December 2009
85 posts
Review of "Up In the Air" →
Beware: the above link contains spoilers.
Also from Leitch, a great review of a movie I thoroughly enjoyed. I haven’t reconciled how I can agree with Leitch’s harsh criticisms, but also admire the movie and be interested in seeing it again soon.
I came across this review before I’d been to the theatre, and was two paragraphs in before I realized it had spoilers. In my opinion,...
“What bothers me the most here is the revisionism that seems ascendant in a lot...”
– Great response to the assertion that McGwire doesn’t belong in the hall because “all he did was was hit home runs”.
People that argue that steroids ruined our ability to compare baseball stats across generations are ignoring two truths:
Because of racism, night games,...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-12-27) →
Miles Davis (43)
Avril Lavigne (27)
J-Kwon (27)
Barenaked Ladies (22)
The Gourds (20)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
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Cream-less carbonara recipe →
My friend asked for this recipe, and it reminded me that I documented it pretty well 3 years ago on my old blog.
I owe Spaly for teaching me this one.
If you need to throw together a quick, hot meal over the holidays, you could do a lot worse.
The ingredients (pasta, eggs, lean bacon & cheese) sound unhealthy, but count the calories and you’ll be surprised.
“While we once judged handwriting as religiously tinted, now secular, we...”
– Lengthy article on the history and shifting importance of handwriting.
When I applied to Brown, they required a handwritten essay. Even though mine was only a page long, I remember spending half an afternoon writing and re-writing it, for fear that my chicken scratch would be a reason to deny me...
Expletive Mimicry →
I’m a big fan of harmless alternatives to common profanity, but I can’t forgive the omission from this list of “micky ficky”.
WatchDecided not to work on this morning’s shuttle commute (I’ve been doing either SQL training or stats review most mornings). I just goofed around in the College Humor archives instead. Came across this classic from a few months ago. When you think it’s over, there’s a little bit left.
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My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-12-20) →
Vince Guaraldi Trio (56)
Jay-Z (22)
Lou Rawls (10)
Adam Carolla (9)
Louis Armstrong & The Commanders (8)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
“Two approximate calculations give the number of atoms in the observable universe...”
– I asked a computer science buddy in college how artificial intelligence works in chess. I wondered if it was possible to account for every possible combination on the board.
He replied that the number of possible arrangements of pieces was bigger than the number of atoms in the observable...
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“Your Jersey Shore nickname is: The Hands Team”
– I finally checked out this victimless train-wreck last night. The buzz around the show’s breakaway star, The Situation, is warranted.
In his honor, I tried out the Jersey Shore Nickname Generator. I’m happy with the results. For those who don’t get the football reference,...
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“You kind of get into a mode of being aggressive, but probably passive-aggressive...”
– The newest Red Sox outfielder, Mike Cameron, on how much he’ll run this year.
Hard to picture “passive-aggressive” base running, but I imagine it involves repeatedly stealing 2nd despite a clear sign from the manager not to do so, then coming back to the dugout and excusing your...
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“Even though this is the 23rd time I’ve won Podcast of the Year, it never...”
– This was Adam Carolla’s response to winning the Best of 2009 from iTunes.
That’s classic Carolla. He’s doing some really cool stuff in that medium, too. Folks interested in the future of entertainment should read about his plans to build a podcast network.
So far, he’s...
Watchjohn:
david-noel:
Stephen Colbert pulling a Jay-Z on Alicia Keys.
So fucking good, watch this. Kicks in at 1.45.
Hah - Colbert at his best. ”Lived up by the Guggenheim until I got some kiddies”.
Fantastic, especially Colbert’s shenanigans after he finished his verse. 10x funnier, too, because Alicia Keys nailed her part.
My buddy Ben, a writer in LA, pointed out, and it’s so...
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My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-12-13) →
Frank Sinatra (29)
Lou Rawls (17)
Adam Carolla (13)
Jim Jones (7)
Brenda Lee (7)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
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Refresh your ☃ music, via my iTunes playlist →
[Link opens iTunes]
Folks have asked me for a consolidated list of the songs on my playlist of songs to spice up the holidays.
Here’s 30 of my top 36 recommendations. For some reason, 5 of them are unable to show up on this list, even though they’re available in iTunes. They’re all from The O.C. Merry Chrismukkah mix (opens iTunes), which is a lot better than it sounds. 1...
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