Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Monday, January 6, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
15 Life Lessons from the Godfather
Source
1. Don’t make promises you cannot keep. Your word is the most important thing that you have to offer. Don’t take it lightly. Always deliberate whether you can or cannot fulfil a promise. It’s also okay to say no to a request (unless it’s on your daughter’s wedding day).
2. Don’t involve yourself in other people’s personal lives. Especially, do not involve yourself in the life of a married couple. Gossiping or giving advice on personal matters is and should always remain frowned upon. Someone’s personal life is exactly that – it’s personal and privacy must be respected. When Connie and Carlo have a fight at the dinner table, Sonny tries to intervene only to be hushed by Mrs. Corleone, “Sonny, don’t get involved.” – Carmela Corleone
3. Family is the most important thing in life.
Blood is thicker than water. “A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man” and “the only wealth in this world is children, more than all the money, power on earth.” – Don Vito Corleone
4. Don’t go against your family.
Don’t be like Fredo Corleone. No matter how much you might dislike your family, they’re still your family. Out of respect, do not go against your own blood, unless you’re prepared to suffer the consequences of alienation (or death). “Fredo you’re my older brother, and I love you. But don’t you ever go against the family again. Ever.” – Michael Corleone.
5. Don’t act on emotion.
Act only after you have mulled over all of the possible outcomes that will commence after your action. Think wisely and diplomatically. Emotional outbursts, like those of Santino “Sonny” Corleone, eventually lead to his downfall. Why? Because he became predictable. Don’t ever become predictable. “Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment.” Michael Corleone.
6. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Always keep a watchful eye on your enemies and play life’s “game of chess” with precision, dedication, and tact. Always hold your ground and never burn bridges, no matter how much you might dislike someone. Especially in public. When Michael Corleone was bullied by Senator Pat Geary he simply replied “My offer is this…nothing.” He kept Mr. Geary in his circle, and played his cards right, eventually landing the politician in his pocket.
7. Establish friendships out of respect, business, and trust. Family you cannot chose, but friends you can. Consider the benefits that a certain friendship can bring. Likewise, consider the disadvantages. Weigh the pros and cons and choose carefully. “Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. It is almost the equal of family.” Don Vito Corleone.
8. White-collar criminals are the most powerful criminals. From Wall Street to Bay Street, to international investors and politicians, people in high places of power can create more chaos and impact your family in a much more negative way than your average criminal. Thus, education and working your way up into the upper echelons of society is a life lesson that you must adhere to if you want to become successful and powerful. The average street criminal is not glorified in the grand scheme of things. “The lawyer with the briefcase can steal more money than the man with the gun.” Mario Puzo, The Godfather
Michael: My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.
Kay Adams: Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don’t have men killed.
Michael: Oh. Who’s being naive, Kay?
9. Keep your business private; only discuss it amongst family members. Michael Corleone: “Don’t ask me about my business!” Don’t discuss your personal or family business to strangers. You never know who will use this information in their own favor, for their own personal gains. It’s best you keep business private to outsiders.
10. Violence is the last option. Throughout The Godfather, the theme of diplomacy over violence cannot go undetected. Once a war begins, lives are lost, business slows down or completely halts and it’s financially deflating. “I don’t like violence, Tom. I’m a businessman. Blood is a big expense.” – Solozzo.
11. Don’t sell drugs. There exists a hierarchy of crime, and drugs rank at the top. Selling drugs taints one’s public image. “It’s true I have a lot of friends in politics, but they wouldn’t be so friendly if they knew my business was drugs instead of gambling which they consider a harmless vice. But drugs, that’s a dirty business.” – Don Vito Corleone.
12. Never make a request without offering your respect and friendship in return. Making a formal request to someone be made with respect and your offer of friendship and loyalty. Otherwise, you will be considered weak, unreliable, and untrustworthy. “Now you come to me, and you say: ‘Don Corleone, give me justice.’ But you don’t ask with respect. You don’t offer friendship. You don’t even think to call me Godfather. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you ask me to do murder for money.” Don Vito Corleone.
