Thursday, October 20, 2011
30 Under 30
Levitica Brant - Video
Barry Greenorth - Painting
Georgia Labourt - Philosophy/Sociology
Lava Louaurt - Digital Media
Trooper Ravanto - Culinary Arts
Kobe Kramer - Virtual Architecture
Denny Livinthrak - Environmental Media
Nico Ramdt - Experimental Audio
Kotar Tisterkorn - Fabric
Dan Brahman - Poetry (short form)
Strassa Leveric - New Media
Leper Pearlam - Digital Media
Grass Davis - Multimedia
Totom Billings - Theatre
Bree Odkiary - Sculpture
Chill Villenforth - Creative Non-Fiction
Nipe Strassberg - Short Story (Flash Fiction)
Pito DiMartini - Film
Jason Easter - Photography
Tekka Drassler - Hard Science
Mia Albers - Architecture
Trish Emanual - Philosophy
Eleanor Dinshavac - Plastic Arts
Astro Trask - Novel
Brasler Lenentoja - Music (Popular)
Dillo Maveroni - Printmaking
Rabbi Johnson - Poetry (long form)
Vester Martinez - Short Story
China Maplewood - Conceptual Multimedia
Shaura Orton - New Economics
Saturday, October 8, 2011
THE FIVE MINUTES HATE
Crosstown has no color.Crosstown has no Christ.
Crosstown has no future.
No future.
No color.
No Christ.
I dream of E-Town:
A maze in a graveyard.
Emergency Town Volunteers
Swarm city walls.
Crisis and Summit concluded,
A new name, a New Now: Ecstatic!
We honor Our Ten Trillion Dead.
All the Living wear shrouds,
Flowers crowded everywhere.
Oil and plastic teardrops in every vending machine.
The Ten Thousand Years of Peace!
Fake Face Day! At last!
We Will Never Forget 9/16
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Revenge
The action opens during the war between the Hamptons and New York City on the continent known as Los Angeles, which is most likely identified with modern-day Greenland. The story is based on Southfork romance games and goals of the privileged class and the Kindlefolk heaving chairs dead bodies on the beaches. In this new series of Paul’s stories recalling Vacationing 1:16, Reynolds led the defense called Monte Cristo Sandwich, starring Tommy Tuberville, Lord Jeff, Singrila Hamptons, Brady Hoke, and Shaq, entertained by making ham, turkey and Swiss cheese sandwiches and covering them in a mixture of egg and milk before deepfrying them and thrusting them at Daniel Parmazoetta as “Kindle” —the sidekick with a fondness for Van Camp’s Pork and Beans.
Roll playing Music by Southfork accompanies the Monte Cristo Sandwich fantasia set in the “Southfork” where they purchase an armor-all for the positioning of sponsorship logos. Mixed-gender tournaments are commonplace in the lower levels, visiting the dead body on the beach Shoppe can reward the genuflector with heaving and thrusting removable vacationing plates as they are was placed above the Monte Cristo Sandwich of Grohthmuwrn, and also removable and weapon ready codpiece.
Season Two, which precedes the Season One, enters the realm of Hamptons and the vacationing of the dead people. Ravis Kindle, the proprietor of the Olden Shoppe, is roasted while grilling seated Van Camp’s Pork and Beans. The spadroon and the heavy swordplay incidents that are heaving Hamptons Monte Cristo Sandwich experienced a dead body on the beach in a major resurgence in the 19th century boatmanship, whither the dead body on the beach, in the land of Kindle Kola with his guide Southfork the White Lion. Churlishness aside, art, which is more often an expression of cocksmanship while vacationing, is in the Prequel and enforces vacationing as aesthetic Molotov in an ideological stew. Fhngrumphwon’s are mainly composed of swordplay folklore and literary dead body on the beach.
Director Kindle Jackson and a crew of Anglican bustier hoists debated and disputed by Hamptons modern vacationing as the prehistory Monte Cristo Sandwich predecessors of the Bush empire. Sparse sexual attraction of Southfork memorabilia including Monte Cristo Sandwich and the desire to have sex with members of the Hamptons Pan Club in a Roger McCabe historical background. Swordplayangel Gabriel also refers to this Kindle in the Gospel of Southfork Homopuppetphilia highlighted by a sexual attraction to vacationing Monte Cristo Sandwich toupees. The dead body on the beach eventually come forth to best Mr. Keilor and the Hat. Heaving "sexcapades" with Music by Sting follows the crash of the Hamptons and the gentrification of Lapland after the invention of the deepfried Twinkie.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Which one will YOU be in the year 1984?
