None other than Bryant Gumbel, who was attending a party that I was asked to blog about for my job. Looking mighty slim, with his attractive wife and almost-cute puppy dog (this was a bring-yr-dog party, I should add.) I did not summon the courage to introduce myself before leaving.
complaining that he, the non-musician, never got the chance to go on rock tours, my friend ben decided that he and two of his friends should embark upon a united states tour this summer, displaying their trumpet, experimental fiction, and quantum physics skills. here is the facebook invite, if you're interested in their talent synopses: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=19668364814&ref=ts
anyway they stopped in chicago a few days ago and played(?) a show in the attic of a friend's house. ben--newly published!--did a few flash readings and told a joke about a walrus, and peter's performance was really cool, but what really BLEW ME AWAY was jim's science demonstration about magnetized ferrofluid. according to wikipedia, this substance is "a liquid which becomes strongly polarised in the presence of a magnetic field. it is a colloidal mixture comprising extremely small magnetic particles suspended in a liquid. the particles are coated with a soap or detergent to prevent them from clumping together." or basically, it is iron filings in a special liquid.
the bizarre properties of this fluid have just recently been discovered and i forget the larger consequences of this finding other than that cancer research and nasa are involved. the only thing i really remember is that jim used a bunch of magnets to pull this ferrofluid into fucking ridiculous shapes and movements. here are a few youtube videos so that you can see for yourself:
that shit is real! sachiko kodama is using ferrofluid in his sculptures now; he builds these large, spinning, christmas tree-like bodies:
what the heck?!
so the night was a success and i regained faith in my love of science, despite the fact that i did poorly in ap physics. oh ben might be mad if i didn't include this: http://www.myspace.com/bensegalfiction
Oh no big deal, just saw Ms.WENDIE MALICK yesterday!
Time: Approx. 4:45 PM
Location: 46th St, between 6th and 8th Ave
Get the Gawker people on the line, what's up Wendie!!!?!
Across:
31. Brawl (5 letters)
Answer: Melee
Thank you Super Smash Bros. for providing me the answer!
So I'm working for the Summer Teaching Institute, which is basically where all these high school teachers come to Carleton for a week and learn how to better instruct AP classes blah blah. They filled out forms a few months ago and some smartass chemistry teacher named like Keith or something wrote "Quantum K" as his nickname, not knowing that the nickname file was the one imported to the nametags. Now he looks like a total douchebag.
In other news, I just bought a plane ticket to Buenos Aires.
And I miss all of you.
I don't know if any of you guys read Soul Sides, but they've created a separate blog for their "Summer Songs" annual feature that's pretty sweet. Alternatively, you could just read Soul Sides.
http://soulsummer.blogspot.com/
Everyone needs to work reunion next year. If I haven't told you already, it's Carleton at its best. Security basically takes the weekend off, leaving alums and student workers alike to party wherever and in whatever capacity they choose. There were fifteen naked people in the Boliou fountain last night. I was one of them. I was also holding a bottle of root beer-flavored schnapps (which, at 22% alc. by vol., tastes exactly like flat root beer). Alumni threw Kirke's clothes in the bushes, and, I think, stole my wallet before sobering up and returning it to the lost and found this morning.
Oh yeah, and The English Beat played a two hour set in Great Space. It was great. Some of you might think that you haven't heard of the English Beat, but I'm guessing you've heard this song. The class of '83 started early, so they were all wasted and dancing furiously, along with most of the rest of the 20+ year reunion crowd. In a strange role reversal, I found myself standing at the edge of the dancing with most of the rest of the student workers, watching stoically and feeling nostalgic.
And since the ice has been broken regarding posting cute things:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RyHQlnMvWg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5DwIcnpBCA
I might be a little behind on these, but this kid is pretty fucking hilarious.
I'm sitting in the airport eating my last European meal, a McDonald's hamburger. MckieDee's in Europe does hamburgers so well! It's a gourmet burger! Well. That's about it from Amsterdam.
Sorry for two posts in a row, but I was really weirded out by this.
Am I crazy, or does this guy look exactly like Pieh?
HEY GUESS WHAT, KIDS?
A.SCIUTO has landed. He is in the SHOWER right now. Reasons why you should be jealous:
- he went food shopping while I was at work today and then made curry noodles with chicken and red peppers for us for dinner
- we watch an episode of dexter together each night before we go to sleep
- he sleeps on a mattress in my room
- he is wearing an ALL-STARS T-SHIRT RIGHT NOW
- he is ALEX SCIUTO.
we love and miss you all.
West Coast, baby! It's fucking freezing. No, really. Today was nice, I put on shorts but that was seriously pushing it. I bought long underwear today. LONG UNDERWEAR. It's summer, wtf?
But it's really quite lovely. Last night the ladies and I went on a loong walk, across the bridge, down the bayfront where there are MANY orca murals, back across and 1.5 miles to the jetty and the beach to watch the moonrise. Pretty nice ladies all around. YOU might even like a couple of em. Can you believe it?
That's the bridge!
...because I asked her to... because I thought it was really cute.
BROLERT: This is the least bro-esque post in a while, maybe ever, so, heads up. Don't keep reading if you think the brog has balls.
For some reason I feel like this post is just for Anne and Erika for their love of cute animals and babies, respectively.
Last comment: I would've emailed this to the Cute Animals list... if it existed... which it should.
-------------
ATTENTION ALL DOGS!!!
THE FOLLOWING ARE IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS FOR EVERY DOG TO KNOW
Instructions for properly hugging a baby.
1. First, spy a baby:
2. Second, be sure that the object you spied was indeed a baby by employing classic sniffing techniques.
If you smell baby powder and the wonderful aroma of wet diapers this is indeed a baby.
3. Next you will need to flatten the baby before actually beginning the hugging process.
**Note: The added slobber should help in future steps by making the "paw slide" easier.
4. The "paw slide"
Simply slide paws around baby and prepare for possible close-up.
5. Finally, if a camera is present, you will need to execute the difficult and patented "hug, smile, and lean" so as to achieve the best photo quality.
Xoxoxo!
Has anyone ever seen the MTV show "America's Best Dance Crew"? It shouldn't surprise you that I'm no dance fanatic. But lately, whenever I'm channel-surfing and I flip to this show, I'll always take a moment to check it out.
