Bros Win Forever

The Baseball Creation Myth

2009-09-18T19:41:00.002-05:00

More than any other type of story, the "creation myth" may loom the largest.

Every time we talk about our forefathers at "the birth of our nation" or celebrate the birth of Jesus, we are celebrating creation myths. These stories are important because they are founding moments. These are the moments where a person, movement or country defined itself first.

Why do you think we care so much about where Superman came from? Or about the first time Christopher Columbus landed in America?

For whatever reason, we are drawn to these stories. We can say for sure, "this" started "then." We can draw far-reaching conclusions from the circumstances of beginnings.

Lo and behold, another essay problematized some shit for me.

Stephen Jay Gould, in 1990's Best American Essays (also Natural History Magazine) writes about baseball's creation myth.

Some broswinforever readers may have been told at a young age about a man named Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York.

Abner Doubleday had, in 1839, interrupted a marbles game behind the tailor’s shop in Cooperstown, New York, to draw a diagram of a baseball field, explain the rules of the game, and designate the activity by its modern name of “base ball” (then spelled as two words).

Doubleday, a celebrated Union General in the Civil War, was for many years recognized as baseball's founder. A blue-ribbon commission of two senators, prominent businessmen and historians confirmed the fact. It was in history books. The Baseball Hall of Fame was constructed in Cooperstown.

The trouble was- it was only part of the story. Rather than starting in one time and place, baseball evolved over time in many different iterations. Ultimately though, the game came from Britain as a variation of cricket.

Working people played a different kind of stick-and-ball game, existing in various forms and designated by many names, including “rounders” in western England, “feeder” in London, and “base ball” in southern England. For a large number of reasons, forming the essential difference between cricket and baseball, cricket matches can last up to several days (a batsman, for example, need not run after he hits the ball and need not expose himself to the possibility of being put out every time he makes contact). The leisure time of working people does not come in such generous gobs, and the lower-class stick-and-ball games could not run more than a few hours.

The evidence for Doubleday is scant, and historical clues point to a complicated evolution. So why do we still recognize the name Abner Doubleday? Why do we still have baseball ceremonies in Cooperstown?

Too few people are comfortable with evolutionary modes of explanation in any form. I do not know why we tend to think so fuzzily in this area, but one reason must reside in our social and psychic attraction to creation myths in preference to evolutionary stories—for creation myths, as noted before, identify heroes and sacred places, while evolutionary stories provide no palpable, particular thing as a symbol for reverence, worship, or patriotism. Still, we must remember—and an intellectual’s most persistent and nagging responsibility lies in making this simple point over and over again, however noxious and bothersome we render ourselves thereby—that truth and desire, fact and comfort, have no necessary, or even preferred, correlation (so rejoice when they do coincide).

Narratives offer meaning, but can too often offer false meaning. In the words of Joan Didion, they can "flatten and distort" a complicated mess of facts. Yes, it's nice to be able to identify beginnings. But our desire to make our world more manageable and less confusing does not mean we have to ignore facts.

Does it?

Story Time

2009-09-07T08:14:00.003-05:00

People at my work talk a lot about "narrative."

A campaign's message must be narrative-driven. When an organizer sits down with a new volunteer, they tell their "story."

This is a relatively new approach for campaigns, though community organizers and advocacy groups have framed their strategy in this way for years. Marshall Ganz is the prophet of the religion of narrative. A professor at Harvard, a veteran of United Farm Workers strikes, SNCC voter registration drives and other bright spots in progressive organizing history, he found acolytes in the Obama field organization. Some of his Harvard students and trainees went on to take substantial roles in the campaign.

Cesar Chavez and Marshall Ganz

Talking points are pooh-poohed. Yes, you can talk about health care. But the way you do it is very personal. You tell your story about health care. The choices you make in the story reveal your values. Your values ultimately determine where you stand.

Of course, people just don’t tell stories about themselves. One thing that leaders- political or otherwise- have the power to do is define the story of a people. If you think about it, Barack Obama has sought to tell the story of America in all his speeches. One of our largest campaign mailers had the words “His story is the American story” in big letters.

Stories are powerful. They shape the way people think about themselves, their country, their town, their leaders.

I have been totally bought into this idea. Why not, right? It’s intuitive, and it’s an approach that makes me feel good about the work I do. I’m not selling a candidate. I’m telling an empowering story, etc., all the things above.

This was all problematized by something I read the other day by Joan Didion (On a side note- oooh! Look at me! I’m reading Joan Didion!).

She writes a beautiful, tragic account of “The Jogger” in Central Park in 1989. This was before any of us read newspapers, but apparently it was a huge national story. Six young black and latino kids were accused of brutally raping and murdering a white investment banker Wellesley grad. A big teachable moment that everyone- New York Times columnists, the Mayor, the tabloids- weighed in on.

This was a moment where people came together, took a stand, and said no to crime. Nights out against crime were held. Major speeches were delivered. The message was essentially that this woman was brave, these kids were monsters, and no, we will not let this happen again.

The accused

The truth was more complicated, and the whole long essay gets into the murky details, but what struck me most was this-

The insistent sentimentalization of experience, which is to say the encouragement of such reliance, is not new in New York. A preference for broad strokes, for the distortion and flattening of character and the reduction of events to narrative, has been for well over a hundred years the heart of the way the city presents itself: Lady Liberty, huddled masses, ticker-tape parades, heroes, gutters, bright lights, broken hearts, 8 million stories in the naked city; 8 million stories all the same story, each devised to obscure not only the city’s actual tensions of race and class but also, more significantly, the civic and commercial arrangements that rendered those tensions irreconcilable.

Joan Didion is right to be wary of narrative. There are, after all, bad stories. Hateful stories that have misplaced heroes and enemies. There are dishonest stories.

Narrative is not inherently bad. Mostly, her trouble is with convenient narratives, those that seek only to confirm our suspicions and organize our confusing world into manageable, banal lessons.

Ultimately though, stories are the way people come to understand one another. People don’t interact with other people as much as they used to. Civic organizations are dying. At this point we need more social glue to bring people together.

Maybe what we should be pushing for is not more or less stories, but better stories. More complicated, honest stories that don’t flatten or distort, but enrich our understanding of other people. That, at least, is what I will tell my co-workers. Whether or not they listen to my long-winded story is an open question.

Welcome Back, Mr. Cotter

2009-08-29T18:51:00.005-05:00

I have the internet again, so y'all can expect to start hearing a LOT more from me.

Updates for all:

My sister got married last weekend, and a second cousin hit on me for a good portion of the evening. Also, remember that last post? That song played as the wedding party entered. And I did have a good, good night, up until my father put me to bed, where I promptly fell asleep in my bridesmaid dress.

I guess the day after the wedding, it's traditional to have a lil gift opening ceremony. We also had most of a keg left over, so we decided to break with convention and have a keg/gift opening party. Where, I thank god, I was witness to my mom and dad's first keg stands. Also, my sister did one in her wedding dress.

Yes, that's dear old dad assisted by his two daughters and brand spanking new son-in-law.

p.s. is it a very bad idea to have that photo on the internet?

BIG BIG Night

2009-08-18T00:02:00.002-05:00

So I've been hearing this song on the radio a lot, and every time I do, I think to myself, perhaps everyone in the world has more fun than us, or at least a very different kind of fun.

It also reminds me a lot of this True Life episode. "I'm a Jersey Shore Girl"

Why had I never heard of this man?

2009-08-14T08:26:00.004-05:00

Chris Morris.

The Awl alerted me to him yesterday. The clip above is from a different show, but the same guy. Below are full episodes of Brass Eye.

Animals.

Drugs.

Crime.

Decline.

Science.

They're all insanely good, but drugs and decline are my favorites. On a side note, he is now working on a "satire based on a group of Islamist terrorists in the North of England."

"Window on Chinese Armed Forces": Chinese Military Online

2009-07-31T23:44:00.004-05:00

China's Defense Ministry's first website, in both English and Chinese.

Bros Watch Forever: Religion and TV

2009-07-25T23:26:00.004-05:00

From American Public Media's Speaking of Faith, an hour-long radio show about religion and television:

Diane Winston appreciates good television, studies it, and brings many of its creators into her religion and media classes at the University of Southern California. In what some have called a renaissance in television drama, we examine how TV is helping us tell our story and work through great confusions in contemporary life. And, we play clips from The Wire, House, Lost, and Battlestar Galactica.

Let me tell you, this Diane Winston loves Battlestar Galactica. And for that I love her. That she also loves The Sopranos, Dexter, Lost, makes me like her even more. I think my real job calling is a television studies professor.

Speaking of Faith: Link

Goodbye America!

2009-07-19T19:42:00.004-05:00

While I was talking to my family about flying to China, they said they hoped that I wouldn't crash and that I would get there safely. So great, my family loves me, but their well wishes made me start thinking about LOST. Cause you know, flying from Chicago to Shanghai, I must fly over some exotic Pacific islands that could be magical. And if I did, I would sure hope that I would have the good luck of the magnetic field of the island causing my plane to crash but for me to magically survive.

