Best of Circle Jerk at the Square Dance.
Originally published July 13, 2006.
NARRATOR
Last week on Project Runaway Nuclear Weapons Program...
Tim Gunn looks over some old artillery shells that Saddam Hussein is presenting.
TIM GUNN
I understand what you’re trying to do, Saddam, and retro is very chic, but I’m just not feeling a sense of danger from these.
Saddam lets out an exhausted sigh and leaves the room.Tim Gunn gets in an argument with Kim Il-Jong.
KIM IL-JONG
I tell you, Tim, the missile will be the most devastating the West has ever seen!
TIM
Kim, I appreciate your ambition, but it’s the 11th hour, and you still have a lot of work to do if you’re going to get these liquid fueled boosters off the ground. We need less posturing and more engineering.
At Iran’s table, Tim Gun speaks with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad
TIM
Mahmoud, I like what you’re doing, I do. It’s a great blend of covert and overt. But you’re really going to need to sell this, you know, make the rest of the world see through your designs, but keep the seams of your weapons program invisible in the cloak of your nuclear energy program.
Cut to Tim looking around frantically.
TIM
Has anyone seen Saddam? Where is Saddam?
MAHMoUD
Fuck Saddam, where the hell are my centrifuges?
CUT TO
The runway studio. Heidi Klum wears a retro black 80s pants suit with a "No Nukes" T-shirt. Two men and a woman sit to her right. Saddam, Kim, and Mahmoud stand on the runway. Saddam holds some weathered artillery shells, Kim a small model rocket, and Mahmoud a centrifuge.
HEIDI
Welcome to the final edition of Project Runaway Nuclear Weapons Program. I am Heidi Klum, and I and my three judges will decide who has the best WMD in the world. The winner will get an exclusive contract with Russian and Chinese manufacturers of weapon parts, as well as bilateral negotiations with the United States government.
Joining me as always are designer Michael Kors (Michael nods) and Nina Garcia, Fashion Director of Elle magazine.
NINA
Hello.
HEIDI
And this week, we have a very special guest judge, a man my sources tell me all three of you know very well...the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, A.Q. Khan.
KHAN
Allahu akbar!
HEIDI
Saddam, we will start with you. I believe when we started this challenge, you made a very bold statement...
HUSSEIN (shifting from foot to foot)
Yes, I said that Iraq would rain fire down upon all infidels who set foot on her soil.
HEIDI
And what did you end up with?
HUSSEIN (looking down)
Some old mustard gas.
MICHAEL
Saddam, what were you doing all that time? You had a decade to get something going. And what do you wind up with? Something my grandmother could buy on eBay.
SADDAM
I tried, but the U.N. sanctions....
MICHAEL
Are we making weapons or excuses? You need to manage your time better if you want to make it in this business.
NINA
I agree with Michael. You talk and talk and talk about being this great power, but all that does is invite invasion. I also think you let all that attention from the United States go to your head. Hype doesn’t make plutonium.
KHAN
Saddam, what did I tell you all those years ago? If you act like a devil, you will attract the attention of the Great Satan. With everything I gave you, I expected so much more.
HEIDI (turning to Kim)
Kim Il-Jong...you have a nuke, yes?
KIM
We have many nukes! And we are ready to unleash them on the West!
HEDI
So that’s good, you completed the first stage of the challenge. But speaking of stages, what happened to your rockets?
KIM
After performing gloriously for 20 minutes, they heroically plunged into the sea!
MICHAEL
Oh please, I’ve seen more stamina from 18-year-old underwear models.
KIM
But we have the weapons!
MICHAEL
Yes, Kim, but it doesn’t do you much good to wear a terrific pair of pants with a big hole in the seat. That might be attractive to a German diplomat visiting Bangkok for six-way negotiations, but on the nuclear stage, everyone’s just going to see your ass hanging out.
NINA
Kim, you’re making the mistake I see lots of young weapons designers make. You focus so much on the radioactive material that the minute you have weapons-grade uranium, you think you’re finished. But it’s all about the accessories. You need delivery systems, fail-safes, and an aluminum Louis Vuitton for the launch codes. Never overlook usability.
KHAN
There is an old Islamic proverb. “He whose rocket cannot fly cannot deliver his payload.” I am afraid there is not much lift in your boosters.
KIM
You are all wrong! I am Kim Il-Jong, and my rockets are fine! Look!
Kim lights the fuse on his model rocket, which sparks and then catches on fire. He frantically stamps it out. Two runway models strut out, wearing ripped up North Korean army uniforms and carrying fire extinguishers. They put out the fire and exit the stage.
HEIDI
Mahmoud. (He looks up.) Can you tell us what Iran accomplished during this challenge?
MAHMOUD (clears throat, speaks robotically)
We have enriched uranium for the purposes of civilian energy production.
KHAN (a tear runs down his cheek)
I remember when you were a fledgling Islamic republic, just trying to gain the respect of your neighbors like Saddam. And now, countries around the world are scared of you! (clasps hands together) It’s like I had always hoped.
NINA
I am impressed. Your civilian exterior gives the hint of a covert weapons program underneath, but everything is so seamless, I can’t tell where the centrifuges end and the subterfuge begins. That’s the kind of thing we look for at Elle.
MICHAEL
Honey, all I can say is Bush is the violin and you’re Itzhak Perlman.
MAHMOUD (tearing up)
Michael, that means so much to me, even if you are comparing me to a Zionist fiddler.
HEIDI
The judges have decided, and now it is time for our winner. Iraq. (Hussein looks at her.) You more than ten years to get your program off the ground, and yet you can’t even inflict Gulf War syndrome this time. You’re out.
Saddam looks sad and leaves the runway. Two women dressed in stylish MP uniforms take him into custody.
HEIDI
North Korea. You went far, but like Icarus, you tried to fly into the sun without a good sunscreen.
As she address Kim, the red point of a laser appears on his chest.
HEIDI (cont)
Iran. No one knows what you have under your sleeve. It could be a Rolex, or it could be a detonator.
She pauses for dramatic effect.
HEIDI (cont)
Iran....Congratulations.
Mahmoud breaks down into tears. Two muffled shots ring out and Kim collapses to the floor.
A State Department Official comes out and shakes Mahmoud’s hand.
OFFICIAL
Congratulations, we’d like to begin bilateral negotiations first thing Monday.
MAHMOUD
But we have nothing to discuss, our program is peaceful!
Everyone breaks out into a hearty laugh.
HEIDI
Thank you for watching. Auf wiedersehen.
Sunday, November 01, 2015
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Cthulhu Party Convention Ends in Unspeakable Horror
Best of Circle Jerk at the Square Dance.
Originally published September 18, 2008
INNSMOUTH - The national convention for the Cthulhu Party devolved into a chaotic, malevolent orgy of macabre rituals, dreadful atrocities, and cosmic disaster that ultimately failed to produce a nominee for the president of the United States.
Inside the black, Cyclopean walls of the Miskatonic University/Bank of America Sports Arena, the convention began on a positive note. Scaled creatures from the depths of the ocean, bat-winged abominations from the frozen voids of space, sentient pools of protoplasm, and human worshipers driven mad by the knowledge of these beings all entered to a jaunty, non-chromatic tune played on a choir of demonic flutes.
