Too Cute

This almost makes the hipster knitting trend not annoying: Dawn of the Knitted Dead!

Defending My Integrity

Apparently there is now some tv commercial out there that has a guy in
a dumpster being swept away by a trash truck. WTF? I would just like to
state for the record that I get no tv reception so had not seen nor
heard of this commercial until two friends told me about it, I had the idea first!

More Adventures With Customer Service Emailbots

My cell phone does not work in my new apartment. It works outside on the street, but not in the building. I have been going outside whenever I need to make a call, though lately I don’t even do that often because it’s too cold plus it’s just annoying to have to get up and go outside and hold conversations standing on the street. So I miss a lot of calls. I contacted T-Mobile to see what can be done about this, as I’d rather not pay the $200 fee to cancel and switch plans, and this is their brilliant email response:

“You may find that signal strength is better when you move closer to a large window in the apartment.”

Thanks, not only did I never think of that on my own, but I sure won’t mind standing up with my head pressed to my window every time I want to have a conversation. This is a great solution, I can see why you would think I would be satisfied with this.

IM Smileys May Lower IQ

A quote from Serpico, after using his first smiley in his first-ever IM conversation:

“I feel like I’m getting dumber.”

My Industrious Day

Today I cleaned and spit-shined my whole apartment, sliced up dozens of cardboard boxes into manageable pieces for the recyclers to pick up tomorrow,

ran some errands, organized my CDs, and made three homemade meals:

Why all this industriousness, you ask? Because I have a bunch of work due tomorrow, of course. Procrastination always gets my house in order.

Dumpster Movie: Exegesis

Here’s one man’s take on my dumpster movie:

I thought the man in the dumpster represented the soul, sunning itself in divine light and finding beauty even in the most unlikely of places, a dumpster, and the man showed the limitations of his judgements to not respond to this, and he let his soul connection be lost as he let the dumptruck take away his opportunity for enlightenment. Clearly a mystical movie, I see Jim Carrey in the feature film version.

and another:

I thought he represented the masses in their confinement of ruling class ideology (the dumpster) and Sean, the meta representation of said class. Clearly represented in his privileged gaze- outside and ABOVE the aforementioned ideology, the man looks on with detached, even bored apathy, as the masses are swept away in a sea of garbage. Clearly this is a film about the media.

Attack of the Block Shapes

I seem to be suffering a bout of monomania in my apartment decorating.
First, my floor:

then, my new carpet:

and my bathroom rug:

and my sheets:

Cuddle Party Made of Cupcakes!

Patton Oswalt describes his new puppy:

“he’s
a walking cuddle party made of cupcakes with happy frosting on it and
also angels singing and he’s a widdle pootie dootie wiggle-worm…”

Chomsky Rocked the House

He’s not what I would call a charismatic speaker, but he did leave me wanting to overthrow the government.

Is Netflix Worth It?

This is cool: Netflix History Analyzer. Paste in your rental history (which Netflix will email to you if you request it) and the program will tell you in detail if you’re losing or saving money. For me:

“Your average price per rental was approximately $1.73 each. You’ve saved approximately $747.26 over your membership lifetime or $28.74 per month.”

Of course, this assumes that I would still be renting as many movies if I didn’t have Netflix. And I probably wouldn’t. Still, it’s neat to know.

Stig of the Dump

Seasull takes out my trash. A slideshow.

Craigslist Redecorating

I went to Salem and picked up a new cheap chair. Looky it’s so purty:

I had never been to Salem. It’s a cute town. And there were witches
everywhere. No joke–they were having some kind of festival. So on my
first visit to Salem I was surrounded by witches.

Making Movies Is The Most Fun

Stay tuned for clips, stills, and more…

Murakami @ MIT

Did anyone actually get in to the Murakami talk at MIT last night? Everyone I’m talking to had the same experience as we did–they showed up very early to get seats and it was already packed full, one person said they were kicked out because people without seats were booted, no standing room/sitting on stairs allowed. Who are all these people who showed up hours early for this thing? Some busload of Murakami fans from another dimension?

Here’s some photos of the crowd, before the police showed up to kick out everyone without a seat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shaxxon/50240922/in/photostream/ I actually see someone I know in that photo, the fucker.

And an account of the talk here: http://umkumar.blogspot.com/2005/10/haruki-murakama-reads-at-mit.html

UPDATE: An inside source tells me the police turned away 1300 people. The room held a bit over 500.

Those Crazy Brits

The White Hen in Porter Square has a strangely large selection of British chocolates and biscuits.

WTF?

Since I am a badass I bought it anyway. I hope I don’t grow testicles. I must say it is crappy chocolate, like a waxy easter bunny. But perhaps I just lack the chromosome to appreciate it.

Move Over, The Office

New favorite British comedy: Little Britain.

Thanks to seasull for tipping me off. I’ve been going around talking to myself in a British accent the past few days thanks to this show.