13. Build a powerful community. By helping others, you will receive help as well. You will also receive respect. Don Vito Corleone built a powerful empire by building a strong community. He helped his local neighbours and friends and established a strong reputation. “Someday, and that day may never come, I’ll call upon you to do a service for me.” – Don Vito Corleone.
14. Be prepared ahead of time. Never make a move or judgement without careful planning ahead of time. Patience is also key. “Hey, listen, I want somebody good – and I mean very good – to plant that gun. I don’t want my brother coming out of that toilet with just his dick in his hands, alright?” – Santino “Sonny” Corleone.
15. Don’t take things too personal. Sometimes, you simply need to remember that, “it’s not personal, it’s business.” – Michael Corleone.
source
1. Don’t make promises you cannot keep. Your word is the most important thing that you have to offer. Don’t take it lightly. Always deliberate whether you can or cannot fulfil a promise. It’s also okay to say no to a request (unless it’s on your daughter’s wedding day).
2. Don’t involve yourself in other people’s personal lives. Especially, do not involve yourself in the life of a married couple. Gossiping or giving advice on personal matters is and should always remain frowned upon. Someone’s personal life is exactly that – it’s personal and privacy must be respected. When Connie and Carlo have a fight at the dinner table, Sonny tries to intervene only to be hushed by Mrs. Corleone, “Sonny, don’t get involved.” – Carmela Corleone
3. Family is the most important thing in life.
Blood is thicker than water. “A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man” and “the only wealth in this world is children, more than all the money, power on earth.” – Don Vito Corleone
4. Don’t go against your family.
Don’t be like Fredo Corleone. No matter how much you might dislike your family, they’re still your family. Out of respect, do not go against your own blood, unless you’re prepared to suffer the consequences of alienation (or death). “Fredo you’re my older brother, and I love you. But don’t you ever go against the family again. Ever.” – Michael Corleone.
5. Don’t act on emotion.
Act only after you have mulled over all of the possible outcomes that will commence after your action. Think wisely and diplomatically. Emotional outbursts, like those of Santino “Sonny” Corleone, eventually lead to his downfall. Why? Because he became predictable. Don’t ever become predictable. “Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment.” Michael Corleone.
6. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Always keep a watchful eye on your enemies and play life’s “game of chess” with precision, dedication, and tact. Always hold your ground and never burn bridges, no matter how much you might dislike someone. Especially in public. When Michael Corleone was bullied by Senator Pat Geary he simply replied “My offer is this…nothing.” He kept Mr. Geary in his circle, and played his cards right, eventually landing the politician in his pocket.
7. Establish friendships out of respect, business, and trust. Family you cannot chose, but friends you can. Consider the benefits that a certain friendship can bring. Likewise, consider the disadvantages. Weigh the pros and cons and choose carefully. “Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. It is almost the equal of family.” Don Vito Corleone.
8. White-collar criminals are the most powerful criminals. From Wall Street to Bay Street, to international investors and politicians, people in high places of power can create more chaos and impact your family in a much more negative way than your average criminal. Thus, education and working your way up into the upper echelons of society is a life lesson that you must adhere to if you want to become successful and powerful. The average street criminal is not glorified in the grand scheme of things. “The lawyer with the briefcase can steal more money than the man with the gun.” Mario Puzo, The Godfather
Michael: My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.
Kay Adams: Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don’t have men killed.
Michael: Oh. Who’s being naive, Kay?
9. Keep your business private; only discuss it amongst family members. Michael Corleone: “Don’t ask me about my business!” Don’t discuss your personal or family business to strangers. You never know who will use this information in their own favor, for their own personal gains. It’s best you keep business private to outsiders.
10. Violence is the last option. Throughout The Godfather, the theme of diplomacy over violence cannot go undetected. Once a war begins, lives are lost, business slows down or completely halts and it’s financially deflating. “I don’t like violence, Tom. I’m a businessman. Blood is a big expense.” – Solozzo.