However, all eyes and other sensory organs focused on the Elder Things and Deep Ones. During the highly contested primary campaign, the two groups clashed over the presidential nomination. The Deep Ones once again argued for Cthulhu as the president, as they had since before the concept of democracy had been conceived by the races of man.
Breaking with tradition, the Elder Things instead threw their support behind the mad god Nyarlathotep, uniting behind the slogan “Crawling Chaos you can believe in.”
Both groups attempted to sway the independent Mi-Go delegates to their side, with the Deep Ones offering human sacrifices to the winged, crustacean-like creatures. The Elder Things decried this as bribery and threatened to feed the Mi-Go to the bubbling, ravenous, eye-covered Shoggoths if they didn’t cooperate.
Speaking through a possessed human interpreter, the Mi-Go responded, “We did not fly all this way through the black abyss of space-time to be talked down to by a bunch of beings with cilia for brains. So fhtagn you, we’re for Cthulhu.”
Amid gutteral, alien shouts of “Yes we Cthulhu! Yes we Cthulhu! Yes we Cthulhu!”, the octopod-headed high priest of the Outer Gods appeared before the delegation to accept his nomination. “My friends,” Cthulhu began, “it is time for us to put our aeons-old differences aside and instead join together, so we may return this planet back to its primordial values.”
The Elder Things staged an immediate slither-out, but not before several of their Shoggoths smothered and absorbed the pro-Cthulhu Louisiana delegation. An epic battle broke out on the convention’s non-Euclidean floor, as psuedopods flew, wings flapped, and mouths gibbered in a horrific maelstrom of cacophonic rage that caused CNN’s political team to go insane and flee the convention. Journalist Anderson Cooper was later found in a Manhattan Starbucks, dazed, bloodied, and screaming for “a skim latte with extra AAAIIIEEE!!!”
As the conflict intensified at the convention, the Sports Arena shook on the precipitous cliff on which it had been constructed, eventually breaking off and plummeting into the black waters of the thrashing sea, before Cthulhu could be formally nominated. While there is no confirmation of its fate, local villagers say they expect the Sports Arena to rise again from the sea sometime before the Super Tuesday primaries in 2012.
The ending was not all bleak and horrific, however. Although his nomination remains in tatters and his followers are presumed scattered along the ocean floor, Nyarlathotep did accept an offer to join the John McCain campaign as a consultant.
Originally published September 18, 2008
INNSMOUTH - The national convention for the Cthulhu Party devolved into a chaotic, malevolent orgy of macabre rituals, dreadful atrocities, and cosmic disaster that ultimately failed to produce a nominee for the president of the United States.
Inside the black, Cyclopean walls of the Miskatonic University/Bank of America Sports Arena, the convention began on a positive note. Scaled creatures from the depths of the ocean, bat-winged abominations from the frozen voids of space, sentient pools of protoplasm, and human worshipers driven mad by the knowledge of these beings all entered to a jaunty, non-chromatic tune played on a choir of demonic flutes.
However, all eyes and other sensory organs focused on the Elder Things and Deep Ones. During the highly contested primary campaign, the two groups clashed over the presidential nomination. The Deep Ones once again argued for Cthulhu as the president, as they had since before the concept of democracy had been conceived by the races of man.
Breaking with tradition, the Elder Things instead threw their support behind the mad god Nyarlathotep, uniting behind the slogan “Crawling Chaos you can believe in.”
Both groups attempted to sway the independent Mi-Go delegates to their side, with the Deep Ones offering human sacrifices to the winged, crustacean-like creatures. The Elder Things decried this as bribery and threatened to feed the Mi-Go to the bubbling, ravenous, eye-covered Shoggoths if they didn’t cooperate.
Speaking through a possessed human interpreter, the Mi-Go responded, “We did not fly all this way through the black abyss of space-time to be talked down to by a bunch of beings with cilia for brains. So fhtagn you, we’re for Cthulhu.”
Amid gutteral, alien shouts of “Yes we Cthulhu! Yes we Cthulhu! Yes we Cthulhu!”, the octopod-headed high priest of the Outer Gods appeared before the delegation to accept his nomination. “My friends,” Cthulhu began, “it is time for us to put our aeons-old differences aside and instead join together, so we may return this planet back to its primordial values.”
The Elder Things staged an immediate slither-out, but not before several of their Shoggoths smothered and absorbed the pro-Cthulhu Louisiana delegation. An epic battle broke out on the convention’s non-Euclidean floor, as psuedopods flew, wings flapped, and mouths gibbered in a horrific maelstrom of cacophonic rage that caused CNN’s political team to go insane and flee the convention. Journalist Anderson Cooper was later found in a Manhattan Starbucks, dazed, bloodied, and screaming for “a skim latte with extra AAAIIIEEE!!!”
As the conflict intensified at the convention, the Sports Arena shook on the precipitous cliff on which it had been constructed, eventually breaking off and plummeting into the black waters of the thrashing sea, before Cthulhu could be formally nominated. While there is no confirmation of its fate, local villagers say they expect the Sports Arena to rise again from the sea sometime before the Super Tuesday primaries in 2012.
The ending was not all bleak and horrific, however. Although his nomination remains in tatters and his followers are presumed scattered along the ocean floor, Nyarlathotep did accept an offer to join the John McCain campaign as a consultant.
Thursday, October 01, 2015
Official Application for Republican Presidential Candidates
Best of Circle Jerk at the Square Dance
Originally published May 13, 2007. Now more appropriate than ever.
1. Name: _________________________
2. Occupation: _________________________
3. Name of yacht/racehorse/summer vacation compound:
_________________________
4. How do we know your father? _________________________
5. Race:
a) White
b) Other (skip to end)
6. Gender:
a) Male
b) Other (skip to end)
7. Age:
a) Iron
b) Bronze
c) Stone
8. Religion:
a) Evangelical Christian
b) Christian that doesn’t hate gays (skip to end unless former mayor of New York)
c) Mormon but not too Mormon
d) Jewish (skip to the end, turn application over, and describe your qualifications for State and Commerce Department posts)
e) Muslim (skip to the end and wait for the authorities)
f) Athiest (skip to the end and go to Hell)
9. Martial status:
a) Married
b) Plurally Married
c) Divorced
d) Married, Divorced, Remarried
e) Married, Divorced as wife lay on deathbed, Remarried, Divorced due to adultery during Clinton impeachment hearings, Remarried, Divorced after name came up in madam’s black book.
f) Single, neat, white, and definitely not gay
10. Have you ever done drugs?
a) No
b) Only to close deals back in the 80s
c) Does inhaling the Holy Spirit count as a drug?
11. Please indicate your average household income as a percentage of GDP: ____%
12. Did you serve in Vietnam?
a) Yes (go to question 13)
b) I really would have liked to, but I had an MBA to get
c) I protected our shores against Viet Cong sneak attacks
13. Why did you serve?
a) Wanted to defend my country against communism
b) Dad couldn’t get servant’s son to swap lottery numbers with me
c) Really, really, really wanted to kill people
ISSUES
For the following questions, please select the answer closest to your own views.