Turns out my hoped for flight path was the opposite of where I will actually be flying above. As you can see by the map below, I won't be flying over the Pacific at all. More likely, when I look out my window, if I see any body of water it will be the Arctic Ocean. Now, at first I was rather dejected, no LOST LARP for Alex. But then I thought, "Alex, it's the Arctic Ocean!"

So, what does the Arctic Ocean hold in store? Will there be a crash? Other's? Perhaps they are they legend Eskimos!? I will report what I see in the arctic once I'm in Shanghai.

BSG Episodes 2.1-2.5

2009-07-17T13:23:00.005-05:00

At the end of last season’s finale, I had the general gist of the next few episodes figured out. Adama was dead, but the other pieces should be easy to pick up: Starbuck will return with the arrow, this and Adama’s death will prompt the military-government feud to end, a rescue ship will get Gaius and company off of Kobol, and basically everything will be back to normal in the first twenty minutes, in time for them to counter whatever new thing the Cylons throw at ‘em.

The lesson here is that I’m terrible at predictions. Now, what actually happened:

Episode 2.1
Damn, are we getting our asses kicked. I didn’t really understand the problem with the jump coordinates—can they not just follow the old set? Or if that’s destroyed and, as I understand it, they use some sort of jump-detection to find out where the rest of the fleet went, why can’t the Cylons do the same thing?

My favorite part of this episode was Gaeta’s bathroom epiphany: wait, if I move these bars of soap closer to each other, they’re more effective together. What if I do the same thing to the computers? Of course! Networking! At least that’s what I assume he was thinking.

Anyway, cool fight scene that I imagine would have been cooler if I watched this on a TV. For the first time since the pilot, the Cylons remember that they have a ton of missiles. Things go okay despite this, but a mysterious new ship crashes into the Battlestar. If this were Star Fox 64, the good guys would be going to the less cool level next.

Episode 2.2
And sure enough, it’s a pretty lame episode, despite the reasonably exciting premise and threat of total annihilation. This might be because, again, low resolution made everything hard to see, especially since the lights were out most of the time. Apparently the only way to kill a toaster-style Cylon is when it’s distracted by someone else. Lots of setup for good-guy-accidentally-shoots-other-good-guy-who-surprised-him, but for once a cliché is subverted. Hooray!

On Kobol, people we don’t really know are dying left and right. It’s a little sad.

Episode 2.3
This was a pretty good episode. Lots of infighting amongst Team Kobol, and the plan works out basically as you’d expect after the last episode: nobody actually fights Cylons head-on, because they’re super tough. It’s interesting how much humanity is sticking to rank, when so much of the time it’s clear that the people in charge are too hotheaded to make good decisions. This is realistic, I guess. Anyway, there’s some good drama culminating in Crashdown (Wikipedia tells me his real name is Alex Quartararo) getting killed by Gaius, of whom No. 6 is super proud. Everyone is stunned, even though they all totally wanted it to happen.

Meanwhile, Col. John McCain goes into full-on dick mode, Ellen Tigh (I’ll always giggle at that) is clearly evil, and the President spills the beans on her illness and connection to the prophecy.

That last bit is kinda interesting. It’ll be neat to watch as more and more characters realize the obvious truth that, yes, the prophecy is real. For some reason there are always Jack-like characters that dispute that fate exists, even when preposterously unlikely things happen that were predicted by ancient scrolls. But by season 5 of Lost, basically everyone was in full-on fate mode, embracing what they knew was destiny. This worked out well for the show, since they just started running towards the action instead of trying to live in peace. How long till the BSG crew does the same?

Episode 2.4
I’m not sure why I didn’t find the main plot here interesting. Martial law is declared, military-citizen tensions escalate further, and Roslin escapes, but none of that really grabbed me.

Can we talk a bit about the Cylon models? I originally thought there were twelve total, and at the end of the pilot that basically there were three each of four different kinds (Blond, Asian, Foppish, and Grizzled). But with No. 8’s revelation that there are 8 Cylons aboard the fleet, are we to understand that there are twelve different-looking models, and multiple copies of each? If so: damn. (And the next episode seems to confirm this.) But at least it suggests what I hoped was true, that nobody can suck as much as Ellen while still being human.

Meanwhile on Caprica, Starbuck and Helo meet up with some professional Quidditch players, and we remember that, more than anything, this show will always be about love at first sight. Maybe Starbuck/Anders and Billy/Dee can have a joint wedding!

Episode 2.5
Captive in a hospital! Excellent. The Caprica subplot is for the first time pretty cool-slash-terrifying. I like how even after Starbuck figures out that her “doctor” is a Cylon, she still waits for him to slip up and call her by his call sign, which she never told him. Then she kills him, so that his final thought can be “Damn, I wish I watched more movies so I didn’t make such a rookie mistake.”

The ovary farm is pretty horrific so I won’t write about it. I do like the idea that two people can only conceive if they’re in love. Would that this were true! Amiright, guys?!

The rest of the episode sets us up for Starbuck reuniting with everyone else soon, which I’m totally okay with. Will everyone we care about finally be in one place?

Oh, and Adama’s alive. Wee!

I know this is already long, but I wanna end by talking about the overall goal of finding Earth. Um… why are they doing this? So far the fleet has been entirely unsuccessful at staying away from the Cylons for any length of time. Why lead them to the only known safe haven for humans? Here, I even made a payoff matrix to show why this is dumb:

Figure 1

As you can see, the dominant strategy is given in row 2. Stop looking for Earth, guys! Show solved.

Test

2009-07-12T23:12:00.001-05:00

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Bros Watch Forever: Recon Mission

2009-07-12T23:03:00.004-05:00

I tried to create a jump—but failed—so that I could show the end of season 3 of Battlestar without giving anything away to those who didn't want to see it. It's awesome in the flying through space while masturbating category of awesome.

And this is why I hate blogger. What blogging tool doesn't let you easily create jumps. And by easily, doesn't require you to edit the HTML code!?

BROS WATCH FOREVER: BSG Season 1 Concludes

2009-07-12T00:47:00.004-05:00

Episodes 9 - Finale

Episode 9
This episode, one of my favorites so far, treads the line between psychological thriller and comedy of manners. It's tight, funny and suspenseful. It also lets us know that Jamie Bamber (Lee Adama) makes for an excellent straight man--his reaction shots are some of the best things here. Starbuck walks in on Baltar's mind sex! Tigh's estranged wife arrives on Galactica, tempts him with booze, and puts lies in his brain. She may be a Cylon, but she definitely SUCKS. Adama also comes under Roslin's suspicion, but so much evidence is stacked against him in the first 20 minutes that you know he's actually innocent. In an earlier post, Tom mentioned that Grace Park's acting sometimes isn't at the level of her co-stars, and in episode 9 Park gives us the series' best bit of bad acting so far:

- Helo: You never get tired!
- Caprica-Boomer: It's...ADRENALINE!

Episode 10
How is news disseminated across the fleet? Can you transmit radio broadcasts in outer space? I wonder this with every press conference BSG features. Episode 10 is about as different from 9 as BSG episodes get, structured almost like a military procedural. Edward James Olmos (Adama) grows like a total badass as the fleet prepares to attack a Cylon stronghold for fuel, and then Apollo blows their shit up after shutting off his targeting system Skywalker-style. This episode also examines how Starbuck, Galactica's star pilot, handles being grounded as she recovers from injuries suffered earlier.

Episode 11
Baltar's ability to b.s. ended up saving the fleet in episode 10, and here the breaks keep coming: after observing his popularity, Roslin selects Baltar to run for vice-president against ex-terrorist d-bag Tom Zarek. On Caprica, Helo discovers that Caprica-Boomer is a Cylon, and she insists she's still in love. At episode's end, viewers are tempted with thoughts of Olmos busting out some Zoot Suit moves.

Episode 12 + 13
Good god dude, they crammed everything into these ones. The two-part season finale contains a whole season's worth of big moments, including: Baltar and Starbuck do it! Massive Cylon attack! Crash landing! Roslin's drug-induced prophesysin'! The president's aide grows a pair! Starbuck-Apollo fight! Adama's military takeover! Apollo's mutiny! Starbuck vs. 6! Galactica-Boomer meets other Boomers! Galactica-Boomer nukes 'em! Caprica-Boomer pregnant? Baltar a father? And IS ADAMA DEAD? (Regarding the last item: there are rare moments when something will literally make my jaw drop, and I'll remember that one's jaw dropping is a figure of speech in the first place because ocassionally it actually happens when a person sees or hears something that totally freakin' shocks them.)

On Justin Timberlake as Green Lantern

2009-07-10T11:41:00.004-05:00

Last night the news broke online that Justin Timberlake had screen tested for the upcoming Green Lantern film, and is in serious contention for the role. Timberlake would play Hal Jordan, the Earth member of a galactic peacekeeping force who fights evil with a magic ring controlled by willpower. (The character might be harder sell to movie-goers than most superheroes.) Jordan was created in the early sixties as a square-jawed, no-nonsense test pilot, and is as bland as his heroic trappings are outrageous. Some argue that the character doesn’t really work outside of the sixties context, and the best Hal Jordan story in memory is the retro-leaning New Frontier. Unlike Iron Man’s Tony Stark, a genius/arrogant cad, or Spider-Man’s Peter Parker, a vulnerable screw-up, there has never really been enough to the character to make for reinvention or contemporary relevance. Which is why if the JT stunt-casting happens, it could elevate Green Lantern from a generic action film to something else entirely.