Police Guard----Chosen for lack of intelligence but superior brawn, you'll be suspicious of everyone and be ready to give your life for Big Brother, the leader you've never even seen!
Party Member----Male----Face-less, mind-less, a flesh-and-blood robot with a push-button brain, you're denied love by law, taught hate by the flick of a switch!
Party Member----Female----A member of the Anti-Sex League from birth, your duty will be to smother all human emotion, and your children might not be your husband's!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Endless Shrimp Are Back!
Only at Dead Lobster.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Gubbinal
Is just what you say.
Have it your way.
The world is ugly,
And the people are sad.
That tuft of jungle feathers,
That animal eye,
Is just what you say.
That savage of fire,
That seed,
Have it your way.
The world is ugly,
And the people are sad.
—Wallace Stevens
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
THE AMERICAN EARTHQUAKE by Edmund Wilson
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Game of Thornes
experienced a major resurgence in the 19th century boatmanship, whither the Animiphilia, in the land of Gotu Kola with his guide Kimba the White Lion. Churlishness aside, art, which is more often an expression of cocksmanship, is in the Prequel enforces as aesthetic Molotov in an ideological stew. Fhngrumphwon’s are mainly composed of swordplay folklore and literary invention. Director Pestios Jackson and a crew of Anglican bustier hoists debated and disputed by modern historians as the prehistory Coxswain predecessors of the Bush empire. Sparse sexual attraction of wartime memorabilia including thrusting and the desire to have sex with members of the genus Pan in a Roger McCabe historical background. Swordplayangel Gabriel also refers to this throne in the Gospel of Luke Homopuppetphilia highlighted by a sexual attraction to misplaced toupees. The Krills eventually come forth to best Mr. Keilor and the Hat. Heaving "sexcapades" with Music by Sting follows the crash of the Trainbar and the gentrification of Haunchieville.
—to be continued.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Breakfast Cereal "R" Us

Now that the weather is warming up and the houndstooth is making its way back into the mothballs where it belongs, there is nothing I like better than breakfast cereal! Here is the ALLTIME cream of the crop:
Kellogg’s Cream of the Crop – Try to imagine cream of wheat in hardened form, dried, put into a box, and rehydrated when milk is added. They tried, they failed.
Lucky Charms – You can divide all people into three personality types: Those who eat lucky charms in a “normal” way. People who eat the “oats” first and save the marshmallows for last. People who only eat the marshmallows. Which one are you?
Froot Loops – One of the most popular breakfast cereals of all time, due to the spelling. Unfortunately it’s trademarked so you can’t use the word “Froot” for a band name or anything else. Darkberries variety is particularly popular among the Goth crowd.
Capn’ Crunch – Several entire counter-cultures are based on this cereal, not the least of which is drug related. CC is unmatched for pure pleasure of eating, though there are healthier choices. The Peanut Butter variety was a favorite of mine back in the day.
Dunkin’ Donuts Cereal – From the 1980’s, when they just didn’t know any better.
Little Debbie Vanilla Bars Cereal – Not actually a cereal at all, but a “folk cereal” invented by lovers of Little Debbie’s Vanilla Bars who would break apart the snack food into a bowl, add milk, an viola!
General Mills French Toast Crunch – Renamed “Freedom Toast Crunch” on September 16, 2011, which led to lackluster sales and its ultimate demise.
Count Chocula – Voted most popular breakfast cereal of all time. You’ve got vampires and chocolate, what’s not to like?
Frankenberry – Count Chocula’s sick second cousin. It is said if you eat it with Nestle Strawberry Quik instead of regular milk, you’ll see God. Strawberry Quick Meth, maybe.
King Vitamin – The guy on the box, the photographic human version, even scarier than the lecherous child molesting Burger King.
Crazy Cow – Cereal coated with something like Nestles Quik, so when milk was added it colored and flavored the milk. Bad idea all around.
Waffelos – Like breaking apart a waffle into a bowl and adding milk. Kinda stoopid, huh?
General Mills Green Fuzz – Is that a new breakfast cereal or is there a leak in your cupboard?
Kellogg’s Sugar Smack – Rare, early versions of the cereal before it was simultaneously pluralized and euphemized, back from the less cynical days when the valium induced zombized housewives would control the kids via breakfast cereal force feeding.
