Gainful Unemployment: Archive

“To create music, a composer would draw on a series of 35 millimetre film strips which were then fed into the machine. Photo-electronic cells read the difference in light and converted it into sound.” —

New Scientist TV: Pioneering electronic instrument rediscovered in France

A crazy light-operated synthesizer from the 1950s, the Oram synthesizer, was found in a barn in Brittany. It was shipped to England where a working replica will be built. The film strips basically look like a Scantron test sheet, where the composer makes dots to indicate a note.

Click through for a video showing the tangle of wires that is the Oram synthesizer.

Aug 31, 20116 notes

#synthesizers #oram synthesizer #music #experimental music #vintage synthesizers

Aug 30, 201111 notes

#buddhists #buddhism #religion #lobster #food #animals #vegetarianism

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Aug 29, 20118 notes

#david cross #keith olbermann #arrested development #comedy

“

Smigel: They gave us minute-by-minutes and that’s when we knew the breastfeeding sketch had been so lethal. We were still 15th for the week … but it was apparent that after the first sketch there was a much steeper than normal drop-off in ratings. We knew we had a problem.

Carlock: It was kind of remarkable that we made that many people do something all at the same time.

” —

An Oral History of the Rise and Fall (and Rise) of “The Dana Carvey Show”: Movies TV: GQ

The ill-fated Dana Carvey Show had an amazing cast and writing staff that included Louis CK, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell, Robert Smigel, etc. etc. The sketch of Bill Clinton breast-feeding puppies is an infamous turning point in TV comedy, but I really enjoyed reading about the casting process from both the producers’ and actors’ sides.

Aug 29, 20112 notes

#dana carvey show #comedy #telelvision #louis ck #dana carvey #robert smigel #stephen colbert #steve carrell #jon glaser

“The board, according to an ex-member, squelched many of Koppelman’s ideas, including attempts to do a deal for Martha-branded vitamin supplements and Martha-branded clothing. They were also opposed to a deal with TurboChef, which wanted to bring out a Stewart-branded $6,000 convection oven. “It was exactly the opposite of what we preached,” this person says, “which was that we didn’t just put our names on things—we create things.” But the deal, which included a multi-million-dollar first-year license fee, eventually went through. By last year, the company had done a hodgepodge of licensing deals, including video games, a wine with Gallo, branded weddings at Sandals Resorts, and frozen dinners at Costco.” —

The Comeback That Wasn’t

Martha Stewart, the business, isn’t making as good a comeback as Marth Stewart, the person. People are back to associating Martha with Connecticut mansions and fussy foodstuffs rather than orange jumpsuits and house arrest anklets. But no one is buying Martha the brand.

I love that bitch Martha, but I admit, since she moved her TV empire to the Hallmark channel, I haven’t watched a lick. Her uncomfortable guest banters during cooking demos were one of my favorite unintentional and unscripted TV moments.

Aug 28, 20112 notes

#martha stewart #mslom #branding #business #women

Aug 27, 2011

#japan #fukushima #elderly #post traumatic stress disorder #ptsd #robot

“Although it’s true that Story of O was inspired by Paulhan’s offhand remark to Aury that no woman could ever write a “truly” erotic novel, a more compelling motive was her fear, however irrational, that their relationship might end. “I wasn’t young, I wasn’t pretty, it was necessary to find other weapons,” she later revealed. “The physical side wasn’t enough. The weapons, alas, were in the head.” —

Guernica / The Story of the Story of O

Pauline Reage, who is actually Dominique Aury, who was born Anne Desclos, wrote Story of O to impress her married lover and assuage her own irrational paranoia that he would dump her. I don’t know much about the married guy, Jean Paulhan, but I’m convinced she surpassed anything he could do by writing the genre-defying opus.

I originally snuck a read of Story of O at the library, thinking it was titillating, pseudo-literary smut. It’s so much more than just “erotica” as many people categorize it, and if the translation I read did the orignal work any justice, then it is a beautifully crafted piece of writing. Any BDSM action is surface gilt; the best stuff is O’s psyche which is a maze more complex than a chateau with additions upon additions.

Sex slave chateaus and branding with the master’s initials is far beyond most of our romantic entanglements, but longing for, belonging to and immolation by someone you’re absolutely crazy about is a common sentiment. After all, that was what motivated Reage/Aury/Desclos to write the book through many layers of her identity.