11. Don’t sell drugs. There exists a hierarchy of crime, and drugs rank at the top. Selling drugs taints one’s public image. “It’s true I have a lot of friends in politics, but they wouldn’t be so friendly if they knew my business was drugs instead of gambling which they consider a harmless vice. But drugs, that’s a dirty business.” – Don Vito Corleone.
12. Never make a request without offering your respect and friendship in return. Making a formal request to someone be made with respect and your offer of friendship and loyalty. Otherwise, you will be considered weak, unreliable, and untrustworthy. “Now you come to me, and you say: ‘Don Corleone, give me justice.’ But you don’t ask with respect. You don’t offer friendship. You don’t even think to call me Godfather. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you ask me to do murder for money.” Don Vito Corleone.
13. Build a powerful community. By helping others, you will receive help as well. You will also receive respect. Don Vito Corleone built a powerful empire by building a strong community. He helped his local neighbours and friends and established a strong reputation. “Someday, and that day may never come, I’ll call upon you to do a service for me.” – Don Vito Corleone.
14. Be prepared ahead of time. Never make a move or judgement without careful planning ahead of time. Patience is also key. “Hey, listen, I want somebody good – and I mean very good – to plant that gun. I don’t want my brother coming out of that toilet with just his dick in his hands, alright?” – Santino “Sonny” Corleone.
15. Don’t take things too personal. Sometimes, you simply need to remember that, “it’s not personal, it’s business.” – Michael Corleone.
source
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Police issues
To "serve and protect"
Cop planting drugs:
Source
Cops don't care if you're innocent:
"Police didn’t want to hear DeAndre Brown’s alibi. They wanted him to confess to a crime instead. Never mind that he had no criminal record. A witness placed the 26-year-old Pittsburgh-area security guard at the scene, and that was good enough to lock him up for a month, despite the existence of a surveillance tape showing him at a training event somewhere else." more here
Cops beat a nurse:
The Nurse(!) is facing felony charges.
Cop runs over girl then kills dad:
Cop kills white 19 year old kid after car chase:
“He took off with my truck. I call the police, and they kill him,” James Comstock told The Des Moines Register on Tuesday. “It was over a damn pack of cigarettes. I wouldn’t buy him none.
source
Cops beat white woman booked for drunk driving:
Cops have man anally probed 8(!!) times after traffic stop:
source
Cop rapes 19 year old:
Cop arrests employee for trespassing (62 times) at the store he works at:
"Earl Sampson has been stopped and questioned by Miami Gardens police 258 times in four years.
He’s been searched more than 100 times. And arrested and jailed 56 times.
Despite his long rap sheet, Sampson, 28, has never been convicted of anything more serious than possession of marijuana.
Miami Gardens police have arrested Sampson 62 times for one offense: trespassing.
Almost every citation was issued at the same place: the 207 Quickstop, a convenience store on 207th Street in Miami Gardens.
But Sampson isn’t loitering. He works as a clerk at the Quickstop."
source
Cops order arrested African Americans to sing or dance:
"Most of the videos are shot from squad cars while at least one black man are told to sing or dance in humiliating ways. One of the subjects is even in the back of police cars." source
And then, to make it even worse:
"Videos and and photos with degrading portrayals of black men were submitted earlier this month to the blog, Motor City Muckraker, purportedly from officers who disseminated them to friends and colleagues in the upper class, majority-white Michigan suburb of Grosse Pointe Park. One video portrayed a voice alleged to be an officer asking black men to do humiliating tasks, including “dance like a chimp.” In another incident, an officer allegedly texted a photo of a black man in the back of his trailer with the text, “Gotta love the coloreds.” The journalist, Steve Neavling, told the Huffington Post that he has more than a dozen videos shot by officers, but has not shared most of them because of their “humiliating nature.” source
Cops stand by, taze, and laugh at a mentally-ill suspect in handcuffs:
source
http://politicalblindspot.com/cop-shoots-kills-college-student-for-speaking-disrespectfully/
And, there are much more cases of crooked cops, cops protecting each other, beating civilians etc. etc.
