Sarah Silverman and her grandma

I think this is funny. Possibly it would be funnier if my grandma was Jewish, but I don't think so.


The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

Morning edition

So I wake up every morning and my roommate is making turkey bacon and listening to NPR, and I'm starting to feel more informed again.... this morning there was an interesting interview with President Ahmadinejad. I thought it was interesting because you don't hear american journalist pushing people at all these days, and well, I guess I'm fascinated by Iran. I like to listen to people with radically different view points and try to see what they mean, and why it looks that way to them. Ahmadinejad makes some interesting arguments. Not necessarily ones I agree with, but it could make you think, if you felt like thinking.

Foto Friday - It's Art

So this is a photo of a painting, not just a photo it's still Foto Friday, this is my site and I make the rules.

I've had pieces by Willem de Kooning catch my a couple of times recently, once on the way into the men's at the Buffalo Airport and then again in this week's New Yorker listings.

This piece is entitled Gotham News and is the one from the Airport...

Soulja Boy is Hilarious

It has been quite a while since I listened to rap or hip hop regularly, especially anything that could be labeled commercial. It is true though, that the second CD I bought was Doggystyle (Automatic for the People was first) but like I said, a while ago.

These days when I flip through the radio the stuff I hear is garbage, and I'm going to throw up some Soulja Boy vids because I enjoy them and I think his sense of humor and willingness to engage online is pretty freaking cool. I do not think that he makes good music.

First a video game review (via Kottke)



And how about that childhood classic on how a bill becomes a law? Uh huh, you pass that...



(via EK)

Connecting with Students

David Ramesy wrote a quite brilliant piece on his first year teaching at a public charter school in New Orleans for the Oxford American. It's mostly about learning to be a teacher and working within our broken school system but the underlying theme that provides the story with its undeniable flow and rhythm is how Mr. Ramesy connects with his students through the music of Lil' Wayne...

(via SFJ)

Foto Friday - Let's make some juice

Energy Secretary Bodman Opens Solar Power System On Energy Dept. Build WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 09: The U.S. Department of Energy unveiled 891 photovoltaic modules on the roof of the the department's Forrestal building roof September 9, 2008 in Washington, DC. According to the department, the 891 photovoltaic modules will generate approximately 200 megawatt hours of electricity annually, providing up to eight-percent of the Forrestal complex's energy during peak hours. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

This shot ran in Wednesday's NYT but didn't appear on the website, curious no? You'd think great photography would be up on the web as well. Instead I found it after searching through the Getty Images site (hence the water mark) since google failed to find it.

Big Numbers

In case you were wondering Paul Krugman is teaching ECON 553 this fall (yes that's the five hundred level, yowza) and yes the slides make my head hurt.

Are You Ready For Some Foosball?!

Over here on the lighter side of life things would be going a lot better if the 'Skins had had a decent showing to open the season.

Not that it'll brighten your spirits, but Tom Boswell has a well written piece on the new west coast offense and the fact that QB Jason Campbell is being asked to learn yet another new system. One of the interesting tidbits that Boswell works in is the nature and difficulty of matching the right type of QB for the offense that's being run. Campbell was probably the right guy for Coach Gibbs' scheme but doesn't look to be the QB that will fit into Zorn's new overhaul.

Also if you want to see which games are on TV throughout the country check out this site with cool google maps mashups going on (via Kottke). Last time I was there it seemed to be behind and not quite running right, still a neat idea though.