firehose

I could stare at vintage wallpaper patterns for hours.  Go to Hannah’s site for more, these are some screenshots of the type of thing she posts. 

Remember when you were little, and maybe you would puzzle over the repeating shapes in wallpaper?  Imagining all kinds of things.  It’s its own world.  Not that some of it couldn’t creep you out Yellow-Wallpaper style, but mostly, it’s great.

Starting a new game in Skyrim goodbye world

As of today, the Winter Olympics have come to a close. But in case the nuances of the curling finals still escape you, the Swedish Chef is here to provide his expertise. His country did take home silver, after all. Clearly, we are in the presence of an expert.

lymantriidae:

lymantriidae:

[ Captain’s Log Supplemental: could really go for a chicken sandwich and coffee. ]

[ Captain’s Log Supplemental: 3 issues later. Still waiting on my chicken sandwich and coffee. ]

(chuckle) Not sure he ever did get them…  :)

So this is what it feels like when bears cry.

The 2014 Winter Olympics are over and we're all crying a little inside. One bear is taking it a little harder than most and was standing in the middle of the stadium to show it.

Awwwww! We'll miss you too Sochi. From your swelling vistas to double toilets, your roaming dogs and soaring athletic competition. There's a little Sochi in all of us now and we have you to thank, Winter Olympics.

Heartwarming or totally creepy? We're going with the latter. Coincidentally this is the EXACT same thing that happens when you put Ten by Pearl Jam in a Teddy Ruxpin, except the fluid is clear, smells like industrial lubricant and accompanied by a vague scent of an impending electrical fire .

Don't ask us how we know that.

Head to this page (https://www.thiefmodcompetition.com/) to get a coupon which will knock the price down to free when you purchase Thief from Amazon.

	firehose shared this story from SBNation.com - All Posts:
	makes sense "6-year deal for naming rights"

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Duck Dynasty continues to take over.

Those Duck Dynasty folks are unstoppable. They've now got their own bowl game. The Tim Fletcher Show first reported that the Robertson family's company would get naming rights to the Shreveport, La. Independence Bowl, and ESPN's Brett McMurphy confirms:

Duck Commander Independence Bowl new name for Shreveport, La., bowl, sources told @ESPN

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) February 23, 2014

Duck Commander Independence Bowl signs 6-year deal for naming rights to the bowl game source told @ESPN

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) February 23, 2014

Recall that Phil Robertson once played quarterback at nearby Louisiana Tech (Terry Bradshaw was HIS back-up for a little while), so this makes some sense. Still, damn.

	firehose shared this story from Apparently Fish Need Bicycles.:
	gpoy/ifapom

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sodomymcscurvylegs:

	firehose shared this story from Apparently Fish Need Bicycles.:
	dunnnn, dun dun dunnnnnn, dun dun dunnnnnnn da da dunnnnn, da da dunnnn, da da dunnnnn dummm dunnn da dummmm

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buildingbagend:

*Misty Mountains theme plays dramatically in the distance*

firehose shared this story from Scenes from The Wire.

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firehose shared this story from Scenes from The Wire.

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firehose shared this story from Scenes from The Wire.

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Americans get riled up about creationists and climate change deniers, but lap up the quasi-religious snake oil at Whole Foods. It’s all pseudoscience — so why are some kinds of pseudoscience more equal than others?

“LOOK AT THE DOG”

- me every time there is a dog regardless of the situation  (via anaddict-withapen)

geeksofdoom:

lincolnphile:

r5-d4:

The Measure of a Man

One of the most important speeches in the history of Star Trek. How does this not have more notes?

As I declared just the other day this is my absolute favorite Star Trek episode. At what point does sentience begins? Who is to be the judge of what defines life? Picard delivers one of his best speeches ever. So. So. Good. 

Will never not reblog.

	firehose shared this story :
	oh, now it gets press

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A university student beauty queen was mourned Friday in the provincial Venezuelan city where she was slain this week during a political protest, a victim of what government opponents say is indiscriminate violence used by President Nicolas Maduro and his supporters to stifle dissent across the country.

	Courtney shared this story from The Bold Italic - San Francisco:
	Oh my fucking god "reverse discrimination" ...I second Ryan, cry me a river.

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Sail away, sail away, sail away, sang Oakland queer party Ships In The Night to all the white queers and straight allies. Really. They told us to scram.

Insert needle (and jaw) drop here.

In anticipation of last weekend’s Ships In The Night, a monthly at The New Parish, organizers of the event posted a Facebook update blatantly discouraging cis straight folks (heterosexual people whose gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth) from attending the party.

Ships backed up their request with some snarky hashtags, including #realtalk and #takingupspace.

More jaw dropping. Maybe tears. WTF?

Thinking about me and my friends who have attended or regularly attend Ships, I was sad to that half of us would no longer be welcomed at the event. This blow feels especially shocking in the shelter of the Bay Area’s superior status quo in regards to inclusion and empathy. Having Ships deny us a dance hurts. I know we have our differences, but geeeeez. I thought we could at least twerk in the same room.

The reason behind their requests – although poorly executed and insensitive – can be simplified (perhaps oversimplified) to one free of malice: the organizers are trying to ensure that queer trans people of color (QTPOC) have a comfortable, fun, safe space to hang. Apparently there’s been an influx in drunk, pushy bro attendees and perhaps Ships fears crowned and sashed bachelorette parties will come knocking next. Regardless, Ship’s FB status message won’t be reaching these chumps’ feeds. Instead, it hit queer home.

No one can argue with the desire to increase safety, but is the price we pay division and hostility within our queer community? Wouldn’t a party that prioritizes love, nurturing, and kindness feel more safe and radical than a members-only club built on reverse discrimination?

