May 17 2008
∞
+
∞
(via huhwow.com)
+
∞
+
∞
Pozzo San Patrizio, well built on the orders of the pope. During the Sack of Rome in 1527 the Pope took refuge at Orvieto, and fearing that in the event of siege by Charles’ troops the city’s water might prove insufficient, he had this spectacular well constructed by the architect-engineer Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1527‑37) with double helical ramps for one-way traffic, so that mules laden with water-jars might pass down then up again unobstructed. Its inscription boasts QUOD NATURA MUNIMENTO INVIDERAT INDUSTRIA ADIECIT (“what nature stinted for provision, let application supply”) Mules carried water up the spiral staircase around the well.
Photo by Bob Tubbs
+
∞
70 Simple Power Tao Secret Hacks to Writing the Perfect Productivity Article, Plus a Guide & System for Doing It
First off, you must start with a quotation. Preferably by an Asian spiritual leader (quoting Lao Tzu, Confucius, or the Buddha works, but don’t quote Jesus). The quotation really doesn’t have to relate to the article or the picture at all. It just has to make you feel good. And quotes by people with obscure names are a good thing. -Sun Zhongmou Liu Yuanzhi Xu Shu
May 16 2008
∞
“ Suck on it, Clintstones. And note to the rest of America — we may not be as sexy as Hollywood or Wall Street, but you know what? We’ve got a shitload of money, and we know how to organize. We’re a powerful bunch of khaki-wearing, gay-marriage-supporting, arugula-eating, Mac-using elitist nerds out here. To all of you racist homophobic non-Californian dumb fucks who find that annoying? Tough shit. We outsmarted you. We out-spent you. And now for the next eight years we’re going to be running this country. We’re going to give equal rights to gay people, fund stem-cell research, teach evolution, take down the fence on the Mexican border, and make sure abortion stays safe and legal. We’re going to pull out of Iraq, shut down Gitmo, and stop torturing people. And yeah. A black dude with a Muslim-sounding name and degrees from Columbia and Harvard is going to be in charge. So sit back down, strap yourself in, and shut the fuck up, crackers.
—
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: How the Valley put Obama over the top
Awesome, awesome, awesome.
(via claudia) (via britticisms)
May 15 2008
∞
Radio Host Kevin James Walks into a Smackdown
So good. So bad. So awesome.
For your next cocktail party: Appeasement of Hitler
Best. Clip. Ever.
+
∞
'Bright Shiny Morning' by James Frey
“Bright Shiny Morning” is a terrible book. One of the worst I’ve ever read. But you have to give James Frey credit for one thing: He’s got chutzpah. Two and a half years after he was eviscerated by Oprah Winfrey for exaggerating many of the incidents in his now-discredited memoir “A Million Little Pieces,” he’s back with this book, which aims to be the big novel about Los Angeles, a panoramic look at the city that seeks to tell us who we are and how we live. Clearly, HarperCollins, Frey’s publisher, expects a lot from this book; it reportedly paid a million and a half dollars for it. You can interpret that in a few ways: as a shrewd business decision (as of this writing, the novel is No. 52 at Amazon.com) or as yet another symbol of a book industry in crisis, with publishers grasping at whatever straws they can to manufacture buzz …
May 14 2008
∞
“Inspa World, a five-story 60,000-square-foot funhouse, bills itself as a ‘spa and water park.’ But that doesn’t quite capture it. At a mere $30 to get in, and kids scrambling around, it’s no Canyon Ranch. And without water slides or wave machines, it’s no Typhoon Lagoon, either. The closest relative may be the ‘mustard-off pools’ in Dr. Seuss’s ‘Happy Birthday to You!’
Call it an aquarium for humans. You end up feeling like someone’s well-fed goldfish, darting around in the bubbles, wondering what is behind the next gilded rock.”
Jessica and I are so going here. (It’s in Queens!) Who’s with us?
May 13 2008
∞
If the world bugs you, flip it the bird. (via makesmilehappen)