Shared posts

29 Nov 06:27

Photo



24 Nov 05:27

In Brief: Stanley Kubrick's Boxes

by Norman Chan

I'm in a bit of a Kubrick kick lately. After visiting the Kubrick touring exhibit last year, I picked up several books related to the show--the companion book from the original Berlin exhibition, a book about artist Ken Adams' set designs for Kubrick's films, and most recently, Taschen publishing's massive tome celebrating and studying Kubrick's films. (So bummed I missed out on Taschen's $1,000 2001: A Space Odyssey book). A friend referred me to this 2004 article published in the Guardian about Kubrick's legendary personal archive of research and reference material stored in his Childwick estate, offering just a glimpse into the director's organizational obsessions. The story is republished at Cinephilia & Beyond, a website that I can't believe I've only heard about recently--you could spend hours here poring over essays about all aspects of filmmaking. Also embedded below is a 45 minute short documentary on Kubrick's archives.

Bonus: this supercut of Kubrick's use of the color red in film:

18 Nov 05:09

Properly Sourced

Tertiarymatt

Everyone is made of meats.

sleep is dumb

Cats, amirite??

17 Nov 08:08

Not Sorry

by Ian

Not Sorry

16 Nov 00:10

2014 Ornament: Four Calling Birds

by ateliersisk
Tertiarymatt

You should enter.

2014 Ornament Giveaway

Winner will be drawn on Twelfth Night (January 6th)

We’ve reached the fourth year of the Twelve Days of Christmas bas-relief ornament series. It couldn’t have been done without the support of many, especially with this year’s material learning curve for the Four Calling Birds and increased sales. To celebrate our growth and your support, this year’s giveaway prize is a set of any four (4) ornaments in the series. Thank you for a wonderful 2014!

14 Nov 08:45

Photo





14 Nov 06:53

Meta-Analysis

Tertiarymatt

I haven't been feeling xkcd for a while, but this one is pretty damn good.

Life goal #29 is to get enough of them rejected that I can publish a comparative analysis of the rejection letters.
13 Nov 20:07

Photo

Tertiarymatt

Via Rosalind.

I love this forever.



12 Nov 20:42

Landing

Tertiarymatt

If I could write javascript, I'd know what was going on.

[LIVE]
12 Nov 10:07

Watch the ESA's Rosetta Probe Land on a Comet

by Will Smith
Tertiarymatt

Includes link to livestream from the control room.

12 Nov 09:16

Bruce Campbell Will Star In Evil Dead Sequel TV Series. Hell. Yes.

Evil Dead is coming back in a big, big way, people. Original creators Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert are joining forces to bring the gruesome horror franchise to Starz. And yes, this does mean that Bruce Campbell will return as the one and only Ash Williams.

Variety is reporting that the Evil Dead series is a go at Starz. The official name of the 10-episode series is Ash Vs. Evil Dead.

So where will we find Ash? Turns out he's "the stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead." But there's no rest for the Deadites. A new undead evil is about to be unleashed, and Ash has to get his crap together to fight eit.

In an interview, the original film's director Raimi hinted at both the return of the chainsaw arm and the "boomstick." Good. No doubt this being on Starz, there will be plenty of pausing for undead sex. There was undead sex in the previous franchise, but thanks to Starz's lax TV guidelines and hungry-for-flesh audience, we suspect there will be a whole lot nudity and bright red blood for horror fans. Please just be good.

12 Nov 06:31

Mommmmm

Tertiarymatt

oh yea that feel gotta tell me mom some stuff oh boy

11 Nov 20:50

Fenrir the Wolfdragon

by Erika Moen
Tertiarymatt

Weird Dildos. Do I really need to say "NSFW"?

So yeah, the type of silicone density and size of the Fenrir model I tried out weren’t quite right for me, but I do think this is still a well-made and attractive dildo. I’m totes up for trying out some different models till I find the dragon dick of my dreams!