Since 2006, Ships has called itself a “queer dance party,” which was assumed to mean all-inclusive. Now that the popular bash has outgrown its small venue, dance floor real estate is limited. The quartet of organizers behind Ships blame gentrification for their white-­washed (even though two of them are white themselves) and “upwardly mobile young queer class” crowd and argue that entry isn’t being granted to all the “right” kinds of party people. In other words, too many whites allies and their cis straight friends, and not enough QTPOC to feel legit. The organizers explain on their blog, “we have recently started to – and will continue to – ask for queer brown folks to take up space in the front... and for white queers to take a step back during our performances” to “better reflect who we are prioritizing.” And they are “asking cis straight people to consider stepping back and not attending this party."

The Ships’ bouncer won’t be looking for official queer IDs or panty peeking, but it’s obvious that my name will not be on any guest list: I’m a cis white queer femme with a cis white straight boyfriend. Basically I’m on the shit list.

Even if I did show face at the door, knowing that everyone was judging the crowd would make me incredibly self-conscious. How do I prove worthy? Am I gay enough? Do my QTPOC friends have to vouch for me and my boyfriend? These questions are fucked. I face enough criticism for being a queer woman who inherently passes as a straight lady. My sleeves don’t adorn pink triangles but that doesn’t mean I’m ashamed or closeted. Being in my relationship automatically makes me appear to have chosen a side, but really, I just chose a human.

I could also just not go. I could take the advice that some friends have offered in the wake of the notice: let Ships sail. A good ally knows when to step aside and if this is how this community wants and needs support, why should anyone fuss? Fine, I don’t want to take up space where I’m unwanted, but I still can’t deny the bruise I feel from rejection.

The craziest part of all this: we’re talking about a public dance party. Is this a private club? Is this middle school? Did everyone forget how to play nice and trot around and shake their bums? Dance parties are for celebrating and queer events like this one are supposed to be about embracing one another – as cool, fucking humans – and the commonalities we share.

I’m not ignorant to the fact that a person of color, a trans person, or a trans woman of color has a different queer experience than myself – I just don’t think we should deny that some of our experiences are similar. I don’t only want to hang with cis white bi girls –diversity enriches all of our lives, especially when we can bond over a common thread or a Major Lazer track. And placing the blame on “undesirable” guests isn’t fair – it’s regressive.

I hope that Ships organizers will take a minute to reconsider and ponder ways the party can remain inclusive while still valuable to those who benefit most. I offer no direct advice, as to not be misconstrued as just another white cis chick trying to run the show. 

However, I do think that everyone who attends a queer event, or any intrinsically cultural event for that matter, should be taking a moment to consider why they wish to attend and how their presence will affect the event as a whole. Are you looking for a new lover? You dig the DJ? Or are you here for that fuzzy community vibe you get from a crowd of smiling, sweaty babes who blur gender lines, debunk social norms, and redefine the ideals of beauty? Oh yeah, that’s the part I like, too. I knew we agreed on something.

Homepage image by pmuilu via Thinkstock

After New York City-based writer Jessica Gross took the first "test-run" residency, traveling from NYC to Chicago and back, Amtrak confirmed that it is indeed planning to turn the writers' residencies into an established, long-term program, sending writers on trains throughout its network of routes.

Ukraine protesters take Kiev; president says coup Houston Chronicle KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Protesters took control of Ukraine's capital Saturday, seizing the president's office as parliament voted to remove him and hold new elections. President Viktor Yanukovych described the events as a coup and insisted he would not step ... and more »

theodp writes "If you don't have kids of school age, you may not be aware that Data Walls — typically a low-tech "dashboard" of color-coded sticky notes on a wall bearing the names of pupils to highlight their achievement level, absences, or discipline problems — are apparently quite the rage. This is much to the chagrin of some teachers, including Peter A. Greene, who rails against the walls-of-shame in Up Against the Data Wall. Why stop there, Greene asks, tongue-in-cheek. Why not have data-driven dress codes? Data-driven recess? Pooh-poohing concerns of teachers who think Data Walls are mean but feel pressure to create them, the Supt. of Holyoke Public Schools said, "It's not a mandate whatsoever." Still, he went on to add, "I would say 99 percent of teachers see the benefit of it," which some might take as an implicit mandate. In other student privacy news, New York's Supreme Court has ruled that parental permission is not required to disclose student data to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded inBloom, perhaps paving the way for the Great Data Wall of the U.S."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

c. 1960s Business travelers walking through the main lobby of Moisant International Airport | New Orleans, Louisiana - Via

In my opinion, one of the best things humanity has captured on video. Done in 1979 by Voyager 1 as it approached Jupiter. 

MULTIPASS.

tastefullyoffensive:

Pun Dog #3 (previously) [x]

shawskankredemption:

Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor at The Entertainment Weekly’s Must List Cocktail Party at The Windsor Arms Hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival, September 7th, 2013. 

Idris Elba should be the male lead in every film franchise.

When Idris is busy, call Chiwetel.

haterfreewednesdays:

Hey I wanted you guys to know that every comic and game store I have been to so far in Seattle has been very welcoming and has female staff as well as LGBTQ and so on. Here’s the list of their names:

Card Kingdom/Mox Cafe (They are one in the same)

Dreaming Comics and Games

Gamma Ray Games/Ray Gun Lounge

Phoenix Comics and Games

gradientlair:

christel-thoughts:

swankshaman:

9 Black butch lesbians share their stories in The Butch Mystique (2003)

The last one!!

yeah, she hit the nail on the head.

Must watch.