There are several things one could say about a post like this. Either you agree that there are injustices perpetuated by law enforcement, who are insulated by a group loyalty willing to protect themselves as a unit until the press and the public get hold of the information. At which point, higher authoritative figures descend down from their administrative and governing posts for disciplinary action. And this post will further make the case that the police is not the romantic knight in shining armor and paragon of justice we think them to be.
The second reaction is disagreement. That each of these cases are singular anecdotal pieces of evidence, embellished or twisted by the news and vehicles of media with a particular agenda, that none of us can really know what happened in the background of each of these cases, that we are prone to emotional reactions like the Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin incident, and that the cops involved are simply a "few bad apples" fallen off the wayside. That these cases do not represent all police. And no doubt, we can not and should not judge based on singular cases or buy into mass hysterias that fuel certain kinds of bigotry. This is precisely why racism, stereotypes, and sexism happens. We create impressions based on our experienced encounters, or exposure to media and the cries of those around us, and operate based on those impressions for future encounters.
One could also comment that if you're looking for police induced injustice and police brutality, you're going to find it because that is what you want to believe. And yes, there is a tendency for persons to find consonant information with the beliefs they have in mind. The theory of cognitive dissonance predicts and continues to confirm as much. I myself am no particular exception (My past experiences with police and the law have left me with a very bitter and unpropitious view of the police accompanied by a disdain for notions of "justice" in U.S. courtrooms). Similarly, if you wanted to look for "cops helping people" I'm sure you'll find that as well - my own bias and experiences tell me (while remaining open to correction if there is a significant and overwhelming amount of evidence presented) that white cops tend to help white people or more instances of citizens helping police. I also acknowledge that the internet doesn't capture all things that cops do and that there may be a bias to post negative things about cops. But I think this is justified. Police should never be the perpetrators of violence against the civilians they are employed to protect and serve. Not thugs and gangsters in uniforms representing government. So my question is to what extent do people tolerate the bullshit antics of police?
There comes a point when pieces of anecdotal evidence - which are more concrete now due to video surveillance - are important. I myself am inclined to make a systemic critique about a particular culture of power, in this case a critique of power and authority instilled within police culture and the problematic bias of justice when considering testimony. In the U.S. this is further laced and layered with hostilities and debates surrounding race that goes back a long long time. But to keep it within a contemporary context, at least from the 80s (Rodney King comes to mind),
Dave Chappelle expands in comedic fashion:
Cop planting drugs:
Source
Cops don't care if you're innocent:
"Police didn’t want to hear DeAndre Brown’s alibi. They wanted him to confess to a crime instead. Never mind that he had no criminal record. A witness placed the 26-year-old Pittsburgh-area security guard at the scene, and that was good enough to lock him up for a month, despite the existence of a surveillance tape showing him at a training event somewhere else." more here
Cops beat a nurse:
The Nurse(!) is facing felony charges.
31
Oct, 2011, A nurse in Lawrenceville was tackled, manhandled,
handcuffed, and arrested for calling her supervisor, as she had been
instructed to do, when police demanded entry to the hospital at 2am.
She is facing a felony charge of obstructing a police officer.
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ff_1383622491#DPyKR8AwuFy854rr.99
She is facing a felony charge of obstructing a police officer.
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ff_1383622491#DPyKR8AwuFy854rr.99
31
Oct, 2011, A nurse in Lawrenceville was tackled, manhandled,
handcuffed, and arrested for calling her supervisor, as she had been
instructed to do, when police demanded entry to the hospital at 2am.
She is facing a felony charge of obstructing a police officer.
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ff_1383622491#DPyKR8AwuFy854rr.99
She is facing a felony charge of obstructing a police officer.
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ff_1383622491#DPyKR8AwuFy854rr.99
31
Oct, 2011, A nurse in Lawrenceville was tackled, manhandled,
handcuffed, and arrested for calling her supervisor, as she had been
instructed to do, when police demanded entry to the hospital at 2am.
She is facing a felony charge of obstructing a police officer.
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ff_1383622491#DPyKR8AwuFy854rr.99
She is facing a felony charge of obstructing a police officer.