During my years as a dedicated weekly comics-buyer (grades 5-7, approx.) I followed Green Lantern from month to month, but it wasn’t Hal Jordan stories I was reading. Midway through the ‘90s, DC comics replaced the title’s central figure with Kyle Rayner, a hip, sarcastic graphic designer meant to attract younger readers. And, it worked, at least for relatively new fans like me. Meanwhile, DC editors had Jordan go insane, kill off a number of his colleagues, and try to rearrange time and space. In a nutshell.

Today, Hal Jordan is again at the center of the Green Lantern comics, after the folks at DC effectively hit the reset button and returned the title to the status quo of the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. (They’ve recently done the same thing with the Flash, another hero who had been replaced with a younger, more complex character.) It was a move –one of the moves, perhaps- that betrayed the conservatism deeply embedded in mainstream superhero storytelling, and evidence of why there are probably more forty year-olds than fifteen year-olds reading DC books right now.

The possible casting of Timberlake is important partially because there’s so little to the Jordan character to begin with—unlike Robert Downey Jr. and Tony Stark, a pair that makes intuitive sense, putting an entertainer like Timberlake in the role could make for, well, nearly anything. Assigning an international superstar’s brand to this lesser-known superhero property potentially erases the baggage that comes with Hal Jordan. I have little doubt that if he’s cast, we’ll be getting Justin Timberlake, the Green Lantern, for better or for worse. At the very least, it would be a fantastic kind of mess.

[EDIT: Well, looks like it's Ryan Reynolds. Who's starring in Deadpool too, actually. Bro's gonna be busy. What might have been, eh?]

Battlestar Galactica Sex Appeal

2009-07-07T23:27:00.002-05:00

Captain Apollo, with human civilization destroyed, it's obvious where you now spend most of your time. At the gym!

2009-07-07T08:38:00.003-05:00

DC-related unintended double entendre of the day. Overheard on the train:

"He's deep in the annals of power."

Shameless Self-Promotion

2009-07-06T16:11:00.000-05:00

Don't got enough friends yet, Mark Zuckerberg? Need more? Pathetic.

Bros Watch Forever

2009-07-05T19:12:00.001-05:00

Battlestar Galactica Eps. 4-8

With only a foot into a long television series, or a novel for that matter, there’s always the temptation to extrapolate four or five hours of initial material into a thesis for the entire work. Sometimes the stretch works; the entire 80 plus hours of the Sopranos never really delves beyond the dark and family-focused boundaries that the first two episodes mark. Shows like the Wire and Lost though seem to have a case of plot ADD, never able to spend more than a season on a single story or group.
So indulge me for a single paragraph while I set forth my extrapolation of the entire four season plus webisodes series.

Battlestar Gallactica is an inquiry into what it means to be human cloaked in a sci-fi series. As the series progresses, the differences between the Cylons and the humans will only grow more and more bleary. The humans’ resolve will steel while the exact nature of the Cylons will become clear and they will be shown to have souls even though they are machines. The first eight episodes feel like Lost season one having seen the rest of the series. What you see is not what you get. Battlestar Gallactica is not a show about jet fighters and battles for supremacy between the humans and the Cylons. Instead, the series will try and answer exactly what makes humans unique and human when there is an identical race that is clearly not human.
OK. No more musings and speculation. Onto summary.

Episodes 4 and 5
Episodes four and five form one continuous episode bridged with a To Be Continued… in the middle. Has there ever been a To Be Continued so early in a series? I don’t think so.
The episode begins with a party for one of the battle pilots celebrating his 1000th landing. During the celebration, an accident occurs and a bomb blows up killing many of the fighter pilots. Because of this loss of skilled pilots, Commander Adama asks Starbuck to train a new set of fighter pilots.
The request to train new pilots brings up bad memories for Starbuck. You close watching watchers will remember that she passed Zak Adama through his flight training—the Commanders son and Apollo’s bro—because she was sleeping with him and not because he had the chops. It turns out she was not just sleeping with Zak, but they were engaged (and also having some steamy sex). In order not to have a repeat of this, she summarily flunks every new flight recruit Adama sends her.
Lots of discussion and drama ensues. Commander Adama finds out that she cheated Zak through training, kicks her out of his office, and tells her to train the god damned pilots. She says “Yes, Sir.” On the first of the new flights out, a Cylon fighter squadron is spotted, and in her remorse, Starbuck takes them on alone, killing them all, but also terminally damaging her fighter. She rockets down to a nearby planet.
Back at the fleet, Apollo and Adama are feeling guilty that they might have caused Starbuck to suicidally take on the Cylon fighters. They order the entire planet to be searched for her. President Roslin puts a stop to the search because it is endangering the entire fleet and wasting fuel. Apollo and Adama admit they are being too emotional, but WAIT! At the last possible moment, Starbuck reappears, flying a Cylon fighter she found on the planet!
Episode 6
Kaboom! The Cylons are infiltrating the Galactica and wreaking havoc blowing up stuff, and just who was the negligent crew member who allowed them in? In an attempt to allow for the rule of law, Adama with the consent of the President calls an independent tribunal to investigate who failed to prevent the Cylon from boarding. What at first is an orderly investigation fast morphs into a which hunt with Adama himself being called before the tribunal and accused of negligence. Adama dissolves the tribunal, but he realizes that he must tell the rest of the fleet that the Cylons now look just like humans. We learn that it was actually Deck Crew Chief Tyrol who let the Cylon in… or perhaps his Asian lover and secret Cylon Boomer. Boomer doesn’t know she is a Cylon, but her actions are starting to draw suspicion.
Episode 7
Gaius and Number 6 (the Blonde) get into an argument about whether there is a single god or multiple gods. It quickly becomes clear that Gaius doesn’t believe in either, and Number 6 vanishes from his head. She then pops up in the command center, as a defense specialist claiming that Gaius blew up key defense computers right before the Cylon attack. Gaius eventually repents dedicating his future life to God as long as he is allowed to survive. With his admission, Number 6 goes back into his head, Adama frees him.
Episode 8
The humans have captured a Cylon! And he is a slippery, mind-playing one at that. Because of her no-nonsense reputation, Starbuck is assigned to interrogate him and find out where he has hidden a nuclear bomb within the fleet. She tortures him but feels no remorse because he is not a human. They talk about theology, he professes to see the future and know the universe; she claims he’s a toaster oven. President Rosalind gets involved and at first appears abhorred that he has been tortured, but in a pretty cool scene she coldly orders him tossed into outer space. Unlike the Prez, Starbuck witnesses the Cylon’s death and is wracked by doubt wondering if he might indeed have a soul. The episode ends with Starbuck praying to the God’s for the Cylon just in case he does have one.
I’ve neglected to mention anything happening on Caprica with Boomer and that other guy. It’s a pretty lame plotline, we’ll update you if anything becomes of it.

...And the home of the free

2009-07-04T13:27:00.001-05:00

Next Week on Bros Watch Forever:

2009-07-04T03:17:00.003-05:00

Season one of BSG draws to a close.

One rather poorly executed episode was not nearly enough to keep me from losing my shit at the end of this week's regimen. Shit's starting to get crazy/good. More from Alex soon. Links in the comments.

2009-07-03T16:35:00.002-05:00

When playing poker, I always find it harder to play against dumb players because I can never predict what they do.

Comic Review: Batman and Robin #1-2

2009-07-02T23:19:00.007-05:00

"Batman is dead.* Robin is now Batman and Batman's evil son is now Robin. Everything is new again."

This is how writer Grant Morrison answered when asked how he would sell the new comic Batman and Robin to non-Batman readers. The title's a success on many levels, not the least being that despite the seventy years of history bearing down on the characters, this is really all incoming readers need to know.

For the last few years, Morrison has been mining the more outlandish areas of Batman’s history. In particular, he's sought out ways to make the kid-friendly, day-glo stories of the fifties and sixties cohere with the
approach taken by writers after Frank Miller’s Dark Knight. When talking about Batman and Robin, he has a tendency to name-drop the '60s TV series and David Lynch in the same sentence. The first issues feature new-Batman-old-Robin Dick Grayson and hyperviolent ten year-old Damian Wayne confront a new group of villains who are equal parts Wind in the Willows and Brazil. It's a conscious pop pastiche, and fun, inventive genre storytelling.

Frank Quitely is Morrison's illustrator here, as in earlier collaborations like an early-2000s stint on X-Men and the near-perfect All-Star Superman. Quitely's a master draftsperson, and a true original. Where other artists’ lines would be straight, Quitely’s have minute ripples--his figures and objects are expertly composed but unreal, unstable. His characters designs, similarly, are funhouse mirror takes on old standards--cartoon grotesqueries with convincing density and weight. Issue two is worth checking out for Quitely's handling of a fight sequence alone. It's rhythmic, humorous and totally distinct.

* Mild spoiler: Bruce Wayne isn't really dead, he's trapped in time, which Morrison made an open secret for readers at the end of almost-end-of-the-universe comic Final Crisis.

BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT--!

