randomWalks

Michael Jackson dangles child from hotel window in Berlin.

originally posted by xowie

The Sex Worker Arts Festival is under attack!

originally posted by xowie

In America, you don't have to be a celebrity like Oprah or Rosie or Martha to put out a magazine devoted to your own personal obsessions. Some energetic souls put out several zines. For instance, David Rees of Brooklyn, who chronicled his kung fu training in a zine called My New Fighting Technique Is Unstoppable, later went on to chronicle his job as a filing clerk in a zine called My New Filing Technique Is Unstoppable.

Their instincts as con artists, De Francesco reasoned, may have constituted the strongest inherent qualifications of his actors. One of them, Larry Miller, was asked in a television interview if he had any acting experience. "Other than acting like a damn fool? No," he said.

originally posted by xowie

''I'm not sure it will encourage people to read poetry ... But it does show poetry is moving to a more robust condition in America. It's returning a bit closer to the center of cultural life than it was 15 or 20 years ago.''

originally posted by daiichi

So you know that site Black People Love Us? The New York Times: Black-White Harmony: Are You Kidding Me?

“I think the anonymity of the Internet allows people to discuss issues without self-censoring and that’s politically useful in discussions of race,” said Omar Wasow, the executive director of BlackPlanet.com, the most heavily trafficked African-American Web destination, according to Nielsen NetRatings. Mr. Wasow stopped short of calling the Perettis' project social activism. “This is more to me like a prank,” he said. “A clever, socially engaged prank, but a prank nonetheless.”

http://www.bloggyopinions.com/Archives/boa_11_2002.html#84730645

If odd bits of news information is what you seek — you’ll be easily delighted in this site, but unfortunately there are many sites out there quoting random bits of news, and in no way does Random Walks come out on top.

Cristabel, 17, pulls up her top to show the numbers 'one' and 'eight' tattooed on her midriff, signifying her allegiance to the Calle Dieciocho, the 18th Street gang, named after a Los Angeles street. To enter the gang, she had to be ritually beaten by three of her 'homies' while the gang counted slowly to 18. On her back is a tattooed crucifix and RIP, in memory of her 'homegirl' who was killed by the rival Mara Salvatrucha gang last year. Cristabel's 17-year-old boyfriend, Nelson, has diecocho inscribed on his forehead, making him a walking target. It is ugly, but what is pathetically tragic is that it is spelt incorrectly - the tattooist has left the second 'i' out of dieciocho.

originally posted by daiichi

At the heart of the Crick-Koch hypothesis is a simple idea with vast implications. It is that consciousness, rather than representing some spiritual or God-given quality, is a biological process like digestion or circulation, generated by the activity of neurons in the brain. As he wrote in his 1994 book, "The Astonishing Hypothesis": "You, your joys and your sorrows--your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules."

originally posted by xowie

People who play Scrabble around the kitchen table usually score in the 200s. Good Scrabble players hit scores of 450 or more, said Wapnick, whose top score is 662.

originally posted by daiichi

I just got an email from the e-sheep guy saying:

I’m excited to report my friend Justine Shaw (or, as I like to call her, The Superstar) has just launched Part Two of her epic web comic NOWHERE GIRL. If you haven’t yet read part one of Nowhere Girl, all I can say is: Justine’s work blows E-sheep, and pretty much every other web comic, out of the water. If you have read part one already, I’m certain you’ve clicked through and forgotten all about this email by now :-)

I am not rich, famous or heroic. No one pounds at my door—thank God—asking for either my sperm or my autograph.

originally posted by daiichi

When meta intends to teach us a lesson -- that is, when it's a drag -- it's usually instructing us that we shouldn't confuse fiction with real life.

originally posted by daiichi

The title refers to an incident when Anne was a child. Her brother had waited until the night before a school project on birds was due to start work on it. He sat at the kitchen table, with a blank pad of paper and a pile of bird books, overcome by the immensity of the task. His father sat down, put his arm around him and said, "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird." This has become Lamott's way of tricking herself into writing. She tells herself that she's only required to write a small amount each day, just one "bird." No matter how busy, how distracted, how depressed, how uninspired, surely there's time enough for one measly paragraph or character description or scene outline? Of course, once you sit down to bang out that one small block of text, you end up producing two or three or more. But you always tell yourself you're gonna take it one unintimidating chunk at a time: bird by bird.

Would you even read a review of Guinness without your own preconceptions? When you clicked on the link to read this article, you didn't really click it to find out our opinion of Guinness- you already know that we like it and drink it and that you like it and drink it. Something else brought you here. Perhaps it was interest in the widget... perhaps it was interest in the new draught bottle. Perhaps you were wondering if the correct spelling is draft or draught. Well, let me try to satisfy your interests.

ARE YOU WONDERING...

• What is the best location for viewing the 2002 Leonid meteor shower?
• What night do I need to go out to see the the shower from my hometown?
• How active is the shower expected to be?

originally posted by Ben Fried

Click the strip.

originally posted by xowie

National ID for Philippines?

originally posted by daiichi

THIS IS EARL.
toon by Mr. John Van Vliet.

originally posted by daiichi

At last it happened...my name was called. It was time to be questioned for jury selection. The merry, chubby attorney for the plaintiff asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was a food writer, and that I had just returned from the legendary Peter Luger Steak House...where I had eaten during the lunch break. His mind boggled...I was in like Flynn!

originally posted by daiichi

"I did smoke a joint and I did inhale,'' he said, taking a jab at President Clinton's famous statement. "The bottom line is that's what it was in the '70s, that's what I did. I have never touched it since.''

originally posted by xowie

West Marin women strip for peace.

originally posted by daiichi

After a judge granted him permission to postpone his scheduled testimony until the afternoon, the reclusive pop star arrived at the courthouse without the surgical mask he had worn a day earlier, but carrying a black umbrella.

originally posted by daiichi

HyperDictionary is the only online dictionary I'll ever use from now on. Ever. Ever. See a word, click on it, get information. Isn't that what we were promised? That and flying cars.