Aug 26, 20119 notes

#story of o #pauline reage #dominique aury #anne desclos #literature

“Now, you may think that being one of the ultrabendable 0.25 percent of the population is all fun and games. (We’ve all heard those quips about never having to leave the house.) But think again. There’s a long and unfortunate history of pathologizing this behavior; psychiatrists have described its practitioners as being sexually maladjusted, stuck in an infantile state of suckling dependency, or even motivated by repressed homosexual desires.” —

Autofellatio: The contorted history. - By Jesse Bering - Slate Magazine

Everything you wanted to know except practical tips on how to blow yourself, if you’re a guy. Sorry, ladies. Apparently we shouldn’t even think about this because the media don’t?

Aug 25, 20112 notes

#autofellatio #fellatio #sex

Aug 24, 201177 notes

#estate sale #nouns #things #objects

“

Chilled caramel topping

Another example of this is chilled caramel ice cream topping. The sudden application of force—for example by stabbing the surface with a finger, or rapidly inverting the container holding it—leads to the fluid behaving like a solid rather than a liquid. This is the “shear thickening” property of this non-Newtonian fluid. More gentle treatment, such as slowly inserting a spoon, will leave it in its liquid state. Trying to jerk the spoon back out again, however, will trigger the return of the temporary solid state. A person moving quickly and applying sufficient force with their feet can literally walk across such a liquid.

” —

Non-Newtonian fluid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Examples on Non-Newtonian fluids include caramel topping, flubbter, silly putty and ketchup. Ketchup is hard to get out of the bottle at first but once it gets going, it flows freely. This is because ketchup is a Non-Newtonian fluid, specifically a “shear thinning” fluid whose viscosity decreases with shear stress.

Aug 23, 20112 notes

#ketchup #caramel sauce #non-newtonian fluid #shear stress #fluid dynamics #fluid mechanics #physics

“We support sexual health education,” said Adam & Eve Marketing Director Chad Davis, in explaining why his company is making its first gift to a university. “That’s how we started, distributing condoms. We believe in safe sex and people being educated about safe sex practices.” Davis declined Monday to disclose the precise amount being donated, saying only that it was “five figures.” The university disclosed that the amount was $50,000.” —

Maker of sex toys and porn is now a U donor | StarTribune.com

Adam and Eve, one of the oldest, continuously running porn/adult toy purveyor donated $50k to University of Minnesota Medical School to fund a sexual health education faculty position.

Maybe if more porn purveyors openly funded sex education and safe sex initiatives, Americans would feel differently about sex and porn? In these times, who’s to turn away funding? I’d love it if the porn industry gave moral puritans a reason not to say porn is a corrupting force in society.

Aug 22, 20114 notes

#adam and eve #porn #sex education #university of minnesota

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Aug 21, 20116 notes

#jane feltes #jane marie #elizabeth taylor #beauty #makeup #hair

“When I was first divorced, I started dating younger women, and it was really exciting. But after a while I was like, This is just dumb. You date someone younger and it’s…limited. There’s no future in it. And as far as just going out and getting laid, that kinda got tired for me very quickly. It’s just—it’s very intimate. You’re letting her right into the middle of your life. You see someone and you’re like, She’s really hot, I want to be naked with her. And then you’re naked with her and you’re like, Jesus, she’s in my fucking room and we’re naked. The idea of that—of just fucking somebody—became silly to me.” —

Louis C.K. Interview and Profile in GQ’s August 2011 Story: Movies TV: GQ

The grown-up way to go at it is out of town, in a hotel room, I think. (Say the “out of town, in a hotel room” like you’re hazarding a guess in a game of Clue.) Eliminate the possibility of douche chills induced by your (or your hot naked person’s) embarrassing tchotchkes, family photos, and general household mess. Fuck in a place of residence only after you’re familiar with each other’s deep dark secrets.

I’ve never been married, never been divorced—and yet why does this divorced guy’s dismal view of adult human exchange resonate so much? As always, so much good in this Louis CK profile.

