http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kniMjb–Ids&feature=youtu.be
But wait—there’s more…
If you thought Jackson Pollock’s painting technique was simply a matter of him “wiggling his hand in a sinusoidal way,” well…you’re wrong.
It’s hard to look at this without remembering John Derbyshire’s observation that “stereotypes are, in fact, merely one aspect of the mind’s ability to make generalizations, without which science and mathematics, not to mention much of everyday life, would be impossible.”
Check out a larger version here.
If you’re looking for a job, EWU has an opening for a GetLit! Festival Program Coordinator. You’ll need a bachelor’s degree, of course—because clearly you can’t coordinate a festival without having attended four-plus years of college (for which EWU, one of the more affordable options, charges over $6,000 a year for tuition alone).
Oh, and your degree can be in “any field.” Like, say, dental hygiene. Or gender studies. Or music.
I thought of this as I read an exchange between an adjunct philosophy instructor in New York and a person who writes college papers for money.
I think that the system, grading in general, grading as a gold standard of employability, college as the necessary step between high school and employment, all of these things alone aren’t necessarily wrong. But when you get them all together in this network, and college is going to define your future…you need that paper that says, “Diploma,” which means you need to pass. That’s all that matters.
By the way, the University of Washington will be raising tuition 20% next year.
You won’t find the answer at the last word. Instead, shoot on over to the Scientific American’s Guest Blog to see how Nobel laureates turn a phrase. Like this one, from biological researcher Elizabeth Blackburn:
The results described in this paper show that at each end of the palindromic, extra-chromosomal rDNA molecules there is a tandemly repeating hexanucleotide sequence.
That there’s some writin’.
I’d have bet money that Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” would easily destroy the competition, but apparently science has confirmed that the most annoying sound ever is…whining. Remarkably, the Boys from New Jersey couldn’t even crack the top 10.
I spent last Friday checking out a small portion of the Columbia Plateau Trail with my son Jake.
From the Cheney trailhead, we walked to Turnbull NWR, where we watched and listened to what must have been about 20,000 species of birds, give or take a thousand.
It’s a well-maintained trail system, with multiple entry points, clean restrooms, water stations, and easy access for all manner of people. And, of course, signs like this:
Regular readers of the last word will no doubt recognize the comma splice, which we’ve covered here, here, and, most recently, here.
Am I surprised? Not really. It’s stuff like this—from no less an authority than the state government, presumably—that perpetuates illiteracy. What really boggles the mind is that at no point during the process of writing, designing, fabricating, and installing these signs did someone stop, scratch his head, and say, “Wait a sec—that’s not right.”
C’mon, Washington State Parks. You’re better than this. Aren’t you?
Johann Hari has some thoughts on e-readers that we hadn’t considered in our June 14 post.
He’s not opposed to e-books in principal. But the more they’re capable of doing, he says, the less they’re able to preserve those aspects of dead-tree books that we actually need.
“The object needs to remain dull,” Hari writes, “so the words – offering you the most electric sensation of all: insight into another person’s internal life – can sing.”
Sounds downright reactionary.
Fancy the good old days when the swastika didn‘t symbolize a murderous regime? Looking forward to joining others in welcoming the return of our alien-scientist creators?
World Swastika Rehabilitation Day (WOSRED) will be celebrated on June 26 through marches and informative events worldwide, according to a statement released this morning by the International Raelian Movement (IRM).
Nearly twenty cities—Vancouver, BC among them—are preparing for the “hundreds, or, hopefully, thousands of people” arriving to participate in marches and informative events.
“The goal is to return the swastika’s true meaning of peace and harmony to this ancient symbol regretfully hijacked by the Nazis,” said Brigitte Boisselier, Ph.D., IRM spokesperson.
You don’t say? And where did this ancient symbol come from, Brigitte?
“It’s part of the symbol given to us by the human scientists from another planet who created us, the Elohim – those who are at the origin of all religions.…Already in 1973, the Elohim were telling us that there is no beginning to an infinite universe, and this concept of infinity is essential to grasp before we can continue to advance scientifically from where we are now. By promoting the swastika, we’re actually helping the world scientists who have a few minutes to share with us. They need to make this major paradigm shift to progress!”
Just a couple of days ago, I wrote about my daughter Haley’s quest to get into a prestigious design school and some of the entrance challenges facing aspiring designers these days—as compared to my own experience back in the Dark Ages. I left off with “Drum roll, please…” since her acceptance had not yet been determined.
Today, she received the final answer: “Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the UW Division of Design.”
This, my friends, is what happens when you leave a trombone player unsupervised for a couple of weeks.
It’s probably a good idea I’m not smart enough to engineer one of these things. Otherwise, the entire string section from the EWU Symphony Orchestra circa 1985–89 might not be with us today.
Life was really simpler when I attended college.
I remember casually taking the SAT test one Saturday in high school, but I couldn’t possibly tell you the results (nor do I want to know). These days, GPA, SAT/ACT scores, AP courses – not to mention how much you help the poor – are all measures pored over by college admissions.
What happened to the days when attending design school was simply a matter of enrolling? As if a diploma and filling out a registration form didn’t demonstrate a real passion for a life-long career.
For my oldest daughter, Haley, who also has an interest in my profession, it’s something like being a contestant on American Idol: do or die. This past Tuesday, she attended an all-day tryout for future graphic designers (or, as it’s called these days, “visual communication design”) at the University of Washington.
Over 130 kids where there, vying for 42 spots. Bring your portfolio, they were told. Demonstrate your creative thinking with two live assignments that would make most professionals more than a little nervous, and make sure your resume and a letter of intention are free from typos.
A week will pass before Haley knows whether the design professors are more like Simon Cowell or Jennifer Lopez. And since they only encourage freshman to apply, don’t bother applying next year if you don’t make it. You only get one chance.
Jeez. And I thought some of my professors were tough when their critique was less than enthusiastic about one of my lame design solutions.
Nothing to do now but wait. Drum roll, please…
There are a number of two-word phrases that, when combined into one word, cause a shift in grammatical function. For example, set up is a verbal phrase; setup is a noun. Likewise login, a noun (or, in some cases, an adjective), becomes a verbal phrase when written thus: log in.
I bring this up because a depressingly large number of people seem to confuse everyday with every day.
The former is principally an adjective, as in “I need a suit for everyday wear.” The latter is an adverbial phrase: “I smoke three packs of cigarettes every day.”
To demonstrate the difference, here’s Big Joe Turner with Pee Wee Crayton and Sonny Stitt:
[audio:https://helveticka.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/04-Every-Day-I-Have-the-Blues.mp3|titles=04 Every Day I Have the Blues]“The only way to write is well,” said A. J. Liebling, “and how you do it is your own damn business.” He’s right, of course. Which means Stanley Fish is wrong. Joseph Epstein explains.
The Washington Post celebrates the 25th anniversary of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with a list of 25 Bueller-related contributions to pop culture.
Germany has Bach; Austria has Mozart, Britain has Elgar. And Norway? Why, black metal, of course.
Finally, Kuriositas takes a look at John Heartfield’s anti-Nazi photomontages.