GOP?

tancredo says "islamic terrorists now freely roam us soil..."
this commercial kind of makes me think of this super old school ad.

so i just watched the republican cnnyoutube debate, it was pretty disappointing even RP didn't seem to be on his game, but the things that these people say. For a stereotypical look at the candidates responses check out the how many guns do you own question?

something tells me that fred thompson was shit faced at a cocktail party and in a drunken fit managed to string together a very patriotic argument about how much he loved the US and how 'he knows that things could be better and goddammit they should be better'...the women squealed with delight and said 'freddy, you should run for president, your so passionate about america and you know so much about politics, you should just do it you know?' and now that cocktail party is but a distant memory....

subwaysick

on the way home today, i was on the subway sitting down, reading the book heat about an older writer who trains in mario batali's kitchen. its a great book. but on with the story. So I was sitting down reading the book, and then subway got really full and I had to stand up and stop reading my book, after a while I decided, what the hell i will read standing up, and so with my right hand hanging on to the handle and my left hand extended in front of me, i continued to read. and then, all of the sudden, i got subwaysick. yes, i believe its like car sick, but instead of being in a car, your in the subway. I was all woozy and nauseaus and then i realized that I was facing backwards while trying to read and then I was like, damn its hot in here...so I got off at the next station, took off my hat, unbottoned my jacket, and cooled off while i waited for the next train. thankfully, i didnt pass out or vomit on a fellow public transport rider. i'm pretty sure that's an unwritten rule of the public transport code...if one feels sick in public transportation, vomiting in said transport is forbidden.
so then i came home and made a delicious torte alla ele, had some brie, an apple, and learned how to crank that.

i didnt realize soulja boy was so tech savvy...man im outta the loop.

thanksgiving

was a huge success. i cooked a turkey and chaz's buttermilk pie.

the people across the hall

are karaoking. i'm jealous and horrified at the same time.

UPDATE: the karaoking finally stopped, it sounded like a multinational birthday party...all ages.. the only one i could really make out was a howling rendition of no woman no cry.

keep off hipsters

keep off hipsters, originally uploaded by anthonyturducken.

photo from anthonyturducken on flickr. probably taken somewhere in the marigny judging by the house. classicnola.

here are some photos...

of some street art around paris here is a video of JR, the guy who does the faces, read the quick summary of his face2face project on his website. its incredible.

jesus christ...

wow. sometimes you read things and you ask yourself, really...really?! why are you telling me this?
for example, according to this article the tree in rockefeller center is the "greenest" it has ever been. (it seems like every news story lately has something to do with "green" or old people getting a degenerative brain disease and falling in love with someone else.) i sure am glad the tree is going to be extra green this year...meanwhile environmentally destructive behavior takes place all over new york city, the US, and the world. i will admit that having the tree run off of solar panels is a truly legit idea. but it was another quote in the story that just reminded me that we are all part of the mindless mass, or at least thats the way politicos, and the media see us.
-gee whiz, thats a niiiice christmas tree!
-you bet it is, and it runs off of solar power!
-boy! thats good for the environment!
- and how! you know what else, we chopped it down by hand this year, and recycled all of the byproduct from the cutting event!
-you mean you went to all the trouble of driving a huge truck there and back from the forest, cut it down by hand, and recycled the stump and sawdust?? thats green!
-and how!
-but what are you going to do with the tree after christmas??
-dont worry son, after christmas the tree will be “milled and treated and made into lumber to be used by Habitat for Humanity.”
- woah! recycling and the habitat for humanity! thats green AND charitable!
- and how!

do we really have to mill the god damn rockefeller christmas tree? sink that bastard and make a bream bed, mulch it and compost it, let it rot in the forest it came from. they'll probably mill it, load it onto a truck decorated with a wreath made out of branches from the tree and then representatives from new york sports teams (one or two possibly driving the truck, for that down home, roll up your sleeves can-do spirit) will go to the site of the latest natural disaster and rebuild a house using....the same lumber from the rockefeller tree!! how thoughtful.
i guess what i enjoy the most is that instead of thought, money, and energy being directed into longterm projects that actually matter and make a difference, we get this. fuck leaving the lights on, plane flights, water conservation, recycling, eating local, reducing co2 emissions...to hell with it all! why go to all that trouble when you can just create a media event?

fat bastard in suit : arite, so we've got da tree running off of solah powah right, and we cut it by hand right? so when christmas is ova, we donate da tree ta habitat, we got cameras, ill be deh, da maya'll be deh. deh'll show da story during da supa bowl. boom. new york and rockafellah are as green as snot.
intern : damn fat bastard, you sure can manipulate.
fat bastard in suit : and how son, and how.

hip hop schematics

more here.

the bipartisan commission...

does not hear that nolia clap.

