/2009/10/visit-from-dap-kufi-slapping-out.html
______Chasidic Man Mugged On Yom Tov For His Shtreimel

http://www.lamebook.com/daddys-girl
______The best/worst of Facebook: file with Texts from Last Night and Overheard in New York

EDIT One more:
http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/trends/n_9437/
_____Naomi Wolf's The Porn Myth

***

I think I need to keep better track of my blog reading. Wait. Is this what tumblr and diigo are for?!

Did I mention that the police found my car? Yeah. It was parked 10 blocks away. Nothing important was stolen or damaged: the thieves cleaned out the glove compartment (no money); took all my CDs (but not my mother's); and left the car smelling like booze, sweat, and weed. But the smell's faded in the last week and the rest is inconsequential. Lucky me!

Or, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut is a film about the Roller Derby. In case you never heard of this, here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cA2ngjW0YQ

Since it's a movie about the Roller Derby you expect tons of camp excess, but the movie is actually played straight... in both senses, XD. Outright lesbianism is confined to one girl-girl hot tub scene, blink and you'll miss it (I did). There are however lots of girl-girl bonding moments and lots of tough women. Who are cool, because they're tough. If you watch this movie you'll learn lots of important moral lessons -- about friends, family, boyfriends, and being true to yourself -- and also, the rules of the Austin Roller Derby.

In other words, Drew Barrymore doesn't just act earnest; she is earnest. XD

( Read more... )

In conclusion, this is a rec: please support Whip It while it's still in theaters, and send a message to Hollywood that mainstream movies by, for, and about** girls can succeed financially.

**Specially, movies for teenage girls about teenage girls. Hollywood already knows it can make money off movies for little girls (Dora) and older women (chick flicks), but there is a range - preteen to mid-thirties? - when it's beaten into girls that they can't do their own thing anymore, they have to get with the (male-dominated) program. And that's not cool, you know?

EDIT: Marie Claire magazine promotional picture of Barrymore and Page courtesy of R. Aww! here's the cover image. Page actually looks Texan there, must be the yellow halter top. And finally... the one where they kiss.

Brief history: Stella D'Oro, the Bronx-based biscuit company, was bought out by Brynwood Partners, the Connecticut-based private equity fund, which demanded that all workers take an immediate $5 an hour pay cut, later "reduced" to a $1 an hour pay cut each year for the next five years. The (unionized) workers refused and went on strike for 11 months, at which point the court found that Brynwood had engaged in unfair labor practices and ordered it to pay back wages and reinstate the workers. Yay! But Brynwood responded by announcing that they were closing the factory in the Bronx.

All this is going to be in an upcoming HBO documentary (still filming). Anyway, the latest news is that someone asked Hugo Chavez at a rally if CITGO, the Venezualen oil company, could buy Stella D'Oro and turn it into a worker's cooperative. And Chavez did show some interest. ^^ Nice plot twist for the documentarians eh? Too bad the company was already sold to Lance, Inc. (who plan to relocate and cost-cut: essentially they are just buying the name, not the product).

Incidentally, when I told R this story the thing that most offended her was not the ev0lness of Hendrik J. Hartong III, Brynwood's managing partner in this case, but his incompetence. He couldn't just buy a factory that makes (a little) money and runs itself, he had to go in with ideas about typical wages and benefits, and try for a 30% return for the investors, and then pitch a fit and just dismantle the whole thing when the Union wouldn't accept his unilaterally imposed terms and conditions... and America loses a brand and 130 workers lose their jobs, just like that. I can't imagine Brynwood Partners are too pleased with him, either.

This came out a few months ago, when there was still a slight amount of buzz surrounding the Gary Louris/Mark Olson reunion CD. Unlike the reunion CD - and the Jayhawks' back catalog - it's actually in-print and in-stock in US record stores, though not the deluxe edition with bonus CD of "previously unreleased" music. I'm putting up some bonus CD songs because... I've been playing them way, way too often in the last few months. ^^;

( Six songs )

Should have posted about this sooner, I think I needed to get it out of my system. XD I apologize for the self-referential nature of this post. Sometimes I think the difference between a cult band and a regular band is how easy it is to write something about the music without referencing any other artists.

