i'm in new orleans!

it's hot.

I am talking to Carla on the phone!

she's cool.

You guys should hate this (but you probly won't)

I think Hunter and Asher should have a rap battle. Looks like someone's been working on their game...I want to know who makes his beats

Super Slow Motion Jiggly Stuff

Speaks for itself.

4 AM drunk snack, with effort

last night/this morning i created a magical concoction.

to recreate it would be easy and delicious.

i highly recommend you attempt this in your own home.

ingredients

2 slices of your favorite bread

lots of bacon

a generous portion of finely chopped cilantro

1/2 of a sliced tomato

2-3 slices of red onion cut in circular rings

cheddar cheese

mayo & sriracha to taste

1. fry bacon. place cooked pieces on a piece of brown paper or paper towel to absorb extra grease.

2. fry onions in leftover bacon grease. just do it. repeat grease-absorption process.

3. toast bread and melt cheddar on one slice.

4. put bread on plate. add bacon, onion, mayo, tomato slices, and cilantro.

5. add sriracha to your preferred spicy level.

6. cut diagonally.

best enjoyed at a ridiculous hour while intoxicated.

Where is my mind?

Way out, in the water...
see it swimming?

Synaptic Stimuli- oh my.

Jamaica me craayzay

Hot new song with a kickass video...looks like this summer's soundtrack is coming along nicely, considering this amazing mos def/dub remix just dropped, too. The jams are here early, but we're so close I can taste it...

another RECIPE!

tonight we made something we like to call Ghetto Paella. we've made it before in a slightly different incarnation, but that's the beauty of Ghetto Paella: it can really have anything! (as long as it has rice, of course)

GHETTO PAELLA

what you need:

rice (cooked, uncooked, the leftovers from last night's rice 'n beans)

anything else you have around (we had tomatoes and canned green peas, plus some leftover rice that had some black-eyed peas and spinach in it)

other ideas: sausage, hot dogs, peppers, turnips, just about goddamn anything.

1. cook everything up in a big pan on high heat with a lot of oil

2. if needed, add sriracha/lime/coriander/salt/black pepper

3. ENJOY!

The Pace of Progress

Will Rosenfelds Law be enough to save us?
Given we have (max) a century to figure this shit out before we completely cook ourselves, my guess is a cautious maybe...
Why a century, you ask? Physics, I answer:

For every 4Gt Co2 we emit, the atmospheric concentration goes up by about 1ppm. The global economy emits roughly 8Gt/yr. Between 400-550ppm, temperature increases correspond to roughly to 1degree increase/50ppm increase. But above 550ppm, increases can jump to around 1-2degrees/50ppm...so by 650ppm we are committed to over 5degrees average surface temperature increase, at which point Denver will be tropics. (or more probably a desert...)
Most scientists agree that 350ppm is the concentration we need stabilize at in order to preserve the world climate as it is today. But this implies almost zero emissions in the next fifty years...likely? Hmm. No. So lets give it some wiggle room- say 550ppm. (This still commits us to between 2.3-4degrees increase in average temperature- a potentially catastrophic gamble, but one we are well on the path to making) Since C02 hangs around for centuries, to stabalize at 550ppm we can emit no more than 720Gt Co2 EVER. Thats total, for everything society does over the next several thousand years. Given our current and ever-increasing rate of 8Gt/yr, that gives us just 90 short years to stop emitting completely before we cross the 550ppm threshhold, and, well...

OUR FIRST REAL RECIPE POST

ok, so the other day I made a most delightful snack (not for the vegetarians out there, of course) and since we've been talking about posting our recipes up here for so long, I'm going to DO IT. here goes:

BEANS 'N BACON

(Crazy, I know.)

What you need:

can of beans (preferably black)

some bacon (at least 5 pieces)

optional: The Three C's: cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper

1. pour out most of the bean goo and cook in small saucepan, covered, over low heat, for at least 15 minutes. if you'd like, add the three c's. Not too much, just a little. Maybe a little more cumin than the others. (**black beans and cumin go really well together)

2. in the meantime, cut up the bacon into really small pieces, the smallest you can do. (This is before cooking it!)

3. when you're about 10 minutes into the bean cook time, throw them bacon bits into a pan and cook 'em up real nice. Crunch factor is up to you; I prefer them on the chewier side, but to each his own.

4. When the bacon's looking near-done, throw in those yummy, slightly gooey beans. Cook them altogether for a few more minutes, getting that delicious sizzling bacon fat all over the beans.

