Ready To Friday: A Hipster Man Edition

Aren't you guys cute. Aren't you?

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.

• Hey, check it out. Argentina has beat us at something that isn't soccer. Boy is my face red.
• Mel Gibson is leading the charge on unabridged hatred to be quickly distributed and further destroy one's own career. I think it's safe to say that I've been in some arguments in my time and none of them have ever sounded like the unrestrained vitriol that is projected out of his vicious maw. That is not to say I'm not ready to skip directly to the inevitable Youtube Mashup, or for the fainter of heart, kitten pictures might lessen the shock of his more monstrous statements.
  
• While I know that there is a lot of finger-pointing as to who we should be blaming for the current economic situation, I'm on the side of people who would rather be pointing to the individual who is capable of solving our debt as simply and effectively as possible. So I was struck with a grin when I saw the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget set up a game of sorts where the challenge is to Stabilize the US Debt by making some pretty tough choices to achieve only 60% of the GDP by 2018. It's certainly funnier when you start to grasp how difficult these decisions really are, and how little even above average people are prepared to solve this problem.
• So, released alongside the premire of Inception was another trailer for David Fincher's The Social Network, which details the birth and controversy of Facebook and the creator, Mark Zuckerberg. From of what we've seen so far, there's a still a stone-cold focus on the drama of this biopic; which has caused some people to smirk at how seriously the whole production is taking itself. I, for one, am willing to take the tone as a good sign of the direction, and am pretty excited to see the result of all the talent on show here. Though the choral version of a Radiohead song still managed to turn into some unintentional humor for me.
  
• This is not how you make a Great Gatsby game.
• This is how you host a whisky-tasting party. Though it would help if it wasn't so exclusive, or just to include me next time. Thanks.

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.

This week, I got a neat little email from an up-and-coming band that I supported last year by signing up to their website and buying their first EP. They're called Fitz & the Tantrums, and they wanted to let me know that, because of my support, they'd be giving me a free download of a song off their new album, coming out this August. So, obviously, my inclination is to spread the word, like I do. 

 Now I'm obviously a dope of some sort, because the band is offering the track, "MoneyGrabber", for free off their website to any ol' fool. But I felt special for a couple of minutes anyway, so lay off, alright? 

 But while you're downloading that track for yourself, let me educate you a little if you can sit still while I do. Fitz & the Tantrums are a sharply dressed group, which you can see here, who specialize in a very catchy variety of soul and old-school pop music. I get a real intense energy just from listening to their songs, but watching them perform it is worlds apart. I can't speak for everyone, but I really appreciate the kind of talent that comes with being such a lively performer.

Tumblr that Mattr

Assuming you scour the minimal blog oasis less than I do, here are my picks for the most bizarre, relevant and clever Tumblrs on the web. Satisfaction is not guaranteed.

• I said in the beginning that these RTFs were not going to be about me going on about myself in any affronting fashion, and that I was going to keep my entries strictly to things I think that you would like, even if those things are just things that I happen to find interesting.
  
  But I'm ashamed to admit that for this week alone, I'm going to be blurring the line between horn-tooting and reader-pleasing. Since I can't say that I ever do that later all that well, I don't think I should try to be pulling the wool over your eyes when I direct you to the newest sister site to the blog (where I post all of these RTFs if you're still reading them on Facebook for some reason) Definition of a We, of the same name, but with more Tumbling and brevity. On this Tumblr, I'll hopefully be frequently posting up images, links and other short pieces of information that I feel fall in line with the people who enjoy reading these longer posts every weekend. As well as all that conventional stuff goes, I'll also probably occasionally post something of my own, since I don't very often put out anything other than words to accompany what others have done. Think of it as an inspiration board for me and people who have similar interests.
  
  Things are pretty barren right now, but the plan is to keep my smaller spot open to you throughout the week so that I have more spontaneous opportunities to show you something you might like.
  
  Once again I'm sorry for pimping out my own drivel. If you do keep tabs on it with your Reader, I hope that you aren't disappointed with what I'm offering.

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.

Nothing this week, guys. I'm going to be on my own for a couple of weeks now, for the most part, so do me a favor and keep your ears open for my sake. If you hear anything special, send it along. Otherwise, I'm going to have to be more social around the lion's den if I want to get anything especially juicy.

On Your Way Out

You're not reading this Ready To Friday. You're not reading it because you are not in front of your computer, or on your smartphone, or peering over someone else's shoulder. You're not doing any of those things because you are in a movie theater right now, watching Inception, like I know you are. You're watching it, because this kind of creative freedom turning out the level of quality that is Inception needs to be rewarded. Your ticket means you support original ideas and brilliant execution. You vote with your dollar, so I'm going to coerce you into supporting a good film for once - a film that every producer and studio in Hollywood going to be keeping tabs on this weekend to see if American audiences are interested in seeing good movies, or they just want to go out and see The Last Airbender again. Or rather, I would be trying to coerce you if you were reading this right now, instead of being in a movie theater. Which I hope for your sake, for our sake, that you are not.

Make the right choice.


A dream, within a dream, within a dream, within a Friday.

-stg