tag/shirts
2001.06.19
"Bill, have you ever heard the expression 'It's easier to catch flies with honey instead of vinegar'?"The other day memepool.com had a link with way, way too much analysis of this show. It was pretty astounding all in all, but I do appreciate the thing a lot more now... it's almost like I have an excuse to enjoy it.
"Dave, have you ever heard the expression 'Only a hillbilly sits around and tries to figure out the best way to catch flies'?"
Navel Gazing of the Moment
In high school and college, I had a really good collection of T-shirts. I was really fussy about what I'd add to my collection, and was a Pain in the Rear to buy shirts for, since there was a good chance I wouldn't wear what was bought for me. Entropy took its toll, however, and many of these shirts became unwearable, but I was loathe to get rid of them since many were irreplaceable in a very literal sense-- I couldn't get another of most of these designs if I wanted to. I didn't want to fill my closet with a huge array of unwearable shirts, however. I finally stumbled on the idea of using digital photography to make a record of these shirts. Once I had that, I felt free to ditch the actual material object. There's a logic in here somewhere, and a study in how it's the pattern and not the object that I really find important. Admittedly it's hard to find abstract pattern in my size, but hey. So:
T-Shirt:#1 of a Series
"AIDSGATE". Reproduction of a silkscreen with Ronald Reagan's portrait, except he has pink eyes, and looks a bit daft. Bought in the NYC Salvation Army thriftstore that was around the corner from my mom's old apartment. When Mo invited me to a TTGLBC meeting, I considered wearing this as a political statement of support. Didn't wear it much besides that.
2001.06.20
> in other news, i am trying not to worry
>about having no money at all.
They say money is the root of all evil but being that "virtuous" sucks ass. I think an artist can pretend he or she is "living like Henry Miller" for only so long before that idea wears really, really thin.
T-Shirt:#2 of a Series
"Blue Man". From the Blue Man Group show, probably when I saw it NYC with Marnie, circa... 1994 or so, give or take a year. Back when making fun of the flying toasters was kind of fresh. I've gotten another, better Blue Man shirt since then. This one is odd, it's a minimalist image of them behind their welder's masks.
News Link of the Moment
From Salon.com, studies on what men and women look for in a mate. With women it's smell, which puts me in pretty good stead I think, though I'm a little worried about that 'ambition' thing. (Oh, and in another Salon piece, let's hear it for minimum sentences! Nothing like the legislature sticking its nose where it JUST DOESN'T BELONG. Cut judges some damn slack! Foolish liberals try to restrain "Maximum Bob" style punishment and all the stupid conservatives can see are judges who are "soft on crime".)
2001.06.24
Surprsingly, I'm not sure if even this shindig has really 'brought home' the fact I'm going to be getting married in a week.
from the T-shirt Archive: #4 of a Series
"Head of the Charles". If I had to guess, I'd say I got this when my jazz band came to Boston, all the way from Cleveland. That was the fateful trip I first started flirting with Veronika, Spring of 1991. For obvious reasons it was a cooler shirt to wear in Cleveland than in Boston, but still, it had a nice design.
Quote of the Moment
I AM WORTH 530 DOLLARSThis was actually a very moving line; the golem was trying to weakly defend himself from a rampaging mob, crouched behind the slate it uses to 'talk' with. The golems are odd creations, not alive, not even undead; tireless speechless workers, clay given life by the mystical words written on paper in their heads. As the slate is smashed, one of the mob yells "Money? That's all you things think about!", and the heroic Captain Carrot steps into stop the next hammer blow, saying "Money is all you can think about when all you have is a price."
It sounds odd, but it was quite well done.
2001.06.27
Link and Rant of the Moment
Working with E-Prime. The idea is that our thinking can be improved if we eliminate the verb "to be" not just from our vocabularies, but from our thought processes in general. It seems like madness to me. I can see what they're getting at, and maybe I can even see that I don't really grok it, but still, pursuing this idea that nothing "is" something else, really, just leaves us like Douglas Adam's "Man in the Shack", the man who doesn't know that it's raining outside, just that his visitors seem, to him, to be wet, that he hears what may, or may not be, rain, etc etc.
Look, I walked outside and I thought "It is sunny today". Should I say "it seems sunny today"? (And isn't that just short for "it seems to be sunny today"?) Some stuff in that link (which I think maybe an excellent example of writing in E-Prime) makes me think they want me to think of direct effects: "I feel sunshine on me." But again, isn't that short for "I feel that sunshine seems to be shining on me". (E-Prime link via memepool)
from the T-shirt Archive: #5 of a Series
Simple black and white design from a pottery place on Martha's Vineyard, where I bought a vase for my Aunt, a "sorry for making out with this chick from Cleveland in you living room" vase.
