- The 13th Chair
(via equationforanescape)
Kids:
A few hours ago, I landed in Los Angeles, turned on my phone, and confirmed what you already know. Sony Pictures Television is replacing me as showrunner on Community, with two seasoned fellows that I’m sure are quite nice - actually, I have it on good authority they’re quite nice, because…
This sucks.

(Source: silent-musings, via equationforanescape)

I need a world map
I actually really love this, but like… the gaspe peninsula is disembodied and shit. and there’s an extra great lake.
(via fuckyeahcartography)
(via fuckyeahcartography)
Our Arts Critic Responds to the ‘Useless Majors’ List
When Blake Gopnik, Newsweek & The Daily Beast’s arts critic, saw that arts degrees made up the majority of our ‘13 useless college majors’ list, he was a little upset, so we asked for a post from Blake to put it all into context.
Here’s Blake (follow him on tumblr!):
I say we could simply re-title The Daily Beast’s survey as “The 13 Most Useful College Majors” and it would be equally valid.
After all, who’s more important today, Rembrandt or the people who bought his art? Monet or the people who bought his? Van Gogh or the rich idiots who FAILED to buy what he made? Useless is as useless does, I say, and it seems pretty clear to me that, across history, many of the people who made the biggest difference had training in the most useless professions. (Aristotle, anyone?)
Again, which is more useless, adding another million dollars to the millions you already have, or adding a new work of art, or a new thought, to the world’s store of ideas? The single biggest problem the world has today, by far is that people in the West are used to owning and using too much, and are setting an impossible example for the rest of the planet. (See the new movie called “Surviving Progress”). So there’s real-world, practical virtue in living modestly, “uselessly”, and taking your pleasure from the thoughts and ideas you acquired in getting your “useless” degree in art or poetry or philosophy. The world will not be a better place when more people have more money and stuff. It can ONLY be better when more people have better thoughts.
I’m proud to say that my first degree, in medieval history, and my second and third, in art history, are as useless as they come. I’d do them all over again.
PS: The most recent issue of Newsweek magazine ran a nice long and positive review of a book by philosopher Michael Sandel claiming that money is not the measure of all things – and that it’s ruining America’s values.
Read the Michael Sandel book review // Follow Blake on Tumblr
(Ed: Oooh! Ooh! We just so happen to have a live chat planned with Michael Sandel on Wednesday at 1pm ET. We swear this wasn’t planned, but so cool Blake mentioned the book review.)
“Claiming that money is not the measure of all things -and that is ruining America’s values.”
This so much. One of the unfortunate compromises that capitalism requires is the sanctity of money over all else, which is reflected in government decisions (especially with regards to art funding, which has no real monetary benefit) and in student decisions with regards to post-secondary education. We feel that it’s worth sacrificing social programs such as health care, education and funding for the arts in order to maximize economic output, when really this is against our best interests. I’m currently half way through my bachelor of music, which is a degree with an incredibly low chance of resulting employment, yet I’m doing it because I value it more than the money I’m spending on it- I’m not expecting monetary return in the form of a job afterwards. After this degree, I might take such a degree, but this was much more important.
(via musicalmelody)
(via woodlanders)
(Source: andrewbreitel, via anoctopussgarden)