Fuck yeah! Quiet Company’s new video is out!

Quiet Company, the band you know you love, has a new video out for a brand-spanking new song called, “The Emasculated Man and the City That Swallowed Him”.

It’s a great video with a bit of a message. And — to top it off — it’s a great song.

I’m a wee tired of looking down at our favorite vocalist and musician slash friend of the blog Taylor Muse. It leads me to believe this video was directed by the same person as previous ones.

I’m not a fan of looking at front men as if they are inferior and above angles do just that.

But for the most part, it’s got that Hitchcockian effort of a story told all in the same room.

You could freak out, but you might like it, too.

Give the song a whirl.

I think you’ll like it.

No matter what planet you’re from, this is a good one

Check your pulse if you haven’t a welled up eye or a pride through the roof on this one.

Via TYWKIWDBI “Feel-good story of the day“

Inebriation would make this incredibly more entertaining

Put some plastic on your floors, because this is going to blow your mind.

Also of note, the clip below the fold of Joe Biden and his recommendation for women to carry double barrel shot guns. The best part of the clip is the compilation of women shooting firearms. It’s comedy gold.

Oh, and that Joe Biden, what an ignorant douche bag.

Pissed-off women’s group shows up to the first amendment party several decades late

This article from The Hill about concernstipated group of women called, “Women for America” about SNL’s parody of Djesus Uncrossed is expressing just how ignorant they are.

And they seem to be proud of it.

Of course, there’s this generally redundant opening:

A conservative Christian women’s group said Tuesday that “Saturday Night Live” intended to “degrade and taunt” with a video short that appeared on last weekend’s show called “DJesus Uncrossed” — a faux Quentin Tarantino revenge film starring a resurrected Jesus Christ.

The group said the late-night show wouldn’t dare be that irreverent with Islam.

You’re not properly pissed if you don’t jab at someone for not making fun of Islam.

But the kicker of the article is this line:

“The First Amendment protects their right to offend, and it also protects our right to complain to NBC and the advertisers that sponsor SNL,” Nance said. “Funny how that works both ways.”

Funny how it works both ways? Who is just learning that free speech goes both ways?

Or multiple ways?

How about multiple ways, Women for America?

Let me draw you a map. You’re upset at SNL’s free speech. You complain. I read that your brain capacity is the size of a molecule of dust, and I am appalled whilst hiding behind free speech to make that judgement.

It’s a great day.

So the next time you stumble across a Woman for America sitting at her bitty desk drawing with crayons, pat her on the shoulder and say it looks great.

Ask, “What is that?”

Wait for her response. When she gives one, say, “Oh, that’s a unicorn? … That’s a good unicorn. [Pause] Is that a rainbow? [Pause] That’s not a rainbow? It’s a cow? Oh, neat.”

Then hand them the Indigo crayon and tell her to draw some sky.

She’d be super creative at that.

.

Thanks for the heads up, Aaron!

 

Wouldn’t you know it? Obama is behind the high price of ink cartridges!

Just kidding about Obama.

But you are aware how awful ink prices are, right? See this article from The Guardian (snippet): 

The sky-high price of printer ink – measure for measure more expensive than vintage champagne – has been well documented. Less well-known is the fact that the amount of ink in the average cartridge has shrunk dramatically. “Newer cartridges contain a fraction of the ink a similar product contained a decade ago,” Dyckhoff says. “The amount can be minuscule.”

For example, the Epson T032 colour cartridge (released in 2002) is the same size as the Epson colour T089 (released in 2008). But the T032 contains 16ml of ink and the T089 contains just 3.5ml of ink. It’s a similar story with Hewlett Packard (HP) cartridges. A decade ago, the best-selling HP cartridge had 42ml of ink and sold for about £20. Today, the standard printer cartridges made by HP may contain as little as 5ml of ink but sell for about £13.

Cut open a HP inkjet cartridge and you’ll find what is going on. The size of the sponges inside, which hold the ink, have progressively reduced over the years. The rest of the cartridge is now simply empty space. In Epson cartridges, meanwhile, the ink tank has been systematically reduced in size.

“The strategy has been to nudge the consumer towards a high frequency of purchases,” says David Connett, editor of The Recycler, a trade magazine covering the remanufacturing industry. “The big printer manufacturers have reduced the amount of ink in a cartridge, encrypted the chip technology, and used aggressive marketing tactics to discourage refills.”

