i realized while watching that incredible GOP debate that i have been completely ignoring the iran deal.

the best way to learn is to just watch a short youtube, i think.

happy beginning of summer!

bless his heart.

thx hb!!

radiolab : american football

this ep is fascinating.

RUMP DAY (sans rump)

there's sixteen more where that came from (here)

the more you know

too cute!

thx jenny!

if you don't know that this week is dumpling week...

...on NPR, now you know.

a documentary about queso dip

thx ktv!

terry gross tuesdays

you might remember about two weeks ago, the people of mississippi voted on the issue of defining "personhood", which was totes stupid and thank g-d the new law, which would ban almost all forms of birth control, did not pass.

did you ever wonder about the history of the birth control / conception debate? i know i hadn't! until now. terry interviews historian and new yorker contributor, jill lepore, who outlines the history of the planned parenthood movement, started by margaret sanger in the early 1900's. they cover fascinating topics like nineteenth-century contraception, tenement life, adultery, eugenics, black panthers, and more!

spoiler alert: the phrase "feeble-minded" definitely DOES enter the picture. enjoy!

zomg jellyfish!

AWEsome article in the times about jellyfish. did you know that jellyfish aren't so dumb after all? did you know they decide which way to swim? did you know some jellyfish can live in freshwater? did you know jellyfish talk to each other with their skin? did you know they have four different kinds of eyes? did you know one kind of eye has a crystal in it? (spoiler alert, retroactive)

Writing earlier this year in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, Dr. Albert summarized his behavioral observations under the title “What’s on the Mind of a Jellyfish?” to which he answered, “a lot.” Brains and beauty, and campiness, too. Among the jellyfish on display in Baltimore were ones that looked like beating hearts, others like spotted toadstools, still others like parasols with a few too many ruffled streamers, and this one over here would make a swell hat for a royal wedding.

“They’re living lava lamps,” said Jack Cover, general curator of the aquarium. And they’re so mesmerizing to visitors that, Mr. Allen said, “the jellies are right up there in popularity next to the dolphins.” Which is a good thing, considering that the infrastructure needed to keep the tender-fleshed sylphs hale and whole can cost millions. “Keeping jellyfish is a fine art,” said Vicky Poole, the exhibit manager. “It’s a little like maintaining phlegm.” (via)

does anyone want to go to baltimore?

why don't you try learning something for once?

have you been following the DISUNION blerg like i told you to? i didn't think so. well, you may have noticed in our sidebar ------------------> that today's entry focuses on tennessee's secession (we were the last one, that counts for something right?) check this shit out:

Still, Tennessee remained divided throughout the war. About a quarter of all the men who went off to fight did so for the North. Unionism remained especially strong in the mountains, but also in pockets throughout the state. Bedford County, south of Nashville in Middle Tennessee, supplied an equal number of troops to the North and the South. Its county seat, Shelbyville, became such a pro-Northern hotbed that it became known as “Little Boston.” One of the ironies of the war was that Nathan Bedford Forrest, the much revered Confederate general, took his middle name from his Unionist birthplace. More significantly, following Tennessee’s departure from the Union, Andrew Johnson retained his seat in the United States Senate, becoming the only representative from a seceded state to remain in Congress.

Ironies in Tennessee continued. Because it was largely occupied by Union troops in early 1863, it was unaffected by the Emancipation Proclamation. As the war was drawing to a close, Tennessee voters approved a constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the state, and in 1866, with Andrew Johnson then occupying the White House, the state approved the 14th Amendment over Johnson’s objections. With ratification a congressional requirement, Tennessee thus became the first former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union.

as bun-bun was quick to point out, the entry also (falsely) portrays east tennesseans as level-headed, just, and humane in their unwillingness to secede over the right to slave-ownin', but we all know they were just jellybeanz that their dumb mountains prevented them from having lush plantations like the other, fairer regions of the state.

Actual responses to my exam questions

Short answer (2 paragraphs)

In your opinion, between Christo and Rembrandt, whose artwork has more value? What factors do you consider in making your judgment?

"Rembrandt, Cause his artwork is in art shows and art places and stuff like that."

Christo and Jean-Claude are said to have spent 20 Million dollars on The Gates. If you had $20,000,000, what would you spend your money on? Please create an itemized list. For example: House in Malibu: $2.5 million, 1997 Lamborghini Diablo $140,000 Please account for as many dollars as you can, using the other side of this sheet.

