“Even though I tried my hardest I still got ranked “Pre Alpha Minus” which is just adult code words for “You Stink”.” (Day 25)

Diary of A Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney, on funbrain.com.

Above: Greg Heffley, from Wimp Yourself.
Greg Heffley is ™ and © Jeff Kinney.

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“She once got a passenger to LaGuardia Airport from Midtown Manhattan in fourteen minutes, a record that still stands.”.
(Eugene Salomon, from Cabs Are For Kissing)

“There are 13,237 licensed yellow taxicabs in New York City.
Ford’s Crown Victoria, the iconic model making up more than half the fleet, is being phased out.”.
(USA Today)

Above: Lady getting a cab in New York City, detail, from Chris 1971’s photostream on Flickr.

Last Exit to Nowhere “is a small collective of like-minded film enthusiasts, designers, illustrators, screenprinters and photographers. We collaborate to create unique T-shirts that pay homage to the most memorable places, companies and corporations in cinema history.”.

From the top:
Weyland-Yutani Corporation (Alien, 1979);
Kobayashi Porcelain (The Usual Suspects, 1995);
U.S.S. Sulaco (Aliens, 1986).

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“Not bad for two chords.”

Little Red, or “The Beach Boys meets The Strokes”. Indie/Pop/Rock.
See and listen: Rock it.

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Renault Twizy “delivers all the fundamentals associated with any car, namely four wheels, a steering wheel and pedals, plus an enveloping body for two occupants sitting in tandem.”.

“Customers will lease the battery. The monthly subscription is €45 inclusive of taxes.
The integrated battery charger can be plugged into any 220V (10A) household electrical supply.
The battery fully charges in three-and-a-half hours.”.

Dimensions (L x W x H): 2,32 x 1,19 x 1,46 m
Numbers of seats: 2
Weight: 450 Kg
Power – Max speed: 7 Kw – 45 Km/h (Urban) / 15 Kw – 80 Km/h (Technic)
Autonomy: 100 Km
Standard equipment: driver airbag, front and rear seat belts, four disc brakes.
Price: from Eur 6990 (in Europe). Available from end of 2011.

Above: Twizy Urban. Below: Twizy Technic. See also: Twizy Lab Design.

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Near Fukushima II nuclear plant, Japan, March 13.

(Photo: Kim Kyung-Hoon, Reuters)

Cat Soup (Nekojiru-So, 2001) “is an animated short film directed by Tatsuo Sato.
The surreal black comedy follows an anthropomorphic kitten on his travel to the land of the dead and back in an effort to save his sister’s soul.”.

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“Mr. President, I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed.
But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops.”

If we don’t, remember me. Scenes from movies turned into animated gifs.

Above: George C. Scott in Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964).

Don’t teach children
don’t teach them your morality
It’s so tired and sick
might hurt
Maybe it’s a serious imprudence
leave them at the mercy of a false consciousness.

Don’t praise the thinking
that’s increasingly rare
Don’t show for them
a known road
But if you really want
teach only the magic of life.

Ring around the rosey,
the world changes.

Don’t teach children
don’t disclose social illusions
Don’t fill their future
of old ideals
The only safe thing is to keep them away
from our culture.

Do not magnify the talent
that is ever more off
Don’t introduce them to beautiful singing, to theater, to dance
But if you really want
tell them the dream of an ancient hope.

Don’t teach children
but cultivate yourselves the heart and the mind
Stay always near them
Give trust to love
the rest is nothing.

Ring around the rosey,
the world changes.

Giorgio Gaber: Non insegnate ai bambini (Don’t teach children, 2003)

Lyrics in Italian; requires Flash Player

“You always have the option to change the road you travel every day
Even if the road is the same you can see different things
Isn’t this enough to live?
Or rather, may not be enough?”

The Sky Crawlers (Sukai Kurora, 2008) “is set in an alternate history where, although the world is at peace, in order to ease the tension of a populace accustomed to war and aggression, private corporations contract fighter pilots to stage combat operations against each other for show.”.

Music by Kenji Kawai. Listen: Main Theme (ending).

Above: screenshot from the official trailer, detail.

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