14. I ____ poor people.
a) hire
b) hate
c) hunt
15. How do you view illegal immigration?
a) A complex problem that must be handled firmly but humanely
b) An excellent opportunity to undermine labor unions
c) Immigrants are actually demons tunneling in from ninth circle of Hell
16. What’s your view on global warming?
a) We have to take a careful look at possible man-made influences on the environment
b) Hard to see climate change due to smoke produced by my factories
c) What part of God saying he’d take care of the birds do you not understand?
17. Do you support a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage?
a) Yes
b) No, it should be left up to the states, except in cases where states vote to allow it, then yes
c) Only if it includes provisions for stoning
18. How do you feel about tax cuts?
a) They stimulate the economy
b) They stimulate my portfolio
c) They stimulate my loins
19. _________ are the best way to prevent teen pregnancy.
a) Condoms
b) Condemnations
c) Convents
20. What are your views on evolution?
a) I support it
b) I support it, but I also support people not supporting it if they will still vote for me.
c) I support stickering every textbook that mentions it.
21. How do you feel about the relationship between church and state?
a) They should be separate...in most cases...although, really, if a pastor wants to advocate a certain political party, what’s the harm?
b) Religious tax deductions are a sign that God loves us
c) I would like to put them in the same room, give them some mulled wine, put on some Psalms, dim the lights, and see what happens
22. Do you believe that Saddam Hussein had close ties to the 9/11 terrorists?
a) Yes
b) Of course, they were all Arabs!
c) The very nature of that question shows how much you hate freedom
23. _________ are America’s greatest enemy.
a) Terrorists
b) Communists
c) The Clintons
ESSAY
In 50 words or less, please describe why we can never leave Iraq. Your answer must include the words freedom, democracy, terror, and The Rapture:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
SCANDAL DISCLOSURE
Please check any potential scandals that you may have:
__ Draft dodger
__ Tax evader
__ Received illegal campaign contributions
__ Visited brothel
__ Used illegal campaign contributions to visit brothel
__ Smoked meth
__ Had sex with gay prostitute
__ Smoked meth while having sex with gay prostitute
__ Used racial epithets in my youth
__ Use racial epithets now
__ Cheated on wife
__ Cheated on woman who I cheated on wife with
__ Technically not born a man
__ Paid for an abortion
__ Performed an abortion
__ Was aborted but lived
__ Shot old man in the face on accident
__ Shot old man in the face after tracking him for three days
__ Took wife to sex club
__ Took wife to sex club for our anniversary
__ Went to sex club on anniversary without wife
__ Unable to read diploma from Yale
__ Voted Democrat
__ Have acted like a complete hypocrite in my private life
I hereby swear that the information presented on this application is true and correct unless some nosy, freedom-hating reporters prove otherwise.
Sign or make mark: _________________________
Originally published May 13, 2007. Now more appropriate than ever.
1. Name: _________________________
2. Occupation: _________________________
3. Name of yacht/racehorse/summer vacation compound:
_________________________
4. How do we know your father? _________________________
5. Race:
a) White
b) Other (skip to end)
6. Gender:
a) Male
b) Other (skip to end)
7. Age:
a) Iron
b) Bronze
c) Stone
8. Religion:
a) Evangelical Christian
b) Christian that doesn’t hate gays (skip to end unless former mayor of New York)
c) Mormon but not too Mormon
d) Jewish (skip to the end, turn application over, and describe your qualifications for State and Commerce Department posts)
e) Muslim (skip to the end and wait for the authorities)
f) Athiest (skip to the end and go to Hell)
9. Martial status:
a) Married
b) Plurally Married
c) Divorced
d) Married, Divorced, Remarried
e) Married, Divorced as wife lay on deathbed, Remarried, Divorced due to adultery during Clinton impeachment hearings, Remarried, Divorced after name came up in madam’s black book.
f) Single, neat, white, and definitely not gay
10. Have you ever done drugs?
a) No
b) Only to close deals back in the 80s
c) Does inhaling the Holy Spirit count as a drug?
11. Please indicate your average household income as a percentage of GDP: ____%
12. Did you serve in Vietnam?
a) Yes (go to question 13)
b) I really would have liked to, but I had an MBA to get
c) I protected our shores against Viet Cong sneak attacks
13. Why did you serve?
a) Wanted to defend my country against communism
b) Dad couldn’t get servant’s son to swap lottery numbers with me
c) Really, really, really wanted to kill people
ISSUES
For the following questions, please select the answer closest to your own views.
14. I ____ poor people.
a) hire
b) hate
c) hunt
15. How do you view illegal immigration?
a) A complex problem that must be handled firmly but humanely
b) An excellent opportunity to undermine labor unions
c) Immigrants are actually demons tunneling in from ninth circle of Hell
16. What’s your view on global warming?
a) We have to take a careful look at possible man-made influences on the environment
b) Hard to see climate change due to smoke produced by my factories
c) What part of God saying he’d take care of the birds do you not understand?
17. Do you support a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage?
a) Yes
b) No, it should be left up to the states, except in cases where states vote to allow it, then yes
c) Only if it includes provisions for stoning
18. How do you feel about tax cuts?
a) They stimulate the economy
b) They stimulate my portfolio
c) They stimulate my loins
19. _________ are the best way to prevent teen pregnancy.
a) Condoms
b) Condemnations
c) Convents
20. What are your views on evolution?
a) I support it
b) I support it, but I also support people not supporting it if they will still vote for me.
c) I support stickering every textbook that mentions it.
21. How do you feel about the relationship between church and state?
a) They should be separate...in most cases...although, really, if a pastor wants to advocate a certain political party, what’s the harm?
b) Religious tax deductions are a sign that God loves us
c) I would like to put them in the same room, give them some mulled wine, put on some Psalms, dim the lights, and see what happens
22. Do you believe that Saddam Hussein had close ties to the 9/11 terrorists?
a) Yes
b) Of course, they were all Arabs!
c) The very nature of that question shows how much you hate freedom
23. _________ are America’s greatest enemy.
a) Terrorists
b) Communists
c) The Clintons
ESSAY
In 50 words or less, please describe why we can never leave Iraq. Your answer must include the words freedom, democracy, terror, and The Rapture:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
SCANDAL DISCLOSURE
Please check any potential scandals that you may have:
__ Draft dodger
__ Tax evader
__ Received illegal campaign contributions
__ Visited brothel
__ Used illegal campaign contributions to visit brothel
__ Smoked meth
__ Had sex with gay prostitute
__ Smoked meth while having sex with gay prostitute
__ Used racial epithets in my youth
__ Use racial epithets now
__ Cheated on wife
__ Cheated on woman who I cheated on wife with
__ Technically not born a man
__ Paid for an abortion
__ Performed an abortion
__ Was aborted but lived
__ Shot old man in the face on accident
__ Shot old man in the face after tracking him for three days
__ Took wife to sex club
__ Took wife to sex club for our anniversary
__ Went to sex club on anniversary without wife
__ Unable to read diploma from Yale
__ Voted Democrat
__ Have acted like a complete hypocrite in my private life
I hereby swear that the information presented on this application is true and correct unless some nosy, freedom-hating reporters prove otherwise.
Sign or make mark: _________________________
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Spot the persecution
Best of Circle Jerk at the Square Dance.
Originally published May 23, 2005
Many Christians are complaining about being persecuted for their religious beliefs. Are you? Take this handy quiz to find out.
For each of the following, select the answer that is NOT an example of religious persecution.