Issue 1
Issue 2
BONUS: All-Star Superman #5, maybe the best example of what it is Morrison and Quitely do so well

I wanted to do Hoodrat stuff with my friends

2009-07-01T22:21:00.001-05:00

-Special Thanks to Ellen Sciuto for the find.

No. 5?

2009-07-01T16:56:00.002-05:00

Karl Malden, Everyman Actor. Dead at 97.

Even people we don't know but were famous are dying!

Try Asking A YouTube Video

2009-07-01T14:22:00.006-05:00

Dear CONTEST + Demo: Cheap at Home Tanning Youtube Video,

I recently married into a prevalent southern family, however; I retained my own last name. He is very supportive, and his parents have not actually voiced any argument. The issue is their friends and other family members who are shocked and horrified that I would be so tacky and offensive as to not take his name. They ignore my polite requests that I be addressed both professionally and personally by my real name. The passive aggressiveness of this southern community I have moved into astounds me. Some of them claim "it's too confusing to know how to address you".

My husband backs me up, but he's never around when it happens. I do not wish to embarrass myself or my new family by being rude to these people, but I'm at the end of my rope. Being called the wrong name and receiving mail addressed to Mrs. His Last Name is like a slap in the face to me, especially when coming from people who know what my name is. Advice??
Thank you for your consideration.

-Musty in Monroe

Dear MiM,

I'm like a ghost. Thank you soooo much for this video. I'm paler than pale but I can't be bothered to tan, fake or otherwise. Yay for probably being the palest person on the beach, smothered in suncream! But, This one gave me some faith that I could be a little bit tan as well. I'm a total irish girl, and even though I'm only 23, I was diagnosed with a pretty severe form of sun related skin cancer, and I just don't really mess around with tanning anymore. Only problem is I'm moving from Indiana to Florida, like tomorrow! wooo irish!!

I know that in New Zealand tanning beds are not really common, agreed its not "our generation" it's more our parents and grandparents. Most people here and in Australia are the ones who were brought up covered in the zinc and really aware of the effects of the sun and tanning beds. another way to prevent your feet from getting stained is to stand on an old towel, it absorbs the excess mist so it doesn't pool arounf your feet. Do you know How much of the product fades away (if any) after you get out of the shower or wash your face?

what's your email?

Where the hell was Goofy?

2009-06-30T15:57:00.008-05:00

Of everything I could possibly do in my life, this is very low on the list.

Who is more desperate here, John or Erika?

SUMMER JAMS

2009-06-29T20:19:00.003-05:00

Summer jams. Everybody's got one!* I think mine is "I Got A Lot (New New New)" by Mika Miko. Is there a song yet you're gonna think back to when you think of summer '09?

* You don't actually have to have one if you don't want to. It should be a choice.

Who is Next!?

2009-06-28T16:05:00.003-05:00

Who is Next To Die?
And What Have We Done To Deserve This?

Architecture Beat: Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing

2009-06-27T10:27:00.009-05:00

The problem with architects and the museums they design is usually one of excess. With large endowments and the need to appear cutting edge, big museums will often give an architect unprecedented freedom to cobble together whatever he wants in his most iconic and daring style. While this freedom might create spectacular buildings (cf. Gehry's Guggenheim-Bilbao and Calatrava's addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum), do the sweeping and oddly angled walls of these buildings create good museums? Do you visit a museum for the building itself or for what the building contains? And isn't wrong that there be competition between the two in the first place?

Renzo Piano avoids even the appearance of architectural preemption with his new Modern Wing of the Chicago Art Institute. The outside soars with airiness almost floating off the ground. The windows are all tall and vertical, the beams regular and white. Instead of a roof, an expanse of white lattice tops off the building. Reinforcing the lightness, a long, sinewy ramp connects Millennium Park to the upper floor of the addition. I don't remember seeing any structural support for the bridge, but it didn't look like it needed it at all.

But while the outside wows, the inner galleries sparkle with neutrality. The angles are all orthogonal, the rooms large but never large enough to dwarf the art hanging inside them. The art hangs evenly on the walls. All of the galleries sit off a large central hall way that spans up all three floors. It's a nice mediating room between oversized dimensions of the outside and the personal dimensions of the galleries. I think my favorite part of the inside is the third floor's ceiling. Piano uses a glass ceiling to let us see the latticing above. It makes for a space that is clearly indoors until you look up and see the sky. The inside is so subdued that after the art on the walls, the biggest visual draw is skyline visible outside the windows. The tall windows allow for the entire height of the buildings to be viewed. It's a perfectly composed cityscape scene.

Everybody's fave architect Frank Lloyd Wright said that forms always follows function. Go to any house of his, and you can clearly see that he never followed his own maxim. His chairs are uncomfortable, his houses sag and creak, but ironically, his Guggenheim museum synthesizes the two in that building's iconic, long, spiraling-skyward central gallery. It's ironic because so many other architects have fallen off the wagon when asked to make such grand spaces. Renzo Piano fortunately defied the odds with The Modern Wing.

Bros Watch Forever: BSG Pilot-S1E3

2009-06-26T19:53:00.006-05:00

Wow, big day for the the Brog and me. The internet is easy when you're home all day.

Anyway, hope you all got started on Battlestar Galactica, because it picks up quick. Perhaps a little too quick--I'm sure the 3-hour pilot discouraged a lot of potential casual fans early on--but anyone who sticks the early going out already knows it's well worth it. Not that the pilot is a chore--actually, it's one of the most entertaining pilots I've ever watched.

There's no way to summarize the thing, or the other three episodes, effectively. The basic premise of the show is as follows: Humans make intelligent robots, called Cylons. The Cylons become self-aware and war with humans. Humans and Cylons sign a treaty, and the Cylons disappear. 30 years later, the Cylons return, much stronger, and kick humanity's ass. The last of the humans rally around the last human warship, the Battlestar Galactica, and set out into deep, uncharted space, looking for a new home, the legendary Earth. I won't waste any more time with a summary, because it would probably fill many pages. Instead, here's what I like about the show so far:

-Humanity loses. Fast. Seeing as we're already awash in epic tales of unlikely underdog victories, it's nice to see the good guys get their asses kicked. The Cylons have the upper hand. They keep it. End of humanity (almost).

-Morality is complicated. I guess this is true of most good shows, but I think BSG does ambiguity particularly well. Even a few episodes in, it's clear the the Cylons aren't necessarily wrong--they're just not human. Even in the early episodes, this special boundary is starting to blur. Number 6 (who may or may not be a figment of Gaius' imagination) may or may not be in love with Gaius (who seems to have no morals, at all), and may or may not be trying to help him. Number 8 manages to triumph over her Cylon programming when scouting for a new water source (a source that she necessitated with her blackout bombing of Galactica's water tanks). Apollo has to choose between the path of the diplomat and the path of the soldier, but has he chosen a side, yet? Does he have to?

-Apollo. While I'm on the subject, the dude is way more interesting than I thought he would be. He's a great soldier and a great negotiator. He can't be both--at least not all the time. Episode 3 ("Prison Break") is the first real treatment of this conundrum.

-:33. What a great concept for an episode. The white board tally of the whole of humanity is an incredible touch. Best "second episode" I've ever seen, hands down.

There are a few bones to be picked thus far--the really mediocre acting of Number 8 (Grace Park), and the odd bones that the script sometimes throws to the viewer ("we're draining our water supply out into space!")--but the series already feels like it's hit its stride, and we're only a few episodes in. This bodes well.

The next five episodes, as well as a google search that should supply you with all of season one, are in the comments section. Hopefully, next week will lend itself better to a more comprehensive summary. In any case, it's not my burden to bear. Alex is taking next week's post. Comment if you want to help with posting...

T'Wolve Draft Recap

2009-06-26T16:46:00.003-05:00

The best explanation for the hype surrounding this year's NBA Draft is the sheer unpredictability. With a couple of potential superstars, a handful of raw talent that might one day develop into something special and a deep pool of lifetime NBA backups, the Draft Class of '09 was one of the weakest in public memory. But the dearth of talent was mitgated by the excitement of not knowing where almost anyone would end up. It almost reminds me of the fight for the most recent Republican presidential nomination; you knew Obama was probably going to slaughter any one of these guys, but finding out who exactly it would be was somehow incredibly entertaining.

I thought about writing a summary about some of the more entertaining picks, but let's just get to the heart of the matter: the Minnesota Timberwolves. With the fifth pick in the draft, the Timberwolves drafted Ricky Rubio, the 18-year-old Spanish phenom. Since Ricky has played ball all his career in Spain I've never seen the dude, but he's being described as a once-in-a-lifetime passing talent, the kind of preternaturally gifted athlete who sees the game one or two steps ahead. If you want to read more about these kind of players, check out the DFW article from the NY Times about Roger Federer.

Unfortunately, Rubio has been a total diva about the entire draft process. He basically made it known to the NBA that the only team he wanted to play for was the Sacramento Kings, a young, exciting team who play in a state with a climate akin to that of Spain. Price Rubio must've been stoked when Memphis and Oklahoma City passed on him.

