RelentlesslyOptimistic

Another reason not to drink and drive

Some people have no sense of humor: the creator was charged with a misdemeanor for destruction of $360 worth of orange barrels. Heck, I bet someone would pay more than that for this sculpture.

Via jwz.

Don’t Wanna Be Obama’s Elf

This very short and fun video is another bit of fun from the wonderful Art of Obama site.

Portland Plastic Pony Public Art

In some of the older commercial and residential parts of Portland, Oregon there are rings embedded into curbs from the time when people needed to tie up their horses. A local artist, Scott Wayne Indiana, started tying small plastic horses to the rings to remind people of the City's history (and for amusement, I presume). He was soon joined by others who formed the horse project. 

The site has many more pictures, stories, and instructions on fastening horses to the rings. I only wish we had rings in the curbs in Kansas City. Well, that and that Scott and friends had liked alliteration as much as I do.

"I’m Scheherezade: If I don’t tell stories that fascinate the Pasha, he will kill me in the morning.”

The woman in the bathing suit below is 60 years old, has a BA in Cultural Anthropology, a husband of 25 years and a son who's a 4.0 college student. The title above was something she said about her job answering calls for a 900-number phone sex line in Phillip Toledano's new book Phone Sex.

She's one of the fascinating people the author interviews about their jobs talking to people who call phone sex lines. The book's site includes excerpts and stunning portraits of eight of the operators.

From The Morning News via The Triumph of Bullshit

Veteran's Day

Lines for an Interment, Archibald MacLeish

Now it is fifteen years you have lain in the meadow:
The boards at your face have gone through: the earth is
Packed down and the sound of the rain is fainter:
The roots of the first grass are dead.

It's a long time to lie in the earth with your honor:
The world, Soldier, the world has been moving on.

The girls wouldn't look at you twice in the cloth cap:
Six years old they were when it happened:

It bores them even in books: "Soissons besieged!"
As for the gents, they have joined the American Legion:

Belts and a brass band and the ladies' auxiliaries:
The Californians march in the OD silk.

We are all acting again like civilized beings:
People mention it at tea ...

The Facts of Life we have learned are Economic:
You were deceived by the detonations of bombs:

You thought of courage and death when you thought of warfare.
Hadn't they taught you the fine words were unfortunate?

Now that we understand we judge without bias:
We feel of course for those who had to die:

Women have written us novels of great passion
Proving the useless death of the dead was a tragedy.

Nevertheless it is foolish to chew gall:
The foremost writers on both sides have apologized:

The Germans are back in the Midi with cropped hair:
The English are drinking the better beer in Bavaria.

You can rest now in the rain in the Belgian meadow --
Now that it's all explained and forgotten:
Now that the earth is hard and the wood rots:

Now you are dead ...

Beast Treaties

"They were a pestilence, coming upon us in so many ways- with guns, knives drawn behind empty handshakes, bringing sickness and fire. No matter how many we killed, no matter how firmly we stood, they just kept coming. It was we who saw our numbers dwindling, our villages emptied or turned to ash. The death and desecration and misery was beyond what our gods had prepared us for. There were no ancestral stories to tell in the night which were more brutal than what we’d seen in the day, and so there was no wisdom to draw on… no comfort. In the end, staring at their piece of paper, the one they said would make it all stop, I took the pen and did the only thing left for me to do- I drew a tiny little elk’s head."

 

This fascinating post at The Nonist covers a little of the history with a lot of images of the totemic drawings Native Americans used when they signed treaties, and why reproductions of the treaties often show only an "X" in place of the original drawings.

American Clown: Athletic Dance for Men or Boys

One of those tasks that I've been meaning to get to for awhile now is to add Bibliodyssey to my Blogroll. PK, the creator of the blog, posts images from old manuscripts from libraries around the world, which sounds far less fascinating than it actually is.

I couldn't resist this image out of the July 26th entry, which is from the1916 American Clown booklet of the title, part of a series of "Illustrated Athletic Dances for Boys and Girls" by the Athletic Dance Press of Milwaukee. The American Clown Dance is written for men and boys, so if girls take part the booklet instructs that "the leap frog and roll may be eliminated" and offers a substitute step appropriate for girls.

The Athletic Dance Press also published "Alabama Scare Crow: Eccentric Novelty Dance for Boys or Girls," "Amazon Triumph: A Spectacular Group Dance for Older Girls," and "American Farmer: A Character Dance for Boys or Girls" among many others (that list of titles is from Booknear.com). The American Clown booklet has an order form for those and additional dance booklets on page 11.

Other Bibliodyssey posts include images from old medical journals (the one below is from an Oxford University folio showing the veins, "produced in the late 13th century in England"), astrology, and much more. It's one of those sites you can get lost in for hours, even without following the links to other fascinating sites.

The Shining Cuckoo Clock

Designer Chris Dimino has lots of cool ideas on his site  (check out the Gas Mask) , including this cuckoo clock based on The Shining:

"Every hour Jack breaks through the door...and "Here's Johnny"...is followed by the scream of Shelly Duvall"

Via: Coolest Gadgets

Great photography

I love Amy Stein's photos so much that it was hard to choose only one. Click the photo to see it full size and to see the rest - it's worth it!

Check out her blog, too.

Via swissmiss

"Taxes has dead shark eyes and doesn't even know my name"

One of my favorite blogs for great writing is Erin's Out of Character. Erin is working at tax preparation, which she appears to have enjoyed until this post. As she says:

"At first doing taxes was an energizing change of pace-- like realizing you have a crush on your friend's brother even though he's hunched over and clammy and never talks about anything but Darkon wargaming."

Later, reality sets in:

"Taxes does not give a fuck about me. Taxes rolls his eyes when I "quit" to go to the bathroom and Taxes has made it inordinately clear that an office Happy Hour is never ever going to happen. Taxes has dead shark eyes and doesn't even know my name. Taxes wishes I would leave his house already so he can get back to masturbating to dragon animae."

It's true: Taxes will never love you, or even like you very much. And forget about being comfortable enough to just hang out together. Read the entire post, and add her to your daily reading. Need more? Her About page is a terrifically funny introduction.

Image from Baltimore Aquarium via  McHenry County Blog