December 2011
49 posts
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“Schickele divides P. D. Q. Bach’s fictional musical output into three...”
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Robert Manne's mea culpa
‘For its part, the left has been unwilling to concede that the Pacific Solution succeeded in deterring the boats. Between 1999 and late 2001, 12,176 asylum seekers arrived by boat. In the years of the Pacific Solution - 2002 to 2008 - 449 arrived. Since its abandonment, 14,008 asylum seekers have reached Australian shores. The left’s unwillingness to acknowledge the obvious has been of...
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“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow...”
– W.B. Yeats (via lavandula)
Kim Jong-Un Privately Doubting He's Crazy Enough... →
theatlantic:
Nobody does breaking news like The Onion. NOBODY.
Karl: With the bible they didn't keep adding volumes saying "people seem to like this story".
Ricky: Yes they did, the New Testament...
Karl: Alright, they did it once then, they did like a special for the fans.
“Mancini was asked about rumours that Balotelli, dressed in a Santa outfit, had...”
– Manchester City v Arsenal: five things we learned | Daniel Taylor | Football | The Guardian (via isay)
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Guy: Why would you ask me that?
Larry David: I'm trying to elevate small talk to medium talk.
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“A successful prime minister has to be able to demonstrate genuine compassion and...”
– Shaun Carney, writing in The Age about Julia Gillard’s flailing leadership. And that’s why you don’t knife a sitting prime minister in his first term.
“You have each other’s backs. That’s why you, the 9/11 Generation,...”
– President Obama to US servicemen and women, announcing the official end of the 2003-2011 Iraq War. It was a thoroughly tragic time, but sometimes I think we forget the enormity of the task and the almost altruistic motivations that underpinned it. The ‘9/11 generation’ is an interesting...
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A well-ordered life...
…is not something I’d normally claim, what with four jobs that are often precariously balanced and a general lack of down time. But as it stands today I have weather-appropriate gear for Europe, my teeth are a-okay after my first visit to the dentist’s in two years, travel insurance is squared away, and money-wise I’ve got the cash passport thing all sorted. And in other...
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“Ask Osama bin Laden … if I engage in appeasement.”
– President Obama (via nationaljournal)
Gauntlet thrown.
(via joshsternberg)
newsweek:
theatlantic:
“I am not going to light my hair on fire. I am not going to sign those silly pledges, like everyone else on that [debate] stage has done. I’m not going to go to a Don Trump debate. There are some things I’m just not going to do.”
—
Jon Huntsman
Stay strong, Jon. #OccupySanity
“We underestimated Japanese military power. So far as military and naval...”
– Sherman Miles, former Army chief of intelligence, reflects on Pearl Harbor in a 1948 issue of The Atlantic. Read more. (via theatlantic)
Apologies for the smugness, but…the bonus of awaiting payment for all kinds of things is a day like today, when I received about $3,500 across the course of the day from the a combination of teaching and (finally!) selling my iPhone. So, my Eurail pass has been purchased, a handy amount of spending money has been set aside, and I’m enthusiastically researching silly looking Kathmandu...
Watchclassicmusic:
Some consider Schubert’s String Quintet in C major to be his greatest chamber piece (and in effect among his greatest pieces). The entire work is full of characteristic Schubertian gestures, from abrupt harmonic changes in distant keys to soaring and heart-wrenching melodies. The third movement, here played at the Zagreb International Chamber Music Festival in 2008, is composed of...
November 2011
51 posts
“I’ve always wanted to do a sitcom in which my name is used in some way. One idea...”
– Stephen Merchant. (via fuckyeahrickystevekarl)