Then, so did Sacramento. With the fourth pick of the draft, Sacramento drafted Memphis' Tyreke Evans, a strong, physical PG who despite his reputation as a ball-hog, appeared to dominate all of the group PG workouts. Leaving Prince Rubio to fall into the hands of... the Minnesota Timberwolves, manned by new GM David Kahn.

Minnesota did the right thing and selected Rubio. And with the sixth pick, with Davidson's Stephen Curry, a lights-out shooter who would have been the perfect young compliment to Rubio in the backcourt, Minnesota selected... Syracuse's Jonny Flynn, another, um PG.

And then with the 18th pick Minnesota took another PG, UNC's Ty Lawson, who they immediately swapped to the Denver Nuggets for Denver's 1st round pick next year, which will, in all likelihood, be worse than 18. With the 28th pick in the first round, the Nuggets took another G, albeit an SG: UNC's Wayne Ellington.

With Rubio confused about why the team would draft so many PG's, and upset about the move to colder climates, he had this to say in his first press conference:

Q. I don't mean to be funny here, it gets very cold in Minnesota. Is that something that would weigh your decision of staying in Europe or coming to the NBA?
RICKY RUBIO: I don't know yet, I have to think about that, because I'm just three minutes from a Timberwolves player. So I'm going to talk with my agent about that and we are going to see.

....

Q. Are you excited to go to Minnesota?
RICKY RUBIO: I'm excited to come to the NBA.

Ouch. And worse news, in today's press conference, Rubio refused to show up alongside Flynn and Ellington, adding weight to reports that Rubio will now opt to stay in Spain for another year or two before moving to the NBA. Needless to say, in not consulting with Rubio/Rubio's agent before the draft, and then drafting a pure PG/pure PG backcourt instead of Steven Curry, David Kahn blew a golden opportunity to improve Minnesota despite his wheeling and dealing for lottery picks. With six total picks in this year's draft, it looks like only two will be reporting to Minnesota for training camp.

Jum-on

2009-06-26T11:36:00.006-05:00

None of us were around for MJ's heyday (my fondest memories of the guy revolve, unfortunately, around the widely-televised 'Black or White' benefit concert, and the abysmal Dangerous. Come on, I was five). Maybe that's why I've been so blown away by what I've been reading about him since his death. I'm not sure I ever had any sort of hold on just how huge the guy was in the 80's, when his skin was only a few shades lighter than it should've been, his nose still looked like a nose, and it didn't really matter how many plastic surgeries he had, anyway, because he was that good (Greg, I know we talked about MJ's songwriting credits a while back. Turns out Jackson wrote most of his hits--including 'Billie Jean', which Quincy Jones apparently disliked--in their entirety).

Basically, what I'm trying to say is it's good to see the old Michael Jackson. It's good to see everyone seeing the old Michael Jackson. I've read in a few places about the shame of his never having his own Prince-style revival, but I'm not sure his persona could've supported such a comeback. I'm not sure what, aside from his death, could have brought him back. Even today and yesterday, his obituaries have been heavily shaded by what he later became--the sickly, creepy man-child of our adolescence--and with good reason. Prince was never tried on molestation charges.

Anyway, I just ran across this video of Jackson a few months after the 'Billie Jean' single was released, and I had to share it. It's incredible (it's also the debut of the Moonwalk). I watched it, and the light bulb went on: there's the superstar. Sorry, JT, you'll never come close to topping this.

BAd English (it's a pun)

2009-06-25T22:57:00.008-05:00

so i've been spending time recently searching for apartments in buenos aires (because why not right?). besides these places being incredibly cheap and light-filled and lovely, i'm very drawn to the prospect of renting a room in a house here because of how adorable and enthusiastic the craigslist ads are. examples:

$250 Single room in a big departament to live with two students.
----
$380 Magnific opportunity! Room to rent!Great room in apartment to rent! To (SAN TELMO)

Bares, restaurantes, supermarkets... All you need to live like a king, jaja!! ;D

If you are interested you can view it!!

Contact me and I can give you meet!
Cheers, Cecilia!
----
$290 I rent two rooms in a bug apartment (Villa Crespo/Palermo)
----
Apartment to share with a German girl students of UCA and a boy from France he is journalists!

he is journalists! anyway, if anyone is down to move to argentina together for a year, hit me up. we can try to rent this "great and funny" party apartment: http://buenosaires.en.craigslist.org/roo/1238938367.html

Mulling a move to the Twin Cities?

2009-06-25T21:29:00.003-05:00

Bar trivia here is easier, the prizes are better, and you get internet famous. (And you can have teams of like 10!) I guess Tom Sullivan shows up, too, and gets his butt kicked. Miss you, Rob Zombie--we could've been huge, if we'd taken our game out of Northfield--

Whet Your Television Whistle

2009-06-24T22:42:00.006-05:00

Here are a few screen grabs from the first episode of Battlestar, in case you needed a little push to get you watching the show.

Space Battles! The Band!

Wow! That boy agrees with me, she is CUTE!

Stress is B-A-D. Take a nap, buddy.

But Beware of WHAT Blast!?

Random Numbers, for the LOST fans.

Perhaps America is Competent at Soccer Affter All

2009-06-24T15:58:00.004-05:00

Don't know if anyone out there cares at all, but the US Men's National Team scored one of the greatest wins in its history this afternoon by defeating Spain 2-0 in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup in South Africa. In the process, the US defeated the world's #1 ranked team, ended Spain's 15 game winning streak (longest ever), ended Spain's 35 game unbeaten streak (tied for the longest ever), and handed Spain its first loss against a non-European side since 1999.

This major upset came after it took a miracle for the US to even advance to the semifinals, which required the US to beat Egypt 3-0 and to get help from Brazil, who beat Italy 3-0. Despite Spain dominating possession and forcing US goalie Tim Howard into making 6 impressive saves. When the ball occassionally trickled into the Spanish half, the US took advantage scoring on their only two shots on goal. The US now moves on into its first final of a FIFA tournament ever and will take on the winner of Brazil-South Africa on Sunday at 2pm EST. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Thought:

2009-06-23T12:19:00.000-05:00

Do they make green caskets? When I’m buried, I’d like whatever houses my corpse to decompose along with it, so that I may contribute more fully to the life cycle—return nutrients to the soil and the like.

Bros Watch Forever: Battlestar Galactica

2009-06-22T19:38:00.004-05:00

Welcome, bros, to the inaugural post of Bros Watch Forever, the TV club to end all TV clubs. Given that Greg, Dan, Aaron, and Lindsey are the only people I've talked with about this, there may or may not be some consternation among sci-fi (or TV club) skeptics about our first show, but hear these words: Battlestar Galactica will rock your fucking face off. It is that good.

Before we get there, though, let's go over the BWaF format: this Friday, I will write a post upon the equivalent of five episodes of BSG (the 2.5-hour pilot and first three episodes of the first season). The following week, someone else will post on the next five, and so on, until, sometime in September, we finish the series out.

Here are links for downloading the pilot (parts 1 and 2):

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=snv4mnid
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UQEP7ZR2

And the first three eps:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HCMGHRHI
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SW9HAUFW
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GLSBAFF0

Netflixers, I'm sure this is all on instant watch.

I haven't seen past S1E5, so this will be new for me, too. Comment if you'd like to post. Also comment on how you'd like the format to change . Keep in mind that we want as many people participating as possible--marathon TV-watchers, no complaints about the light episode load, please. That's all for now. More on Friday. Try to catch up before then!

Post-Carleton Secret

2009-06-22T15:52:00.006-05:00

Golf Carts Descend on Carleton

2009-06-20T11:19:00.005-05:00

It's Carleton's Reunion, which can only mean one thing. Dozens and dozens of golf carts!

Site:Mediafire.com list

2009-06-18T10:46:00.008-05:00

I was searching for an album on mediafire.com using Google, and I forgot momentarily the name of the album. During the pause, a handy google list popped up of searches people were doing using "site:mediafire.com." I assume the list tells the most popular items people are trying to download off mediafire based on Google searches.

I then wondered whether there is a difference between mediafire and other similar file sharing sites. Well, there is. Rapidshare clearly trends towards the pornographic. Also the most popular terms are much more generic. What kind of "wife" are you looking for? There sure are a lot of "movies" on the web. Are you looking for a particular one?

Cool Web Graphic of the Day

2009-06-17T11:19:00.003-05:00

It's not often that you see a striking web banner that makes you want to write about it, but but Liberty bar in Seattle sure knows how to design a web ad. I love the simple colors and the combination of fonts. My favorite part of the ad though has to be the "Dinner? / Late Night Snack? / Take Out?" Is the Liberty daring the viewer to order a late night snack or perhaps they're inquiring what you're up to tonight. They probably just want to hang with you.

The BWF Media Empire Expands

2009-06-16T20:28:00.003-05:00

twitter.com/broswinforever

The World is Our Oyster, as Martin Luther King said, quoting Confucious. Well, the world may be a tougher nut to crack than some people think, but the internet is laying wide open at our feet. I believe John F. Kennedy, jr. said that. But I could be wrong.

Whoever did say that, they were right. BrosWinForever has established itself a twitter. Perhaps in a few weeks, the technical staff at BWFnetworks will figure out how to integrate the two, but until then, subscribe to the twitter, and get your friends to too.

