Droppin' some science:







(Surprisingly good -- well, for a science rap, anyway -- and chock full o' knowledge.)

Update: Of course, there is a counterpoint...

Seriously, why haven't you watched this?

I'm discovering that the less free time I have, the more I get done. Yeah, that sounds like a truism, but I don't mean it that way. The more momentum I have, the less I tend to fuck off, and the more I get done in the same span of time. The more I let life demand of me, the more alive I become.

I know that lesson. I just forget it constantly.

While hacking away at the thicket, I had some spare cycles to change my lj layout. It's not brilliant, but it's solid and it feels right. About as functional a skin as I'm going to get without writing my own. Good timing, I suppose.

I want to unearth boomstick, dust it off, and do a little more work on it. Not as the meta content management system slash mission creep abortion that it was starting to become, though -- I just want to make it into what I want, what I need. I have the hunch that, if I write it cleanly, the potential for generalization will naturally follow. Or not. But either way, it'll be fine. It has a job to do, and that's to get out of the way and enable everything else.

Certain ancient ideas are stirring, looking for any opportunity to rise and take on lives of their own. The universe dances and flirts about, dropping tiny silken hints at my feet. It's a good thing.

You see, I'm only weird and neurotic and overly analytical of art when I'm not doing it. When I'm actually working on it, though, it's as fun and fluid and obvious as sex.

Well, usually...

And to round things out, here's another magical mystery video for your viewing enjoyment. Remember, kids, it'll take you less time to dig it then it will to ask what it is. You know you want to. ;)

Ustaše:

The Ustaše (also known as Ustashas or Ustashi) was a Croatian extreme nationalist movement. It engaged in terrorist activity before World War II and ruled, under Nazi protection, in a part of Yugoslavia after that country was occupied by the Axis powers. After German forces withdrew from Yugoslavia in 1945, the Ustaše was defeated and expelled by the communist Yugoslav partisans.

When it was founded in 1929, the Ustaše was a nationalist organization that sought to create an independent Croatian state. When the Ustaše came to power during World War II, its military became the Ustaše Army (Ustaška Vojnica). They claimed that this army had 76,000 troops at its peak in 1944. In the 1990s, there was a resurgence of support for the Ustaše, related to ethnic hatred that remained after the Yugoslav wars. Croatian law currently forbids Ustaše symbols and associated references. However, as of 2007, there is still some glorification of the Ustaše movement in Croatia. For example, a popular Croatian singer, Thompson, has been accused of celebrating concentration camp murders in Jasenovac and Stara Gradiska by singing the WWII-era song "Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara".

(More...)

Thompson (band):

Thompson is a Croatian rock band. The frontman, songwriter and lead vocalist of Thompson is Marko Perković, who is often identified with the band. Thompson is often considered his stage name. The lineup also includes Tiho Orlić as supporting vocalist and bass guitarist, while the remaining members of the bend are less prominent. The remaining members of the band (as of Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj tour) are: Damir Lipošek Kex, Fedor Boić, Damir Šomen, & Tomislav Mandarić. The name "Thompson" comes from the Thompson submachine gun, which was Perković's nickname.

Many of Thompson's songs (such as "Bojna Čavoglave", "Lijepa li si", "Vjetre s Dinare") have become major hits in Croatia, and are played at football games and other large events. The band has won the Croatian music competitions Melodije Mostara (in 2001) and the Croatian Radio Festival (in 2006), and has performed annually on Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, with all benefits going to families of Croatian soldiers.

The band promotes Croatian patriotism and sings about topics such as the love for one's country, family and religion. Dealing with such topics has made the band controversial. Perković is accused of openly promoting Ustasha ideology because he wears black clothes and salutes in corresponding way. Perković is also accused of privately performing the Ustashe song Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara until 2003 at the latest. He has been banned from performing in The Netherlands due to allegedly fascist lyrics. However, he has recently been scolding the media as well as his own fans for this, saying in an interview before the start of his Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj Tour in Borovo Naselje, "Wear the insignia of the victorious Croatian Army. It is sad that young people go that back in history and fall for propaganda."

(More...)

Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara:

Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara is a fascist Croatian song promoting the Ustaše, a Nazi puppet organization. The lyrics celebrate the World War II genocide against the Serbs. The lyrics include words in the typical dialect of Herzegovina, where some of the worst atrocities against Serbs during WWII happened. The song has been performed in recent years by Croatian singer Thompson.