1. Because of our religious beliefs or identity, we have been
a) sent to the gas chambers
b) nailed to a cross
c) stoned to death
d) voted into office
2. When others found out about our religious persuasion, they
a) threw us in jail
b) threw us to the lions
c) threw us into slavery
d) threw us a nice tax break
3. In order to worship freely, have been forced to
a) leave our homeland
b) fight long, bloody wars
c) spend centuries crusading for our rights
d) find a parking spot
4. To inflict pain on us, our enemies have
a) burned us at the stake
b) stretched us on the rack
c) dunked us underwater
d) criticized us in an op-ed
5. When we have tried to pray, we have
a) had our tongues cut out
b) had our hands cut off
c) had our kneecaps broken
d) been asked to do so quietly so as not to disrupt class
6. Our churches have been
a) burned down
b) blown up
c) boarded up
d) given generous zoning permits
7. Our women and children are
a) being murdered by soldiers
b) being driven from their homes
c) being denied food and water
d) going back for seconds at the church picnic
8. In our government, we have
a) no representation
b) no legal recourse
c) no right to defend ourselves
d) no problem getting laws passed because we control the legislature
9) To support our faith, we are forced to
a) pass coded messages
b) meet in secret
c) expose ourselves to physical retribution
d) pass a basket around every Sunday
10) When we criticize the perceived decadence of society, we are
a) beaten
b) blackballed
c) censored
d) asked to host our own show on Fox News
Scoring
If you answered a, b, or c to any of these questions, you have been seriously persecuted for your religious beliefs. You may even be a candidate for sainthood/martyrdom/a commemorative stamp.
If you answered d to all the questions, congratulations! You are able to practice your religion freely. But if you still feel your are being persecuted for your beliefs, please call 1-800-WHIN-ERS. A counselor will be on hand to help you pull your head out of your ass.
Originally published May 23, 2005
Many Christians are complaining about being persecuted for their religious beliefs. Are you? Take this handy quiz to find out.
For each of the following, select the answer that is NOT an example of religious persecution.
1. Because of our religious beliefs or identity, we have been
a) sent to the gas chambers
b) nailed to a cross
c) stoned to death
d) voted into office
2. When others found out about our religious persuasion, they
a) threw us in jail
b) threw us to the lions
c) threw us into slavery
d) threw us a nice tax break
3. In order to worship freely, have been forced to
a) leave our homeland
b) fight long, bloody wars
c) spend centuries crusading for our rights
d) find a parking spot
4. To inflict pain on us, our enemies have
a) burned us at the stake
b) stretched us on the rack
c) dunked us underwater
d) criticized us in an op-ed
5. When we have tried to pray, we have
a) had our tongues cut out
b) had our hands cut off
c) had our kneecaps broken
d) been asked to do so quietly so as not to disrupt class
6. Our churches have been
a) burned down
b) blown up
c) boarded up
d) given generous zoning permits
7. Our women and children are
a) being murdered by soldiers
b) being driven from their homes
c) being denied food and water
d) going back for seconds at the church picnic
8. In our government, we have
a) no representation
b) no legal recourse
c) no right to defend ourselves
d) no problem getting laws passed because we control the legislature
9) To support our faith, we are forced to
a) pass coded messages
b) meet in secret
c) expose ourselves to physical retribution
d) pass a basket around every Sunday
10) When we criticize the perceived decadence of society, we are
a) beaten
b) blackballed
c) censored
d) asked to host our own show on Fox News
Scoring
If you answered a, b, or c to any of these questions, you have been seriously persecuted for your religious beliefs. You may even be a candidate for sainthood/martyrdom/a commemorative stamp.
If you answered d to all the questions, congratulations! You are able to practice your religion freely. But if you still feel your are being persecuted for your beliefs, please call 1-800-WHIN-ERS. A counselor will be on hand to help you pull your head out of your ass.
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
Ten Simple Rules for Graduate Students in the Evil Sciences
Best of Circle Jerk at the Square Dance.
Originally published February 14, 2008
Rule 1: Have a passion for evilSo many pursue evil science for the superficial reasons: power, wealth, and infamy. But while those rewards are ignoble, to be a successful evil scientist, you have to follow your heart and find true heartlessness. Most evil graduate programs are in lonely, isolated places—old castles, uncharted islands, under water. Those near populated areas tend to attract the scorn of the local citizens and the attention of authorities. Even the most evil of graduate students can’t help but feel a little bit alone and alienated. A true passion for evil will carry you through those rough spots until you can turn the tables on those all those bastards who said you were mad.
Rule 2: Select the right evil mentor, project, and laboratory
Finding the right evil mentor can be difficult, as they may be in hiding or incarcerated. Furthermore, nearly all evil scientists are selfish and untrustworthy, which tends to undermine the mentoring process. Ask around to see if the one you wish to work with will foster the positive learning environment you need to promote evil. Talk to henchmen, thugs, security forces, submarine crews, and even former damsels in distress.
The nature of the project is equally important. What is incredibly evil today can be laughably harmless tomorrow. Avoid selecting trendy research areas, such as Martian sciences and journeys to the center of the earth, which can become dated very quickly. Also, consider whether your project will even seem evil. A nude bomb or orgasmatron, while extremely evil to some voter demographics, may actually be embraced by others.
Finally, the laboratory should match your research interests. For instance, those interested in re-animation should look for dust, cobwebs, and Van der Graaf generators. Researchers in evil androids will want laboratories that look futuristic and, if possible, are made of white plastic. And doomsday graduate students will want to work as far away from their geographic subject areas as possible.
Rule 3: Independent, stubborn thinking is the stock trait of a true evil scientist
A scientist who solicits the opinions of others, listens carefully to their suggestions, and acts on the recommendations wouldn’t seem very evil. Always ignore the advice of even your closest comrades, particularly when they offer sound suggestions like killing a nemesis quickly and verifying his or her death.
Rule 4: Balance your evil life
There’s an old saying that an evil scientist who always works is truly mad. Take time away from the lab to balance out your villainy. Hunt humans for sport, open a mink farm, or work with your local city council to bring a Wal-Mart to your town. It’s all about balance.
Rule 5: Think ahead and develop your evil career early
To be an evil scientist, you have to let everyone know, early on, that you are a force to be feared and reviled. Work on your evil laugh, develop presentations that clearly express your deviousness, and demand sums of money that will be both shocking yet not inconceivable. Consider learning the audio-video skills needed to hijack broadcasting equipment to beam your message to every man, woman, and child, or look to outsource this work to a certified evil contractor such as a cable company.
You also need to think about what you plan to do with your evil research, if that field is lucrative, and if your current studies will fulfill those requirements. For instance, a career in Bond Villainy offers unending job possibilities, but also requires a multidisciplinary approach. Don’t wait to develop those skills until after you complete your studies, because by that time you will probably be wanted by the authorities.
Rule 6: Always reevaluate your work for its evilness
This may seem simple, but what is considered evil can change over time. A horrifying Brave New World can become an enticing brave new biotech investment option on the Nasdaq. Make sure what you’re doing inspires horror, not IPOs.
Rule 7: Find flaws in your research before the good guys show up
There is nothing worse than trapping your nemesis, cackling maniacally, and pressing a big red button, only to have nothing happen. Test your evil science constantly. Railroad yards, communes, and office cubicles provide endless sources of human subjects who won’t be missed and will probably go without a fight.
