action potential

aim high at drake

whitney — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:48:42 +0000

the overachievers at drake university have redesigned their logo to really reflect their feelings towards academics and to attract a new wave of procrastinators, also-rans, and schlimazels. makes you proud to be a product of the american educational system.

the wilderness downtown

whitney — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:36:09 +0000

i’m not a big fan of arcade fire, but i absolutely LOVE this brilliant concept in their interactive video “the wilderness downtown.” it uses multiple cascading windows, animated birds, and, the best part, google street views of the street where you grew up. it’s all beautifully woven together to make you want to cry and, in the end, send a postcard of advice to your childhood self (an option at the end). the song is meh, but the experience is WOAH.

the video was designed for use with a chrome browser, but i used firefox and it seemed to work just fine.

bedbugs again, but this time cleaner

whitney — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:16:01 +0000

i know that i just posted on bedbugs last week, and this doesn’t necessarily mean a weekly bedbug update, but this article in the new york times is a really interesting read on how scientifically elusive bedbugs have been since their resurgence in the 90s. entomologists can only speculate as to what facilitated their rapid spread, where in the world they came from, and, most importantly, how the heck we can get rid of them. even more puzzling (and equally refreshing) is that they don’t carry or transmit diseases, making them just as clean as a baby’s armpit, only filled with human blood.

that said, i’m not sure if i totally buy their clean bill of health. you know how we look back on the dark ages and we’re like, ‘how could they not have known it was the fleas that carried the plague??” i feel like posterity is going to look back on us in these dark ages and be like ‘how could they not have known that bed bugs were carrying bieber fever??’ you never know, but you can speculate.

one of the most surprising things i learned in this article is what great senses of humor entomologist have. what a hoot!

now please get back to work and find us a cure. PLEASE!

most heart-breaking yelp review ever

whitney — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:25:01 +0000

don’t stop believing in that free donut, cesar z.!

also, see most unfortunately named restaurant on yelp.

snuggie’s new depths

whitney — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:38:37 +0000

the snuggie-macarena partnership you knew was coming is finally here. only it provides a glimpse into our culture that is far more depressing than any episode of jersey shore could ever be.

i think even los del rio are having second thoughts about having their song associated with this mess.

thanks, dan!

Junip: Fields—first listen on NPR

whitney — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:23:15 +0000

before Sweden’s Jose Gonzalez became famous with Veneer in 2003, and further famous with In Our Nature in 2007, he played with two fellow musicians who have rebanded to form Junip. They just released their first album, Fields, which is streaming on NPR until it’s official release date September 14th. the album is really luscious and still has the cottony lull of Gonzalez’s voice, but now coupled with a more assertive and complex instrumentation. i love gonzalez on his own, but there is definitely a sense of actualization in this collaboration.

Junip on NPR first listen.

dog dances the merengue

whitney — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:04:02 +0000

ok this is just TOO fucking amazing to be believed. why is this dog not on South America’s Got Talent??? totally makes chandi the amazing dancing dog look like a feces-eating flea bag.

as much as i love this, part of me wants to categorize this as creepy, because, well, the man has pretty successfully taught the dog how to assume the role of a sexy, hip-shaking latina. he knows the sexuality ends there right??

korean nixon kid

whitney — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:26:00 +0000

I am not a cwook!

alive and well?

whitney — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 18:22:26 +0000

ahhh, to be old and in love and blissfully ignorant of your resemblance to history’s most reviled leader.

OR IS HE???

well, at least he’s minimizing his carbon footprint by taking public transportation.

the apple that tastes like cuckle

whitney — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 05:34:17 +0000

you just can’t write dialogue like this. not even david lynch.

cuckle: well of course that’s what an apple tastes like!
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