If the Fenrir sounds interesting to you check it out here, bonus points if you read the silly mini story they add to their toy listings:

Whether you should buy in or not is up to you, but we whole heartily recommend trying a few of Bad Dragons toys, at the very least, just to say you have.


AND! I’m super delighted to announce that the Oh Joy Sex Toy BOOK RELEASE PARTY is happening December 7th from 7-9pm at the brand new She Bop located at 3213 SE Divsion, Portland. They’ll be selling my favorite toys for 10% off that night AND I’ll be giving away an exclusive print to anyone who buys anything in their store.


bookrelease

10 Nov 15:03

Einstürzende Neubauten / Der Beginn des Weltkrieges 1914 (unter Zuhilfenahme eines Tierstimmenimitators)

Tertiarymatt

Blixa is really weird, and a total goof.

Einstürzende Neubauten / Der Beginn des Weltkrieges 1914 (unter Zuhilfenahme eines Tierstimmenimitator) From the CD "Lament"
08 Nov 02:48

Einstürzende Neubauten / Hymnen

Tertiarymatt

Deeply cutting.

Einstürzende Neubauten / Hymnen From the CD "Lament"
07 Nov 20:09

Patreon: Because November Isn't Busy Enough

by Christopher Wright
Tertiarymatt

The goals that he produced are so, so great.

Things I did yesterday:

Why would I even think of doing this in November, you ask? Because when I make poor decisions, I make them enthusiastically.

07 Nov 06:15

I’m already wearing my winter nose.



I’m already wearing my winter nose.

07 Nov 05:52

A Retired Navy Officer’s Message to Liberals on the Eve of the GOP’s Big Mid-Term Win

Tertiarymatt

Why Tuesday was shitty, but may not matter so much in the long run.

Republicans are poised to take the Senate tomorrow, and Democrats are terrified.

I’ve got hundreds of messages here, “Woe woe woe, what are we gonna do, Jim? It’s the end of the world!”

Folks, first of all, nothing’s won until the votes are counted.

And second, political polls don’t measure reality. That’s not their purpose. Polls, especially the ones pushed relentlessly by agenda driven organizations aren’t designed to reflect reality, instead they exist to shape reality by doing exactly what they are doing – i.e., creating a self-fulfilling prophecy through manipulation of your perception.

The bottom line here is this: if you think you’re defeated, if those polls make you think you’re defeated, you are.

If those polls and your sense of defeat coupled to voter intimidation and deliberate attempts at disenfranchisement keep you home tomorrow, then they’ve done exactly what they were designed to do, hand the Senate to Republicans.

gop

If you already think you’re defeated, you are. Republicans will certainly hold the House tomorrow and they very well may take the Senate. That’s how it works. You win some. You lose some.

America lurches back and forth, left and right and left and right again, like a drunk staggering into the future. Sometimes your party and your ideology is going to win, sometimes it isn’t.  And it for damned sure won’t if you don’t get out there and vote for it.

But you know what’s going to happen if Republicans do take the Senate tomorrow?

Do you know what’s going to happen if Conservatives control both houses of Congress?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Literally nothing.  

That’s what will happen.

For the next two years.

Nothing.

work

So, if you think about it, in most regards, down here on the street, it’ll look pretty much the same as the last two years where Congress has accomplished … nothing. Oh, sure, the very first thing Republicans will do is attempt to repeal Obamacare. They have no choice. They’ll have to – they’ve painted themselves into a corner on it.

And so, the first order of business, right after they all make a big showing of swearing in their new majority by reciting the Constitution, will be a rushed bill through both chambers to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act.  It’s already written.

Republicans will pass a repeal in the House. They might even pass a repeal in the Senate by a simple majority vote, especially if Democrats continue to cravenly run away from the ACA instead of standing their ground and fighting. Instead of reminding Americans why we needed it in the first place and why the majority of Americans, including one hell of a lot of Republicans, benefit from the ACA every day – which is what Democrats should have been doing during their campaigns instead of pissing their pants.