Sammy the Sailor – Little anchors, fish, schooners, nets, squid, etc., that all look like little squares. No fish content.
Kellogg’s OJ’s – Discontinued sometime between the tragic deaths and the famous low-speed chase. Cereal that was presumed guilty.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Rumors of it being the breakfast of choice of Mark David Chapman were false.
Mr. T Cereal – Another cereal hoax, it didn’t ever exist originally, but the viral internet marketing was so effective that Quaker Oats invented the cereal after the fact to cash in on its popularity!
Hardy Boy’s Secret of the Old Mill Cereal – In the original version of the book, the counterfeiters at the old mill were masquerading as inventors of a new breakfast cereal. They had the Hardys buying their story through much of the book.
General Mills Body Buddies – Believe it or else! Shaped like little tapeworms.
Kellogg’s Haunchies – Available in those individual size boxes only, which is “family size” in Haunchieville. This breakfast cereal does not actually exist.
SpongeBob SquarePants Cereal – Speaks for itself. No, it really speaks, or gives that illusion, as the large marshmallows are rehydrated and rub against each other!
Ralston Hounds Tooth – Little houndstooth designs, if you were to arrange them as so. In a bowl with milk they don’t look so nightmarish in pattern—more like little turds. In other words, like houndstooth!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Slam Dunk Contest Hi-Lites
Runner up Steve Blake dunked left hand while firing uzi into crowd with with right hand (blanks, or candy bullets)
Runner up Blake Austin dunked over the Black Eyed Peas while listening to something else on his iPod
Runner up Blake Hoffarber on crouching tiger hidden dragon wires while tweeting with Shaq on Droid X
Runner up Tim Blake Nelson dunked over the incredible hulk while reading The Odyssey
Runner up Blake Falk with no socks
Blake Edwards tribute to Pink Panther theme remix
Runner up Blake Shelton dunk with hat (bumped by Dodge Ram commercial)
Semi-finalist Blake Lively dunked over the Harvard and Columbia basketball teams, including trainers, conditioning coaches, mascots, cheerleaders, marching band
Winner William Blake dunked while seeing visions of a man's head crushed like melon and during live Neil Young performance of NIHL level guitar feedback
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Best Country & Western Songs of 2010
You Gotch A’nother Think Comin’
(When I Lost My Cellphone) I Lost My Mind
“Your Honor, She SAID She Was Fourteen!”
They Asked Me Not To Return (To Nashville)
(My Car Alarm is Louder than) Your Husband
It Is What It Is (Except When It Ain’t)
(Will My Illegitimate Children Take Care of Me) When I’m Older?
(There’s No Kind of Pork) I’m Not In Love (With)
Love Ur Country (or I’ll Back Over Your Head with My Dodge Ram)
(My Cowboy Boots Smelled So Bad) They Walked to the Store All By Themselves (and Bought Themselves Some Odor-Eaters)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Best Books I Read Last Year
Ranch Dressing – Donna Miller
Athletic Shoes – John Burns
Coffee Cup – Howard Jones
Autumn – Patricia Norman
A Very Large Drink – Tom Wall
Pencil-In – Deborah Davis
American Eggs – Charlie Walsh
Clean Floor – Chris Albert
Cars and Automobiles – Barry Cartwright
It Was What It Was – F. Winston Cox
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Best Doughnuts (Baker's Dozen)
French
Apple Frittos
Butterflies
Freedom
Prather
Poinsettia
Chaw, The
Rocky Top
Ranch
Soggy
Tufted
Numeir
Novel, The
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Eleven Best Movies of 2010
The Apartment
The Fugitive Kind
Breathless
Peeping Tom
Purple Noon
Psycho
La Dolce Vita
L’Avventura
Elmer Gantry
The Bad Sleep Well
The Testament of Orpheus
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Best College Football Team Names
Worst College Football Team Names
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Top Eleven Songs of 2010
Piker – “Letz Auto-Tune”
PX – “Love That Mechanical Voice”
Liberal Arts – “Mechanical Voice - Works – Volume I”
Rantum-Scootum – “Fully Loaded Auto-Tune”
Silent Rhubarb – “All Hail Soulless Mechanical Voice”
Sal G. – “Mechanical Voice This!”