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ff_1383622491#DPyKR8AwuFy854rr.99
31
Oct, 2011, A nurse in Lawrenceville was tackled, manhandled,
handcuffed, and arrested for calling her supervisor, as she had been
instructed to do, when police demanded entry to the hospital at 2am.
She is facing a felony charge of obstructing a police officer.
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ff_1383622491#DPyKR8AwuFy854rr.99
sourceShe is facing a felony charge of obstructing a police officer.
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ff_1383622491#DPyKR8AwuFy854rr.99
Cop runs over girl then kills dad:
Cop kills white 19 year old kid after car chase:
“He took off with my truck. I call the police, and they kill him,” James Comstock told The Des Moines Register on Tuesday. “It was over a damn pack of cigarettes. I wouldn’t buy him none.
source
Cops beat white woman booked for drunk driving:
Cops have man anally probed 8(!!) times after traffic stop:
source
Cop rapes 19 year old:
"[40-year-old] Jackie Len Neal ... is accused of handcuffing and raping a woman he pulled over while on duty around 2 a.m. Friday. ... Neal allegedly tailed a woman until she pulled over on Betty Street and stepped out of her vehicle. He turned on his overhead lights and requested that she get back inside. The woman complied with the order but left her door open, the report said.
Neal told the woman he was following her because the car she was driving was reported stolen, the woman told police. She showed the officer a sales slip for the recently purchased car. Officers could not confirm whether the vehicle was ever reported stolen.
Neal asked the woman to get out of the vehicle so he could pat her down, according to the affidavit. The woman said she felt uncomfortable and asked that a female officer pat her down, but her request was ignored. During the pat-down, the affidavit said, Neal groped the woman, placed her in handcuffs and moved her to the back of his patrol car. The document said he then raped her and instructed her not to tell anyone."source
Cop arrests employee for trespassing (62 times) at the store he works at:
"Earl Sampson has been stopped and questioned by Miami Gardens police 258 times in four years.
He’s been searched more than 100 times. And arrested and jailed 56 times.
Despite his long rap sheet, Sampson, 28, has never been convicted of anything more serious than possession of marijuana.
Miami Gardens police have arrested Sampson 62 times for one offense: trespassing.
Almost every citation was issued at the same place: the 207 Quickstop, a convenience store on 207th Street in Miami Gardens.
But Sampson isn’t loitering. He works as a clerk at the Quickstop."
source
Cops order arrested African Americans to sing or dance:
"Most of the videos are shot from squad cars while at least one black man are told to sing or dance in humiliating ways. One of the subjects is even in the back of police cars." source
And then, to make it even worse:
"Videos and and photos with degrading portrayals of black men were submitted earlier this month to the blog, Motor City Muckraker, purportedly from officers who disseminated them to friends and colleagues in the upper class, majority-white Michigan suburb of Grosse Pointe Park. One video portrayed a voice alleged to be an officer asking black men to do humiliating tasks, including “dance like a chimp.” In another incident, an officer allegedly texted a photo of a black man in the back of his trailer with the text, “Gotta love the coloreds.” The journalist, Steve Neavling, told the Huffington Post that he has more than a dozen videos shot by officers, but has not shared most of them because of their “humiliating nature.” source
Cops stand by, taze, and laugh at a mentally-ill suspect in handcuffs:
source
http://politicalblindspot.com/cop-shoots-kills-college-student-for-speaking-disrespectfully/
And, there are much more cases of crooked cops, cops protecting each other, beating civilians etc. etc.
There are several things one could say about a post like this. Either you agree that there are injustices perpetuated by law enforcement, who are insulated by a group loyalty willing to protect themselves as a unit until the press and the public get hold of the information. At which point, higher authoritative figures descend down from their administrative and governing posts for disciplinary action. And this post will further make the case that the police is not the romantic knight in shining armor and paragon of justice we think them to be.
