hilkoblok.com

"The more I believe in something, and the more I take something other than me seriously, the less..."

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:39:33 +0200

““The more I believe in something, and the more I take something other than me seriously, the less bored I am, the less self-hating. I get less scared.””

- David Foster Wallace

o hai

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:39:37 +0200

o hai

World War II was full of plot-holes

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:29:16 +0200

I think the worst offender here is the History Channel and all their programs on the so-called “World War II”.

Let’s start with the bad guys. Battalions of stormtroopers dressed in all black, check. Secret police, check. Determination to brutally kill everyone who doesn’t look like them, check. Leader with a tiny villain mustache and a tendency to go into apopleptic rage when he doesn’t get his way, check. All this from a country that was ordinary, believable, and dare I say it sometimes even sympathetic in previous seasons.

Hilarious!

livejournal.com

Temper (via xkcd)

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:46:33 +0200

Temper (via xkcd)

World Cup

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:13:00 +0200

World Cup

Haters gonna hate

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 02:23:41 +0200

Haters gonna hate

DERP DERP FOOTBALL DERP

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:06:34 +0200

DERP DERP FOOTBALL DERP

How Soon Is Now - t.A.T.u. A surprisingly good cover of The...

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:09:08 +0200

How Soon Is Now - t.A.T.u.

A surprisingly good cover of The Smiths’ classic by the teenage lesbian-but-not-really Russian pop duo. Morrissey approves!

Interviewer: Did you hear Tatu’s version of ‘How Soon Is Now’?

Morrissey: Yes, it was magnificent. Absolutely. Again, I don’t know much about them.

Interviewer: They’re the teenage Russian lesbians.

Morrissey: Well, aren’t we all?

Jenny - Flight of the Conchords Old for many, new to me.

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:35:51 +0200

Jenny - Flight of the Conchords

Old for many, new to me.

Best sentence of the year contender

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:00:00 +0200

“A German student “mooned” a group of Hell’s Angels and hurled a puppy at them before escaping on a stolen bulldozer, police have said.”

"The England team visited an orphanage in Cape Town today. “It’s heartbreaking to see..."

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:13:19 +0200

“The England team visited an orphanage in Cape Town today. “It’s heartbreaking to see their sad little faces with no hope” said Jamal aged 6.”

Vuvuzela Concerto in B Flat

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:47:27 +0200

Vuvuzela Concerto in B Flat

"Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with..."

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:08:49 +0200

“Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day.”

- Bertrand Russell

Vuvuzela Instruction Manual

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:00:00 +0200

Vuvuzela Instruction Manual

"I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men..."

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:00:00 +0200

“I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the Bank. … You are a den of vipers and thieves.”

- Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the USA (1834), on the notion that banks privatize profits and socialize losses.

What happens when BP spills coffee

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:27:08 +0200

What happens when BP spills coffee

Breadcrumb death-cam

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:54:31 +0200

Breadcrumb death-cam

Ask Culture meets Guess Culture

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:40:04 +0200

In a great web posting a certain someone nicknamed ‘tangerine’ exposes a very common - and recognizable - source of conflict: Askers and Guessers.

In some families, you grow up with the expectation that it’s OK to ask for anything at all, but you gotta realize you might get no for an answer. This is Ask Culture.

In Guess Culture, you avoid putting a request into words unless you’re pretty sure the answer will be yes. Guess Culture depends on a tight net of shared expectations. A key skill is putting out delicate feelers. If you do this with enough subtlety, you won’t even have to make the request directly; you’ll get an offer. Even then, the offer may be genuine or pro forma; it takes yet more skill and delicacy to discern whether you should accept.

All kinds of problems spring up around the edges. If you’re a Guess Culture person, then unwelcome requests from Ask Culture people seem presumptuous and out of line, and you’re likely to feel angry, uncomfortable, and manipulated.

If you’re an Ask Culture person, Guess Culture behavior can seem incomprehensible, inconsistent, and rife with passive aggression.

and, most importantly:

Thing is, Guess behaviors only work among a subset of other Guess people — ones who share a fairly specific set of expectations and signalling techniques. The farther you get from your own family and friends and subculture, the more you’ll have to embrace Ask behavior. Otherwise you’ll spend your life in a cloud of mild outrage at (pace Moomin fans) the Cluelessness of Everyone.

I vaguely recall there being some scientific term for these two characteristics, but I don’t remember.

Clarke & Dawe (of “The front fell off” fame) on...

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:44:00 +0200

Clarke & Dawe (of “The front fell off” fame) on the US oil spill

Watch it, then watch The front fell off.

A young Feynman on the scientific method

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:00:00 +0200

A young Feynman on the scientific method