5. EAT!

(fucking delicious, right?)

WooHOO

Just got this email from MPP:

Dear Gabriel:

Today, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen
certified the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 for the November
ballot. This means that on November 2, Californians will finally be able to vote to end marijuana prohibition.

The groundbreaking initiative would make personal
possession and cultivation of marijuana legal for adults over 21 in
California. It would also allow cash-strapped cities and counties to tax and
regulate marijuana sales in order to reap millions in new tax revenues.

This historic proposition will finally allow California
to move away from the destructive policy of prohibition and toward a
more rational approach to marijuana. With talk of marijuana policy reform
already resonating through the halls of the state capitol, today's
announcement will certainly heat up the debate.

We're looking forward to educating the public about the
benefits of taxing and regulating marijuana in the months leading up
to November - hopefully you are too.

Please show your support by pledging to vote
"yes" on California's Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act on
November 2 by visiting, http://www.taxcannabis.org/page/s/pledge?source=mpp



Thanks for supporting MPP and sensible marijuana policy
in California.

Sincerely,

aaron Smith's signature

F. Aaron Smith
California Policy Director
Marijuana Policy Project

Daybreak, Daphnis et Chloé

Ravel. Think floating in orbit on mushrooms, over a star going supernova. That would be close.
Before and beyond filmscore...like a turn of the century Fantasia. Thank god for absinthe!

A Conservative Who 'gets it'

Read this guy...former fox speechwriter, needs a bigger mic!

I've seen a lot of terms being thrown around since health care's passage. I'm all up for political debate, but it needs to be debate within reason. So one question for everyone: How are freedom and capitalism synonymous? Answer: They're not. Why? Because freedom requires the ability to act freely. However, since you enter the system, not at the beginning, but at some point in the middle, freedom isn't free. If it were, food would be free, so you wouldn't have to work for it. In fact, all necessities would be freely available. Freedom is, according to webster's, "the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action"...does that sound like capitalism to anyone? I think not. First, we all have necessities that need to be filled. We all have to work at a job for necessities (water, food, shelter), we can not freely obtain them outside of the system. Two, we're all coerced by the rich who dominate the media and government into doing things against our best interest. Third, we're all constrained both by the government, and financial institutions. Capitalism does not provide freedom half as much as it enslaves. These are terms they're feeding you, coercing you to believe in. Capitalism and Freedom have never been synonymous, and our forefathers knew that. My message: Hey, 99 percent of the country, let's take it back from the top 1 percent. This has nothing do do with democracy/capitalism/socialism/republican/democratic, those are labels to distract you. No more talking points guys...

here's the guy we all voted for

watch Obama. The last 10 minutes are especially powerful. He's really trying, guys. We need to cut him more slack and give him more credit.

Trouble

Senators share emission bill's details with industry groups (03/17/2010)

Darren Samuelsohn, E&E senior reporter

Lawmakers at the heart of Senate energy and climate negotiations revealed key details today of their legislative proposal during a closed-door meeting with major industry groups they are courting in hopes of winning over Senate moderates and avoiding an expensive advertising war.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) shared an eight-page outline of their draft legislation that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next four decades, including provisions to limit business costs while ramping up domestic production of oil, gas and nuclear power.

According to several sources in the meeting room, the bill calls for greenhouse gas curbs across multiple economic sectors, with a 2020 target of reducing emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels and an 80 percent limit at midcentury. Power plant emissions would be regulated in 2012, with other major industrial sources being phased in starting in 2016.

In a bow to industry demands, the senators' proposal would pre-empt U.S. EPA climate regulations under the Clean Air Act and halt dozens of state climate laws and regulations now on the books. Also, only facilities that release 25,000 tons per year of greenhouse gases must participate in the climate program.

Additional layers of certainty for industry come via a "hard price collar" that limits greenhouse gas allowances to between $10 and $30 per ton tagged to inflation, with an increase at a to-be-determined "fixed rate" over time. The legislation would also set aside a "strategic reserve" of 4 billion greenhouse gas credits that could be released into the market to help control price volatility fluctuations.

Overall, the bill will include eight titles: Refining, America's Farmers, Consumer Refunds, Clean Energy Innovation, Coal, Natural Gas, Nuclear and Energy Independence. And it will set up new nationwide standards for energy efficiency and renewable energy, as well as ideas on carbon market regulation crafted by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

The senators collected their eight-page document from the industry officials before the meeting ended, and they declined comment on those details as they left the session. Nonetheless, several sources at the meeting confirmed the specifics shared by the senators.