( The Decembrists at Terminal 5 in Chelsea, NY 9/19/09 )

In other indie-music-related I've been posting to albion_fic. This is the short RPF (The Libertines) story I mentioned previously. Here are the first three parts:
One!
Two!
Three!

It is about Carl turning into a cat. Just between you and me, the posting schedule is Sunday and Wednesday nights EST, until it's time to put up the Epilogue, at which point there might be a long gap. *cough*

Lastly, my phone was stolen a week ago - this just hasn't been my month - but I bought a new phone on ebay and it came last Friday so could those of you whose numbers I used to have please text me your names? Again? I promise to actually back up my contacts this time - would hate to turn into the New Yorker parody.

More international-release movies should be set in South Africa cos the accent is really cool.

( More, but you should see the movie first - no really, I mean it, you should see the movie )

I have written fanfiction. *poses* It's RPF and off for rewrites now. It's so nice to have a rewriter/cohwriter, you don't have to obsess so much over exact phrasing and the motivation to draft is much higher. I never drafted before either, it was always first take up on the internet and then minor revisions ex post facto. I can see why real authors do it this way.

...is at least 70% romantic comedy. David Yates (the director) has excellent comic timing!

Overall impressions:

1. Hermione is still the hottest thing on screen. Ginny really can't compete, poor thing.
2. Rupert Grint is actually a really good actor! I hadn't realized because the scriptwriter never gives Ron enough to do.
3. Dan Radcliff is still the weakest link, but he was fun to watch in the good-luck-potions-make-Harry-feel-invincible scenes (and he obviously had fun performing them, too).
4. Jim Broadbent was PERFECT as Professor Slughorn, whoever made that casting call deserves a medal.

( more )

In conclusion Rotten Tomatoes was right to score this movie so highly.

Back from Europe and moved into the apartment! Suppose I'll just repost from twitter again, to save time:

( Less quirky than France trip tweets, mostly because I was half responsible for planning on this trip. Reserving trains and buses, and getting to the airport on time, these things are enjoyable in their own way but not so much fun to read about )

I realize that some of these tweets are kind of... mysterious... but there are some things I'd rather not write down where my parents might read about them, XD. But some other highlights were:

( more )

Hmmm, I suppose that's everything. My brother has pictures up to Belfast on his facebook - same last name, and first name is Alex, for those of you who know me over there.

Long time no post, huh? I've been doing some paralegal-ish things for my father, eating out in NYC more nights than not and catching the midnight train home or not coming home at all. Or in other words, spending too much money, a trend that is going to continue until July - have plans to meet my brother in Europe! The flight leaves, um, tomorrow. Here's the itinerary:

June 13 (AM): London
June 17 (AM): Rome
June 21 (AM): Belfast (via London Standstead airport. Currently considering changing the connecting flight to London to the 20th for band-obsession-related reasons, but that's another story)
June 22 (PM): Dublin
June 25 (AM): Newcastle

And my flight back to NJ leaves on Sunday, June 28th. This is short notice, but anyone lives in or around the aforementioned cities and wants to meet up, just drop a line.

As for the REAL reason I haven't been around much... I'm seeing someone. ^_____^ One of Aki's friends. It's sort of funny, of the three people at dinner I'd never met before, J and R became friends, A tried to pick me up, and I picked R up. Either Aki has very good taste in friends, or we all really needed to expand our social circles. :p

(Okay so that's a lie, I didn't actually pick R up. What ACTUALLY happened was, I took a hint for the first time in my life. Body language reading skills, level up!)

[There was some analysis-of-appeal type stuff on R here, but on reflection, probably better to keep the details to myself or at least not share them with the whole wide web. But yeah: R's a girl. *g*]

I'd never been to a music festival before, wasn't sure what to expect, but Bamboozle was totally worth the price! Saw:

( These bands )

Korean BBQ in NYC tonight, followed by karaoke late into the night. absenceofmind is ♥