Oh No He Didn't - Jumping Edition

2009-06-16T16:44:00.010-05:00

Though we bros have closely tracked many memes over the years, I feel that this pheno-meme-non has not been given its due. Videos of pro athletes demonstrating why they are physically superior have been popping up on youtube with greater frequency recently, and of these the creme de la creme may just be the video of Jarron Gilbert jumping of out a pool.

The sheer athletic talent of Gilbert is just plain ridiculous given that he also has posted a video of himself squatting 635lbs. Even though he did not attend the most high profile football school (San Jose State), Gilbert successfully parlayed his internet fame (and maybe his football talent, too) into getting drafted by the Chicago Bears this past April. As he was a third round pick, Gilbert actually has a pretty good shot of making the team in training camp this summer, which is more than can be said for fellow internet celeb Keith Eloi.

An undrafted free agent out of Nebraska-Omaha, Eloi will probably struggle to make the Redskins squad in training camp. Regardless of Gilbert and Eloi's ultimate success, it is long overdue for us bros to salute these shining examples of supreme memedom. One has to wonder though how long it will be until someone gets hurt trying to pull off one of these- No Kobe! Nooooooo!

I <3 Bill Murray

2008-12-08T13:51:00.002-06:00

"It was late one night, a few years ago, when a young man was walking through Union Square Park. He suddenly felt someone behind him, their hands over his eyes. When he turned in surprise, there was Bill Murray, his creased face leaning in close. Bill whispered, "No one is ever going to believe you," and then just walked away."

From here.

Seriously, what a cool dude. Add him to the wall of bros.

oh boners, why did i try skoal?

2008-12-05T21:21:00.003-06:00

Dip carries serious social stigma. It’s the disgusting terrible step-child to cigarettes, and it’s rednecks mostly who enjoy it.

I never even considered trying it until Tom offered me some nicotine gum.

“Hey man, you wanna get fucked up on nicotine?”

The way the gum works is you chew it for 10 seconds, and then keep it nestled between your lip and gums. The nicotine gets into your bloodstream directly. This was after two large coffees, so I was tweaking pretty hard. The 2 mgs of nicotine did the trick.

I felt like I could do anything. I could write a 5-page paper in an hour. I could solve a NY Times crossword puzzle in 30 seconds. My brain and heart were operating at a breakneck pace.

Eventually, it wore off, and I needed more. Thankfully the corner store down the street was well-stocked with Skoal.

I opted for the Wintergreen, because I figured the mango-berry-tropical shit would just make me barf. It was shamefully stored behind and below all the cigarettes and cigars.

Dip kind of resembles coffee grounds in appearance, and the inside of a pillow in texture. It’s dark and soft. You take a “pinch” of the stuff with one hand, separate your lip from your gums with the other, and stuff it in.

One other friend once made the mistake of swallowing some, and barfed for a couple hours. Don’t swallow any of it.

The short term effects are fantastic. If you think cigarettes are great, try dip. You are full of hectic energy. You actually buzz a little.

Yeah, you could show me those fucked up photos of people missing jaws, and tell me stories of that guy in your town who is missing his tongue. It's not like I don't know these things. But fuck you, I'm young and I'm going to enjoy myself for a little.

Vroom!

2008-11-26T15:59:00.002-06:00

(By "ENGINE" I mean "BLOG")

McCain!

2008-11-06T03:25:00.000-06:00

a hot new blog

2008-09-11T16:24:00.002-05:00

hannah is too modest to post a link on the bro blog, so i thought i would do it for her:
http://shakeyoface.blogspot.com/
SHAKE YO FACE, a portland summer phenomenon, is the new hit craze. i am sure that carleton will catch on soon enough.

2008-09-05T11:26:00.002-05:00

Self-parody watch...

2008-09-02T00:18:00.001-05:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/fashion/31vinyl.html?em

DURING his freshman year at Point Park University in Pittsburgh a couple years ago, James Acklin, now 20, felt lost among the social cliques on his new campus until he got to talking with a student who was in some of his classes. She seemed unusual, and it wasn’t just her look: thick-framed eyeglasses, bangs and vintage dresses. Then, one rainy day in February, the two skipped class and went to her apartment. As soon as she opened her door his instincts were confirmed: she had a turntable. So did he. They both spoke the language of vinyl.

Their bond was sealed as soon as she placed the stylus on an LP by the band Broken Social Scene, he said in an e-mail message. “There was this immediate mutual acknowledgment, like we both totally understood what we define ourselves by,” continued Mr. Acklin, who considers his turntable, a Technics model from the 1980s that belonged to an aunt, a prized possession. “It takes a special kind of person to appreciate pops and clicks and imperfections in their music.”

open question

2008-08-30T14:21:00.002-05:00

What underclassman do I look most like? How much should I sell my fake to him for?

NY Celeb Sighting #6: FINAL ENDGAME

2008-08-29T23:56:00.002-05:00

Time: Friday, August 29, approx. 7 PM
Location: West of 6th Ave, Manhattan

Springsteen drummer/Conan O'Brien bandleader Max Weinberg seen in Greenwich Village. Overheard saying the following:

Last Night's Thunderstorm

2008-08-28T11:31:00.000-05:00

NY Celeb Sighting #5

2008-08-26T10:30:00.005-05:00

Time: Saturday, August 23, approx. 1:30 AM
Location: 8th St and 5th Ave, Manhattan

Chris "Mr. Big" Noth spotted near Greenwich Village, alone and probably intoxicated. He walks like this:

2008-08-24T11:19:00.001-05:00

joe america

2008-08-24T10:35:00.004-05:00

biden's like the saturn of vp picks. you see it, and you're like, there's a solid, economic decision. it runs ok, it's unpretentious, it's AMERICAN.

there's a certain level of cognitive dissonance seeing OBAMA BIDEN signs, stickers, t-shirts, etc. i got so used to seeing the same signs everywhere for the last year and a half. now i'm like- who's this guy on all our stuff? what's the deal?

i actually didn't see his speech. i heard it was good. lots of attacking mccain on the right issues + introducing a biography = exactly what he had to do. i was in a coffee shop working in ann arbor, sitting right by the window while a socialist was literally on a soapbox, yelling at passers-by. i don't know what would have been more enjoyable- watching this crazy guy, or the next vp- but i didn't have headphones so the choice was sort of made for me.

anyway, that's the update ON THE GROUND.

In case you haven't seen this...

2008-08-22T17:45:00.000-05:00

A young Panda Bear eat his own shit. Adorable!

For the boys

2008-08-22T12:37:00.002-05:00

Wet from rebirth

2008-08-22T11:18:00.003-05:00

So I went to the optometrist this morning.

The visit started out normal enough. Dr. Goodflesh (actual name) plucked me from the waiting room and ran me through the usual tests (One, or two? Okay, now, one, or two?), and asked me polite, superficial questions about my life.

Then he got out the eye-dilating drops and everything changed.

"The college students like this part," he said, as he turned out the lights and flipped on a small machine that sent hundreds of green points of life spinning tranquilly about the room. "Do you prefer the solar cloud, or deep space?"

I opted for deep space. Before leaving the room to pour me a cup of coffee, the good doctor hit play on a small stereo: Yanni. "Think deep thoughts," he said tranquilly "your eyes should be ready in a few minutes." I can say definitively that this was the best Yanni listening experience of my life.

As my eyes dilated, the points of light broadened, lost focus. It was as if I was moving ever closer to them, until I had left Earth behind, and was suddenly, beautifully alone, dancing with the stars (ha ha!).

Five minutes later, he came back to run more tests, and everything was back to normal. The lights switched on, the music off. He showed me what my cornea looked like and then introduced me to his optician. I ordered frames that look eerily similar to all the frames I've ever ordered, and then I left. How boring life suddenly seemed, having discovered what it is to be a Platonic Soul, soaring, all-knowing, across galaxies, accompanied by no less than the greatest pianist of the 20th century.

If I seem more introverted, more aloof than when you last saw me, be not surprised; I am dreaming of a better place.

One Last Thing For Aaron

2008-08-21T16:28:00.001-05:00

The Office Wins Forever

2008-08-21T11:12:00.003-05:00

It seems like the only group of people more self-referencing than my group of friends (I LUV U AAALLLLLL!) is the cast of the office.

http://freejennanow.com/

PS:: PAM/JENNA--went to my sister's high school. BOO YA!

Non-Lil Wayne Related Post

2008-08-21T10:58:00.002-05:00

Has everyone been Rick Rolled at some point in their lives?
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=65I0HNvTDH4

ok I couldn't resist, I can't wait for this to come on at a Sayles dance
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hTdDahpe2Ag

i have no feeling

2008-08-21T03:11:00.000-05:00

The most recent "sponsored poll" on the facebook.

Do you like the country of Brazil?

__ Yes!! This is the heaven on earth!! I love it!!
__ Well, I have no feeling toward it whatsoever.
__ No, I stay from everything from the country

Do they know I read Leah's blog??? Was this written by a non-English speaker? Is facebook now "the man"?

Quick Survey

2008-08-19T15:12:00.002-05:00

1.) When are y'all getting to campus?
2.) New or old facebook?