Rule 8: Share your evil genius with the world
No man is an island, and likewise no evil scientist should keep his hellish army of man-beasts on an island. Keeping your evil work to yourself is a crime.
Rule 9: Kill anyone who points out flaws in your research
While Rule 7 shows the importance of finding flaws in your research, it’s important that everyone a) knows that you are in charge and b) knows you are inherently evil. The sooner you demonstrate this, the better. The first time someone corrects or questions your work, it is vital that you kill them immediately in order to promote the productivity and focus of those in your lab.
Rule 10: Demonstrate your readiness for graduation by destroying your mentor with your work
Once all your research is completed, your critics dead, and your subjects killed or hideously mutated, you are ready to graduate. Gather your mentor and anyone else involved with your work and unleash your research on them. If they are also killed or hideously mutated, congratulations, you now have your Ph.D. in evil science!
But remember: be wary of evil doctorate students asking you to mentor them.
Originally published February 14, 2008
Rule 1: Have a passion for evilSo many pursue evil science for the superficial reasons: power, wealth, and infamy. But while those rewards are ignoble, to be a successful evil scientist, you have to follow your heart and find true heartlessness. Most evil graduate programs are in lonely, isolated places—old castles, uncharted islands, under water. Those near populated areas tend to attract the scorn of the local citizens and the attention of authorities. Even the most evil of graduate students can’t help but feel a little bit alone and alienated. A true passion for evil will carry you through those rough spots until you can turn the tables on those all those bastards who said you were mad.
Rule 2: Select the right evil mentor, project, and laboratory
Finding the right evil mentor can be difficult, as they may be in hiding or incarcerated. Furthermore, nearly all evil scientists are selfish and untrustworthy, which tends to undermine the mentoring process. Ask around to see if the one you wish to work with will foster the positive learning environment you need to promote evil. Talk to henchmen, thugs, security forces, submarine crews, and even former damsels in distress.
The nature of the project is equally important. What is incredibly evil today can be laughably harmless tomorrow. Avoid selecting trendy research areas, such as Martian sciences and journeys to the center of the earth, which can become dated very quickly. Also, consider whether your project will even seem evil. A nude bomb or orgasmatron, while extremely evil to some voter demographics, may actually be embraced by others.
Finally, the laboratory should match your research interests. For instance, those interested in re-animation should look for dust, cobwebs, and Van der Graaf generators. Researchers in evil androids will want laboratories that look futuristic and, if possible, are made of white plastic. And doomsday graduate students will want to work as far away from their geographic subject areas as possible.
Rule 3: Independent, stubborn thinking is the stock trait of a true evil scientist
A scientist who solicits the opinions of others, listens carefully to their suggestions, and acts on the recommendations wouldn’t seem very evil. Always ignore the advice of even your closest comrades, particularly when they offer sound suggestions like killing a nemesis quickly and verifying his or her death.
Rule 4: Balance your evil life
There’s an old saying that an evil scientist who always works is truly mad. Take time away from the lab to balance out your villainy. Hunt humans for sport, open a mink farm, or work with your local city council to bring a Wal-Mart to your town. It’s all about balance.
Rule 5: Think ahead and develop your evil career early
To be an evil scientist, you have to let everyone know, early on, that you are a force to be feared and reviled. Work on your evil laugh, develop presentations that clearly express your deviousness, and demand sums of money that will be both shocking yet not inconceivable. Consider learning the audio-video skills needed to hijack broadcasting equipment to beam your message to every man, woman, and child, or look to outsource this work to a certified evil contractor such as a cable company.
You also need to think about what you plan to do with your evil research, if that field is lucrative, and if your current studies will fulfill those requirements. For instance, a career in Bond Villainy offers unending job possibilities, but also requires a multidisciplinary approach. Don’t wait to develop those skills until after you complete your studies, because by that time you will probably be wanted by the authorities.
Rule 6: Always reevaluate your work for its evilness
This may seem simple, but what is considered evil can change over time. A horrifying Brave New World can become an enticing brave new biotech investment option on the Nasdaq. Make sure what you’re doing inspires horror, not IPOs.
Rule 7: Find flaws in your research before the good guys show up
There is nothing worse than trapping your nemesis, cackling maniacally, and pressing a big red button, only to have nothing happen. Test your evil science constantly. Railroad yards, communes, and office cubicles provide endless sources of human subjects who won’t be missed and will probably go without a fight.
Rule 8: Share your evil genius with the world
No man is an island, and likewise no evil scientist should keep his hellish army of man-beasts on an island. Keeping your evil work to yourself is a crime.
Rule 9: Kill anyone who points out flaws in your research
While Rule 7 shows the importance of finding flaws in your research, it’s important that everyone a) knows that you are in charge and b) knows you are inherently evil. The sooner you demonstrate this, the better. The first time someone corrects or questions your work, it is vital that you kill them immediately in order to promote the productivity and focus of those in your lab.
Rule 10: Demonstrate your readiness for graduation by destroying your mentor with your work
Once all your research is completed, your critics dead, and your subjects killed or hideously mutated, you are ready to graduate. Gather your mentor and anyone else involved with your work and unleash your research on them. If they are also killed or hideously mutated, congratulations, you now have your Ph.D. in evil science!
But remember: be wary of evil doctorate students asking you to mentor them.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Not to be a total bummer on a Friday...
but this is one hell of a video, and a hauntingly beautiful song.
Sadly, no time for 10 more songs, just too damn busy, although that is not necessarily a sad situation. Have a good weekend.
Sadly, no time for 10 more songs, just too damn busy, although that is not necessarily a sad situation. Have a good weekend.
Friday, March 01, 2013
Friday Random 11
It’s one more random than 10!
1) “These Are the Fables,” The New Pornographers. I made up a story for Libby at bedtime the other night. I don’t usually do that, sticking instead with reading books to her. But she said she wanted to hear a story about me as a little boy, only she wanted it to be about me fighting a dragon (for real, not with my mind and a 20-sided die). So I created a story where my siblings and I had to slay a dragon who was raiding our village (total Dragonslayer cribbing), helped along by a wizard named Gandalf who gave us some magic weapons. It’s amazing how creative you can be when you have free reign to plagiarize.
2) “Sunny,” Morrissey. I wonder if he sounds sad when he orders carry out (er, take away). Does he say stuff like, Oh, how long for a pizza pie, one that reminds me of your eyes, if they were made of, pepperooooooni.
3) “Unglued,” Stone Temple Pilots. Most annoying junkie in rock history? Seriously, Jimi Hendrix dies after three solo albums, but Scott Weiland has survived long enough to get kicked out of Stone Temple Pilots twice? That just isn’t fair.
4) “Kiss Off,” Violent Femmes. I am no comedy wallflower, as you all are well aware. However, I damn near dropped my phone when I saw the infamous Onion Oscar tweet. However, the worst part to me was the endless MANSPLAINING that it was a joke and not directed at Quvenzhané Wallis, as if The Onion is some kind of Iranian nuclear schematic that’s difficult to understand instead of one of the lower hanging fruits on the comedy tree. They also tried to act like intent is all that matters in comedy, which I guess means white people can call black people the n-word as long as they don’t mean it. Imagine sitting at a dinner table with your father and, after your mother left the room, you said, “Boy, mom’s really a cunt, isn’t she?” Granted, this may elicit the occasional grunt of alcoholic agreement, especially if your last name is Lockhorn. In most cases, though, I doubt the intent would convince your father not to punch you and/or write you out of the will. Just remember: if you’re unsure whether you should call a nine-year-old girl a cunt to get a laugh, you’re much better off checking the “No” box.
