According to this article, the U.S. has been at war for 46.9% of my entire lifespan, and a quarter of Americans have never experienced a time of peace (ahem, Afghanistan).
On a related note, from the always excellent McSweeneys, The Case for War, by Someone Whose Kids Won’t Die Fighting in It:
I, and I can’t stress this enough, don’t have any skin in the game. Your kids quite literally have skin in the game, some of it no doubt to be melted off by napalm.
David Tracy of Jalopnik undertakes and writes about hare-brained wrenching trips on a regular basis, and his latest one is a hoot to read: he flew 1,500 miles to buy a manual Jeep Cherokee (a rare option), fix it in a donated garage, and drive it all the way home.
Infinity Train is a Cartoon Network series about a young girl who finds a mysterious train where each car is its own universe. She has to unlock each car, which presents its own logic and mystery, to continue to the next car. They’re short, only about 12 minutes each, but the writing is excellent and the story picks up steam—and weight—as it goes. (via)
I grew up listening to Howard Stern on the radio, and when he made the switch to satellite I lost track. Sometime in the intervening years he embraced his ability to be an excellent interviewer. He had Hillary Clinton on last week, and the whole thing is fascinating: he’s empathetic and insightful, and she’s a human being. It’s depressing how much of the current political process strips the personality and warmth from our candidates; I like this Hillary and I wish we’d seen more of this side of her on the campaign trail four years ago.
When you support free, you support billionaires. When you pay, you support sane businesses and real creators. Start paying for things that cost money. If you can’t afford to, use fewer things, which generally make you happier anyway.
This is a long, but very well written article on Flickr’s SmugMug’s recent plea for help to find more paying users, and its future. TL;DR: It’s not going anywhere, but they need to double down on their core audience.
The empathy and wounded optimism of Short Term 12 is the film’s calling card, but its position as the source code for the future of Hollywood—both its ensemble and its director—is, for better or worse, the most remarkable part of its legacy.
I loved this movie when I saw it, and I’m happy it’s making end-of-decade lists. The Ringer did a piece on the incredible casting of the movie before anyone really knew who they were. Go find it.
A 4-door 1961 Pontiac Tempest just popped up on Barn Finds in pieces, but it reminded me of this 2-door from last year in beautiful shape: there’s something perfect about how the designers moved away from tall fins and folded layers, sculpting more subtle shapes in this era of cars; this particular style is one of my favorites. The split grille is Pontiac’s design language, and the inset behind the front wheels merging into short fins is perfect. Blacked-out dog dish hubcaps are the finishing touch. This would be in my dream garage.
Trump Immigration Official Leaves Bar After He’s Berated by Former Presidential Candidate.
A couple of things about this caught my eye: Martin O’Malley used to be my governor, and before that, mayor of my city. Ken Cuccinelli is an ethically corrupt fuckstick. And the Dubliner is just around the corner from my office.
I don’t play bass regularly enough to justify buying any new equipment, but I like to look at what’s out there. Reverb is a marketplace of new and used gear, and what they have is beautiful. Additional note of interest: the average price point for the Steinberger XP2 is somewhere between $1500 and $3000. As a matter of fact, there’s currently ared XP2 listed for $2800 that’s identical to mine. A 400% appreciation in value isn’t too shabby.
It’s pretty clear that I lean leftward when it comes to politics; however, with the flood of Democratic candidates out there to choose from, it’s hard to know where they all stand on things. The Washington Post has put together a handy guide to learn who aligns with your particular politics. Looks like I agree most with Joe Biden and Jerry Yang. Sobering, because I wasn’t that impressed with either of them.