The second reaction is disagreement. That each of these cases are singular anecdotal pieces of evidence, embellished or twisted by the news and vehicles of media with a particular agenda, that none of us can really know what happened in the background of each of these cases, that we are prone to emotional reactions like the Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin incident, and that the cops involved are simply a "few bad apples" fallen off the wayside. That these cases do not represent all police. And no doubt, we can not and should not judge based on singular cases or buy into mass hysterias that fuel certain kinds of bigotry. This is precisely why racism, stereotypes, and sexism happens. We create impressions based on our experienced encounters, or exposure to media and the cries of those around us, and operate based on those impressions for future encounters.
One could also comment that if you're looking for police induced injustice and police brutality, you're going to find it because that is what you want to believe. And yes, there is a tendency for persons to find consonant information with the beliefs they have in mind. The theory of cognitive dissonance predicts and continues to confirm as much. I myself am no particular exception (My past experiences with police and the law have left me with a very bitter and unpropitious view of the police accompanied by a disdain for notions of "justice" in U.S. courtrooms). Similarly, if you wanted to look for "cops helping people" I'm sure you'll find that as well - my own bias and experiences tell me (while remaining open to correction if there is a significant and overwhelming amount of evidence presented) that white cops tend to help white people or more instances of citizens helping police. I also acknowledge that the internet doesn't capture all things that cops do and that there may be a bias to post negative things about cops. But I think this is justified. Police should never be the perpetrators of violence against the civilians they are employed to protect and serve. Not thugs and gangsters in uniforms representing government. So my question is to what extent do people tolerate the bullshit antics of police?
There comes a point when pieces of anecdotal evidence - which are more concrete now due to video surveillance - are important. I myself am inclined to make a systemic critique about a particular culture of power, in this case a critique of power and authority instilled within police culture and the problematic bias of justice when considering testimony. In the U.S. this is further laced and layered with hostilities and debates surrounding race that goes back a long long time. But to keep it within a contemporary context, at least from the 80s (Rodney King comes to mind),
Dave Chappelle expands in comedic fashion:
Svetlana from the 'Sopranos'
"That’s the trouble with you Americans. You expect
nothing bad ever to happen. When the rest of the world expect only bad
to happen. And they are not disappointed."
-Svetlana Kirilenko, ”The Sopranos,” Season 4, episode 10: The Strong, Silent Type
-Svetlana Kirilenko, ”The Sopranos,” Season 4, episode 10: The Strong, Silent Type
Friday, January 3, 2014
Miles Davis quotes
"If you hit a wrong note, it's the next note that you play that determines if its's good or bad."
"In improvisation, there are no mistakes."
-Miles Davis
"In improvisation, there are no mistakes."
-Miles Davis
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Monday, December 30, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
"Top Secret" Eggnog
Charles Mingus’ “Top Secret” Eggnog
* Separate one egg for one person. Each person gets an egg.
* Two sugars for each egg, each person.
* One shot of rum, one shot of brandy per person.
* Put all the yolks into one big pan, with some milk.
* That’s where the 151 proof rum goes. Put it in gradually or it’ll burn the eggs,
* OK. The whites are separate and the cream is separate.
* In another pot- depending on how many people- put in one shot of each, rum and brandy. (This is after you whip your whites and your cream.)
* Pour it over the top of the milk and yolks.
* One teaspoon of sugar. Brandy and rum.
* Actually you mix it all together.
* Yes, a lot of nutmeg. Fresh nutmeg. And stir it up.
* You don’t need ice cream unless you’ve got people coming and you need to keep it cold. Vanilla ice cream. You can use eggnog. I use vanilla ice cream.
* Right, taste for flavor. Bourbon? I use Jamaica Rum in there. Jamaican Rums. Or I’ll put rye in it. Scotch. It depends.
See, it depends on how drunk I get while I’m tasting it.
source
* Separate one egg for one person. Each person gets an egg.
* Two sugars for each egg, each person.
* One shot of rum, one shot of brandy per person.
* Put all the yolks into one big pan, with some milk.
* That’s where the 151 proof rum goes. Put it in gradually or it’ll burn the eggs,
* OK. The whites are separate and the cream is separate.
* In another pot- depending on how many people- put in one shot of each, rum and brandy. (This is after you whip your whites and your cream.)
* Pour it over the top of the milk and yolks.