Democrats should have stood with their president when it mattered, but of course they didn’t, they’re never any good in the clutch.

read

However, while getting a repeal through the House is likely a sure thing, getting it through the Senate isn’t.  Turnabout is fair play, right? Especially in Congress and Democrats can place secret holds and engage in filibusters same as Republicans. So getting that repeal through the Senate isn’t a certainty. But if the Democrats continue to crap out and Republicans do get their bill through, they won’t have anywhere near enough of a majority to override a presidential veto.

That’s right, veto.

See, the balance of power? Those constitutional checks and balances Republicans lately like to go on and on about? Well those cut both ways.

In order to get the president to sign a repeal, Republicans would have to actually put forth a serviceable replacement — Republicans would actually have come up with something that does what the ACA does, only better.

Republicans would actually have to create an act that provides access to affordable healthcare for millions of Americans, one that fixes the problems with Medicare and keeps it solvent, one that keeps all the many, many provisions of the ACA that Americans like and have gotten used over the last two years, and one that fixes all the myriad problems of the ACA.  Of course, they could have done that already. Conservatives could have participated in the process right from the start. Congress could have fixed the law, improved it, made it work better. But they didn’t. And they won’t now.

Republicans don’t care about healthcare, one way or the other. This isn’t about healthcare, affordable or otherwise. This is about beating Obama.

This is about putting the black man in the White House in his place once and for all.

So flush with victory, they’ll send a repeal to the president.

And he’ll veto it.

And why wouldn’t he?

No, really why wouldn’t he? He’s got nothing whatsoever to lose.

It’s not like Republicans would be offering to meet him halfway.

It’s not like spineless Democrats can’t abandon him any more than they already have.

It’s not like he’s running for reelection.

So, why would Barack Obama sign a repeal of his signature accomplishment?  UnlessRepublicans offered to replace it with something that’s actually better?

And really, the ACA sucks, so if Republicans came up with something better, well, shit, folks, how’s that bad for us?

But they won’t. Republicans can’t come up with anything better. They are pathologically, ideologically incapable of it. It’s just not in their nature. So they most certainly won’t.

And the president will veto their repeal.

And conservatives might hold both houses, but they won’t hold enough of a majority to override a veto. Not even close.

And there things will stop.

And nothing will happen.

So, naturally, the second thing the new Republican majority will do is attempt to impeach the president.

First they’ll threaten Obama with it, better bow down, admit defeat, boy, or else we’ll do it. We will. We mean it.

Forgetting, of course, that if the last five years have proven anything it’s that Obama isn’t much intimidated by conservative threats.

But Republicans, drunk with their new found power and utterly oblivious to the lessons of history will bluster and beat their fleshy chests and threaten impeachment based solely on the idea that being black and liberal in the White House constitutes “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Saner heads among them will caution that they don’t have a case, Constitution-wise, and perhaps sanity will even prevail. Perhaps.  But more likely, when the Republican congress figures out that they actually can’t push Obama around, that those checks and balances go both ways, well, then likely they’ll work themselves up into a suicidal frenzy of blood-maddened rage, and maybe, just maybe, they even go through with it.

They can certainly get the Articles of Impeachment through the House. They could do that right now. All it takes is a simple majority vote.

But the Senate? The Senate would actually have to try the president. Publicly.

The House can act like a lynch mob, sure. But the Senate? The Senate would have to present proof. Legal proof, the kind that stands up in court. They’d have to present facts, actual facts, not made up bullshit from Fox News and conspiracy theorists. They would have to provide actual evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors. Republicans have tried this before. This time? This time they don’t even have a blowjob to hang their case on.

So what it comes down to is this: No matter what, to remove Obama from office, Republicans would have to make their case and  get two thirds of the Senate to agree. On record. In front of the nation.

And that’s just not going to happen.

So they’ll do nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Because that’s their whole agenda. Repeal the ACA. Impeach Obama. And if that fails, as it inevitably must, then allow nothing to happen. That’s it. That’s all they’ve got. If you want to see what a Republican led majority looks like, look to the House. They can’t even agree on the stuff they agree on.

obamacare

It’s not Democrats who keep throwing a monkey wrench into John Boehner’s machine, it’s Republicans.