Quote of the Moment
My mind is especially empty today.
2001.06.30
Advice for the MOment
Some young women actually anticipate the wedding night ordeal with curiosity and pleasure! Beware of such an attitude! A selfish and sensual husband can easily take advantage of such a bride. One cardinal rule of marriage should never be forgotten: GIVE LITTLE, GIVE SELDOM AND ABOVE ALL, GIVE GRUDGINGLY. Otherwise, what could have been a proper marriage could become an orgy of sexual lust.(2019 UPDATE: of course this is a hoax)
Link of the Moment
Salon gave me the analysis and breakdown of the the movie Momento that I had been looking for. (You can still see the original short story here)
from the T-shirt Archive: #6 of a Series
This is from the Cleveland International Film Festival. It was one of my first really cool shirts, interesting design, referring to a relatively obscure cultural event. It was having to give up shirts like this that made me want to have the archived photos.
2001.07.11
"I like my women like I like my coffee...hot, black, and with one of those little croissant things on the side."
"Oh yeah? Well I like my women like I like my coffee too... stuffed into a burlap sack the back of a donkey."
Link of the Moment
Interesting salon.com piece on The Day The Brands Died. Brands are the shorthand we use to tell the world our stories these days, they aren't always as trivial or shallow as they usually seem. Even if you're not really brand conscious, you're probably sending the message that you're not brand conscious, like it or not.
from the T-shirt Archive: #7 of a Series
"Einstein Simplified". Kind of a cute idea, a complex line drawing of the man turned into a simple cartoon in three panels. I think I got it at the Boston Computer Museum, and used to show off my geekiness in high school. One of the few black T-shirts I'd wear after middle school.
2001.07.14
Heard this on the BBC on NPR Friday morning, couldn't find it on the US Wire Service: France upholds 'right not to be born'. "France's highest court of appeal has ruled that disabled children are entitled to compensation if their mothers were not given the chance of an abortion.", the families argued that the doctor's had not acurately diagnosed the children's condition. A rather disturbing factor is how the lawsuits are being brought in the name of the children, rather than of the family. Over all the issues are so weird and complex that I can't wrap my head around them.
MicroSquish
Recently I was on a carnival ride called "The Drop Zone" with my nephews when I saw a similar Windows error message.
The Drop Zone is rather fun. They strap you in the ride, you are lifted to the top of a tower, about 100m from the ground. There are computer screens at the top which give you a narrative about how some spacecraft is going down and the whole crew are going to have to bail out, and then they drop you. You experience free fall for a few seconds. The kids scream. You land safely.
The second time we did the ride, we got to the top and Windows had crashed. This time it was my turn to scream...
from the T-shirt Archive: #8 of a Series
"Hand With Reflecting Sphere". A lot of geeks have an Escher shirt. I thought this shirt, by having a single Escher image, was much classier than the ones that had like 6 images all around the shirt.
2001.08.29
I beat up my boyfriend when he told me he likes sex rodeo style! I asked what rodeo style was and he said "I'll show you". He got in me from behind and then whispered "your sister likes it like this too" - then he tried to stay on for 8 seconds!
Link of the Moment
Actually, lowbrow.com is the link of the moment. An interesting site, people posting their humiliating or just plain dumb moments. You can reload and reload and hardly ever get any repeats. For a while I was amazed at the consistency and quality of the works, but they've been slipping lately, especially with some schmuck who doesn't really get the idea but posts a hell of a lot: "sorry_e_e@hotmail.com". (He (or she) tends to rip off the style of Don Marquis more than e.e.cummings, actually.) Still, I like it because it's generally always an interesting way of spending a few minutes, but it doesn't really tend to suck me in.
from the T-shirt Archive: #18 of a Tedious Series
"NEOSA tanktop". Camp Neosa was my summer bandcamp during middle school and high school. (NEOSA stands for North East Ohio Salvation Army.) I had some great times there, from my first girlfriend to the reign of the Water Mafia (I still have the old combined WM logo from that) which is part of why I was so partial to this shirt.
2001.11.07
This is the final installment of this set of shirts, thank goodness.
Open Photo Gallery
I went to The Salvation Army's Star Lake Music Camp for a number of summers. This is a blue T featuring the main logo. It was a bit unusual as far as t-shirts go because it buttoned a little at the top...is it still a t-shirt officially? Whatever.
From the same camp, the t-shirt for one particular year. Kind of generic.
Stonehenge, from the trip I took to the British Isles with my family. And a bunch of senior citizens. And a snotty canadian family. On a bus. 3000 miles. In two weeks. Did I mention I had mono? Anyway, a good shirt.
Raunchy Funny Adult Link of the Moment
Ok, only follow this link if you're not a kid and you're not easily offended. Some aspiring young woman claims to have made herself a "Trainer for Ladies". Lets just say it's a real hummer-dinger.
