Thermostat, not thermometer.

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MGMT

—The Youth

 

 

The complete record of my office activities today.

As Julian applied to a fellowship in Asia and answers the essay question about a personal transformation:

Jordan: I nailed it…talk about the personal and professional transformation you went through as you gradually realized that Green Jobs is a complete farce.

Title: “Have you ever seen a bubble burst? It was like that, but messier.”


Julian: Um that’s actually too depressing and too real to write about – it would be utterly hilarious if only it weren’t blatantly true

Instead I’m writing about the indulgent struggles of waiting tables on Cape Cod year after year… I promise it’s more snarky than it sounds

The first post on the Daily Dish this morning struck me like a lightning bolt. It’s about the uncanny! Joe Kloc invesigates why humans feel a little whack when they look at humanoid robots, in other words, why the reality of the uncanny can make you crap in your pants: Disturbing experiences that feel both familiar and strange are instances of the “uncanny,” an intuitive concept, yet one that has defied simple explanation for more than a century. Interest in the particular occurrences of the uncanny, in which humans are bothered by interaction with human-like models, began as a psychological curiosity. But as our ability to design artificial life has increased—along with our dependence on it—getting to the heart of why people respond negatively to realistic models of themselves has taken on a new importance. Attempts to understand the origins of this reaction, known since the 1970s as the “uncanny valley response,” have drawn on everything from repressed fears of castration to an evolutionary mechanism for mate selection, but there has been little empirical evidence to assess the validity of these ideas.

The first post on the Daily Dish this morning struck me like a lightning bolt. It’s about the uncanny! Joe Kloc invesigates why humans feel a little whack when they look at humanoid robots, in other words, why the reality of the uncanny can make you crap in your pants:

Disturbing experiences that feel both familiar and strange are instances of the “uncanny,” an intuitive concept, yet one that has defied simple explanation for more than a century. Interest in the particular occurrences of the uncanny, in which humans are bothered by interaction with human-like models, began as a psychological curiosity. But as our ability to design artificial life has increased—along with our dependence on it—getting to the heart of why people respond negatively to realistic models of themselves has taken on a new importance. Attempts to understand the origins of this reaction, known since the 1970s as the “uncanny valley response,” have drawn on everything from repressed fears of castration to an evolutionary mechanism for mate selection, but there has been little empirical evidence to assess the validity of these ideas.

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Neutral Milk Hotel

—In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

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—

jolienoire:

Mos Def, Priority.

“Peace before everything, God before anything.
Love before anything, real before everything.”

Please, good Lord, blessed be Mary, Jesus, and Joseph, let us get rid of all the carbon in the atmosphere. Me, outside, with a drinking straw, sucking carbon out of the air, right now.

In light of my light-as-air workload this week, I will principally be sweating over the following: thanksgiving menu: 1. Turkey? how about a duck (please god say yes)? cornish game hens? 2. Biscuits v. cornbread v. parker house rolls? 3. Vegetable on the side? roasted brussel sprouts with____________________ 4. Stuffing v. mashed potatoes v. corn pudding? 5. How do we incorpoarte cranberries into all this? 6. Chanterelle gravy? 7. Pecan pie with candied orange v. lemon chess pie v. something from that tartine cookbook v. ellen’s apple pie? Also: what is the seasonal beverage that we will start the evening off with? Cranberry/mint julep? Cranberry saketini? Turkey stock, rum, and coke?

In light of my light-as-air workload this week, I will principally be sweating over the following:

thanksgiving menu:

1. Turkey? how about a duck (please god say yes)? cornish game hens?

2. Biscuits v. cornbread v. parker house rolls?

3. Vegetable on the side? roasted brussel sprouts with____________________

4. Stuffing v. mashed potatoes v. corn pudding?

5. How do we incorpoarte cranberries into all this?

6. Chanterelle gravy?

7. Pecan pie with candied orange v. lemon chess pie v. something from that tartine cookbook v. ellen’s apple pie?

Also: what is the seasonal beverage that we will start the evening off with? Cranberry/mint julep? Cranberry saketini? Turkey stock, rum, and coke?

Foer what? A review of his most recent book from The Second Pass. Money quote: Foer doesn’t have time to mention Peter Singer, but he compares himself to Kafka, quotes Derrida (more than once), and mistakes graphic design for profundity. One chapter begins with the boldfaced words “Speechlessness / Influence / Speechlessness / Influence” densely repeated for five whole pages. There are times when you can almost hear Foer thinking: Yes, these arguments have been made dozens of times before, but they’ve never been made in this font.

Foer what? A review of his most recent book from The Second Pass. Money quote:

Foer doesn’t have time to mention Peter Singer, but he compares himself to Kafka, quotes Derrida (more than once), and mistakes graphic design for profundity. One chapter begins with the boldfaced words “Speechlessness / Influence / Speechlessness / Influence” densely repeated for five whole pages. There are times when you can almost hear Foer thinking: Yes, these arguments have been made dozens of times before, but they’ve never been made in this font.

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TV On the Radio

—Family Tree

TV On the Radio - Family Tree

In case anyone missed it, a Columbia prof tried to smash in a woman’s face over a heated debate concerning white privilege. While I have nothing colorful to add about the tiff that occurred, I will say that it is despicable and shame-ridden to be eating at Toast. This little occurrence got me thinking about violence in the classroom. We need more violence in the classroom. Instead of lazy, disinterested, recently plastered, bleary-eyed kids sitting around discussing a topic which they have no interest in and have not done the reading for, could you imagine a bunch of eager, caffeine-addled, students furiously going at each other over mistaken sources and shitty interpretations. Or an obviously fake bathroom break. It would certainly solve this problem…http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703740004574513890645608558.html

In case anyone missed it, a Columbia prof tried to smash in a woman’s face over a heated debate concerning white privilege. While I have nothing colorful to add about the tiff that occurred, I will say that it is despicable and shame-ridden to be eating at Toast.

This little occurrence got me thinking about violence in the classroom. We need more violence in the classroom. Instead of lazy, disinterested, recently plastered, bleary-eyed kids sitting around discussing a topic which they have no interest in and have not done the reading for, could you imagine a bunch of eager, caffeine-addled, students furiously going at each other over mistaken sources and shitty interpretations. Or an obviously fake bathroom break. It would certainly solve this problem…http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703740004574513890645608558.html

I met with some people recently from a foundation called Make It Right. They are building these new houses in New Orleans. What is amazing is that they have figured out how to solve multiple problems at once. How to build beautiful small houses on narrow lots. How to build compact, walkable neighborhoods. How to adapt buildings to the environment, with deep porches and high ceilings and small, leafy yards. These are the things that people love about cities—and they’re the things that architects interested in sustainable design most want to build right now. This is going to inform an entire country that needs to rethink the way it designs its cities and homes.

I met with some people recently from a foundation called Make It Right. They are building these new houses in New Orleans. What is amazing is that they have figured out how to solve multiple problems at once. How to build beautiful small houses on narrow lots. How to build compact, walkable neighborhoods. How to adapt buildings to the environment, with deep porches and high ceilings and small, leafy yards. These are the things that people love about cities—and they’re the things that architects interested in sustainable design most want to build right now. This is going to inform an entire country that needs to rethink the way it designs its cities and homes.