The Kills - “Cheap and Cheerful”

I want you to be crazy ’cause you’re stupid baby when you’re sane.

Dear David,
Our records indicate that your account is overdue by the amount of $233.95. If you have already made this payment please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

Dear Jane,
I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead. I value the drawing at $233.95 so trust that this settles the matter.

Regards, David.

Starving artist, from Australia, tries to pay bills with spider drawing. It’s outstandingly funny how the utility company representative engages the customer and goes as far as to “return” his drawings via email.

Full email dialog here

“The pattern for daily TV use is particularly dramatic, with ‘not happy’ people estimating over 30% more TV hours per day than ‘very happy’ people,” the study says. “Television viewing is a pleasurable enough activity with no lasting benefit, and it pushes aside time spent in other activities — ones that might be less immediately pleasurable, but that would provide long-term benefits in one’s condition. In other words, TV does cause people to be less happy.”

The researchers determined that activities such as sex, reading and socializing correlated with the highest levels of overall happiness while watching TV, on the other hand, was the only activity that had a direct correlation with unhappiness.

It was noted that with regards to the TV watching, they weren’t sure whether happy people just don’t have time for TV because they’re too busy being happy… or that TV watching actually creates unhappiness in people. I think it’s both. Wonder when they’ll come out with the same study on people that spend 12+ hours in front of computers and how their happiness measures up…

Source - Study: Unhappy people watch more TV

The President controls few things that on a day to day basis affect my life. He is largely a figure head, scapegoat at times, and poster boy for a political agenda that is barely radical or capable of stimulating mass “change” in our country. This is why I did not vote.

It’s astonishing to me that people in California have chosen to revoke rights granted to their fellow Americans. It’s like a recall on freedom and equality - a very messed up one. It’s my opinion that the Presidential race for office overshadowed the issue going down with Prop 8 and it didn’t receive nearly enough press and awareness. I’m disappointed and still having trouble grasping why time and time again history has proven that there are no human rights unless explicitly granted to you on a piece of paper.

I’m not a proponent of religion, or blind believer - but I do believe that Christians have largely overlooked the fact that when Jesus came about, his only commandments were to love god and love others. Throw out that old testament crap and stop hating. Get out of people’s bedrooms, accept that not everyone thinks and believes the same thing you do, and realize that you shouldn’t have the right to make decisions that place one group of people as lesser or not worthy of rights you have.

I’m really hoping for a recount or something.

link

I just spent a bunch of time uploading new photos to Haley’s and my Flickr accounts - some holga & diana 120s, action samplers and pics from The Nones show - check them out.

Nicole’s Photos

Haley’s Photos

Browsing the channels and coming across the Democratic National Convention was the biggest waste of the last 30 minutes of my life. I’m still astounded by the unnatural, insaneness that occurs when Hillary entered the stage. I understand that she’s still trying to unify the party, but seriously, it’s crossed over into just theatrics. It’s also events like this that really brings up my root problem with politics - it’s overblown during elections and the rest of the time we’re completely in the dark about what’s going on in our country and the rest of the world.

We get to judge candidates based on a very limited knowledge of who they are as people and instead have to decode pre-written responses and past choices. Realistically it’s like Carlin said, “they don’t give a shit about you, they don’t give a shit about you.” Politicians play the game and it’s difficult to really connect on any level considering their position. 

So no voting, that’s my short reply. I’m disappointed at the system and I don’t believe that anyone working within it really can do what’s right. I find it entirely ironic that of all the “democratic” nations, ours - which seeks out to install “freedom” in other countries - cannot even institute a voting system that says whoever gets the most votes, wins. No - we’re still too stupid to make our own decisions and therefore big business and banks will continue making them for us and thinning the middle class out until we’re back to the haves and the have nots and no one in between. 

Alright, I’ll turn off the tube, as usual it’s rotting my imagination and depressing me.

See the rest of these photos here.