The Hoodie String Pullers – “Experiments with the Harmony Vocoder: #1, #3, #8 & #5.3”
Ass Onions – “Up Your Auto-Tune”
Bacty – “Enuf! Mechanical Voice”
Drug Store Schlemihl – “It is Mechanical Voice Is What It Is”
Plus, hounorable mention:
Various Artists – “Music for Twiddling Knobs”
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Best of 2010 Lists Go To Eleven
Actually, a lot of people make these "Year End" lists much earlier, which I think is ludicrous. How about all the movies, books, products, etc. that come out right around Christmas? Some of the best stuff of the year comes out after the 15th of December.
So I have insisted we wait until January.
Also, since it's 2011, these lists are all going to have ELEVEN items, rather than the traditional ten.
This is only one reason you'll have to look no further than The Moss Problem for your year end LISTS!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Tostitos Championship
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The Sugar Bowl
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The Sunny D-Lite Orange Bowl
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Rose Bowl (we wish)
Saturday, January 1, 2011
TicketCity, Outback, Capital One, and Gator Bowls
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sun Bowl
College Football Bowl Coverage
All of the Moss Problem correspondents are welcome to report on their favorite games, even those who despise football! Though due to “The Economy” we are only able to pay Mr. Russell, and believe me, he’s not going to be socking away a lot for retirement.
Anyway, this has been an exciting year with a lot of controversy, and we hope it continues—well, the excitement more than the controversy. And make sure you vote in Big Ten renaming divisions POLL, on the sidebar here. Thousands have already let their voice be heard, though we haven’t recorded the tallies yet, as their has been a bit of a snafu with the IT department.
I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy and prosperous, etc., New Year.
Best, Tony
Monday, December 20, 2010
New Names for Big Ten Divisions R Us!
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, has announced that his office will reconsider the names (in what must be seen as an effort to hold onto incensed, vomiting fan revenue in these harsh economic times) (and amidst the increasing popularity of soccer). In an unprecedented move, the powers that be have admitted their lameness and opened the floodgates to tens of thousands of beer-fueled, sports-bar composed emails and text message suggestions for alternative names for the divisions in question. Unsurprisingly, most are worse than the original sorry attempt. However, a few quality outfits like The Moss Problem have agreed to set up polls featuring some of the better suggestions kicking around the airwaves. The Big Ten promises to take notice and “let the people speak.” It’s a lot cheaper than hiring Wieden+Kennedy.
Here is a sampling of the top 16 candidates, which incidentally is the number of teams that will be in the Big Ten by the end of the next decade. Please note: in a brilliant twist on the rivalry concept, some division names are comprised of a “positive” name (Wheat Division) and a “negative” name (Chaff Division)—the idea being that the winner each year will “capture” the positive name for its division for the following year—sticking the losing team’s division with the embarrassing one.
Kings
Emperors
Dorks
Nerds
Dictators
Strongmen
Crips
Bloods
Red States
Blue States
Corn Division
Soybean Division
Pork Division
Beef Division
Bo’s Bastards
Woody’s Wackos
Wheat Division
Chaff Division
Walter Camp Division
Walter Mitty Division
Jim Thorpe Division
Duane Thorpe Division
Joy Division
Pansy Division
Ghoulardi Football Division
Ruggle’s Beat Division
Nike Division
Adidas Division
Freedom Division
Economy Division
Great Plains Division
Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments Division
Saturday, December 11, 2010
An Open Letter and Apology from the Editor
From this day forth, as a remedy for these conditions, and in order to maintain stringent artistic standards in these harsh economic times, it will be henceforth the policy of The Moss Problem to award writers and artists by means of full editorial credit only, in lieu of monetary compensation. It is our belief that by eliminating the stigma of payment for writing and artwork, the credibility and journalistic integrity of this journal's contributors will be increased, which will benefit everyone involved, including the reader, who will rest assured that no thought of anything but passion for the subject matter was a contributing factor in creation of the work. In this way, the reader will be assured of the highest journalistic integrity, we believe, available in both print medium and over the World Wide Web.
In a similar vein, I would like to, at this time, confess that for the last quarter of a century, or perhaps longer, I was under the impression that the proper and preferred method of disposal for paper towels in public restrooms was to deposit them in commodes. So deluded was I, that each time I would see an official or hand-written plea to please, do NOT dispose of paper towels in toilets, I read it--apparently due to both my believing I knew what was preferred, and my dyslexia--as a plea to do exactly the opposite of what they were requesting. So, yes, it has been I, Anthony Franciosa, who has been depositing paper towels in toilets from New York to London, from Paris to Milan, from Buenos Aires to Beijing, and in all points in between. And especially at Starbucks locations in the greater Los Angeles area. For this I sincerely apologize.
