The human mind delights in finding pattern — so much so that we often mistake coincidence or forced analogy for profound meaning. No other habit of thought lies so deeply within the soul of a small creature trying to make sense of a complex world not constructed for it.

-unknown, via but does it float

IT IS well to treasure the memories of past misfortunes; they constitute our bank of fortitude.

-Eric Hoffer, 1955

1980 The St Paul’s riots, originally uploaded by brizzle born and bred.

Resentment springs more from a sense of weakness than from a sense of injustice. We resent a wholly false accusation less than one which is partly justified. The blameless are perhaps incapable of resentment.

Eric Hoffer, circa 1954

]]> http://remarque.wordpress.com/2008/12/27/trance-parents/feed/ 0 ry n http://remarque.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/until-everything-explodes/ http://remarque.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/until-everything-explodes/#comments Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:23:01 +0000 ryan http://remarque.wordpress.com/?p=94 ]]>

above: Wanna peel (Live in Japan) // ec8or // Dynamite EP // 2000

Digital hardcore, the London based record label whose name would also eventually define the genre, has always been something thats filled some sort of empty musical niche in my head. Possibly the vacancy left from when I was 13 and sold my Sepultura CDs.

Nevertheless, I think in the few years around the millenium where this style briefly flourished even into the mainstream there was a sort of happy intersection where the electronic music, rock and hardcore kids could jam.

Alec Empire started the label in 1994 as a home for choppy, overdriven, distorted breaks and cute german girls who we good at screaming over them. But 5 years later, the style and its emblematic Suicide Club venue in Berlin were petering out. Now its kind of rare to find someone else into this stuff, but at least the records are cheap.

Eelus @ CansFestival – London, originally uploaded by _Kriebel_.

This cracked me up. Breakfast at tiffany’s artwork seems to be quite popular amongst ikea-prone twentysomethings these days.

Banksy @ CansFestival – London, originally uploaded by _Kriebel_.

Big things going on London this weekend. How I wish I could have been. Check out the photostream link above for more, including minneapolis’ own Broken Crow.

www.thecansfestival.com

The past week of general sogginess combined with frequent driving has offered me time to contemplate the subtleties of windshield wiper operation.

Observing other drivers, there seem to be several profiles that most motorists fall into.

1. The Kamikaze.

Completely oblivious to reality, wiping away full at full blast. This is the strategy regardless of the actual level of precipitation. A Shock and Awe approach to getting that Rotisserie Chicken home from Byerly’s after soccer practice. I imagine a scene of melting and stressed wiper motor components under your hood.

2. The Minimalist

I’d like to think that if my car’s mechanicals were sentient and formed a democracy, I would at least have the support of my windshield wiper motors. For I fall into this category, and for whatever reason, try to keep the wipers at the lowest effective speed in a situation.

This usually involves extensive experimentation with the intermittent wipe setting, which in my car is adjusted gradually by a twist knob offering seemingly limitless precision in adjusting the time between wipes. My excuse for adopting this slightly masochistic wiping philosophy is that my wipers make a annoying squeaking sound — although poor (smudge-prone) blades or the need to conserve washer fluid are also legitimate reasons to take this approach.

3. The Opportunist

Although difficult to identify unless you’re inside the vehicle in question, this philosophy involves using the wipers manually on an as-needed basis. Although I only enter this territory absentmindedly, I know drivers who do nothing else in anything but a downpour.

If anyone feels compelled to identify their own style, whether identified above or not, please do.

blu-roof, originally uploaded by justusjonas.

Astonishing work from Italian artist Blu. I cannot imagine the surely massive presence of these pieces in person.

More Here and Here.

Thinking with me is like looking for a person whose address I don’t know. I stand on a street corner all day long waiting for him to pass by. Certainly there are more efficient ways of locating a person whose address you don’t know. But if you have a whole lifetime to wait and enjoy watching things go by, then waiting on street corners is as good a method as any. If you don’t find the person you are looking for, you might meet someone else.

Eric Hoffer, 1953

(Photo: Dublin City Center – Sunny & Busy, originally uploaded by hugeheo.)

Dutch designers demakersvan have created small, wind-powered lights inspired by their country’s ubiquitous windmills. A charming idea and execution.