2009.09.15
Here are the shirts I thought I might sort of miss, arranged roughly in descending order of coolness. Most of these shirts are technically irreplaceable, but that's the way the entropy bounces.
Open Photo Gallery
One of my all time favorites:
Barbara Kruger's "Don't Be A Jerk".
(Good advice!)
Not actully going away,
but moving out of "too cool to wear regularly",
Where the Wild Things Are, circa 1995
From the Met, liked the architecuralness of it.
Another "too cool to wear",
I'm not sure if the Tufts Band Lemmings
will gather again but we had shirts!
Another formerly "too cool to wear",
the logo I designed for Tufts Connect
A favorite my mom got me from a cool part of Dallas
(never been myself)
From Salem. A bit alcolholic
but I liked it.
AtariAge.com, worn out.
Not as cool as either of the Blue Man shirts
I had before. Blue neck and armbands.
Clango!
Japanese shirt, never fit too well.
From Old Navy before I was even aware of Old Navy
as much of a brand.
Self-portrait of Albrecht Durer?
A gift from Ksenia,
cool but too snug.
Scion giveaway.
Gift from Ksenia...sweet but too hipster.
Play on Da Vinci.
From the firehouse near the Pru.
Also too hipster.
Ubiquitous "Life is Good"
Ancient Ocean Pacific Tank Top. Ah, OP.
And then things that weren't shirts at all:
Not a shirt but a jacket,
80s salt and pepper thing that I had for jazzband
Kept in case I want to go as my old self
for halloween.
Finally, Christmas socks where the toe had worn away.
You know what, browsers? If you can only give me a readonly FTP view, no upload, forget it; don't try to grab ftp://
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1920944 - dark but funny, stormtroopers say "The Deathstar: never forget"
huh, things are afoot in Boston sports radio, like I mentioned with the iPod/FM thing. ESPN's AM affiliate is gone... preferred their "Mike + Mike" to the WEEI political bozos.
Then: The Wealth of Nations
Now: Invisible Hands: The Mysterious Market Forces That Control Our Lives and How to Profit from Them
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082101778.html -5 Myths About Health Care Around the World
2012.06.09
Let me know if there's anything you want...
Open Photo Gallery
Loved but worn out
Ahh the Adventures of Alfredo... an obscure corner of PC stick figure theater legacy.
I'll miss this custom-T but it was a little dark.
These are all getting worn out, except for one I'm saving.
By my buddy Miller... I loved the idea of a turtle pondering death.
Had this made at a cool custom T-store at the Navy Pier in Chicago.
From Japan
From my trip to Japan... kinda cool, but they all run a little snug, surprise surprise.
Too Plastick-y and Sweaty
This was gonna be cooler when it said "Pedroia the Destroya" but a trademark claim screwed it.
Loved the defense and the Bruins championship, dislike most everything else about Tim Thomas.
Shepard Fairy.
Others
These 2 were like $2 or $3 each at Rodney's Bookstore, but they make me look like I'm trying too hard.
I love this HARVEYJAMES shirt but I hardly ever have the cajones to wear it.
Sigh -- I like the idea of this shirt by Auntie Pixelante but really I just don't like black T-shirts all that much.
And this recent arrival is black, and actually a bit TOO glow-in-the-dark.
A gorilla riding an ostrich. Better in theory than in practice.
Build-an-iPhone.
Some weird art piece about jersey barriers, from the Cordova. Too minimalist to be fun.
Too orange.
Too touristy.
Too sincere. Or green. Or something.
Dup.
Kinda cool, a little touristy.
A bit too simple.
From startup weekend, but it was the wrong year, and it's an odd fit.
It's the remix to Ignition / hot and fresh out the kitchen / no we can't make you an omelet / our chef only does remixes
2020.02.16
This one I got in Japan in 2008, a Manga-ish frame of a boxer being knocked down. It was my lowkey message shirt when I was expecting a bad day, like layoffs at work or whatever.
Probably my dorkiest and most pretentious shirt - Kay and I collaborated to screenprint a batch of these - it's my favorite exchange from "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" where the titular characters realize they're below decks on a ship, but the last thing they remember was being ready to be hanged...
"We might as well be dead. Do you think death could possibly be a boat?" "No, no, no... Death is...not. Death isn't. You take my meaning. Death is the ultimate negative. Not-being. You can't not-be on a boat." "I've frequently not been on boats."
People CLAIM they like gum, but as soon as I describe it as "putty you put in your mouth so you can drink you own flavoured saliva" they're all "ew gross" and "Ryan why"
Fascinating digging into how No congenitally blind person has ever been diagnosed with schizophrenia - implications for the connection between vision, timing, and how are minds model and predict the world.