It's probably a smart decision too. That way the president's don't have to face a city like new orleans which is representative of the many problems facing our country like racial inequality, the federal govt (and fema's) incompetence and impotence, corruption, coastal erosion and environmental issues. yeah, oxford mississippi is probably better, there the candidates can discuss the finer points of unspoken racism and general obliviousness.

new orleans recovery is grassroots anyway, @#%! them!

still on strike..

still pimpin my bike. im about to go get my bike, I left it locked up the other night at centre george pompidou. my poor bike, sometimes i just have to leave it locked in random places for days at a time. but luckily its brown, rusty, from the seventies, and has a plastic seat (jealous?) so hopefully no one has any desire to steal it.

as far as the strikes are concerned i haven't been to work in three days, i probably could have gone today but that would have entailed waiting god knows how long for a metro only to cram in for the ride, then waiting god knows how long for an RER train, then waiting for another train then walking to school once i got to goussainville. with this in mind, i woke up had some bread, jelly, and nutella, thought about the situation, weighted my options and went back to bed. my body violently rejected the idea of cramming into a train or metro car for 2 plus hours and then walking in the cold. so i guess i support those on strike??

actually, i see the situation as so, the french government wants to change the way the rail workers take retirement. As of now, they have the right to retire a couple of years earlier than most others in the public and private sector. it makes sense right? of course, and now the position of the rail workers: i've had this pension/retirement plan my whole career and now you want to change it, so i have to work LONGER!!!!! naturally, they are upset, voire, pissed. Both sides have promised to stand strong, so we'll see what happens. for now, its me, a rusty peugot, and everyone else in paris on foot, bike, scooter, rollerblades (still sooooo badasss in france btw) and when possible squeezing into a crowded bus, train, or metro.

still on strike...

still pimpin my bike...
here are some cool pictures you guys might enjoy. a couple of them were taken by my friend celine.




these are two pictures from the cooking store e. dehilerrin a really cool cooking store.

the hound

tons of old mp3s blues, rock, folk, country, and doowop.

the hound


rolling stones - stop breaking down
fess longhair - got my mojo workin
slim harpo - tee na nee na nu

and the like...

john protevi rules

7 Hints for success in college

1. Time management: semester chart; weekly planners; daily lists.

2. Body awareness: what combos of food, drink, exercise, sleep, naps, fun work best for you?

3. Emotional support: have a support network; talk about your issues and listen to friends.

4. Know your teachers: stop by office hours; do good work; speak up in class.

5. Join a club or organization: best way to make sure you're not caught in dorm/class/work rut.

6. Minimize your credit load per semester. The world will still be there!

7. Don't obsess about grades. They don't reflect on your worth as a person nor do they have much impact on your future earning capacity or chances for happiness in life!

check out protevi's other bizness

why the hell does putin always look so damn creepy? i mean do you have to take pills, is that just the demeanor you develop knowing that elimination is just a phone call away?? what the hell!?

i came across this with a quick google search. must have for the holiday season?

you know the euro is hot...

when jay-z rocks it in his music video. check it out around the 53 second mark.

if this isnt indication that the dollar is passé, playa what is?

Is anyone else...

tired of the government and presidential candidates using and abusing the media for their own gains?

first, a couple of weeks ago, FEMA stages a fake phone in press conference where the "reporters" that asked the questions were actually FEMA employees. wow. that is hard hitting investigative journalism. its almost as groundbreaking as the "debates" between presidential candidates... the responses to the "questions" (launching points for sound bites to be used later on in the campaign, launching points already decided upon by all candidates) asked by "random people in the audience" (prescreened individuals who represent different facets of america's electorate) The whole reason that i am writing this is that apparently H Clinton's campaign has been trying to "plant" questions by approaching members of the audience to ask questions before the democratic debates.
Returning to the FEMA incident, how dumb do they think we are? And their quotes are terrific " In retrospect, he said, when he realized that no reporters were in the room and it was the agency’s staff that was asking questions, he should have called off the news conference. " No shit man! We get an apology, thats it. Sorry citizens who pay taxes, so my job exists. I was just trying to mess with you guys!!! hahaha! it was all a joke, see? My friends asked me easy questions about disaster response, and then everyone believes we're doing a good job because, no hard questions are asked, and all answers were most likely written ahead of time! Strangely similar to the debates with prescreened questions.
Wouldn't it be great to see some crazed hippy stand up at a debate and ask some off the wall question to the candidates, and watch them squirm and struggle, because for so long, instead of real intellectual response, they read a poll and play mad libs with whats polling strong.

Call me crazy, but out of all the candidates, I like Ron Paul. Why? because i don't think he plays wacky demographic poll mad libs and says what his aids say, the polls say, the people say they want to hear. I think he is extremely intelligent, believes what he says, he's a strong supporter of states rights and wants small government. His plans for shrinking the government may be too radical, but you gotta have that edge, you're gonna want that cowbell.
Paul believes that the federal government should stay out of social issues like abortion and let states decide, which according to the constitution, anything not written in the constitution is to be decided by the states.
I would also like to ad that, even though i really think that RP has a legitimate chance of winning, that he will most likely be sabotaged by the media (just like Howard Dean) by means of a soundbite played ad infinitum on every news, talk, and late night show.



Here is the hillary story.

C'était un rendez-vous

Check this movie out if you've got about 9 and a half minutes to spare. It was filmed in one take one morning in Paris in 1976 with the leftover film from a feature movie being filmed.