"We obviously talked some substance," Kerry said. "We went through an outline of things we're thinking about."

Kerry said a full outline of the bill will be delivered Tuesday to a larger group of senators who have been working over the last year on the climate and energy issue. The senators also hope to send their proposal to EPA and the Congressional Budget Office by the end of next week for a five-tosix-week interagency analysis, although the timing on that depends in part on two legislative counsel staffers who are out on maternity leave.

"It's just the logistics of getting the language done," Kerry said. "So I'm not going to tell you exactly. But our target is somewhere toward that period of time or during the break."

The senators' meeting included about a dozen top trade associations, including representatives from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Edison Electric Institute and American Petroleum Institute. Several of those officials left the meeting giving the three senators credit for their effort.

"Directionally speaking, the way they're trying to conform and shape this bill I'd suggest is largely in sync with what most people in American industry think is the direction you're going to have to go if you're going to have a successful program," said Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Now there's a lot of ifs, ands and buts, but if you're asking for a broad statement, that's a broad statement."

John Shaw, senior vice president of government affairs at the Portland Cement Association, called the meeting's tone "very positive."

"I think many of the industry sectors are willing to work with the senators to achieve positive public policy results," Shaw said, "but the devil is in the details, and folks are very anxious to see those details."

Helmut Newton

I don't know how this man and his work escaped me until now...but I am loving it!
Feast the eyes, and the mind....

Swiss Cheese

Mindhole.
As if we needed more holes in our (Norwegian) cheese!

False Facade

I approve of the digital age. Cool blog, too...

Dinner

Chicken Jalfrezi
Even more exciting than it sounds.

dood, Scientology.

read this Times article. I especially like the part when they try to minimally explain what a Thetan is.

fucked up shit. I applaud you, defectors! Stay strong!

more distractions!

this is about crazy shit in famous old school paintings.

this is about real historical acts of badass revenge.

both of them are fucking sick.

Crazy Aunt, Love Her

I've decided to begin posting all of the crazy emails I get from my dear aunt Lucia in Ecuador.

She loves to send me links about aliens, UFOs, 2012, natural food and medicine, and conspiracy theories. For the most party, I skip or skim her emails, but from now on I will be making this information available to all of you. My intention is to open up her/others' theories for discussion at our late-night living room sessions. Ridiculous claims? Absurd theories? Who knows? It's for us to find out...

____________________________________________

a link: ALIENS, UFOS, REAL??

Minimalism

Stereotypical Caj Banter...

this is what happens, Larry.

this is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass.

you're entering a world of pain.

Professional Procrastination

A world (literally) of distractions to last for days:

ATLAS OBSCURA: A Compendium of the World's Wonders, Curiosities and Esoterica

and yes, its as cool as it sounds.

Imaginative Utopias

Paolo Soleri was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, and his pathbreaking concept of 'arcology' (architecture+ecology) envisioned minimal-impact urban colonies designed for sustainablity and efficiency, bringnig human and natural ecosystems into greater harmony. It's a bit of an idealist utopia at this pont, but its an interesting alternative to the vast suburban sprawl that we chose to dominate the American landscape.
Arcology came closest to reality in his Arizona desert colony, Arcosanti- worth checking out. I`m considering staying for a few months...I need something interesting to do after I graduate, and they are right around the corner from burning man. Any takers?
I know Real Estate is down- they chose Soleri's famous hexahedron colony design for their latest EP...a nice nerdy irony considering their name.

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

YOU WILL SEE IN

A LONG WHILE

xxoo

Mind totally blown

Wow...

Destino from only one on Vimeo.

Really beautiful, made in 2003 by Disney, 58 years after Dali and Disney started. Watch and fade away.

a moment of reflection

we've learned something tonight.

we've learned that we can consistently throw a good party.

yet we've also learned we need to see mischief coming.

we've learned we need to trust our instincts.

we've learned we can't just extend the handshake to any old body who seems out of place.

we lost some good toys last night, friends, and it's not cool.

but we must move on, learn from our mistakes, and craft a better future.