* One teaspoon of sugar. Brandy and rum.
* Actually you mix it all together.
* Yes, a lot of nutmeg. Fresh nutmeg. And stir it up.
* You don’t need ice cream unless you’ve got people coming and you need to keep it cold. Vanilla ice cream. You can use eggnog. I use vanilla ice cream.
* Right, taste for flavor. Bourbon? I use Jamaica Rum in there. Jamaican Rums. Or I’ll put rye in it. Scotch. It depends.
See, it depends on how drunk I get while I’m tasting it.
source
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Friday, December 13, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Violence of Photography
“Needing to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced by photographs is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted.”
"Photographs really are experience captured, and the camera is the ideal arm of consciousness in its acquisitive mood. To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge — and, therefore, like power."
"Images which idealize (like most fashion and animal photography) are no less aggressive than work which makes a virtue of plainness (like class pictures, still lifes of the bleaker sort, and mug shots). There is an aggression implicit in every use of the camera."
"It is mainly a social rite, a defense against anxiety, and a tool of power."
"Like a car, a camera is sold as a predatory weapon — one that’s as automated as possible, ready to spring. Popular taste expects an easy, an invisible technology. Manufacturers reassure their customers that taking pictures demands no skill or expert knowledge, that the machine is all-knowing, and responds to the slightest pressure of the will. It’s as simple as turning the ignition key or pulling the trigger. Like guns and cars, cameras are fantasy-machines whose use is addictive."
"Photographs … help people to take possession of space in which they are insecure. Thus, photography develops in tandem with one of the most characteristic of modern activities: tourism. For the first time in history, large numbers of people regularly travel out of their habitual environments for short periods of time. It seems positively unnatural to travel for pleasure without taking a camera along. Photographs will offer indisputable evidence that the trip was made, that the program was carried out, that fun was had.
[…]
A way of certifying experience, taking photographs is also a way of refusing it — by limiting experience to a search for the photogenic, by converting experience into an image, a souvenir."
"Needing to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced by photographs is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted.
[...]
It would not be wrong to speak of people having a compulsion to photograph: to turn experience itself into a way of seeing. Ultimately, having an experience becomes identical with taking a photograph of it, and participating in a public event comes more and more to be equivalent to looking at it in photographed form. That most logical of nineteenth-century aesthetes, Mallarmé, said that everything in the world exists in order to end in a book. Today everything exists to end in a photograph."
All quotes by Susan Sontag
taken from an article by Brain Pickings
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Uruguay
Pieczenik discusses the background of Jose Mujica, current president of Uruguay, and his past as an oppositional force to a past government and the farce of labelling a group "terrorist" making analogies of how the "founding fathers" of the U.S. were also labeled "terrorists". This was also the case for Koreans fighting for independence from Japanese imperialism/occupation.
*interestingly around the 13:00 mark, he discusses how the marine corp has used anthropologists to better understand local cultures and reduce extremist violence. If true, it is a definite testament to the importance of anthropologists on the global stage.
Read more from the BBC: here
Brand v. Paxman
Source
More here at Dangerous Minds
and his essay: 'We No Longer Have the Luxury of Tradition' @ the New Staesman
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
Jonas Mekas: As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
I have never been able, really, to figure out where my life begins and where it ends. I have never, never been able to figure it all out, what it's all about, what it all means. So when I began now to put all these rolls of film together, to string them together, the first idea was to keep them chronological. But then I gave up and I just began splicing them together by chance the way that I found them on the shelf.
Because I really don't know where any piece of my life really belongs, so let it be. Let it go. Just by pure chance, disorder.
There is some current, some kind of order in it, order of its own, which I do not really understand same as I never understood life around me.
The real life, as they say. Or the real people. I never understood them. I still do not understand them. And I do not really want to understand them.Source
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
The Count of Monte Cristo
After watching this again (for the first time in a long time), I remembered why I don't like it. Read the book. They changed too much in this movie.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Ask yourself
ask yourself what makes you come alive
and then go do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive"
-Howard Thurman
source
Monday, December 2, 2013
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