Read on

It’s Wednesdog!

Today’s Wednesdog is brought to you by Skip to my Lu my Darling.

Our snow year started slow, but it’s picked up. There are days when it melts away enough that when she’s out side, she’s covered head to toe in black mud.

She’s growing tired of having to get baths every other day.

But the snow treats her right. Like the other dogs in the hood, she loves to dip her snoot in a pile and chomp on the cold, wetness.

My girl is also proud of her fetching abilities. I believe if dogs had resumes, hers would only include fetching.

Fetching and cuteness.

Don’t forget to get humpy today to celebrate the middle of the week.

Happy Wednesdog!

 

Inspirational hump day: Phlearn Interviews Michael Vincent Manalo

images above copyrighted to Michael Vincent Manalo.

In an interview published at Phlearn, they interviewed late-20-something Michael Vincent Manalo, whose work is fun, inviting, and sometimes a direct ripoff very reminiscent of French Painter René Magritte.

His work is described as nightmarish, which I disagree with. His work is dreamy. It may not be Disney, but it’s not something scary. There’s something alluring to it. A floating house brings a calm rather than angst.

The interview text is so-so, but the images are what you should consider checking out. There’s more of the above and beyond that.

Manalo himself describes his work as inspired by Dadaism — a movement started to oppose bourgeoisie ideologies — which I wouldn’t have considered at all. It’s too clean to qualify. Later in the interview, Manalo admits his five-year plan is to settle down, sell his art with HUGE price tags on them (oh the dream) and live in a lake house.

So anti-bourgeois, don’t you think?

The interviewer says he’s clearly been inspired by Dali, which may be. There’s a moment or two with the windows and the elephant with withered legs.

But his primary influence appears to be Magritte and all the imitators of his work who have modernized “Le Pipe” and replaced the larger-than-life items with more common fare.

Regardless, go check his work. You’ll dig it.

that awkward moment during your private time

Jesus’s prayers were kind of funny when you break it down. Or when you break down the ways theology tells you that Jesus is God and they are both the holy spirit. But they aren’t the same person/being.

But they are the same.

And when Jesus was on earth, he wasn’t acutely aware they were the same, because he didn’t find it redundant to pray to himself.

 

 

photos in a furniture factory

This is a furniture factory we used as a backdrop for corporate head shots back in January.

I loved being in the factory, which reminded me of growing up. My dad worked in the furniture industry, and some of my fondest memories were when he managed/owned/operated a metal working factory.

All the machinery and grit definitely informed the way I viewed the world.

And when I stood among the buzzing machines and floating dust, memories of my tweens rushed back.

Click any image to enlarge.

Restaurant recommendation: Lula Café

 

 

 

Nestled in the Chicago’s hipster Logan Square neighborhood, there’s an artsy-fartsy restaurant/bar/café called Lula Café.

With its decor that makes it appear a bit ruinous and old European, the joint is jampacked on any given Saturday and Sunday brunch-0-clock time. The place feels like it belongs in France, Italy … or Portlandia.

The hostesses are all in their high-hip jeans. If the waiter doesn’t have a mustache, you should ask the manager for a replacement.

The service is excellent. And there are chances you’ll sit at a community table or smackdab beside another table … just like in Europe or New York … or Portland.

So go. Enjoy yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Check out my sweet-ass iPhone shots below showing what we ate.

My mouth watered for the the omelet off the specials menu, which included kentucky country ham, duck confit, gruyere, winter root mash, sauce divine. It was one of the best omelets I’ve ever had.

No joke.

Tina had Polenta, which was served with: rutabaga, swiss chard, soft scrambled egg, ricotta, sweet and sour shallots, black olive vinaigrette. The Polenta is the second picture below, and we had to ask, but the rutabaga is the shaved-looking melon colored, folded-looking stuff on the lower right hand corner of the photo.

Our brunch-mate Jay savored every bite of his Almond poppy seed GRIDDLE CAKES lemon curd, pear, pomegranate, almond crumble.

Go check out Lula Café. The art and decor are inspirational. The service is good. The food is great. The drinks are mm mmm good. You probably won’t be disappointed.