MDT's Constant Partial Attention

nevver: Installation, Naples [Carsten Nicolai]

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:59:49 -0500

Installation, Naples [Carsten Nicolai]

Every American should have to watch The Wire. Bottom line. It...

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:27:36 -0500

Every American should have to watch The Wire. Bottom line. It should be a requirement for citizenship in the 21st century. If you haven’t seen it, you are not allowed to have an opinion.

If you’re a Cutty fan, try George Pelecano’s Drama City. The book follows a DC-based character very similar to Cutty and draws from unused character notes from the show.

Maybe not his best novel, but if you are a Wire fan looking for a gateway drug into Pelecano’s work it is a good place to start.

yumwatch:

davidseger:

Dennis “Cutty” Wise

pauliophonic:

I’m up to episode ten of season three, and I think this guy might be my favorite character in The Wire, so far.

Cutty is a major highlight of season three. He’s also huge in season four…total husband material.

Naturally skinny people have their own challenges

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:22:37 -0500

Naturally skinny people have their own challenges:

“People who would never dream of cracking a joke about or saying something totally rude to a person who was overweight for fear of hurting their feelings”

Ummm… What planet do you live on where this is not the case? Which of these words is a pejorative in our society and which is the compliment:

1) skinny

2) fat

Case closed…

I mean, if you can show me a movie where Eddie Murphy elicits guffaws by portraying an entire family of the morbidly skinny, give me a holler because I must have missed it.

Not to be disrespectful to the pain of exceedingly skinny but your statement here is completely, demonstrably untrue and, frankly, the kind of thing that only someone who has never been heavy could ever utter with some degree of seriousness. This kind of thing has never been my burden, but it has certainly been one for people I’ve been close with.

If someone was knowingly, intentionally rude to you about being thin, better believe that they won’t have any problem making fun of a fatty!

Now, perhaps the underlying point you are trying to make is that because skinny is supposedly a positive, people don’t realize that calling attention to someone who is particularly skinny - and self-conscious about it - could be hurtful and perceived as rude.

Or, put more simply. It is possible to be just as insecure and easily bruised about being underweight as it is about being overweight.

That strikes me as a totally fair statement - one that could be made about any self-perceived physical flaw.

robot-heart-politics:

needtherapy:emptythoughts:iamthegirlanachronism:

Oh whine whine. This stuff always irritates me. Society WORSHIPS the thin, rich and beautiful. No one ever says they hate being so rich, so don’t pretend it’s terrible to be thin (and/or beautiful…for some reason, pretty people complain about that too). What, you’d rather be fat?

I was the recipient of so many nasty comments when I was at my skinniest. People who would never dream of cracking a joke about or saying something totally rude to a person who was overweight for fear of hurting their feelings had no qualms about saying just plain awful things to my face or behind my back. Or they’d spread rumors about how I must have an eating disorder. (I didn’t.)

Certain segments of society certainly “worship” thinness, but usually that appreciation only extends to those who are also very tall, have large breasts, and are generally unusually beautiful. For the rest of us, we not only run around in ill-fitting clothes because nothing is our size and look more awkward than attractive, we also get shit from everyone around us who fall into the other segments of society that don’t worship thinness about how we must be trying so hard to be so thin, how we must have an eating disorder, and how something is wrong with us because of how we look. I don’t know how many “Love your body!” screeds I’ve read over the year that attempt to make larger women feel better about themselves by positioning thin women as these scrawny unwomanly creatures that look like 12-year-old boys instead of women and how could anyone ever possibly find that appealing blech?!?! I’ve even read some that insisted that men who find women like that attractive must have repressed homosexual/pedophiliac tendencies. How that qualifies as anything short of insulting and offensive is beyond me, but it’s been my experience that it’s a fairly acceptable part of the “Love your body/real women have curves” movement.

Trust me, it’s no more fun when people criticize you for being thin than it is when people criticize you for being fat, especially when there’s not much you can do about it short of magically changing your metabolism, just like it’s no less annoying when you can’t find clothes in your size because you’re too small than it is that you can’t find clothes in your size because you’re too large.

"I think people are pissed right now less at the fact that they didn’t get what they wanted,..."

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:09:58 -0500

“

I think people are pissed right now less at the fact that they didn’t get what they wanted, and more at the fact that they feel like their people didn’t really fight for it. Leaders don’t always get what they want. But people recognize when true leaders at least give it a shot. And people judge that leadership by what they say in public and how hard they see them publicly pushing for it. Closed door negotiations don’t count.

