Posts Tagged ‘VSL’

Vetting Sarah Palin

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

Soo… hopefully you got a chance to peruse the Times article this morning about some of the recent developments in the McCain camp’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate.  I did. Hilarious.

I’m sure by now we all know that her 17 year old unmarried daughter is preggers (you probably caught that yesterday when CNN dropped its coverage of Hurricaine Gustav and began a full court press on Bristol.  Seems like a bit of an unfair match to me, but what the hell.)  And that Palin’s involved in a lawsuit over the wrongful dismissal of a public safety official who refused to fire her sister’s ex-husband.

But more fun facts came out today!  Like the fact that she has a DUI on her record (although that didn’t stop Bush from getting elected) and that she was once a member of Alaska’s Independence Party — one of whose purposes was to drive Alaskans to vote for secession from the Union ( although once again, Bush’s home state of Texas threatens that all the time).

I have to say the best part of it (imho) is the fact that the McCain people did not even ARRIVE in Alaska to BEGIN their vetting process until last Thursday.  As you know, McCain announced her as his running mate on Friday. So they had less than a day to find all of the dirt on Palin.

Since you can’t find all the dirt there is on a person in less than 24 hours, she now gets to be vetted in real time.  By everyone, including the Democrats, CNN, NYT, AP… you get the idea.

What a delicious mess.

Perhaps the Republicans should do a little bit of catch up on SP by taking the time to read her blog, PalinDrome (actually a clever work of fiction, but then there’s already a lot of that in McCain’s campaign so I’m not sure anyone would notice the difference.  Take, for example, their preemptive edits of her Wikipedia page).

All ranting asside, you should check out PalinDrome if you get a chance.  It’s really funny.

Thanks for the link, VSL.  You’re my cocaine.

A Good Book?

Friday, August 15th, 2008

Ok.  I know.  This shouldn’t be my own personal reading list — I don’t want this blog to turn into an interminable list of ‘The Books Jeff Wants to Read But Probably Won’t Get Around To For Like 5 Years’ … but if this blog were to turn into such a list, this book would be it.  Sounds cool:

The Amnesiac by Sam Taylor

You can read more about it on VSL

Parallel Universe Film Guide

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

I saw this on VSL yesterday and didn’t get a chance to fully appreciate it until today.  Wow.  So this guy Spencer Green basically created a satire of the entire movie industry by making a wikipedia based parallel universe of sites like IMDB.

The result is hilarious.  Check it out.

Parallel Universe Film Guide

The Parallel Universe Film Guide

It’s fast becoming one of my favorite pastimes at work to browse through this and see if I can figure out which real movie they’re mocking (although films like ‘Big Ass Monkey’ and ‘Ow, That Shark Bites’ are pretty straightforward).

What’s also amazing is how insanely intricate the site is.  Stars and directors are cross-referenced.  Plot descriptions, movie quotes and fun facts are fully fleshed out.   This whole thing is slowly becoming its own comic book universe.

Mind-Bending Photography From Lei Wei

Sunday, July 27th, 2008

Wow.  This guy’s photos are amazing.  And according to the artist, none of his photos are photoshopped — all are done using wires, mirrors, scaffolding and brute force.

'Love at the high place 1' by Lei Wei

'Love at the high place 1' by Lei Wei

You can see more of his photos on liweiart.com

And read more about him on VSL and Hemmy.net

via VSL

Phone Sex Operators by Phillip Toledano

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Ok.  So I realize this is a little racier than the stuff I usually post, but I’m going to try to move past my puritanical upbringing for just a sec.

Photographer Phillip Toledano interviewed and photographed a whole gaggle of phone sex operators for his new book Phone Sex (out July 2008).  The photos are beautifully composed and, as you might have guessed, confirm that the average phone sex operator may not look they way they would in your imagination.

A gallery of interview and photo excerpts is up on The Morning News.  Definitely worth a look-see :)

Photo by Phillip Toledano

Thanks to VSL for the link.

Guess the Guest: Salvador Dali?

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

This is one of my favorite vids of late: Salvador Dali on the game show ‘What’s My Line?’

Read the full story on Very Short List

Alison, from Birth

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

I’m not sure why, but I find these long-term photo projects really mind-blowing.  This one is from Jack Radcliffe who started taking pictures of his daughter Alison when she was born — and hasn’t stopped.  What’s amazing, besides the fact that he’s a great photographer with a really keen eye, is that the shots are so natural and candid.

Photo by Jack Radcliffe

View the project.

Read all about it on VSL