The Shitting Intern

2008-08-19T11:58:00.003-05:00

Now that everybody's internships or whatever are winding down, here is a story to put your experience in perspective.

Olympic ANTM?

2008-08-19T09:42:00.002-05:00

So I'm watching the US women's volleyball game this morning and the announcers said that one American player, Kim Glass, has tried out for ANTM 5 times.

I don't know how I feel. On one hand, I don't think she would be a good model, but it would be mighty entertaining to watch an Olympic athlete interact with the rest of the contestants. Btw, new cycle begins in 2 weeks.

BOOYAH

2008-08-17T19:57:00.002-05:00

BOOYAH!!!

I told Caitlin and Lanaya that I had a special study break planned for them. Then I showed them "2 girls 1 cup." Now Lanaya needs to go to confession-- actually. Whoops! Jews ruining things for Catholics all over again.

PS: Michael Phelps is a freak fish. Fuckin' freaks.

It's 6:30 in the morning. Do you know where your child is?

2008-08-17T05:29:00.000-05:00

A fucking airport.

NY CELEBRITY SIGHTING NO.4

2008-08-16T23:21:00.005-05:00

Phish guitarist/frontman Trey Anastasio found at a Manhattan Mac Store, listening to a Mac Store employee tell him something about "festivals." Maaaaaaaan.

Location: 767 5th Ave.
Time: Approximately 4 PM, EST

**HONORABLE MENTIONS**

8/1/08: Sergio Cilli, of Current TV's Infomania, seen ahead of me in line at David Byrne's Playing The Building installation at 10 South Street, Manhattan. Not strictly a "sighting", because I spoke with him briefly. He is very nice and keenly grasps when a conversation has run its course.

8/3/08: Les Savy Fav frontman Tim Harrington spotted at McCarren Park Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn holding a naked infant.

Ricky Rubio is a Spanish Baller

2008-08-16T02:23:00.001-05:00

McDee's Please

2008-08-14T12:06:00.004-05:00

::One more Picture::

A drug addled, destitute Jose D.T. in 15 years?

Bros Win Forever net worth = 2 months rent

2008-08-14T11:54:00.000-05:00

My blog is worth $564.54.
How much is your blog worth?

Those guns are phallic.

2008-08-14T11:48:00.002-05:00

can't wait for aa radio. [via Copyranter.]

ps. please watch secret life of the american teenager.

BLING BLING

2008-08-14T05:10:00.005-05:00

This could easily be an Onion article.

MAN BUYS CHEVY WITH SMALL CHANGE
BBC News, 14 August 2008

An Ohio man with a hatred of paper money slapped down $8,000 in coins at a car dealership to buy a Chevrolet pick-up - then paid the rest by cheque.

James Jones, 70, produced 16 coffee cans full of coins to buy his new Chevrolet Silverado in Cincinnati and staff spent 90 minutes counting it.

But his coin hoard only covered half of the $16,000 (£8,500) price tag.

The man's son said the most amazing thing for him was his father deciding to replace his 1981 pick-up at all.

As far back as he could remember, Dennis Jones told the Cincinnati Enquirer, his father had always had coins.

“He gave me lunch money in coins and each time he ever gave me money it was in coins,” he recalled.

“I am amazed that we were able to talk him into buying a new truck, because he is pretty tight with his money.”

According to the paper, James Jones walked into the Jake Sweeney dealership, plunked down his cans and said: “I want that Chevy truck.”

"In my 19 years in this business I have never seen anything like this,” said Biff Arnold, finance manager for Jake Sweeney.

“I have seen many buyers come in with a lot of cash money, but never this much money in coins.”

Salesman David Crisswell said the coins included "dimes, quarters, half-dollars, silver and Susan B Anthony dollars".

The new owner of the Chevy says he does not trust banks or paper money.

“Paper money will burn, but it is hard to damage coins," the retired engineer pointed out.

"I bought four or five rolls of coins each month. I don't know how long it took me to save this amount, probably all my life.”

What's the Hippest Thing Here?

2008-08-11T11:42:00.004-05:00

A) The only alcohol visible here is Colt 45 and Old Style
B) Scruffy as fuck beard
C) Wears thick glasses (but cares enough about them to take them off so they don't get all beer-y)
D) Bracelets on both hands
E) His backpack strap is a rope
F) Wearing a cheap ring
G) Post ironic gold necklace
H) Deep V
I) Deep V reveals tattoo
J) Having fun in front of a camera

Salon.com reps bros

2008-08-11T11:07:00.002-05:00

Two bro-pleasing reads from Salon this morning. (Well, I hope so, at least; I'm inputting ad page counts for the next few hours, so I'll be reading these in slow chunks).

Salon's guide to cheap beer.

Something about PBR.

"Holy Shit That Just Funking Happened"

2008-08-10T23:54:00.001-05:00

At around minute two or three of this video, you'll start to get bored, then you'll realize it's 8 minutes long. Fast forward to the end just to see how amazed this guy is. I knew he had it in him all along.

Baby Review

2008-08-09T20:29:00.000-05:00

Ratings in the comments. Out of 10.

RIP Bernie Mac

2008-08-09T18:06:00.003-05:00

Olympics Update!

2008-08-09T12:14:00.002-05:00

I just had my first vocal reaction to the Olympics (at least the games themselves, the opening doesn't count because anyone who didn't have good reactions to that must not have watched it). Youngs and her hot young partner (USA's 2nd women's beach volleyball team) just hit it out of bounds and I went "Oh!"

LET THE GAMES BEGIN! HOORAY!

My Sister Would Kill Me If She Saw: To Alabama and Back

2008-08-08T21:42:00.004-05:00

Mom and Ellen deciding what they should order at the Peach Park

Dad having a pulled pork sandwich

Ms. Peach beauty contest winners. Four categories by age

The Sciuto Family in front of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Dad and Ellen in front of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the only church where MLK was a pastor!

From our deck. One of those people out there is Ellen.

Am I sleeping? I'm such a blob!

Our kitchen. Ellen has a sour look on her face.

Opening Ceremony

2008-08-08T19:36:00.002-05:00

This is the coolest thing I have ever seen. Ever. The pictures don't even come close to capturing how absolutely mesmerizing, huge, and precise this is. Is anyone else watching this?

Baby Review

2008-08-08T17:58:00.002-05:00

9.2/10

Combined Rating: 3.2/10 (Colin & Leah's score average)

The Future Bro-mobile (Brobile!?)

2008-08-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

Fuck!

I've got olympic fever...or maybe just SARS

2008-08-07T17:28:00.005-05:00

Last night on Project Runway the contestants designed outfits for the the US Olympic team. Why? Because the Beijing Olympics start tomorrow at 8:08 on 8/8/08 (isn't that cute?). In commemoration of this 18 times in an average lifetime event, I present the official Bros Win Forever Olympic Preview in Fun List Form.

1) The main stadium will look this. Who says a communist regime can't be creative?

2) Here are your Olympic mascots. Upon first glance I thought that the Pokemon designers had gotten lazy, but then I remembered the games were in China.

3) A lot of people have been discussing the human rights problems in China, but what really concerns me is their weather control program. Come World War III, we are screwed. Missiles are futile against hurricanes. I think.

4) Fortunately to combat weather, we here in America have mastered time. NBC is planning to have 3600 hours of coverage, which according to my calculations is 8.8 hours of programming for every hour of the Olympics. China's attempts to send hurricanes at us will be futile when we send them 400 years into the past.

5) One of the US team's biggest stars is Michael Phelps. To celebrate his quadriannual celebrity status, he has grow a fu manchu mustache. U-S-A!

6) 2008 marks the last time that baseball and softball will be Olympic sports. In 2012, they will join past favorites such as tug of war, croquet, and motor boating.

7) Traditionally in the opening ceremony the delegations from every country march in alphabetical order, but not in Beijing. Tomorrow night, the teams will enter the stadium in order of character stroke count, meaning that Australia and Zambia will be the 203rd and 204th teams to enter.

8) The US Men's basketball team has been deemed the "Redeem Team", since they sucked in 2004. In 2000, though, Vince Carter jumped over some French guy.

9) My predictions for Men's K-1 1000m Flatwater Kayaking:
G: Eirik Veraas-Larsen, Norway
S: Tim Brabants, Great Britain
B: Adam van Koeverden, Canada

Tune in on 8/22 to see if I'm right.

10) As Americans, we're supposed to be concerned that China could possibly accumulate as many medals as us. I'm more concerned with Macedonia. With just one bronze medal in their entire Olympic history, I think it's safe to say that they're due.

Got the Olympic spirit yet? Eric Moussambani does.

807 College Family Band

2008-08-07T17:09:00.001-05:00

Finally. We have a Myspace.

Right here.

just sayin...

2008-08-07T16:46:00.000-05:00

Wowzerz

2008-08-07T10:45:00.001-05:00

Not that One

2008-08-06T13:07:00.002-05:00

This post is primarily for Erinrose, Leah, maybe Colin, or anyone who has seen the O.C. Linsday, circa season 2, is the most unlikeable character of the series (yes, that's including Oliver). She has a shitty sounding voice, and it makes no sense that Ryan would go from dating Marissa to her. She plays the FUCKING OBOE. HE IS FROM CHINO.
On IMDB someone started a discussion thread suggesting that she should have been Mary Jane in the Spiderman movies. That would be terrible casting.
Thankfully, it also showed that I am currently watching the last show she appears in.