Aug 20, 20117 notes

#louis ck #comedy #fucking #sex #intimacy

“If I send you a text and you don’t respond and then I see you tweet something or post something on Facebook, I know that you are straight up ignoring me.” —

Master the Delicate Art of Social Media Etiquette: Details

OH GOODNESS, I FEEL THIS. Friends, I do totally think you’re a shithead if you don’t answer my txt question but I see your inane twattling. Isn’t texting above social networking sites in the hierarchy of personal connections? Why are you in my phone’s contact list if you prioritize your imaginary online so-called friends? PAY ATTENTION TO ME!

Comedian Nick Kroll wrote this list and I think you should read it like I nailed it to your virtual front door like Martin Luther (yeah, the OG not Junior) did with his 95 Theses.

Aug 19, 20111 note

#social media #texting #human nature #relationships #friendship #etiquette

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Aug 19, 20112 notes

#os mutantes #music #baby #tropicalia #tropicalismo #psych rock #1960s

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Aug 18, 20114 notes

#dogs #animals #aminals #pets #la petit mort #playing possum #faking death

“

We have the first major bidding war of the season — I hear ABC, NBC and Fox are in pursuit of Imagine TV/20th Century Fox TV’s untitled Sarah Silverman comedy co-written by and starring the irreverent comedian, with at least 2 networks, ABC and NBC, offering major commitments.

***
Very rarely has [Ron] Howard taken personal interest in a TV project, becoming deeply invested in its development as was the case with Imagine TV’s Emmy-winning Arrested Development.

” —

Sarah Silverman’s Comedy Project Sparks Major Bidding War, Ron Howard On Board – Deadline.com

I have low expectations knowing network primetime just cannot be as edgy as cable. But go, Silverman! Push the boundaries of comfort and good taste. Seeing mainstream America squirm is the best entertainment for people like us.

Aug 18, 20112 notes

#sarah silverman #comedy #television #women

Aug 17, 20116 notes

#jim reid #jesus and mary chain #music

“

Drawing on his knowledge of police procedure, gleaned from his time as an informer for law enforcement, he accomplished what prosecutors in New York called one of the most elaborate framing plots that they had ever seen.

One night, Ms. Sumasar was pulled over by the police. Before she could speak, detectives slapped handcuffs on her. “You know you did it,” she said one later shouted at her. “Just admit it.”

” —

A Revenge Plot So Intricate, the Prosecutors Were Pawns - NYTimes.com

This is simultaneously scary and delightful. Truth? If a hot guy executed such a fucked up, elaborate plot it would make me swoon. But I’d just admire from afar because no one needs this kind of shit in their lives.

Seriously, read the whole article. Hollywood will come a-knocking and turn this into an insipid erotic thriller.

Aug 16, 20118 notes

#true crime #crime #wtf #new york #crazies #relationships

Aug 15, 20115 notes

#fashion #chanel #zebra print

“Are you the Che Guevara of gurgitation or the Kenny Powers of power eating?” I asked him. He paused, then laughed: “I am both!” —

The Lonesome Independence Day Of Kobayashi, Eater In Exile

Good question. You learn almost nothing about Takeru Kobayashi in this piece that you didn’t already know. A mercurial character, you want to know more.

Aug 14, 201110 notes

#takeru kobayashi #coney island #nathan's #hot dog eating contest #eating #competitive eating #food #hot dogs

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Aug 14, 20112 notes

#the shining #stanley kubrick #vivian kubrick #movies #film #cinema #documentary

Aug 13, 20119 notes

#daphne guinness #amanda harlech #fashion #karl lagerfeld #heiresses #heiress #guinness

Aug 12, 201124 notes

#honey #bees #honeybees

“

According to Nectar, the discerning and liberal media consumer prefers: ginger and chocolate cookies; amaretti; shortbread; butter thins, and almond florentines. By contrast, Daily Mail readers’ best-loved biscuits include the garibaldi – named after Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi – followed by thin arrowroots, ginger crunches, chocolate wafers and rich teas.

“Tabloid readers love pink wafers” would make a good headline – especially as it’s true. The Nectar data shows that Sun readers put pink wafers in top spot, with chocolate wafers also drifting into number five on their list. Readers of the Independent have coconut creams as their biscuit of choice, while readers of The Scotsman unsurprisingly put shortbread at number one – closely followed by oat biscuits.

” —

Crumbs! Sun readers love pink wafers: our biscuit secrets revealed | Money | guardian.co.uk

I would love the same cookie habit breakdown of America by media consumption. Would choices be this divided like the UK or would everyone put Oreos and Thin Mints at the top?

