WikiConnections
October 29th, 2007 Filed Under fun
If you use Wikipedia at all, you’ve probably already spent a lot of time playing the online version of Connections, which is a great way to kill a few hours. If you record every page that you get to, and only go forward through internal links, at the end you have a wonderful journey through Wikipedia with your soul as a compass.
For example, here’s a WikiLoop that a friend of mine traversed, starting from a conversation we had that somehow included
- Billy Ocean, who was born in
- Fyzabad, Trinidad, which in 1937 was the centre of labour unrest in Trinidad and Tobago, which was led by
- T.U.B. Butler, who is looked upon as the founding father of the
- Oilfields Workers Trade Union, which grew into a potent political force, playing a role in the
- Black Power movement in 1970.
- John Sweat Rock (1825-1866), one of the first African-Americans with a medical degree, is credited with coining the phrase
- Black is beautiful, which was used to counter internal racism in the black community, which had led to such practices as
- paper bag parties, at which people whose skin was not lighter than a paper-bag were denied entry. Very light-skinned black people are also known as
- high-yellow, and people of this skin tone dominated the culture, according to people like
- Duke Ellington, who inspired the song
- “Sir Duke”, written by
- Stevie Wonder, who also wrote
- “I Just Called to Say I Love You”, which was succeeded on the Billboard Hot 100 by
- “Caribbean Queen”, which was written by
- Billy Ocean.
I turn 31 years old today, so constructive criticism only, please.
Stumble it!_The Book_ by Alan Watts
October 22nd, 2007 Filed Under books
I just finished reading The Book by Alan Watts. Some choice excerpts:
From “The Game of Black-and-White”, pp.51:
Nothing, perhaps, ever got nowhere with so much fascinating ado.
From “So What?”, pp.111, emphasis mine:
It is hard for compulsive activists to see that the vast social and economic problems of the world cannot be settled by mere effort and technique. The outsider cannot just barge in like Santa Claus and put things to right–especially our kind of outsider who, because he has no sense of belonging in the world, invariably smells like an interferer. He does not really know what he wants, and therefore everyone suspects that there are limitless strings attached to his gifts. For if you know what you want, and will be content with it, you can be trusted. But if you do not know, your desires are limitless and no one can tell how to deal with you. Nothing satisfies an individual incapable of enjoyment.
and
As it is, we are merely bolting our lives–gulping down undigested experiences as fast as we can stuff them in–because awareness of our own existence is so superficial and so narrow that nothing seems to us more boring than simple being. If I ask you what you did, saw, heard, smelled, touched, and tasted yesterday, I am likely to get nothing more than the thin, sketchy outline of the few things that you noticed, and of those only what you thought worth remembering. Is it surprising that an existence so experienced seems so empty and bare that its hunger for an infinite future is insatiable? But suppose you could answer, “It would take me forever to tell you, and I am much too interested in what’s happening now.” How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such a fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself as anything less than a god? And, when you consider that this incalculably subtle organism is inseparable from the still more marvelous patterns of its environment–from the minutest electrical designs to the whole company of the galaxies–how is it conceivable that this incarnation of all eternity can be bored with being?
punk vs. cop
October 14th, 2007 Filed Under happening, news
Last night a Seattle police officer shot a 13-year-old kid on my front lawn. I was just falling asleep when I heard two loud reports (and I don’t remember hearing anything before or after). The kid was out tagging with a friend, police saw them, they ran, the police caught up to them at my house, told them to put their hands up, and the one kid reached into his pants for something stupid. The cop shot twice and hit him in the leg, which I’m sure hurt a lot, but will probably (hopefully) not be fatal or debilitating.
Moral of the story: if a cop tells you to put your hands up, you should not reach into your pants for ANY REASON. Not to ditch the evidence, not to pull out a cellphone, not to scratch your balls. If you don’t want to put your hands up, your other option is to run away. It’s not a great idea and it’ll probably come back to haunt you later, but at least it’s non-threatening and you probably won’t be shot at (though cops love to use “non-lethal” force on perps who try to run away. I learned that from Hill Street Blues).
