Ready To Friday: Ignore the Date Edition

Ready To Friday

Let's get this thing done. I know you all have something better to be doing this weekend. There's a lot to be done, and a lot that's been finished for many of us. So let's pretend every day this weekend is Friday, and not just because most of you won't be reading this on the 14th.

It's another long week with a short post. It's okay though, she told me size doesn't matter. As long as you're ready to friday.

The Edit

These here are the specific interests and perks of the weekly adventuring. Everything from tunes to articles or almost-lost files can be found below. Hopefully some of it will be recent, whereas some of it will be less so. But all of it I think is worth sharing with you; which is my gamble that you'll like it as much as I did.

• So last week, I couldn't find any way to work the independent game, Sleep is Death, into a relevant post. But this week, you won't have to worry about that, because now, you can buy the game, and everything that comes with it, for whatever you want to pay for it (as long as it's $1.75 or higher (but really, what kind of shitbag would pay less than that?)). Seriously, you could own one of the most fascinating and unique experiments in the history of the video game medium for as little as $1.75. Or you could be generous and pay whatever you feel the experience of writing, crafting and improvising your own stories with friends over and over again is worth to you. I don't know how long this will last as an offer, so I suggest you take advantage of it as soon as you can.
• Among other gaming news, the computer platform for buying and playing video games, Steam, is now available to Mac users everywhere. But even with the doors unlocked, what will the service be offering to this new market? Well other than giving Portal away for free until May 24th, Savy gamer has put together a list of all the available games for Mac through Steam, and also what we know and what we can expect to see in the future.
• Recently, President Barack Obama held a speech at Hampton University, where he made his point on the importance of educators making available young learners every tool available to help them become efficient workers, but also made mention of certain technologies, iPod and video game systems especially, that are examples where "information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation." This is not the first time Obama has made an argument for the responsible use of newer entertainment devices to the point where he suggests that they be turned off so that children are more able to learn. But last time he said that we should be "putting away the Xbox", some people didn't take it so well. So I wasn't surprised when I saw this.
• Political enthusiasts? Conservative or liberal? Tax payers of any kind? As many talking points come and go during election times, there's always one singular issue that is called upon: how much are we paying in taxes? Well an analysis of all the numbers from this year have shown that our bills are at their lowest levels since Truman's presidency in 1950. That's right, despite the clouds of smoke blown about by Tea Partiers, to say that taxes are high under Obama's command is pretty ludicrous. Now, this is mostly due to the effect of the stimulus bill, our lower salaries overall and how little most of us are spending. But understanding that consumer spending has increased during the first economic quarter, I'm feeling well armed with this knowledge. Now if we can just deal with that deficit.
• Some of you may be fairly vocal about Facebook's tendency towards favoring less-than-private settings over the years, but nothing has illustrated that fact better than this infographic demonstrating the changes to the default privacy settings of user profiles since 2005. It's not quite "unsettling" to see how open most people are becoming with their personal information, but as someone who doesn't trust Facebook with too many details, I'm only going to get more cautious.
• This is one dedicated animal. I can't speak for the validity of all of these images, but if they are to be believed (and I see reason enough to for now) this dog has been very political over the years. I can't say I've even been to a single riot, myself.
• There's something ineffable about a double-breasted suit jacket or blazer that lets you know the wearer means business. It takes a certain kind of person to pull off such an item that normally is considered quite formal by today's standards. So the folks over at Street Etiquette profiled the right way to pull off one of the classiest additions to a man's wardrobe. Seen here, they cover everything from the history to colors and accessories. If you're looking to enhance your upper-torso, I suggest checking out this out for the right way to be. (The eye-candy is good for a gander, too.)
• Now the Deepwater oil leak has been causing a lot of panic and a lot of hard feelings among people lately, that's nothing new. But nothing is more frustrating and horrific than what this Youtube video shows us, an up-close look into the actual leak spilling under the ocean. It's really as bad as I was expecting it would be, but it's awful to look at. But while we're talking about this incident…
• So oil spills are bad for animals, right? So why aren't we funding this?
• It's a wild and crazy world out there, and sometimes I feel like this guy, and I don't care who knows it.

Hearing Things

For my own reasons, I've decided to process the music appreciation of my weekly culture bomb into its own section. Hopefully this means you won't miss out on whatever I feel like highlighting here. But it also means it will be much more obvious when I don't have any musical suggestions.

• 
  Recently I've been very interested in somewhat maudlin, but significantly thoughtful American musics. It's not the sadness in the themes that I'm attracted to lately, but rather the largeness of the ideals and the awareness of everything that creates that sobering feel. I may not relate to sadness in music or most art easily, though this is why I find certain bands that can communicate these ideas well so phenomenal. I'm not looking to be brought down by an anecdote of misery, but I'd like my music, like all good art, to broaden my personal perspective of the human condition.
  This week, Band of Horses is in on my mind. A little lighter and soft on the mind than The National or LCD Soundsystem, but they have a lot of wonderment mixed into what feels like a genuine musical lifestyle, just the same as everything else I will suggest to you. Their new album, Infinite Arms, is coming out on the 18th, and in somewhat common fashion these days, you can listen to the whole thing for free online here. There's a lot of beautiful sounds to be had there, as well as a nice looking site for streaming the album. If I had to suggest any song, I'd probably favor "Compliments" for now, but each track really has it's own charm and clearly felt purpose.

English Language of the Week:

This segment is based around my personal love of the modern english language, where, each week, I'll nominate my favorite phrase, sentence or paragraph that I have personally heard spoken in that time.

Life is pain. You're just living longer.

By those around me, this has been the most suggested English Language of the Week (as well as the only one to date). Which brings to wonder, if you all out there with your own lives and ears are listening for verbal treasures like I do, do me a favor and send along to me any particularly special phrases you've heard and I might, if I get any great ones, add them to the general nominations with a credit to you. I think that would be grand.

On Your Way Out

So for most of my friends school's out for summer. But not for all of us. And for those of us to which school is not the greatest pressure in our lives, summer doesn't really mean to us what it means to our younger selves. I'm not opposed to the responsibility of adult life, or the understanding that I can't just exist freely when the spring semester comes to a close. But I do feel more separate from my past life than I ever have.

Yet then again, I'm older than I ever have been. So I guess I'll just live it through without looking back so much. It doesn't do much for my positive outlook, and it gives me a sore neck. Instead, keep moving forward and get a lobster claw belt.

Peace out, everyone. See you next week, same place, same Friday*.

-stg