5) “Oliver James,” Fleet Foxes. If I was named Oliver James, I would have this played at my funeral. But I’m not, so I’m going to go with my second choice.
6) “Cath…,” Death Cab for Cutie. This song always reminds me of a young woman getting hit on by an much older (and creepier) man, and in the wake of the Oscars, that can’t help but remind me a little of Jennifer Lawrence meeting Jack Nicholson. I also had my own old man moment (non-creepy), where I found myself thinking that Jennifer Lawrence is adorable, the way you would talk about a puppy or the grandchild you secretly favor over the other also-rans. Not Jennifer Lawrence is hot or even the gentlemanly Jennifer Lawrence is rather attractive. I am happy I had the adorable thought, because I am old enough to be her father if I a) had made some different life choices and b) were fertile. At the same time, it was like having a platonic hug with mortality that I was too old to have anything remotely resembling a dirty thought about her.
7) “Love My Way,” The Psychedelic Furs. This is a much more age-appropriate love.
8) “Red Barchetta,” Rush. I will spare the usually orgasmic prose about THE GREATEST BAND IN THIS OR ANY UNIVERSE and instead mention something silly that made me feel kind of awesome. I was at wholesale retailer that rhymes with LostMoe with my daughter. They had an 80-inch television on display, which elicited a sound of awe from my little girl that filled me with electronic pride. There was a salesmen who happened to be African American standing by the display. He wore a shirt from a company that rhymes with Erect TV. He asked me who my cable provider was, and when I responded that I was a happy customer of his employer, he smiled, said, “right on,” and offered me an unsolicited fist bump. As someone who is whiter than Wonder Bread, this filled me with a delightful mix of hipness and racial harmony. I felt like the two of us could have come up with a plan for ending racism by the end of the next minority-free episode of Girls. It is a testament to how uncool I feel most of the time that I had this reaction.
9) “Part IV (The Index Fossil,” Bad Religion. Dedicated to the #1 BR fan, fish.
10) “Milkman,” EMA. One of those albums that is really, really good, but such a downer that I almost never play it.
11) “What the Water Gave Me,” Florence + the Machine. In addition to my daughter appreciating epically sized televisions, she has started to really get into music and have opinions on music—especially her preference for “girl singers.” If she knows the song, she sings along, or at least mumbles in tune until the chorus shows up. She really likes anything by Florence, so whenever this pops up, I have Libby + the Machine joining in. I’ll take that, even if she will never, ever sing “Tom Sawyer.”
Have a good weekend!
1) “These Are the Fables,” The New Pornographers. I made up a story for Libby at bedtime the other night. I don’t usually do that, sticking instead with reading books to her. But she said she wanted to hear a story about me as a little boy, only she wanted it to be about me fighting a dragon (for real, not with my mind and a 20-sided die). So I created a story where my siblings and I had to slay a dragon who was raiding our village (total Dragonslayer cribbing), helped along by a wizard named Gandalf who gave us some magic weapons. It’s amazing how creative you can be when you have free reign to plagiarize.
2) “Sunny,” Morrissey. I wonder if he sounds sad when he orders carry out (er, take away). Does he say stuff like, Oh, how long for a pizza pie, one that reminds me of your eyes, if they were made of, pepperooooooni.
3) “Unglued,” Stone Temple Pilots. Most annoying junkie in rock history? Seriously, Jimi Hendrix dies after three solo albums, but Scott Weiland has survived long enough to get kicked out of Stone Temple Pilots twice? That just isn’t fair.
4) “Kiss Off,” Violent Femmes. I am no comedy wallflower, as you all are well aware. However, I damn near dropped my phone when I saw the infamous Onion Oscar tweet. However, the worst part to me was the endless MANSPLAINING that it was a joke and not directed at Quvenzhané Wallis, as if The Onion is some kind of Iranian nuclear schematic that’s difficult to understand instead of one of the lower hanging fruits on the comedy tree. They also tried to act like intent is all that matters in comedy, which I guess means white people can call black people the n-word as long as they don’t mean it. Imagine sitting at a dinner table with your father and, after your mother left the room, you said, “Boy, mom’s really a cunt, isn’t she?” Granted, this may elicit the occasional grunt of alcoholic agreement, especially if your last name is Lockhorn. In most cases, though, I doubt the intent would convince your father not to punch you and/or write you out of the will. Just remember: if you’re unsure whether you should call a nine-year-old girl a cunt to get a laugh, you’re much better off checking the “No” box.
5) “Oliver James,” Fleet Foxes. If I was named Oliver James, I would have this played at my funeral. But I’m not, so I’m going to go with my second choice.
6) “Cath…,” Death Cab for Cutie. This song always reminds me of a young woman getting hit on by an much older (and creepier) man, and in the wake of the Oscars, that can’t help but remind me a little of Jennifer Lawrence meeting Jack Nicholson. I also had my own old man moment (non-creepy), where I found myself thinking that Jennifer Lawrence is adorable, the way you would talk about a puppy or the grandchild you secretly favor over the other also-rans. Not Jennifer Lawrence is hot or even the gentlemanly Jennifer Lawrence is rather attractive. I am happy I had the adorable thought, because I am old enough to be her father if I a) had made some different life choices and b) were fertile. At the same time, it was like having a platonic hug with mortality that I was too old to have anything remotely resembling a dirty thought about her.
7) “Love My Way,” The Psychedelic Furs. This is a much more age-appropriate love.
8) “Red Barchetta,” Rush. I will spare the usually orgasmic prose about THE GREATEST BAND IN THIS OR ANY UNIVERSE and instead mention something silly that made me feel kind of awesome. I was at wholesale retailer that rhymes with LostMoe with my daughter. They had an 80-inch television on display, which elicited a sound of awe from my little girl that filled me with electronic pride. There was a salesmen who happened to be African American standing by the display. He wore a shirt from a company that rhymes with Erect TV. He asked me who my cable provider was, and when I responded that I was a happy customer of his employer, he smiled, said, “right on,” and offered me an unsolicited fist bump. As someone who is whiter than Wonder Bread, this filled me with a delightful mix of hipness and racial harmony. I felt like the two of us could have come up with a plan for ending racism by the end of the next minority-free episode of Girls. It is a testament to how uncool I feel most of the time that I had this reaction.
9) “Part IV (The Index Fossil,” Bad Religion. Dedicated to the #1 BR fan, fish.
10) “Milkman,” EMA. One of those albums that is really, really good, but such a downer that I almost never play it.
11) “What the Water Gave Me,” Florence + the Machine. In addition to my daughter appreciating epically sized televisions, she has started to really get into music and have opinions on music—especially her preference for “girl singers.” If she knows the song, she sings along, or at least mumbles in tune until the chorus shows up. She really likes anything by Florence, so whenever this pops up, I have Libby + the Machine joining in. I’ll take that, even if she will never, ever sing “Tom Sawyer.”
Have a good weekend!
