XKCD, via moff
Archive for March, 2009
The Two Things About St. Patrick’s Day:
Posted in Braak on March 17, 2009 by braakHere are two things about St. Patrick’s Day:
1) I think it’s hilarious that, here in Philadelphia, the specials and drinking and green shirts started on Saturday. Every year, more and more days get included in St. Patrick’s Day. I am hoping that I will live to see St. Patrick’s Week.
2) The whole scene seems weird to me. I am part Irish, though I grew up here in America, and I think that all of my grandmother’s Irish relatives died in jail. The Irish are a pretty awesome people, but primarily because of all the crap that they had to go through. I haven’t had to go through any of that crap, so it seems weird trying to participate in the awesomeness. It’d be like if I celebrated a Native American Day, and just went around doing the Ghost Dance or something.
My friends say, “It’s just an excuse to drink,” and this is even more baffling. Why do you need an excuse to drink? Drinking is an innately pleasurable activity–it can be done without excuse. The way my friends do. All the time.
Obey, Poor Boy
Posted in Jeff Holland, monsters with tags Jeff Holland, Stanford Prison Experiment on March 17, 2009 by braakJust behind “Nazi Mysticism,” the only other documentary topic that 
immediately piques my interest is “obedience experiments.”
So thank you, Sundance Channel, for offering up “The Human Behavior Experiments,” a shortish documentary produced by Alex Gibney, who most recently made the Enron and Hunter Thompson docs. Because for the first time, I realized that there’s a giant, gaping problem with the whole grand project. Read more »
News To Astonish!
Posted in Threat Quality on March 16, 2009 by braakThe SciFi Channel has changed it’s name to “SyFy.”
You…you fucking morons. MORONS.
HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING TO ANYTHING I’VE BEEN SAYING?
Warren Ellis thinks it’s a good idea, and so I want to clarify a little. Yes, having a unique name is better than having a meaningful but generic name–but that’s only helpful to a point. And that point is, getting people to look at your channel the first time. If they get to your TV channel and it’s just ten thousand fucking television shows about fat plumbers being scared by ghosts in old houses, or movies where Lorenzo Lamas fights a giant snake who is fighting another giant snake, but is actually a robot-were-snake IN DISGUISE, then it doesn’t matter how interesting your name is.
The problem here isn’t that the new “SyFy” name is stupid–well, okay, it IS stupid, and that IS a problem. But really, the problem is that SciFi just spent two years and eight million dollars coming up with it under the grievous misapprehension that the reason that people don’t watch their TV Channel is because the NAME is bad.
The guys who spend two years and eight million dollars on a new name, rather than spending it on MAKING BETTER TELEVISION are not the guys that should be allowed to run a TV network.
Experiments
Posted in Threat Quality on March 15, 2009 by braak“The Day Your Life Stood Still,”
–now, in convenient audible form!
You’ll probably need to adjust the volume. [UPDATE: Maybe not!]
For those interested parties…
Posted in Braak on March 13, 2009 by braakWondering about my progress on the new novel, I can reliably report that the first draft is 25% complete.
Threat Quality Radio Friday
Posted in Threat Quality on March 13, 2009 by braakThis week on Threat Quality Radio (a term I wish I’d been clever enough to coin before starting the account, but what’s done is done!):
Dresden Dolls!
The Pogues!
Jesse Sykes!
Adorable ukulele music!
Massive Attack theme songs!
Accoustic versions of Massive Attack theme songs!
…And much, much (well, not much) more!
There, I’ve just given you a soundtrack to your day. Enjoy!
News to Astonish!
Posted in Threat Quality on March 12, 2009 by braakThis is pretty insane, right here.
It was on that Warren Ellis guy’s website a little while ago, but fuck him, you know?
Ooops, Michael Gerson! Wrong!
Posted in Braak, Politics on March 12, 2009 by braakMichael Gerson is a clever man, a writer, perhaps even a philosopher. He has powerful linguistic skills at his disposal, and if you are not careful, he will control your mind with them. Recently, the Washington Post ran an op-ed by Mr. Gerson, in which he kind of rambles around a bit, and then uses carefully placed elisions to draw his readers around to his side of the dance floor.
Let’s see if we can spot them!
Dear Brown University:
Posted in Threat Quality on March 11, 2009 by braakWhat the hell, man? When the JABberwocky Literary Agency (who represent such illustrious authors as Edo Van Belkom, and a bunch of other people you’ve never fucking heard of) rejected me, they AT LEAST had the decency to send me a letter that I could tear up in disgust.
What is this fucking e-mail shit? Do you have any idea how hard it is to express indignation by deleting an e-mail? It doesn’t even make an angry sound! I almost broke my keyboard jabbing the delete button so hard.
In conclusion: fuck you guys.
Sincerely,
Chris Braak
