The Earth is Shining Under the Soot

They Might Be Giants (band) got their name from They Might Be Giants (film), the title of which was a reference to Don Quixote‘s belief that windmills were giants. As explained in the film,…

“Of course, he carried it a bit too far. He thought that every windmill was a giant. That’s insane. But, thinking that they might be… Well, all the best minds used to think the world was flat. But, what if it isn’t? It might be round. And bread mold might be medicine. If we never looked at things and thought of what they might be, why, we’d all still be out there in the tall grass with the apes.”

Ape Con Myth is all about the might of might.  TMBG (film) summed it up in less than two minutes some 42 years ago…

… and 23 years ago TMBG (band) knocked it out in 47 seconds.

Finally, in 2007, Ape Con Myth summed it up in three words.

…  Eventually, we won’t have to say anything at all.

Happy Nigel Tufnel Day

The Nigel Tufnel Day Appreciation Society and Quilting Bee in Favor of Declaring & Observing November 11, 2011 as Nigel Tufnel Day (in Recognition of Its Maximum Elevenness) put it best when it said…

“Only once in every century are we given the perfect opportunity to honor one of the greatest artists and philosophers of our time. This day, this apex of epic riffs, this nirvana of noise, this valhalla of virtuosity, this bodhi of broken eardrums, this moksha of mach, that you know as November 11, 2011, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to collectively experience the enlightenment of Eleven.”

We encourage you all to bask in whatever there is to bask in on the 100% scheduled occurrence of some numbers lining up.  You’ve only got two shots at 11/11/11 11:11:11.  Use them well.

The Online Movie Dark Ages

Old timey video stores might be in decline, but like so many things in our lives, the change probably has more to do with convenience than quality.  You might have to leave your house and walk or drive to get there, but at a video store, you generally get a full selection of both the new and old.

In contrast, consider the fate of a basic Netflix streaming-only subscriber, who is working with a selection on par with a poorly-funded library or a good yard sale.  Even with Netflix mail service and iTunes to fall back on, the digital availability of new releases is as spotty as the new releases themselves.

Meanwhile, it was just announced that Netflix now accounts for 30% of downstream internet bandwidth…

That represents a lot of movie-viewing compromises.  And you know, we are trying to maintain a culture here…

But why blame ourselves?  The movie industry is the one failing to deliver their product.  The infrastructure they need is staring them in the face.  Imagine if they spent their time focused on doing their job instead of going after those who are doing it for them.

And as for all the lawsuits against the downloaders, the only defense they should need is, “I’m only trying to live like it is actually 2011 and would be more than happy to pay for the privilege.  Your Honor, this is a complete waste of everyone’s time.  We’d all be better off watching Starship Troopers 3 on Netflix.”

[Sandvine chart via Business Insider]

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