Aug 11, 20112 notes

#cookies #biscuits #media #news #politics #uk

Aug 10, 20112 notes

#alec baldwin #sarah silverman #comedy #twitter #social media #social networking'

“As Chandler residents Joshua Seto, 27, and his fiancée, Cara Christopher, walked over to a Fry’s Food Store for refreshments, he tried securing her pink handgun in the front waistband of his pants. The gun fired, striking Seto’s penis and continuing through his left thigh. The bleeding started immediately and was heavy, according to police dispatch recordings released Sunday.” —

Police urge holster use after man shoots his own penis

Pink gun fells pink gun. Second Amendment means your gun always must be loaded and the safety must always be off? We laugh at idiots like these, but there are people who die from dumb gun handling.

Aug 9, 20118 notes

#gun #gun rights #second amendment #pink gun

“

Mailer built several variants of the orgone accumulator in his barn in Connecticut. One was carpet-lined so that he could scream his lungs out inside, as he combined Reich’s ideas with Janov’s primal scream therapy; others were built like huge dinosaur eggs so that he could roll about inside them. “They were beautifully finished,” remembered Mailer’s friend, the theatre producer Lewis Allen, “and there was a big one that opened like an Easter egg. He climbed inside and closed the top …”

Just before he died, Mailer spoke to me about the direct influence Reich had on his thinking: “The Function of the Orgasm was like a Pandora’s box to me,” he said. “It opened a great deal because I had – to speak personally – I’d been struck with an itch in my own orgasm. So much was good in it; so much was not good in it. And his notion that the orgasm in a certain sense was the essence of the character, which came out and was expressed in the orgasm, gave me much food for thought over the years. So there were many years when I felt that, to a degree, when your orgasm was improving, you were improving with it

” —

Wilhelm Reich: the man who invented free love | Books | The Guardian

Norman Mailer on Wilhelm Reich.

Wilhelm Reich coined the phrase “sexual revolution” and he invented the orgone accumulator, which was parodied as the orgasmatron by Woody Allen. He was persecuted by the Nazis who burned his published work. He ended up in America, where his work was also burned by the government who accused him of being a quack. Reich died in jail, having been sentenced to prison for selling and promoting the orgone accumulator as having health benefits that weren’t proven.

Aug 9, 20115 notes

#wilhelm reich #norman mailer #orgone accumulator #orgasmatron #orgasms #orgasm #sex #sexual revolution

“Even though many more doctors are comfortable with the IUD, a generation of doctors didn’t get practice inserting it. And if they don’t know how to put one in, they’re less likely to recommend it as an option. Also, the devices are expensive—the ParaGard costs $500, the Mirena $850. “It’s absolute highway robbery that these companies charge so much,” Espey says. “If you went to Home Depot and got the raw materials for a copper IUD, it would cost less than 5 cents.” And the hormones don’t contribute much more to the cost, she adds.” —

Contraceptive Comeback: The Maligned IUD Gets a Second Chance | Magazine

Why the IUD gets a bad rep, from cost to infections to insertion procedures. It’s true: I hear so many friend of a friend stories about perforated uterus or migrated IUD, but no one has told me a positive story. With birth control, friend or FOAF anecdotes influence a woman’s choice. IUD advocates need to tap into this and spread positive stories if they want the devices to catch on.

Aug 8, 20115 notes

#birth control #iud #reproductive issues #women's issues

Aug 7, 201120 notes

#wildebeest #animals #africa #mara triangle #death

Aug 6, 20118 notes

#women #women's issues #body image #lingerie #sizing #fashion #modeling

“

A woman seeking an abortion via telemedicine has an ultrasound performed by a trained technician, receives information about medical abortion and signs a standard informed consent for the abortion.

Once that is complete, a physician steps in via teleconference. The doctor reviews the woman’s medical history and ultrasound images, and once it is determined that she is eligible — up to nine weeks pregnant and not an ectopic pregnancy — she has time to ask questions.

Then, the doctor enters a computer passcode to remotely open a drawer at the clinic containing two pills. She then swallows the mifepristone, under the doctor’s supervision, and then is instructed to take four additional tablets of misoprostol within the next 24 to 48 hours. The actual abortion happens at home.