Friday, February 22, 2013
Friday Random 1+1
A little busy today, so I will leave you with some old Police:
and some new Ex-Cops:
Have a good weekend!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Top Ten Tuesdays: What awards are we up for?
Special Extended Walkoff Music Edition!
15) Best Supporting Role in a Threesome
14) Angriest Bird
13) Most Likely to Have a Drunk and Bitter Existence After Ruling Senior Year
12) Best Bullet Point Narration in a Live Presentation or Webcast
11) The High Times Hashiest Tag Award
10) Best Brofist
9) The First Annual Christopher Dorner Award for Most Misguided Attempt to Make a Point
8) Best Performance by an Emoticon
7) Most Desperate Attempt to Use Baby Pictures to Get Facebook Likes
15) Best Supporting Role in a Threesome
14) Angriest Bird
13) Most Likely to Have a Drunk and Bitter Existence After Ruling Senior Year
12) Best Bullet Point Narration in a Live Presentation or Webcast
11) The High Times Hashiest Tag Award
10) Best Brofist
9) The First Annual Christopher Dorner Award for Most Misguided Attempt to Make a Point
8) Best Performance by an Emoticon
7) Most Desperate Attempt to Use Baby Pictures to Get Facebook Likes
6) Least Convincing Thanking of God in an Acceptance Speech
5) Best Use of Bestiality to Boost Brand Awareness
4) Least Racist YouTube Comment
3) Best Netflix Queue
2) Most Valuable Player Hater
1) Best Awards Categories
5) Best Use of Bestiality to Boost Brand Awareness
4) Least Racist YouTube Comment
3) Best Netflix Queue
2) Most Valuable Player Hater
1) Best Awards Categories
Friday, February 15, 2013
Friday Random 11
It’s one more random than 10!
OMG, WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!
OMG, WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!
Sorry, that was what ran through my head when I saw the footage of the meteor that hit Russia. I think comets have been called the Finger of God, but this fucking thing looked like the middle finger of Cthulu. I half expected to see giant walkers emerging and incinerating everyone in sight save for Tom Cruise (thanks for adding insult to injury, assholes).
However, because this happened in Russia, a place with #realproblems rather than #whitepeopleproblems, the populace seemed to react much more calmly than we would have. The first video Gawker posted showed a guy driving along when the sky EXPLODES, and he’s all meeti ori bork bork! or whatever he was saying in his Ruskie Fuskie language. Maybe that’s one of the side effects of having your cranial fluid be 97% Stoli. Or maybe, being Russian, he’s not going to get terribly agitated unless he sees a column of advancing Panzers, agricultural collectivization, or an unattended pallet of blue jeans. Because if this happened in, say, Los Angeles, I’m pretty sure the LAPD would have immediately started shooting minorities on the off chance they had become irradiated space zombies.
1) “Backwater,” Meat Puppets. God apparently hates Siberia almost as much as dinosaurs and uppity archangels who think they know everything. I’m surprised Republicans didn’t issue a press release declaring this a divine endorsement of America.
2) “The Long and Winding Road,” The Beatles. My least favorite Beatles song of the “good” Beatles songs. I feel like this should play at the end of a Bond movie where he drops flowers on the graves of his nemesis Dr. I.M. DeBagge and the sultry femme fatale Gina Spott at the end of Silent But Deadly, before turning and walking away with the bikini-clad German double-agent Uma Schtupewe to cash in the chips he won playing baccarat by the pool.
3) “Metropolis,” The Church. The best one-liner I saw regarding the Pope stepping down was a caption that read, “Pulls out early, like a good Catholic.” Seriously, how sad was it to be funny before the Internet. Imagine at the beginning of the Depression, you take a picture of the president and put the caption, “Nothing sucks like a Hoover,” and all you could do was share it with the other hobos in the boxcar. Sad. Also, you wouldn't be able to find the hard-to-find MTV Unplugged version of this song within two clicks of your fingers.
4) “Starrider,” Foreigner. You know you’re in for a big fat bag of musical suck within three notes. It gets even worse when the goddammed harpsichord emerges out of nowhere like a flare up of classical herpes. There would be less progressive cheese if you made figurines of every single member of Yes out of blocks of Velveta.
5) “Foreplay/Long Time,” Boston. The space intro perfectly conveys the cosmic splendor that is Sib Hashian’s hair, before Tom Scholz’s mullet warps in from the nexus of all party and serious business and sets his guitar phasers to “facemelt.”
6) “Acrobat,” U2. Libby is taking gymnastics, and God help her, she’s already taller than Mary Lou Reton. We just had to retire her size six clothes because she’s too tall for them, and she won’t turn five until June. The good news is that she’s also taking tae kwan do, and she’s got reach on the other kids in her class. When she sweeps a leg, it’s going to stay swept.
However, because this happened in Russia, a place with #realproblems rather than #whitepeopleproblems, the populace seemed to react much more calmly than we would have. The first video Gawker posted showed a guy driving along when the sky EXPLODES, and he’s all meeti ori bork bork! or whatever he was saying in his Ruskie Fuskie language. Maybe that’s one of the side effects of having your cranial fluid be 97% Stoli. Or maybe, being Russian, he’s not going to get terribly agitated unless he sees a column of advancing Panzers, agricultural collectivization, or an unattended pallet of blue jeans. Because if this happened in, say, Los Angeles, I’m pretty sure the LAPD would have immediately started shooting minorities on the off chance they had become irradiated space zombies.
1) “Backwater,” Meat Puppets. God apparently hates Siberia almost as much as dinosaurs and uppity archangels who think they know everything. I’m surprised Republicans didn’t issue a press release declaring this a divine endorsement of America.
2) “The Long and Winding Road,” The Beatles. My least favorite Beatles song of the “good” Beatles songs. I feel like this should play at the end of a Bond movie where he drops flowers on the graves of his nemesis Dr. I.M. DeBagge and the sultry femme fatale Gina Spott at the end of Silent But Deadly, before turning and walking away with the bikini-clad German double-agent Uma Schtupewe to cash in the chips he won playing baccarat by the pool.
3) “Metropolis,” The Church. The best one-liner I saw regarding the Pope stepping down was a caption that read, “Pulls out early, like a good Catholic.” Seriously, how sad was it to be funny before the Internet. Imagine at the beginning of the Depression, you take a picture of the president and put the caption, “Nothing sucks like a Hoover,” and all you could do was share it with the other hobos in the boxcar. Sad. Also, you wouldn't be able to find the hard-to-find MTV Unplugged version of this song within two clicks of your fingers.
4) “Starrider,” Foreigner. You know you’re in for a big fat bag of musical suck within three notes. It gets even worse when the goddammed harpsichord emerges out of nowhere like a flare up of classical herpes. There would be less progressive cheese if you made figurines of every single member of Yes out of blocks of Velveta.
5) “Foreplay/Long Time,” Boston. The space intro perfectly conveys the cosmic splendor that is Sib Hashian’s hair, before Tom Scholz’s mullet warps in from the nexus of all party and serious business and sets his guitar phasers to “facemelt.”
6) “Acrobat,” U2. Libby is taking gymnastics, and God help her, she’s already taller than Mary Lou Reton. We just had to retire her size six clothes because she’s too tall for them, and she won’t turn five until June. The good news is that she’s also taking tae kwan do, and she’s got reach on the other kids in her class. When she sweeps a leg, it’s going to stay swept.
