my parents, teachers, and various other faces of authority used to chide me for being an Angry Young Man. They were convinced I would eventually grow out of it, find my place in society, become less angry and become a happy little cog in the machinery.
I might have found my place, and I might be a part of the machine, but I don't tend to feel any less angry. As a matter of fact, I suspect I am rapidly becoming yet another cliché. A Grumpy Old Man.
This isn't really that surprising to me, as a good portion of the people who opened my eyes to the world around me were in fact Grumpy Old Men. People who refused to simply sit by and let everyone else get on with the business of fucking things up. People who used their anger (along with a good portion of love) to fuel their creative engines.
One of these was Kurt Vonnegut. He not only exposed me to some interesting ideas while entertaining me with his stories, he also provided me with one of my favorite expressions for venting my anger. A phrase which has provided a certain amount of comfort and release, even if only used subvocally:
From Slaughterhouse 5:
"Go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut," murmured Paul Lazzaro in his azure nest. "Go take a flying fuck at the moon."
Mr. Vonnegut is now well into his eighties and still rather upset at the world around him. He is still writing, and he is still telling politicians and other less clever individuals to enjoy their donuts.
One of the places he is doing this is on the website for In These Times. You can enjoy a collection of his essays on the state of the asylum and other topical themes there, for free, right now.
Could never really figure out what to do with flags. Some found them to be fabulous fashion accessories, while others found them better for burning. Most of their parents, of course, didn't find either solution acceptable, and preferred their flags flapping in the breeze.
A Brazilian artist named Icaro Doria has found yet another use. As Info graphics. He has reinterpreted flags from around the world into graphical representations of information of national issues. In the US it was support for the war in Iraq. Brazils flag becomes a representation of the distribution of wealth in that country, and the flag of China is about child labor.
is a couple of musicians from Detroit, Michigan. There sound is, shall we say, slightly retro. Well, actually I guess it's VERY retro, but that will probably only bother you if you are old enought to have already been there and done that.
There videos are only a little retro though, and their method of musical distribution is one hundred percent 21st century. They are on the online label Thrill Jockey, one of those new fangled labels that offers 50% profit sharing with the artists and high quality DRM free downloads for the fans.
Thrill Jockey also has the video online for you to see, and that is just what I suggest you do. It's for the Adult Track "In My Nerves" and it's mildly amusing. Especially if you have been a recent victim of painful holiday dinners.
but I don't really like to talk about it that much. Looking is cool. Experiencing it is cool. But talking about it and getting all philomosophical about it just twists me the wrong way.
So I don't have much to say about what you will find at the Lazarus Corporations website other than that it makes me go "Oooh!".
If you absolutely need some words to convince you that its worth checking out, I can give you a quote that someone else wrote about it:
"Psychosexual experimental art extremity from the outer edges of the digital superheadfuck highway. Version 4 of The Lazarus Corporation is here. Go check it before your head dissolves."
Was a webtip once long long ago. It's the follow-up site by the brains behind Sparknotes and Sparkmatch. The Spark was sold to a major corporation and is pretty much stupid now, but OKCupid still has the quirkiness of the original and seems to keep on growing.
One of the best things about the site is its collection of tests. The Slut Test, Political Test and straight up OKCUpid Test should really be taken by everyone. It would be a great way to avoid some problems that usually only show up after ist too late.
Anyway, one of the tests I just discovered is a humor test. A 3d test that parses your score based on 3 axis of measurement rather than just two. More is better I guess.
Whatever.
It's a quick one and the results are written in an entertaining style that make the effort worth while. Even if it only tells you something you knew already. I'm apparently dark, somewhat spontaneous and not very vulgar. That means I can't really get into fart jokes.
Wien | 7.1.2006 | 11:31 