And so what if they take the Senate?

Fix the debt? They won’t do that.

Balanced budget? They won’t do that. In fact, if history is any guide you’ll be lucky to see an unbalanced budget. More likely they’ll just shut the government down again, blame Obama, and go home.

Jobs bill? They won’t do that either. Minimum wage? Forget about it.

Immigration reform? Nope, they sure won’t do that. They won’t even “secure the border,” because that will cost hundreds of billions and require huge amounts of assets, organization, oversight, and a bigger government.  And they’ll need the cooperation of the president they just tried to impeach.

limbo

Energy policy? They won’t do that. Fixing America’s aging infrastructure? I wouldn’t hold your breath. Banking reform? Middle East policy? Action on climate change? Education? Gun violence? Tax reform? Trade?

Instead we’ll hear endless, endless debate over gay marriage and Benghazi and government overreach, but in the end they’ll do nothing and count it as a victory.

They’ll do nothing and count it as a victory because stopping Obama is all they care about.

Republicans have no big vision, they don’t even have a small vision.

They have no fresh ideas.

The GOP’s message is one of revenge and sullen resentment and fuck you I got mine and nothing more.

They’re on the wrong side of history and they’re going extinct and they know it and it makes them small and mean.

And the very best they can offer for the next two years is … nothing.

But if you want more than that, more than nothing, then shrug off your defeat and gather up your friends and all the like-minded Americans you can find and get your ass to the polls.

Sure it’s hard.

Sure it’s an uphill battle.

Sure the odds are stacked against you and the game is rigged.

So what?

If your vote didn’t matter, then these rotten sons of bitches wouldn’t be working so damned hard to take it away from you.

07 Nov 05:51

WHY THE MIDTERMS WERE BAD FOR DEMOCRATS BUT ACTUALLY GOOD FOR LIBERALS - Bustle

Tertiarymatt

Click thru for rest

It goes without saying that the midterm elections were, by and large, a catastrophe for Democrats. They not only lost the Senate, which was expected, but they lost it by a much bigger margin than anybody had anticipated, which will make it harder for them to retake it in 2016. Just about every swing state went to the GOP, some by ridiculously huge margins. Barring something extraordinary, Mitch McConnell — who is more responsible than any other individual for the GOP’s obstructionism over the last six years — will now be majority leader of the Senate. And beyond the Senate, the GOP strengthened its hold on the House and won governorships in Florida, Kansas, Maryland, and Maine.

It sure all sounds like terrible news for progressives. But while this was definitely a bad night for the Democratic Party, it wasn’t actually as bad of a night for liberals as it might have seemed. Here’s why.

06 Nov 20:52

Straight lines...

Tertiarymatt

Via A. Kackmar

05 Nov 03:26

Another Odd Couple

Tertiarymatt

But in a really clean way.

04 Nov 10:15

Yaybahar by Görkem Şen

Tertiarymatt

Via Mer on twitter.

04 Nov 09:57

Hidden Job Skills

by Ian
Tertiarymatt

The middle panel is so perfect.

Hidden Job Skills

04 Nov 05:53

iraffiruse: Frozach Submitted

Tertiarymatt

Via Coop.

03 Nov 22:54

New sketch from Wendigo + Upcoming Show November 9th

by Christopher Hastings
Tertiarymatt

D&D life.

Here’s a video I made for my sketch troupe, Wendigo for our October live show. Our next show is this November 9th at the Magnet theater in NYC. You should come see us! Great!

You can also follow Wendigo on Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook to see more sketches in the future, and info on future shows. (In case I forget to mention them here, which I likely will.)

-Christopher

New sketch from Wendigo + Upcoming Show November 9th is a post from: The Adventures of Dr. McNinja

Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad could be here, right now.
02 Nov 00:28

New shirts are now on sale

by Matt
Tertiarymatt

Check it.