They wanted to see Obama push the public option and say that it was crucial, important part. His broad outlines of “cuts the deficit, improves coverage” is too bland and not something people can rally around, and he gives the impression that he’s ceding power and leadership to a less capable bunch in the legislative branch.

They wanted to see news stories about how “staffers close to the majority leader” say that chaimanships and other perks were on the line for any Democrat who talked about filibustering this crucial bill.

They wanted to see congressional leadership and the president campaign hard for an “up or down vote on healthcare” the way the Republicans did so effectively for the judge appointments.

But none of that happened, and the things that people care about died with a whimper.

”

- TPM reader, SD.

My feelings exactly. And, per Glenn Greenwald, you have to ask how much of that is due to the administration basically ending up with the bill they wanted / were willing to accept from the get go?

For all the President’s talk about making his case to the American people on health care, he utterly failed to do so and the result was that all momentum was lost in the noise machine of falsehood and obstruction.

Americans know we need a change in health care. What they needed to help shepherd it through was a clear articulation of the stakes as well as the kind of singular vision and leadership that Obama has show over and over again that he can summon and deploy.

Not stepping up and holding the public - not Congress, the public, accountable to this decision on health care was a conscious choice of the Obama administration and it has been, to me, the most thoroughly disappointing one of his presidency.

No Fight | Talking Points Memo

It is not safe here | Sally Rand gif by extranuance

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:46:54 -0500

It is not safe here | Sally Rand gif by extranuance

crumbles: Day 348 - Playing With Matches (via KWG73)

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:16:48 -0500

crumbles:

Day 348 - Playing With Matches (via KWG73)

spacethebeyond: Chimpanzee in Space (via...

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:44:49 -0500

spacethebeyond:

Chimpanzee in Space

(via miraityuuou:chimpanzeeman:2425:moumoutation:cometomebrucelee)

mfs: theantidote: Today’s Espresso (via CoffeeGeek) …lovin’...

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:12:51 -0500

mfs:

theantidote:

Today’s Espresso (via CoffeeGeek)

…lovin’ the swirl

dizzying… @_@

nevver: le Bat

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:01:14 -0500

nevver:

le Bat

Heroes. smut-to-go: Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, Oklahoma...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:40:35 -0500

Heroes.

smut-to-go:

Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, Oklahoma City c.1940

Gratuitous scrutiny

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:54:20 -0500

Gratuitous scrutiny

Hair Cut 100 — Love Plus One I thought the whole point of...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:13:15 -0500

Hair Cut 100 — Love Plus One

I thought the whole point of being in a rock band in your 20s was to be able to look back on it in your 40s and think about how cool you were. I’m guessing that’s not happening for Hair Cut 100, the least intimidating rock band of all time.

proofmathisbeautiful: cloois: Traffic by Samantha Tio : long...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:09:00 -0500

proofmathisbeautiful:

cloois:

Traffic by Samantha Tio : long exposures of traffic in asia (roomthily)

Genius. Disturbing genius. The Refined | The home of Refined...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:38:20 -0500

Genius. Disturbing genius.

The Refined | The home of Refined Design Inspiration

A Journey Round My Skull: The Raven

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:06:52 -0500

A Journey Round My Skull: The Raven

Blue Demon! Master of the dreaded octopus...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:32:47 -0500

Blue Demon!

Master of the dreaded octopus hold!

nevver:

Deadlicious

grain edit · Robert Samuel Hanson Illustration

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:07:54 -0500

grain edit · Robert Samuel Hanson Illustration

three frames (of awesome)

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:37:55 -0500

three frames (of awesome)

-smart-tart-: southpol:joshuatuscan:amaclean:o’bedlam: The...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:07:30 -0500

-smart-tart-:

southpol:joshuatuscan:amaclean:o’bedlam:

The U.S. Government has long maintained a policy that they have the right to stop and search anyone at the border. The Department of Homeland Security is now taking the position that “the border” is the 100-mile wide strip that wraps around the “external boundary” of the United States. The ACLU took all the recent census maps and came to a rather surprising conclusion.

What we found is that fully TWO-THIRDS of the United States’ population lives within this Constitution-free or Constitution-lite Zone. That’s 197.4 million people who live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders.

Ted Leo! OMG Posters! » Archive » New Concert Posters...

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:48:49 -0500

Ted Leo!

OMG Posters! » Archive » New Concert Posters by Spike Press