i guess we'll just have to adjust

"i am half inclined to think we are all ghosts, mr. manders. it is not only what we have inherited from our fathers that exists again in us, but all sorts of old dead ideas and all kinds of old dead beliefs and things of that kind. they are not actually alive in us; but there they are dormant, all the same, and we can never be rid of them. whenever i take up a newspaper and read it, i fancy i see ghosts creeping between the lines. there must be ghosts all over the world. they must be as countless as grains of the sands, it seems to me. and we are so miserably afraid of the light, all of us." /henrik ibsen, "ghosts," 1881
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via laist:

A group of classical musicians on their way to a Riverside Philharmonic concert this weekend were on the 91 freeway as the fire literally crossed it. They took this video (it gets crazy at 47 seconds in) and being orchestra geeks, most appropriately gave it the soundtrack of Shostakovich's Symphony #10 (Mvt 2).


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pitchfork interviews fleet foxes:

JT: There's a nice contrast between the morbidity and the pastoral [of the fleet foxes cover].

RP: Exactly. When I just looked at it, I thought, "Pretty." And it seems that way with all his paintings, like "The Fall of Icarus"-- some guy with a plow, and then you can barely see Icarus falling from the sky and landing in the water. Or he has that painting, "The Tower of Babel", and it's just crumbling because you can tell the foundation was laid wrong. I just like that duality, the fact that it's not what you think it is at first. And it's nice to have an album with people defecating coins on the cover.


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this guy makes a lot of cool street art all over the world:










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Alexandros Vasmoulakis also makes cool art:













related: radiohead - just


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"My current body of work is an allegory about memory's power to hold us back or move us forward. The central character in this parable is a 6 x 10 foot linocut of an Everyman, who has lost it all and wanders the plains with all his belongings strapped to his back. He navigates a world in crisis by learning from his past. The remainder of the characters that he encounters are individuals lost in regret. I have developed these paintings and prints during the American housing and credit crisis of the past year. In contemplating where we are and where we might be, I have found myself looking back at history, remembering the Great Depression, and considering what effects it had on the American psyche. The uncertainty that existed then is present now, and I am addressing the kind of escapism through nostalgia that can occur in the midst of calamity. Every character that the Everyman sees is gripped by this need to escape their present circumstance. They are people lost in a memory at the very point when they should be paying attention to what lies ahead. Many different artists have inspired the flavor of this world including the photography of Walker Evans, the films of the Cohen brothers, the music of Tom Waits and the theatre of Robert Wilson. [via]

related: the uw history department gives good reasons for declaring a major in history:

History gives you the cultural background to function effectively in contemporary society. In a globalizing world, history provides you with an in-depth knowledge of societies from the distant past to the contemporary era. It enables you to function as an informed citizen and leader.
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times online says:

Claudia Castillo gets windpipe tailor-made from her own stem cells

Martin Birchall, of the University of Bristol, a British member of the team, said: “This is the first time a tissue-engineered whole organ has been transplanted into a patient. I reckon in 20 years’ time it will be the commonest operation – it will transform the way we think about surgery.”

related:

On July 19, 2006, Bush used his veto power for the first time in his presidency to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. The bill would have repealed the Dickey Amendment, thereby permitting federal money to be used for research where stem cells are derived from the destruction of an embryo.


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thomas friedman ponders hilary clinton as the next secretary of state:

I covered a secretary of state, one of the best, James A. Baker III, for four years, and one of the things I learned during those years was that what made Baker an effective diplomat was not only his own skills as a negotiator — a prerequisite for the job — but the fact that his boss, President George H.W. Bush, always had Baker’s back. When foreign leaders spoke with Baker, they knew that they were speaking to President Bush, and they knew that President Bush would defend Baker from domestic rivals and the machinations of foreign governments.

That backing is the most important requirement for a secretary of state to be effective. Frankly, Obama could appoint his dear mother-in-law as secretary of state, and if he let the world know she was his envoy, she would be more effective than any ex-ambassador who had no relationship with the president.

When it comes to appointing a secretary of state, you do not want a team of rivals.

in related news, very powerful world leaders are still really, willingly, uninformed and angry at everyone but themselves.

"America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed, and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always," the deputy of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden said.
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via huffington post:

Cheney, Gonzales Indicted By South Texas Grand Jury

A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.
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more articles via ny times:

a sea of unwanted imports

But the inventory glut in Long Beach is not limited to imported cars. There has also been a sharp drop in demand for the port’s single largest export: recycled cardboard and paper products.

This material typically goes to China, where it is used to make boxes for new electronics and other products that are sent back to the United States. But Chinese factories reacting to sharply falling demand are slowing production, so they need less cardboard. Tons of paper are piling up recycling businesses around the port, the detritus of economies on hold.

use of antipsychotics in children is criticized

The committee’s concerns are part of a growing chorus of complaints about the increasing use of antipsychotic medicines in children and teenagers. Prescription rates for the drugs have increased more than fivefold for children in the past decade and a half, and doctors now use the drugs to settle outbursts and aggression in children with a wide variety of diagnoses, even though children are especially susceptible to their side effects.

in conclusion:

david bowie & arcade fire - wake up