Baby Review

2008-08-06T12:28:00.008-05:00

8.9/10

Fuck those big red cardboard blox, this kid uses brix. :

He doesn't even give a care. Even when he's being held by satan. :

Other kid in the picture, 3.2/10. Way to young to be this strung out. The only reasons his score is as high as it is are due to his fingerless gloves and ho-beatin' cane. :
From The Cobra Snake - good hipster jackin' material.

And I didn't realize until just now... but I think I want Baby Reviews to be a regular Brog feature.

I'm seeing Pineapple Express in an hour. Maybe I'll do a legit review of it. I can't wait to see how it is. If (read: when) I review it on here, it will have to be after a post by someone else. I can't have three posts in a row. So someone... do something.

Xoxo

PS: You guys. This song IS going to be our new anthem:

Asher Roth-I Love College.mp3 -

Mixy Matchy Fashion Posty

2008-08-05T10:41:00.004-05:00

IS what you think this person said about his or style actually what he or she said about his or her style? Afterthought: We need a new pronoun for s/he. (From Just Glitter Lust)

1) The woman in a burlap sac

2) Girl I can imagine Jilling off to Disney porn.

3) This guy looks totally unique.

4) Swemo kid (Swedish emo, get it!?)

5) Why are you crossing your legs? Gotta pee or something? Fucking Euro-trash. Always gotta pee or something.

6) J-Po spends a few years in Europe.

7) This one is actually pretty hot.

A) "My style is very chill yet crazy. Dreams are a great source for ideas – I see myself in outfits that work and I want to try them in real life too."

B) "I get so many ideas while talking to interesting personas and when I watch some classic films. I like Russian films, especially Andrei Tarkovski’s creations. I’m also affected by naivist artists. Central aspect in my style is absurd."

C) I just wanted to include this girl because she looks like Lindsey.

D) "Most of my clothes are tailored, because then I know they will fit perfectly. My mother buys all these different Vogues and I like to browse them for ideas. ... Today I'm wearing smart clothes, because I went to theatre."

E) "...today I listened Justice so I ended up in this."

F) "I have my own definite style and therefore I rarely look others for inspiration. Then again, if you see something new and hip on a beautiful person, you’ll start to like it more and want it too."

G) "My current style inspiration is Madonna..."

The answers.... in the comments section.

Power poppin' summer...

2008-08-03T22:54:00.002-05:00

I guess this is pimping my own blog, which is staring you in face if you ever wanted to visit it, but I just posted Mediafire links for a 16-song power pop mix CD that has made my summer infinitely better. Will it do the same for you? I don't know, but I had like a half hour's worth of problems uploading so you should take advantage of my computer issues. Also, Greg & I played the Battery Maritime Building on Friday. You can hear it here.

2008-08-03T22:24:00.001-05:00

2008-08-02T17:36:00.003-05:00

so i was ordering pizza at a phenomenal takeout place downtown. this overweight guy with about 5 beads of sweat dripping down his massive face gets behind me in line. he sort of bleats/yells at the person behind the counter "HEY WHEN YOU GONNA HAVE THE MEATZZA READY?"

Jonah, I hope you approve.

2008-07-31T08:34:00.007-05:00

Last night I went to a CSS concert with a friend from high school (his choice). It was maybe the worst sound of any show I've ever seen, but by far the most enthusiasm. Matt & Kim and the Go! Team opened. Like, actually, bands going ape shit on stage. At the end of the show the lead singer of CSS, wearing cat makeup and a tropical print unitard said "Thank you for coming tonight, you could have stayed home and watched Project Runway." Here are my thoughts on which of my friends would maybe enjoy this piece of news, in the form of my favorite visual aid, the venn diagram. You can also probably assume that excitement would increase as you go from right to left.

An unfortunate model of a potentially analogous life: the Dagwood and Blondie Timeline

2008-07-30T14:03:00.005-05:00

1930: Dagwood Bumstead and Blondie Boopadoop meet. She's a hot young flapper and he's the young heir to the fortune his stuffy parents made at Bumstead Locomotive Works.

1930 - 1933: She spends her youth wildly in the dance halls. He, the bumbling buffoon who has no business going after such a hottie, goes on a hunger strike for 28 days to win her love. She's a "flighty gold-digger" who decides to give him a shot.

1933: They get married. According to the site: "the young couple moved to a modest house in the suburbs, where they struggled over bills, bought furniture, met neighbors and fought and made up just like millions of couples everywhere."

1934: The young Bumstead family have a bouncing baby boy, Alexander. Dagwood, disowned by his family for marrying under his class, gets a 9 to 5 working for J.C. Dithers.

1941: Another baby. This one is named Cookie. (Cookie!?). Well, that's what you get for only offering $100 to the readers in a nationwide contest.

1941 - 1990: Fuckin' nothing.

1990: Blondie opens a catering business. Feminists everywhere realize their cause is finished.

1990 - Present: Fuckin' nothing.

That's our life. The only potential difference is that they've had a successful marriage for almost 70 years. Half of us (who are lucky enough to get married) will probably (statistically) get divorced, not to mention die before our 70th anniversaries. Makes the Bumsteads look pretty good, eh?

Fun Blondie fact: there were 28 theatrical films made. The "titular" Penny Singleton played the title role (and is a total fox, I might add).

Have a good life, guys.

omgomgomg

2008-07-30T04:45:00.001-05:00

ahhhhhalskdjflaskdf i'm excited

it's raining for the first time this summer

2008-07-29T13:24:00.002-05:00

The other day I was biking along the bay and two fawns (little spotted ones!) jumped up beside me. They tried to run away-- one ran behind me (the smart one) while the other ran ahead, in the same direction I was cycling. I caught up pretty quickly, the fawn and I were head to head. I turned to look at him and yelled, "IT'S A RACE!" He skidded to a stop, and jumped back into the brush.

My roommates decorated the whole apartment for my birthday, lining the entire room with a thirty of bud light (classy). My favorite part:

Doyle Cottage

2008-07-29T11:58:00.000-05:00

http://www.doylecottage.com/

2008-07-29T09:13:00.002-05:00

REPORT: ELIAN SNATCHED BY FEDS.

Developing...

Bros Win Forever

The Baseball Creation Myth

Story Time

Welcome Back, Mr. Cotter

BIG BIG Night

Why had I never heard of this man?

"Window on Chinese Armed Forces": Chinese Military Online

Bros Watch Forever: Religion and TV

Goodbye America!

BSG Episodes 2.1-2.5

Test

Bros Watch Forever: Recon Mission

BROS WATCH FOREVER: BSG Season 1 Concludes

On Justin Timberlake as Green Lantern

Battlestar Galactica Sex Appeal

Shameless Self-Promotion

Bros Watch Forever

Battlestar Galactica Eps. 4-8

...And the home of the free

Next Week on Bros Watch Forever:

Comic Review: Batman and Robin #1-2

I wanted to do Hoodrat stuff with my friends

No. 5?

Karl Malden, Everyman Actor. Dead at 97.Even people we don't know but were famous are dying!

Try Asking A YouTube Video

Where the hell was Goofy?

SUMMER JAMS

Who is Next!?

Who is Next To Die?And What Have We Done To Deserve This?

Architecture Beat: Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing

Bros Watch Forever: BSG Pilot-S1E3

T'Wolve Draft Recap

Jum-on

BAd English (it's a pun)

Bares, restaurantes, supermarkets... All you need to live like a king, jaja!! ;D

If you are interested you can view it!!

Mulling a move to the Twin Cities?

Whet Your Television Whistle

Perhaps America is Competent at Soccer Affter All

Thought:

Bros Watch Forever: Battlestar Galactica

Post-Carleton Secret

Golf Carts Descend on Carleton

Site:Mediafire.com list

Cool Web Graphic of the Day

The BWF Media Empire Expands

Oh No He Didn't - Jumping Edition

I <3 Bill Murray

oh boners, why did i try skoal?

Vroom!

McCain!

a hot new blog

Self-parody watch...

open question

NY Celeb Sighting #6: FINAL ENDGAME

Last Night's Thunderstorm

NY Celeb Sighting #5

joe america

In case you haven't seen this...

For the boys

Wet from rebirth

One Last Thing For Aaron

The Office Wins Forever

Non-Lil Wayne Related Post

i have no feeling

Quick Survey

The Shitting Intern

Olympic ANTM?

BOOYAH

It's 6:30 in the morning. Do you know where your child is?

**NY CELEBRITY SIGHTING NO.4**

Ricky Rubio is a Spanish Baller

McDee's Please

Bros Win Forever net worth = 2 months rent

Those guns are phallic.

BLING BLING

What's the Hippest Thing Here?

Salon.com reps bros

"Holy Shit That Just Funking Happened"

Baby Review

Karl Malden, Everyman Actor. Dead at 97.

Even people we don't know but were famous are dying!

Who is Next To Die?
And What Have We Done To Deserve This?

NY CELEBRITY SIGHTING NO.4