C'était un rendez-vous

there are times..

when a picture says it all.





I'm just gonna let that sink in.








Steven C Leblanc passed through Paris on the way back to the US. He should be at Bogie's in about 11 hours according to his calculations. It was really cool getting to see a familiar face in france...(two actually) Anyway, after her got here, we took a bike ride as witnessed here in this stellar photograph.



There were actually european women throwing themselves into the spokes of our bikes and ripping at our clothes, that's the kind of stir that we caused.

The next night we met Caroline's friends and drank and ate, then we went to a lameass irish pub and drank.

tito's energy was at its finest, although his goal of brazen euro-PDA was not met, what's important, perhaps is that it was set. That the idea was conceptualized.



Everyone said goodbye, nice to meet you, à la prochaine, and i set out in search of a bike rental point. i then proceeded to drunkenly walk across 1/5 of Paris and then bike across half of it to my house. blurry shots of things i thought looked cool when i was drunk to follow..

facebook lets people endorse products

Here's the full Story from the NYT


The best part is the quote from Mark Zuckerberg "“Nothing influences a person more than the recommendation of a trusted friend,”

It's completely true, but I just picture him saying it with an evil shit-eating grin.

cheers..

life is a beautifully terrifying thing.
freedom of choice (those my age can agree) is exhilaratingly, terrifying, and exciting. all at once
someone told me "its crazy to think that the world is at my fingertips." and yes, it is crazy, but would you want it any other way? what are you doing with the world at your fingertips?

am i issuing a challenge? to myself? to you, great multitudes of readers? if you and i take it that way, then yes...maybe its just a simple request to stop and see things differently. thats why people like fortune cookies, bible verses, quotations, and proverbs, and latin.

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly."

that damn siddartha...

clarification

just to clear up that last post. i am auditing (sitting in on) some classes here, so that was me, on the way to class, trying to sneak in. the best part was in leaving i turned to talk to someone and my backpack swithced the lights off again. im.so.awkward.

sometimes.

when you're running late for class (not to teach one but to be a student in one) and your checking your watch and your like damn... almost there, but then they make everybody get out of the metro for a technical problem and take the next one, your like 'damn' but its all good you'll only be a little late.. and so you're walking down the hallway to the class.. 'good the door is open, i'll just slide on in, and take that seat right by the door' but instead your backpack hits the lightswitch, turning off all the lights.

hehhhhhhh

above's sign language tour

...........this is an older picture from when the artist ABOVE was in paris. he has been on a long worldwide tour, painting and putting up special signs... check it out.

all songs considered podcast

ive got to give thanks to bob boilen and the all songs considered podcast. wow. a great way to find new music. boilen is the director for the show all things considered and i have found so much cool music from his site, in the past and recently. the show will usually feature reviews of new albums from people you know or perhaps, people you've never heard of, he talks about the band and then plays a song. around once a month or so they record a concert and have that on the podcast. if you go to the link check out jens lekman. he just put out a new album called night falls over kortedala. a great album with some really cool songs. listen to im leaving you because i dont love you anymore, and you will hear the sweet, nerdy sound of an asthma inhaler as part of the beat.
paris is cool, i walked down to the palais de tokyo today, i saw some really cool modern art exhibits. hope everyone enjoyed my drunken post from last night, and i hope everyone had a happy halloween and an even happier, all saints day.

when the saints go marching in

well all hallows eve is the day before all saints day.. the day of the dead. i slept late and ate lunch with the roommates..lucia and janko (pronouced yanko?) scalloped potatoes and sausages on clearance because they were about to expire.
i went to a party tonight at mohini's house, there were four of us teachers and some other friends. i dressed up in an old jacket and tie and some old pants, some sunglasses, i had no idea what i was supposed to be. so i just told people whatever came to mind. i was jacques-didier dubernet, a failed playwright from the 1970s, i was one of the greatest harmonica players in the south, who died young. i was my next door neighbor. you get the idea
one of my friends told me that she didnt really enjoy dressing up because she felt bizarre when she was dressed up. maybe its because we dress up as things we would like to be or as things that possess qualities that we desire? and maybe those who don't enjoy dressing up are too content with who they are...or maybe they don't know how to partake in this strange act of dressing up and becoming another?
I left my house a bit early to go to the party and I can tell you that it was a strange metro ride, seeing as how i didnt see ANYONE else in the subway that was dressed up, the french kept their distance from the cat in the sunglasses and the polyester jacket. but it was cool because i think i was throwing the french people off kilter a bit, its amusing to destabilize the french by doing anything they may find hors du norm. so after i got to the neighborhood where the party was, i realized i was a bit early, so i sat down, and played the harmonica, which i had brought as a potential part of the costume.. i played one of the only songs i knew, a new orleans classic, which, strangely enough was fitting for the holiday, and, after the party, in an inebriated, very content state, i played it all the way home, on the subway and on the street. happy halloween, dont forget the reason for the season. one for the homies, remember those that came before you...ancestor worship...regardless, until next time.