trustycoffeemug

according to some philosophies, the two forces that compete eternally for the privilege of predominating across the cosmos are best described as order and chaos

as barbarian tribes and pirate republics have struggled against imperialistic superpowers throughout history, and as the gods of civilization and culture have fought against dragons and giants and the primordial forces of raw nature in mythology, so too in the world of physics does the universe seem to vacillate between the orderly movement of the vast cosmos universe predicted by general relativity, and the chaotic and unpredictable mechanics of the infinitesimal quantum world.

in the grand scheme of things our paltry views of right and wrong are both meaningless and absurd

have you seen our entry on cheese?

Every German who chugs a beer! Every Zulu with an assegai spear!
Every Chinaman in a junk! Every Mexican in a trunk!
Every Bedouin on a dune! Every Frenchman playing Claire de Lune!
Every Syrian and Kazakhstani! Every Giorgio and his Armani!
Every Spaniard playing second flute! Every Dane, Norwegian and Aleut!
Every single guy who's Aborigine! Every Englishman who's Walter Pidgeon-y
From Hollywood, home of big celebrities- to Vanuatu in the Outer Hebrides!
From New Yorkers eatin' steak tartare! To every friend of Pablo Escobar!
From the Taiwanese and Cuban Petes, to the Russians with their soup of beets
Every Tamil, Tatar, Thai, Tibetan; everybody else that we're forgettin'
Everyone from Niger, Tonga, Bali; the French Sudan which is now called Mali
Everybody up in Katmandu! Every Canadian, cuz we're there too
Every Tajikistani with a yak! Every Bolivian in a sack!
Every caner in Singapore! Everybody who's really sore!
Every Turk in a Teaneck diner, or South African diamond miner
Every gypsy playin' finger cymbals! Everyone who ever shopped at Gimble's
We are there.

(n.) the great and noble thing we must all strive for, which we lack only because we're bogged down by petty arguments

except for when healthy disagreement is a good thing and we would see that if we weren't so bogged down by lack of ideological diversity

so basically everything is completely wrong either way. see order and chaos

(adj.) mildly objectionable without being truly evil, possibly in a sexy way

(n.) an imagined society rife with injustice and suffering; wankers are often convinced they already live in one

(adj.) real loud and stuff

(adj.)

1) nervous, jumpy; more jittery than a green snake in a sugarcane plantation

2) avant-garde and trendmaking; for some reason, this usually equates to taking a corny cartoon made for immature children and retooling it into a grim cartoon for immature teenagers

(n.) the actions of a spy; for when military action is too indelicate and diplomacy is too delicate

(n.) a way of saying "distinguishing characteristics," when you feel that just saying "distinguishing characteristics" just wouldn't cut it

"hey, this has all the indicia of a run on the banks, george!"

(n.) remembering what we thought the future would be like way back when we lived in the past, and daydreaming about how it might have been if the future had turned out that way

a genre or design aesthetic of science fiction based around the cultural fears that were endemic in the 1980s and 1990s- urban sprawl, rampant pollution, corporate deregulation, japan, etc.

cyberpunk probably originates with gibson's "neuromancer" series but the classic visual look (oppressive skyscrapers, neon lights, sordid slums, devastated and bleak environments) probably comes from "blade runner."

the main conceit of cyberpunk is 'high-tech, low-humanity;' technology is pervasive, obtrusive, integrated into every aspect of our lives, but in contrast to the optimistic sci-fi of earlier ages, it will not be able to address our myriad social ills. in other words, things will look very cyber, but people will still be punks.

inspired numerous other retrofuturism variants including steampunk, dieselpunk, atompunk, solarpunk, and other nonsense

(n.) a word used in wishful thinking to describe a condition of increased order and technological progress with time.

the supposed end result of extropy will be the achievement of some kind of technological singularity. fingers crossed, i suppose.

(n.) a term used in physics that describes a condition of microstates not being organized into a coherent macrostate, or in other words a condition of disorder

the second thermodynamic law demands that the universe always gravitate towards more entropy; even the act of painstakingly bringing order a system increases entropy on the microscopic level.

The natural conclusion to these facts is that the universe will eventually reach heat death, in which no energy is left for the universe to continue going. here's hoping.

an individual, often female, whose affection is more easily negotiable than is common

(also: transylvania twist)

(also: sex); a more sophisticated word for the same

that which occurs between two people who love each other very much, or alternatively if they just sort of liked each other, or even if they despised each other but were particularly drunk, lonely or desperate for affection.

the process by which a new human being is brought into the world. traditionally occurs nine months after the act of coitus between a fertile male and female individual.

births are generally regarded as joyous occasions, until the oxytocin wears off and the dread sets in.

(n.) a celebration held on the day of one's birth meant to congratulate them on not biting the big one yet (see death).

(n.) a party that celebrates surviving one year past a certain event. if the event is a birth it's called a birthday

a country spread across five islands in the easternmost part of east asia.

for some reason, frequently confused with china by outsiders, so let's get this out of the way:

china things: great walls. silken pajamas. jackie chan. mao zedong. confucius. crazy-ass operas.

japan things: ninja. samurai. sumo wrestlers. anime. cherry blossoms. mount fuji. karaoke.

things both places have: noodles. tea. buddhism. urban sprawl.