"I would buy my mom a house and let her say from ground up. A lambo. A farrari. Especially a buggatti because there was only 200 made in axsitants. A basketball court in the house I would live in."

what did you learn today?

i learned that all the streets that cross manhattan avenue in greenpoint (my new home) have alphabetical names (up to O). look!

from north to south tip2tip :
ash street - box street - clay street - dupont street - eagle street - freeman street - green street - huron street - india street - java street - kent street - greenpoint ave (used to be lincoln street) - milton street - noble street - oak street

how fun!

jay-z wednesday!

from vol 2...hard knock life (1998)
jay-z (feat. jaz) - nigga what, nigga who (originator 99)

ctm.

i just got a text from emilube, who's heading into her first review of architecture school at colurmbia, and i asked her if she was ready, and she said:

"not really. i don't like what i did and i didn't even have time to finish really."

and i said "WELCOME TO ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL, BEYAYUTCH!"

regine.

joel asked if we have to learn all the arcade fires' names. well, no. but you DO have to admit that regine is pretty cool. she wrote and sings the best song (well...) on the new album. and she wrote and sings my favorite arcade fire song of all time, haiti. and did you know, she's fucking from there!?




well, she is. so. just admit it.

panama canal expansion

this story is pretty interesting. if you like learning about boats and waterways and stuff. like me.

bonus links:
popular mechanics article
panama canal expansion project wikipedia

oh, you know what?

... 23 days!!!

there is no way i can come close to the glory of last year's countdown, so this year i'll take a different approach.

now, i been hearing lots of bad news about the vols off the field, but it just occurred to me that i don't know a lick about who will be running through that T on september 4th. get ready to learn a thing or two.

allow me to introduce our 2 QB candidates:

matt simms
all you need to know about him is that he is from franklin lakes, smell jersey! you know, home of the housewives. he played for louisville in 2008, but clearly realized his mistake (being in kentucky), and has come to see if he can fill the shoes of the great johnathan crompton! oh, and get this: his brother is a tennessee titan!

tyler bray
swwoooooooonnn!! tyler's a freshmen all the way from california. here's all you need to know: lane kiffin recruited him, and tyler's entire family moved to knoxville to support him. a few days later, lane kiffin up and left. tyler decided to honor his commitment and stay with the vols. god bless him.

right now, matt simms is currently the front-runner to win the starting position. and that's ok, i suppose. tyler's time will come. i'm just glad they're both here, and can't wait to see them play!

another informative article

who is brian eno?

i told you all that i was going to go to a cd store and buy congratulations, the new mgmt album. well i did. (11 bicuits by the way) i went to grimeys. the next day i learned grimey's was voted as the 8th best indie record store in the nation (one of 2 from TN in the top 15). coincidence, maybe.

well, on the album, and on snl, there is a song called "Brian Eno."

this is what andrew vanwyngarden had to say about the track:
“It’s kind of a vampire-punk-rock song about finding Brian Eno in like a cathedral in Transylvania. He’s like a dark wizard. We originally asked him to produce the track, but he hadn’t heard of us.”
i can freely admit that while the name rang familiar, i had no idea who brian eno is. for some reason, in my head the picture associated with the name is james iha's face.

so brian eno, (nee Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno) is an english musician and composer who basically pioneered ambient music and has produced or collaborated on some of the best music of the past couple decades. also, if you had windows 95, he is responsible for the start up sound that you probably have nightmares about when your computer crashes. from what i can tell, this musical theorist and installation artist is basically a genius, so thanks mgmt for helping me figure it out.

your daily boat

i work right next to some very busy shipping lanes, and every day on my way i see a new crazy ass boat outside. i like to make a mental note of their names, and then google them when i get in, to learn a little bit about life, you know?

so i'm going to start sharing them with you.

today's boat: the tuchkov bridge!

will you get a load of how big she is?!?!

how OLD is she? 6 bears old
how BIG is she? 27,775 tons!
what does she have in her tummy? crude oil (i have a feeling they'll all be carrying that, but we'll find out together, ok?)
forever home: liberia

fun facts:
she seems to be named after a real-life bridge in st. petersburg, russia.
she got stuck on her way to baltimore a couple years ago.
you can track her location on the internet, though it's a bit delayed.