7) “The Sound of Settling,” Death Cab for Cutie. Now that we are squarely in the era of divorce in our lives, any marriage dissolution among friends and acquaintances tends to trigger a discussion of how much it would suck if we found ourselves “back out there.” We would be especially screwed because we got married around the age of 12 (approximately), so neither of us has any clue what you do on a grown-up date. I could probably handle dinner okay, assuming my date likes dick jokes (I’d pre-screen on OK Cupid), but then I’d be like “So, how does a movie and some under-the-bra action sound? Wait, where are you going? Does this mean I can eat your dessert?” A house cat parachuting into the African savanna would have a better chance of survival than I would.
8) “Out of the Silent Planet,” King’s X. I want to get out the part about King's X being a seriously underrated band with a special shout out for finding a perfect guitar sound between clean and crunchy, and take a moment to express a real white people problem: iTunes 11 is awful. This is a dumb thing to rant about, but given that I work at home and I have music on probably 75% of the time I’m working, I use iTunes all the time. One thing I always loved while doing the Random 11 was setting iTunes to cover view, because the album covers would flip like you were looking at a real album collection instead of collection of JPEGs in varying degrees of pixilation. Yes, I am easily amused. Well, not only did that go away, but my library doesn’t even follow the shuffle now, only the tiny little status bar shows what’s being played. Maybe there’s a way to change it, but the M.C. Escher-designed menus all lead to a button that says "Suck it" in an admittedly glamorous sans serif font. Even the side scrolling bar doesn’t show up when you open iTunes, you have to minimize it, then maximize it, something that confused me for hours until I used the Internet to find the solution. (Disclaimer: I’m Polish and will swear my undying fealty if you can change a lightbulb.) Then I get mad at myself for getting mad over such stupid stuff when there are real problems like DEADLY METEORITES HEADING RIGHT TOWARD US, but then I see ABBA being displayed when Warren Zevon is playing and the cycle of rage begins anew. I will not last long when civilization collapses.
9) “A Legal Matter,” The Who. The amount of casual chauvinism in some of the music I like is disconcerting. I mean, if I’m queuing up some Winger, I know that the chorus I’m singing is at least one year removed from legally acceptable if still morally questionable attitudes toward women. You know what to expect from a guy named Kip. But then I’ll hear something like this from a paragon of rock godliness, a jaunty FU to an ex-wife and it’s little jarring. It was worse the other day when I heard Rod Stewart’s “Stay With Me,” which features an irresistible bit of dirty guitar boogie coupled with lyrics about him using an unattractive woman for sex due to a lack of any other serviceable option. So I guess the question is, as long as I know better, it’s still okay for me to sing, right? What if I do the dishes without being prompted?
10) “309,” Russian Circles. Ha, have to hand it to iTunes, it has a great sense of humor. Another thing about the meteor crash: could you imagine the conspiracy theories in this country if it happened here? It would be an alien vessel, a fallen angel, a test of a new UN Gay Ray that turns everyone homosexual so that humans die out and the trees win, God’s rebuttal to the State of the Union, a new marketing campaign to drum up purchases at Sunglasses Hut…anything but a meteor. And if we had advance notice, how many Americans would be on their lawns shooting at it? Because the only thing that can stop bad gravity with a giant space rock is a good guy with a gun.
11) “Wild Horses,” The Sundays. TLB made her famous “horse show” cookies, which are like chocolate chip cookies mixed with orgasm. They are huge and probably have enough calories per cookie to induce a heart attack if saw that number. She made some for her class and left “a few” for us. “A few” in the house with the man who is home all day and has no visible coworkers to shoulder some of the cookie consumption or at least threaten to brand him with a scarlet C on his chest if he was found in the supply room covered in cookie crumbs and shame. I ate four yesterday, and that was with me exercising John The Baptist levels of dietary restraint. We could just bake a batch for the CIA to use during interrogations and we would know every Al Qaeda plan by the second bite.
Have a great weekend!
8) “Out of the Silent Planet,” King’s X. I want to get out the part about King's X being a seriously underrated band with a special shout out for finding a perfect guitar sound between clean and crunchy, and take a moment to express a real white people problem: iTunes 11 is awful. This is a dumb thing to rant about, but given that I work at home and I have music on probably 75% of the time I’m working, I use iTunes all the time. One thing I always loved while doing the Random 11 was setting iTunes to cover view, because the album covers would flip like you were looking at a real album collection instead of collection of JPEGs in varying degrees of pixilation. Yes, I am easily amused. Well, not only did that go away, but my library doesn’t even follow the shuffle now, only the tiny little status bar shows what’s being played. Maybe there’s a way to change it, but the M.C. Escher-designed menus all lead to a button that says "Suck it" in an admittedly glamorous sans serif font. Even the side scrolling bar doesn’t show up when you open iTunes, you have to minimize it, then maximize it, something that confused me for hours until I used the Internet to find the solution. (Disclaimer: I’m Polish and will swear my undying fealty if you can change a lightbulb.) Then I get mad at myself for getting mad over such stupid stuff when there are real problems like DEADLY METEORITES HEADING RIGHT TOWARD US, but then I see ABBA being displayed when Warren Zevon is playing and the cycle of rage begins anew. I will not last long when civilization collapses.
9) “A Legal Matter,” The Who. The amount of casual chauvinism in some of the music I like is disconcerting. I mean, if I’m queuing up some Winger, I know that the chorus I’m singing is at least one year removed from legally acceptable if still morally questionable attitudes toward women. You know what to expect from a guy named Kip. But then I’ll hear something like this from a paragon of rock godliness, a jaunty FU to an ex-wife and it’s little jarring. It was worse the other day when I heard Rod Stewart’s “Stay With Me,” which features an irresistible bit of dirty guitar boogie coupled with lyrics about him using an unattractive woman for sex due to a lack of any other serviceable option. So I guess the question is, as long as I know better, it’s still okay for me to sing, right? What if I do the dishes without being prompted?
10) “309,” Russian Circles. Ha, have to hand it to iTunes, it has a great sense of humor. Another thing about the meteor crash: could you imagine the conspiracy theories in this country if it happened here? It would be an alien vessel, a fallen angel, a test of a new UN Gay Ray that turns everyone homosexual so that humans die out and the trees win, God’s rebuttal to the State of the Union, a new marketing campaign to drum up purchases at Sunglasses Hut…anything but a meteor. And if we had advance notice, how many Americans would be on their lawns shooting at it? Because the only thing that can stop bad gravity with a giant space rock is a good guy with a gun.
11) “Wild Horses,” The Sundays. TLB made her famous “horse show” cookies, which are like chocolate chip cookies mixed with orgasm. They are huge and probably have enough calories per cookie to induce a heart attack if saw that number. She made some for her class and left “a few” for us. “A few” in the house with the man who is home all day and has no visible coworkers to shoulder some of the cookie consumption or at least threaten to brand him with a scarlet C on his chest if he was found in the supply room covered in cookie crumbs and shame. I ate four yesterday, and that was with me exercising John The Baptist levels of dietary restraint. We could just bake a batch for the CIA to use during interrogations and we would know every Al Qaeda plan by the second bite.
Have a great weekend!
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