Seasonal Sports

There is always the possibility of the environment modifying a sport. Polo in water, no horses- flashlight tag in daylight, no fun. But bocce in snow becomes a fundamentally different experience of a favorite caj lawn sport. Though others have pioneered in playing bocce from snow, the satisfying weight of a good bocce ball has no substitute. Add a few inches of fresh winter, and the thud and swish of a solid roll becomes a short and satisfying crunch- and nothing matters but the precision of your pitch. A good bocce game involves dynamic terrain, and the pockmarks created as the game progresses take it to new levels of sportcraft. The malleable anchor provided by the snow allows for aggressive plays that take advantage of the collision angle, approaching the Newtonian complexity of pool and curling. Shit, if curling is considered worthy to be an Olympic sport- the committee needs to make Snowbocce official for Sochi 2014! I think we would have some contenders for the US team...the Australians would agree, too-though I wouldn’t call it ‘Snocci’- too close to close to dinner (and our Russian hosts) for good taste. If we dont take this thing to Russia, I know we could display our skills in Schenectady, and get some wordplay in, too!

PARTY TONIGHT

We are very pleased to announce that tonight--Saturday, February 27th--the Caj Mahal will be throwing its third monthly RAGER!!, the theme of which this time is "This Aggression Will Not Stand." !!

What does that theme mean, you ask? Well, today, February 27th just happens to be the 19th anniversary of the day Iraqi forces left Kuwait--a victory President Bush (senior) had hoped for when he declared, not even a year prior, that "This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait." For some reason, we felt this an important even to commemorate.

February 27th also marks the 39th birthday of Rozonda Thomas, aka Chilli from the infamous 90s trio, TLC.

February 27th ALSO marks the 76th birthday of our favorite independent politician, RALPH NADER.

The reason why we have RALPH NADER in caps is because who else is going to be at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY today at 7:30 but the man himself, RALPH NADER. No fucking joke. Ralph Nader, on his 76th birthday, will be giving a talk in our fair town WHEN WE ALREADY HAD PLANNED A BIRTHDAY PARTY IN HIS HONOR. The stars are aligning. This is a sign. If anything, this means this party is DESTINED for greatness.

So, if you're feeling down for the best fucking party since, well, our last fucking awesome party, then come by tonight! As usual, we have our hot tub hot, our bodies even hotter, and our themed drinks even hotter than that, as hot as Kuwait in the summer.

WHAT'S MORE, for the first time we are offering the HOTTEST Buffalo wings this side of the Hudson, hand-crafted by our very own Hunter Meyer, whose wings are rivaled only by those of his father, the man from Buffalo who taught Hunter everything he knows. They will be 50 cents each AND WORTH EVERY FUCKING PENNY. Even the vegans are going to be itching for the spice.

**Remember!** We are here to celebrate Kuwait, Chilli, and Ralph Nader, so dress accordingly. And DON'T FORGET TO BRING A TOWEL for the hot tub! Bathing suits are unimportant, in fact discouraged, but we do not have enough towels to dry all your wet and dripping bodies.

SEE YOU ALL TONIGHT! HUZZAH!

chomp chomp let it go

pie mug love

Sknow Day

pie + mug = piemug. try it.

hunter

come back. bring sarah.

soon to be announced...

the Caj will be throwing a party VERY soon, and will be announcing said party even SOONER. stay tuned for posters, the theme, and the drink specials...

Mr.Roger's Beauty Mashup

http://www.youtube.com/watch#v=BmZV6KRsMaU&feature=related

Watch all the way through.

If William Wegman was working in Williamsburg

hipster puppies.

From our friends at 1265/45, Sarah and Stella, ever on the forefront of fashion.

You don't always have to go hard on your bottom bitch

"I know you are complete and whole, but let me enhance you.
’Cause after all, who would make you feel that tingle, if you had to romance you?
And whose eye would you look so deeply into if you were the only one who danced with you?
And I can only speak on experience, but baby I can’t touch me like you do.
And not spiritually, and not physically, I mean really touch me.
And then physically, if you’re so inclined,
I have nothing but time and love to put into you.
I know you are complete and whole, but let me enhance you.
Let me teach you to do the things that lovers do,
But first let me teach you to accept the fact that I love you.

I know I am complete and whole, but let me make room for you.
’Cause when things fall apart, I get my glue from you.
When they make no sense, I get a clue from you.
When I needed my happily ever after, I got my dream come true:
from you."


-Chardonnay, to Cordé Christopher. 2005. 

Your Comfort is Our Concern

Now let's make it our concern to apply.

Vampire Weekend, et. al. 'Giving Up the Gun' -- Video Premiere

.....here

Spot your favorite star!

lovexcore

its the

"guess the google image search term"

game!

go!

triple trouble.

watch.

drink.

(triple)

yup.

Snow. And Dinner.

We are blanketed with it. Beef and chicken burgers; Carla bring buns.