New shirts in the store!

We got the philosophical dog!

We got Death!

Death glows in the frickin’ dark!

Metal!

31 Oct 20:34

Issue 18: A Game of Secrets

by Christopher Wright
Tertiarymatt

Only Part One is up so far, but it's nice.

Story: Christopher Wright
Cover: Pascalle Lepas
Logo: Garth Graham

29 Oct 12:59

Soft, distributed review of public spaces: Making Twitter safe

by metasj
Tertiarymatt

via bl00

Successful communities have learned a few things about how to maintain healthy public spaces. We could use a handbook for community designers gathering effective practices. It is a mark of the youth of interpublic spaces that spaces such as Twitter and Instagram [not to mention niche spaces like Wikipedia, and platforms like WordPress] rarely have architects dedicated to designing and refining this aspect of their structure, toolchains, and workflows.

Some say that ‘overly’ public spaces enable widespread abuse and harassment. But the “publicness” of large digital spaces can help make them more welcoming in ways than physical ones – where it is harder to remove graffiti or eggs from homes or buildings – and niche ones – where clique formation and systemic bias can dominate. For instance, here are a few ‘soft’ (reversible, auditable, post-hoc) tools that let a mixed ecosystem review and maintain their own areas in a broad public space:

Allow participants to change the visibility of comments:  Let each control what they see, and promote or flag it for others.

  • Allow blacklists and whitelists, in a way that lets people block out harassers or keywords entirely if they wish. Make it easy to see what has been hidden.
  • Rating (both average and variance) and tags for abuse or controversy can allow for locally flexible display.  Some simple models make this hard to game.
  • Allow things to be incrementally hidden from view.  Group feedback is more useful when the result is a spectrum.

Increase the efficiency ratio of moderation and distribute it: automate review, filter and slow down abuse.

  • Tag contributors by their level of community investment. Many who spam or harass try to cloak in new or fake identities.
  • Maintain automated tools to catch and limit abusive input. There’s a spectrum of response: from letting only the poster and moderators see the input (cocooning), to tagging and not showing by default (thresholding), to simply tagging as suspect (flagging).
  • Make these and other tags available to the community to use in their own preferences and review tools
  • For dedicated abuse: hook into penalties that make it more costly for those committed to spoofing the system.

You can’t make everyone safe all of the time, but can dial down behavior that is socially unwelcome (by any significant subgroup) by a couple of magnitudes.  Of course these ideas are simple and only work so far.  For instance, in a society at civil war, where each half are literally threatened by the sober political and practical discussions of the other half, public speech may simply not be safe.

29 Oct 07:36

The Ghosts of NaNoWriMos Past

by Christopher Wright
Tertiarymatt

I only broke 50,000 words the first time, and didn't actually finish the book. It's about pirates. No, you can't read it.

NaNoWriMo is coming, and once again I am on board. I've been doing it since 2003, and while I was sorely tempted to give it a pass this year (because I have a lot on my plate) I realized, as the time grew nearer, that I just couldn't.

Why couldn't I? Because it's part of my workflow.

November is the month where I try to work through a story to see how it goes. I mean, I don't do this exclusively in November—I write all year round, and sometimes I just start writing something to see what I think of it—but what makes NaNoWriMo useful, for me, is the 30 day, 50K word goal. It forces me to keep working on an idea even after I get tired of it, to see if I can get excited about it again. November is the month when I fall in love with a story, all out of love with the story, fall back in love with the story, and at the end of it all I try to assess our relationship to see if it's worth continuing.

This will be my twelfth year. In the last eleven years I won seven times, but some of my losses were more useful—were, in the end, better relationships—than some of my wins. NaNoWriMo doesn't run on fairy magic—your content doesn't turn into a pumpkin when the clock strikes 12 midnight on November 30. Wins are nice, but stories are better.

With that in mind, let me show you a decade's worth of workflow:

28 Oct 22:54

Rhetorical Consistency

by Christopher Wright
Tertiarymatt

This is on point in multiple layers.