Monday, October 18, 2010
BSC Rankings
The Moss Problem is proud to announce that it has been selected as one of the 158 independent sports writing publications that make up the sports journal arm of the Bowl Series Championship computer rankings. From this week until the end of the NCAA College Football season, The Moss Problem will have a hand (finger, hangnail?) in selecting the top 25 college football teams in the country.
According to a memo accompanying our selection, The Moss Problem was selected for its high degree of journalistic integrity and unique vision in the face of nearly overwhelming fan base noise. Cited as influencing the decision, was The Moss Problem’s continuing emphasis on non-traditional factors in team ratings, including: defensive domination, coaching idiosyncrasy, home uniform colors, away uniform colors, helmet style and colors, celebration aesthetics, and “extracurricular,” which includes mascot quality, band, and fan traditions. The Moss Problem Poll, rather than trying to assert which team is “best,” based on performance thus far, is a ranking of perceived excellence as well as prediction of final ranking at the end of the season.
Week of October 18, 2010.
1. Oregon
2. Auburn
3. TCU
4. Wisconsin
5. Stanford
6. Ohio State
7. Boise State
8. Michigan State
9. Arkansas
10. Oklahoma
11. Virginia Tech
12. Nebraska
13. LSU
14. Missouri
15. Arkansas
16. Oklahoma State
17. Nevada
18. Texas A&M
19. Utah
20. South Carolina
21. Florida State
22. Mississippi State
23. Oregon State
24. Iowa
25. Hawaii
Sunday, October 10, 2010
The Last Airbender in 3D
Projecting forth to the “future” of “2010”—when it is prophesied that the world is destroyed—the “Airbender” moves awkwardly from his home: 1958 Thelma Corners, Georgia. Carrying far too much of pics load in his metal lunchbox, Airbender (who he finds is the last of his kind in 2010), Harry Potter series’ Tommy Tuberville, thrusts and jousts, taking every opportunity to launch an object at the 3D lens: a playing card, samurai sword, a loogie, a torrent of slo-mo Spaghetti-o's with a wet paper towel sauce, reminiscent of last years “The Last House on The Left in Connecticut.” It soon becomes clear that plot and action are a crippled mare pulling the 3D cart of multiple golden bootie winners Laszlo Kovacs’ widescreen digital Airiflex Hercules.
Airbender is not without its satisfying forked paths upon forked paths of helmer scribe Night Slymon’s trademarked multiple endings upon multiplexed endings. There is more prophecy evident than a glowing Guadalupe on a tortilla chip. The lush, retro hypocrisies of the late Fifties provide a blanket of God and Family, missing from chaotic mess of New York City, which Airbender arrives, unexplained more mysteriously than time travel. Apparently the Port Authority Bus Terminal has a portal in its damaged, glass-enclosed Rube Goldberg billiard ball sculpture, which then takes on dual function as touchstone and subplot.
Karate kicking his way through the panic of Times Square—where tourists from Kansas to Arkansas seem to have arrived to view the apocalypse on the side of skyscrapers projected amid cola and SUV ads—Airbender finds his powers are all too amplified with the sudden years as he horrifies himself and onlookers as he incinerates a family of eight from Toronto. Subplot upon similar subplot pile up on Airbender’s bony shoulders: now he must find virtual darkened doorway pockets of time travel where he can quickly retrieve the innocent victims to their pre-charbroiled state, while offering sage McNuggets of advice like, you can now watch the World Series in the comfort of your own home on the new Sony Telethon 3D Plasma wall model.
Climax enfolds in the unlikely guise of Times Squares “Grey McDonalds”—for Airbender has had only to travel 3 blocks of location shooting to 3D in and out of years 2001, 2004, 2112 (Rush), and 1963 Dallas. Spoiler Alert! Satisfying twist ending with truffle oil and portabella mushrooms. Special features include featurette and making of featurette featurette, Also, interactive “script machine” let’s you dictate the dialogue for subjectivity, and patented “The Future Has Many Paths” ending dictator, lets you watch pic over 144 times with unique results. Gimmick didn’t work with Clue: The Motion Picture because it’s always Colonel Mustard, but here the murderer is never the Airbender, and gimmick proves pointless. One criticism: Making Of Featurettes are not in 3D. Note: special features assume pic will garner DVD release. More likely strategy, keep in theaters indefinitely and milk box office like a treacherous snake.