” —

Iowa Study Shows Telemedicine in Abortion Is Safe, Gives More Women Access - ABC News

Abortion has come down to this because of lack of abortion providers and lack of access for women in some states with stringent abortion laws. Some women may prefer this approach, but the fact that it’s basically forced upon as the only choice in places like Iowa is upsetting.

Choice means being able to get an abortion or deciding to keep the baby. Choice also means having a procedure done by a doctor in a clinic or having a medically-induced abortion in the privacy of one’s own home. Women shouldn’t have to feel like pariahs for making their choice.

Aug 6, 2011131 notes

#abortion #reproductive rights #women's issues #women's rights

Aug 5, 2011

#leopard #india #animals

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Aug 5, 201132 notes

#louis ck #louie #pamela adlon #television

Aug 4, 20111 note

#karl lagerfeld #fashion #celebrity #fred armisen #mummar gaddafi

“

But soon after eating a few samosas, some in the group grew concerned the pastries might contain meat. According to the decision, the restaurant eventually acknowledged it had confused the order with one for meat-filled samosas and gave the group the non-vegetarian pastries.

The diners sued in Superior Court, alleging negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, consumer fraud, products liability and breach of express warranty. But the judge dismissed the allegations last year, and the diners appealed.

” —

Edison restaurant can be sued after unknowingly serving meat to devout Hindu customers, appellate court rules | NJ.com

Restaurant mistakenly catered meat samosas to Hindus, who sued and were awarded what they wanted: a 30-day trip to India for a purification ceremony in the Ganges. The judge threw out the case, but on appeal, it was decided in favor of the samosa-eaters.

One errant meat samosa turns the wheels of justice. Someone needs to make a documentary about this case and the subsequent trip to the Ganges if it happens. Say, wouldn’t selling the movie rights to this story perhaps net more money to float the India trip and a boatload of veggie samosas?

Aug 4, 201113 notes

#samosa #indian food #hindu #hinduism #food #eating #vegetarianism #civil law

Aug 3, 20113 notes

#leopard #india #animals

“

If we had not been dating before then, if he were just another faculty member and this happened, I might have said, “I’m sorry, I’m out of here” and just left. But because this was someone I was growing to like a lot, I thought that I had to figure this out. So I kept at it. I fought back, and ended up having a huge argument with him. I don’t think we’ve ever had an argument quite like that since then.

I feared that if the study went on, he would become someone I no longer cared for, no longer loved, no longer respected. It’s an interesting question: Suppose he kept going, what would I have done? I honestly don’t know.

” —

STANFORD Magazine: July/August 2011 > Features > Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford alumni magazine of all publications has a must-read piece on the Stanford Prison Experiment, in which they interview researchers, guards and inmates after 40 years. While everyone’s takes are compelling, Christina Maslach stands out from others. She is the then-girlfriend and now-wife of Phil Zimbardo, the principal faculty for the experiment. She is also credited as the person who stopped the experiment.

What caught my attention about her take is that, in simplistic terms, she shut down the experiment so she wouldn’t have to break up with Zimbardo. Sure, the ethical issues struck her as well, but it seems the possible impact to her romantic relationship with Zimbardo was quite moving for her. I can absolutely understand the fear that sets in when you start liking someone; the fear of being disappointed or hurt or betrayed. Seeing someone you like acting cruelly or condoning cruelty toward helpless persons can be, for the most part, in layman’s terms, a bonerkiller and a dealbreaker. It just feels strange that an emotion I can totally relate to is what put the kibosh on the Stanford Prison Experiment.

I wonder what it must be like to date (and marry) one of the foremost experts in psychology—like dating Hannibal Lecter without romantic dinners of a census taker’s liver with fava beans? I just hope the sex is really, really good to match any mindfuck you get.

Trivia: I’ve been hypnotized by Zimbardo in a mass hypnosis demonstration in a full lecture hall. Also, Zimbardo looks very Luciferish.

Aug 2, 20113 notes

#stanford prison experiment #philip zimbardo #christina maslach #psychology #torture #dating #relationships

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Aug 1, 20112 notes

#the jesus and mary chain #trip you up #music #1980s

Aug 1, 201113 notes

#stanford prison experiment #psychology #stanford #prison #torture #abu ghraib