dutch baklavah: remember, remember the fifth of november

"Junkie. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. Except the highs hadn't been about me trying to prove what a down brother I was. Not by then, anyway. I got high for just the opposite effect, something that could push questions of who I was out of my mind, something that could flatten out the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory. I had discovered that it didn't make any difference whether you smoked reefer in the white classmate's sparkling new van, or in the dorm room of some brother you'd met down at the gym, or on the beach with a couple of Hawaiian kids who had dropped out of school and now spent most of their time looking for an excuse to brawl. You might just be bored, or alone. Everybody was welcome into the club of disaffection. And if the high didn't solve whatever it was that was getting you down, it could at least help you laugh at the world's ongoing folly and see through all the hypocrisy and bullshit and cheap moralism." /barack obama, "dreams from my father," pg. 86 (1996)
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ontheissues.org offers stances on the major political candidates from this election.

At a DNC meeting, Obama said, "our rivals won't be one another, and I would assert it won't even be the other party. It's going to be cynicism that we're fighting against. It's the cynicism that's borne from decades of disappointment, amplified by talk radio and 24-hour news cycles, reinforced by the relentless pounding of negative ads that have become the staple of modern politics. It's a cynicism that asks us to believe that our opponents are never just wrong; but they're bad; that our motives in politics can never be pure, that they're only driven by power and by greed; that the challenges we face today aren't just daunting, but they're impossible."

According to Obama, "With such cynicism, government doesn't become a force of good, a means of giving people the opportunity to lead better lives; it just becomes an obstacle for people to get rid of. Too often, this cynicism makes us afraid to say what we believe." /barack obama
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in spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways. /edith wharton
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Eric Yahnker creates works that are too clever for their own good. He welcomes all sectors of popular culture, personal narrative, religion, icon and beyond into his studio as "fair game" for his visual fodder. At times, the works playfully traverse into taboo subjects and ideologies, like a naughty child sticking their finger into the socket or cookie jar, at once turning them on their head once again to reveal their inherent paradoxes and inconsistencies.

"99 rises, 100 falls"

"melancholy outer space"

"guacstika"

"michelle kwanstika"

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author and activist isabel allende discusses women, creativity, the definition of feminism -- and, of course, passion -- in this talk.

somewhat related:

Why do societies fail? Taking lessons from the Norse of Iron Age Greenland, deforested Easter Island and present-day Montana, Jared Diamond talks about the signs that collapse is near, and how -- if we see it in time -- we can prevent it.

note: this guy has the worst hair i have ever seen. it is egregiously distracting and the subject of every single comment for the video on youtube. try to remain focused; what he says is quite interesting.

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via nyt:

when money is tight, eating healthy can be a struggle

Last year, Dr. Drewnowski led a study, published in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, comparing the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets in the Seattle area. The study showed that “energy dense” junk foods, which pack the most calories and fewest nutrients per gram, were far less expensive than nutrient-rich, lower-calorie foods like fruits and vegetables. The prices of the most healthful foods surged 19.5 percent over the two-year study period, while the junk food prices dropped 1.8 percent.

related: one dollar diet project follows two social justice teachers from san diego who spent a dollar a day each on food for thirty days.
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an apple and barley get together

(recipe)
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via timesonline:

Google caught up in row over gay marriage vote

More than $65 million has poured in to both sides of the argument from across the United States and the world, making the initiative the most expensive election question this year, apart from the race for the White House. Much of the money for the yes campaign has come from Christian organisations, while Hollywood studios have contributed to the no camp.
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in this economy, even sex doesn't sell

Signs of the economic free fall have cropped up in many of Nevada's 25 or so legal brothels. The Mustang Ranch, for example, has a steady stream of customers, but the number of women vying for work has soared. Even a 74-year-old applied. This summer, the Shady Lady gave $50 gas cards to those who spent $300. The Moonlite Bunny Ranch offered extras to customers paying with their economic stimulus checks.
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the guardian offers a new short story by lorrie moore.
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ign lists their top seven autumn songs.

To many, Autumn is usually the most melancholic – and often most beautiful – season of the year, and there's nothing better than the perfect soundtrack to complement the ambiance of nature's annual decay and descent into wintry hibernation.
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via pitchfork: animal collective in tel aviv

they look so confident, proud, and happy. i love these men and i've never met them in person.

related: Pitchfork's Mark Richardson interviews Animal Collective's Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Geologist backstage at the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival.

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"OMG!!!FMV!!!", as the track is whimsically titled, layers Adebimpe's falsetto come-ons over cymbal-heavy drum loops, gothic organs, and a gradual accumulation of buzzing retro-futuristic electronics. "Just want to love you down," Adebimpe insists, and his voice-- so nicely exposed on his a cappella Neil Young cover-- is all over this track, too, in multiple timbres. Aside from the absence of guitars and Kyp Malone's counterpoint, this one could-- OMG!!! TVOTR!!!-- go over just as well as a TV on the Radio B-side, especially given Dear Science's increasing openness toward sexuality. Adebimpe saves his most playful, least sexy idea for the closing seconds, in which someone can be heard enjoying a crunchy snack. Early reminder: Leave out cookies for Santa Claus."
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did i fall or was i pushed?
in celebration of nov 5th
jonnys burthday
amid bonfire and fireworks in the UK
and the dawn of a new era in politics in the USA
i humbly donate a remix of harrowdown hill that was finished ages ago during the band webcasts,
a small reminder of the dark days of Bush's....
x

Thom
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megapuss - adam and steve

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recent gastronomy of note:

giant diver scallops