maybe they thought it was an animated movie
Question of the day: how do you get Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes, Ricky Gervais, Peter O’Toole, Ian McKellen, and Robert DeNiro to star in a fantasy movie based on a Neil Gaiman novel?
Archive for April, 2007
next steps
NY Times Select: The Graduates Blog. The Times gathered a panel of graduating college seniors and gave them a nytimes-sanctioned web space on which to muse. The wavering of 20-somethings is a bit hard to stomach. Why do young people spend so much time worrying about “finding themselves”? Wasn’t that the point of spending 4 years studying anthropology and building huts in outer Mongolia on spring break?
The obvious solution here is to condense early education. Get the kids into college sooner, so they can do their existential thrashing before they are eighteen. Six years of elementary school is, as a friend once said, much too long to spend learning 4 arithmetic operations and the alphabet.
more real estate
Google Real Estate? Dangerous. Also, since when did Google Maps have 3D building outlines?
kluge > fu
NY Times: Columbia Gets $400 Million Pledge from Kluge for Financial Aid. Boy, that must have been one helluva birthday party we threw him.
suggestions
Are any Selfish readers avid outdoorspeople? I am soliciting suggestions for a hiking trip in August. 7-10 days, preferably in North America or Europe. Considered possibilities: Swiss Alps, Colorado Rockies, Glacier park Canada.
privacy is whee!
NY Mag: Kids, the Internet, and the End of Privacy. Like, totally. Don’t miss the anecdote about Ms. Xiyin Tang (CC ’09), who’s easy enough to find on facebook. And maybe on LJ.
Postscript: I am two months too late to this article. Bwog hit this already.
we’re in barney
Video: Trailer for Oceans 13. I can’t believe Steven Soderbergh has stayed on for all three movies so far.
How to Find an Apartment in NYC
Summer approaches, and with it, the real estate frenzy. The streets of New York will be awash with fresh college graduates, eager to start their careers in the suck. They seek housing, and perhaps so do you.
Selfish Crab has completed three apartment quests, and is often sought for his advice and wisdom in this matter. Truth be told, apartment hunting in NY is a bit like stalking kodiak bears in the wilderness, except that kodiak bears do not try to fuck you with 15% broker’s fees.
After the jump, some Selfish tips. (Note: This guide assumes knowledge of the basics like the “40X salary” rule, guarentors, application fees, and the like.)
snap
You may think this is a pseudonym, but history has shown that I am, in fact, a narcissistic, self-absorbed bottom-dwelling crustacean.
they eat poop?
Video: BBC story on the Westboro Baptist Church. Also known as Fred Phelps’ church that pickets soldiers’ funerals. Warning: hateful language.
Boy, the existence of such people is thought-provoking. What remedy for someone that lives outside the limits of good taste and courtesy and reasonableness?
endorsement
Okay, sometimes xkcd speaks to my soul and I am floored when stories are told as if drawn directly from my own experiences. Today is one of those days. (see also). Are these universal nerd experiences?
I whole-heartedly endorse XKCD. The art may seem basic, but the artist’s use of space and time on the page is surprisingly sophisticated, as seen here. Don’t miss the mouseover text bonus.
dsa site in the Times!
dumbledore!
Video: Potter Puppet Pals in “The Mysterious Ticking Noise”. Well-done, and catchy. Harry’s urgency also kills me. (via jf/sc)
i am dead to you
April has arrived, and as according to a pre-ordained plan, this author is now on social lockdown until after final exams. Fun is strictly prohibited; smiles are to be discouraged. This will be a teetotaler’s paradise. Dinner is limited to 20 minutes. Of course, the author hereby reserves the right to exempt out-of-town friends, as well as emergency stress relief in its many unprintable forms. Blogging, of course, is an unalienable right.
parking
NY Times op-ed: UCLA prof says curbside parking meters are priced too low. The result: people unwilling to give up their juicy spots (like rent-controlled apartments); a significant amount of urban traffic of people just circling the block looking for a spot; unnecessary exhaust/pollution. Seems like a no-brainer. Raise the rate, decrease traffic and pollution, get the city some revenue. If I were president, market inefficiencies would be a thought crime.
afd
You know the Web is maturing when the cheeky April Fool’s Day jokes finally grow stale. Once upon a time, mock press releases for fake mergers were worth a good laugh, but no more.
I was going to do something in this space, but then I had too much fun (read: alcohol) last night while playing charades. You know you’re on a good team when you can act out “Being John Malkovitch” and “Almost Famous.” MVP all around.