Lyrics (English):

Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška
That's the house of Maks' butchers.

There was a slaughterhouse in Čapljina
Neretva carried away many Serbs.

Hey, Neretva, flow downhill,
Carry Serbs into the blue Adriatic.

Through Imotski trucks rush
Driving black uniforms of Jure Francetić.

I am Ustasha and so was my father,
Father left craft to his son.

Who could imagine last year
That Partisans would celebrate Christmas.

Who said, his father fuck him
That Black Legion is not coming back.

Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška
That's the house of Maks' butchers.

Shining star above Metković
Send our greetings to Ante Pavelić.

(More...)

(Man, I don't know what it is about these ads. Somehow, the dorkier they get, the more they amuse me.)

(Update: Ze marketing, she is viral.)

I'm in a damn fine mood this morning, and you know what that means: more shameless appropriation!










( Need a little something more? )




I love you all, my little cherubs. Have a precious day.

It occurs to me that if I'm going to keep posting crappy youtube videos, I may as well offer some sort of context for them -- personal, historical, or otherwise.

Hüsker Dü were a rock band formed in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were Bob Mould, Greg Norton, and Grant Hart.

Mould and Hart split the songwriting/singing duties, with each singing only the songs he had written, though they occasionally harmonized vocally. Mould's lyrics were known for being more soul-searching and intense than the often whimsical and cryptic ones of Hart. Hüsker Dü first gained notice as a hardcore punk band with thrashing tempos and screamed vocals, but also with a melodic, soulful edge that became more pronounced in the band's mid-career as they drifted away from their early sound, becoming one of the most influential bands in American alternative rock in the process.

Hüsker Dü never achieved mainstream success, but attained an impact far larger than their modest sales figures would indicate. They are notable as one of the first 1980s American underground rock bands to sign with a major record label, a move which blazed the trail for the breakthrough of alternative rock a few years later.

More...

And here's a brief 1987 interview with Joan Rivers (at 2:40) in which they (briefly) talk about going mainstream, or selling out, or porkshanking the golden poodle, or whatever you kids call it these days.

I am morally obligated to repost this:









Via deeptape

Q: What would the Crocodile Hunter sound like with an American accent?
A: Like a total jackass. But hey, giant snake.

If you like snakes, this is for you. If you don't like snakes, well then, it's really not...

( Herein lie SNAKES. )



And, on a somewhat less dramatic note, dingo vs. kangaroo:

I hesitate to call it the story of my life, but I also hesitate not to.

For today's shameless mining of the 80's we offer you a choice. For the fans of the surreal:









Or, for all you keytar enthusiasts:

(Tell me about your childhood.)
At the tender age of three
I was hooked to a machine
Just to keep my mouth from spouting junk.
Ha! Must have took me for a fool
When they chucked me out of school
'Cause the teacher knew I had the funk.
But tonight I'm on the edge -
Fellas, shut me in the fridge
'Cause I'm burning up! (I'm burning up.)
With the vision in my brain
And the music in my veins
And the dirty rhythm in my blood!

They are messing with my heart...
And they're messing with my heart
And they're messing with my heart
Won't stop messing with my... ohh!
Ripping me apart!

Hyperactive: when I'm small
Hyperactive: now I'm grown
Hyperactive: and the night is young
(And in a minute I'll blow!)

Semaphore out on the floor
Messages from outer space
Deep heat for the feet
And the rhythm of your heartbeat
'Cause the music of the street
It isn't any rapattack
It isn't any rapattack

I can reach into your homes
Like an itch in your headphones
You can't turn it up
I'm the shape in your back room
I'm the breather on the phone
And I'm burning up
But there's one thing I must say
Before they lock me up again -
You'd be safer at the back
When I'm having an attack!

Hyperactive: when I'm small
Hyperactive: now I'm tall
Hyperactive: as the day is long
Hyperactive: in my bones
Hyperactive: in your phones
Hyperactive: and the night is young
Hyperactive : when I'm small
Hyperactive: now I'm grown
Hyperactivfe: 'til I'm dead and gone

Stand up : hyperactivate!
Get up: hyperactivate!
Wise up: hyperactivate!
London: hyperactivate!

And, for having made it this far, you get this lovely parting gift:

Probably one of the most controversial movies known on the net itself. This performance gives off all different views and expressed ideas from viewers. Watch. Is it a real performance, or pre-recorded?