Hot Cheetos & Takis

For all my snackers out there, YNRichKids got what you need.

Dream Day

Solange Knowles - Losing You.

Despite the sad(ish) lyrics, these guys look like they're having the best day with their friends. Also, Solange's dance moves? Yes, please.

Empress Of

Empress Of - 2. Check out the rest of her piebald channel here.

put that on my mama pt 2

Chance the Rapper - Hey Ma. Chicago landing so many hits right now.

put that on my mama

ShowYouSuck feat. Mr. MFN Exquire - Carne Asada

On one hand, their lip synching is beyond lackadaisical  On the other hand, these guys are so excited about grilled beef it's kind of endearing.

Tink - Clique

Best Damn Jazz Cover of 'Human Nature' I've Heard All Day

The Vijay Iyer Trio, who perform tonight at Chicago's Mayne Stage, cover Michael Jackson's 'Human Nature' sublimely.

UPDATE: Miles Davis and Co. are kinda okay too, I guess.

Some Cynical Advice to Artists

via Austin Kleon

What to Name Your All-Female Fantasy Football Team, Only You Can't, Cuz it's Already Taken

The Vagina Monoleague.

Their individual team handles ain't bad neither.

All Blacks Haka

Last night I found myself falling into the Internet k-hole that is New Zealand All Blacks haka videos. Comes highly recommended, would watch again. My favorite haka is posted below, followed by replies by other rugby teams from various Pacific Island Nations.

And, you know, Wales.



Tana Umaga and the first Kapa O Pango
 

Haka v. Fijian Cibi



Haka v. Samoan Sivi Tau


Haka v. Tongan Sipi Tau



Haka v. Welsh Stoicism

Afrikan Boy - Amala Azonto

Afrikan Boy (featured in MIA's Hussel) and Dotstar do the azonto. Not totally sure what the yam stands for, but I could hazard a few guesses.

it all starts with colorado

all 50 states, drawn freehand. the suspenseful music makes it sound just as impressive as it really is.

East Coker

So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years—
Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l'entre deux guerres
Trying to learn to use words, and every attempt
Is a wholly new start, and a different kind of failure
Because one has only learnt to get the better of words
For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which
One is no longer disposed to say it. And so each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling,
Undisciplined squads of emotion. And what there is to conquer
By strength and submission, has already been discovered
Once or twice, or several times, by men whom one cannot hope
To emulate—but there is no competition—
There is only the fight to recover what has been lost
And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions
That seem unpropitious. But perhaps neither gain nor loss.
For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.

-T. S. Eliot, from the near-perfect 'Four Quartets'

Allen Vandever

"Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect" - Teller (of Penn & Teller), The Honor System.


This article on theft among magicians makes a strong argument for magic as performance art, complete with its own frames and internal rules that structure the play that follows. The piece described in the article, Teller's Shadows, is presented below, an elegant, stripped-down scene that looks nothing like the hokey spectacles I mostly associate with contemporary magic acts:

Flying Lotus - Putty Boy Strut

Flying Lotus - Putty Boy Strut. Off his new album 'Until the Quiet Comes,' which features excellent guest appearances by Erykah Badu, Niki Randa and Thom Yorke. Streaming now at NPR's First Listen blog.