HAhahahahahahaha...

hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

Time Lapse of a Baby Playing

Look at that little entropy generator-- babies are Agents of Chaos!

We interupt this article to present my personal craziness

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalism_in_popular_culture

Check out the diatribe just past the Literature section. See it before it gets edited out!

Edit: It got edited out.

Here's the version with the persuasive essay:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cannibalism_in_popular_culture&oldid=267281927

I am now a cannibal.

Man Loses $150,000 in "Nigerian Prince" Scam

WHEN WILL PEOPLE LEARN?! Where has this man been living that he didn't know that this was a scam? And how did he also manage to not have anyone in his life, some from whom he even borrowed money, that could have clued him in? And where does someone this gullible/dumb even GET $150,000? I don't know if this even qualifies as a scam anymore- more like an idiot tax.

Nazi Zombies

Is this a a bit of guerrilla marketing for the aforementioned Nazi Zombie flick? A agree with the wag at Crooked Timber-- the real zombies are presenting the local news.

"The Moment"

Gigapan and PhotoSynth of Obama's inauguration.

Two examples of giant photo tech. Well used.

Many Worlds QM and the Eels

Taken from the BBC Documentary "Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives", which is about Mark Oliver Everett -- better known as E, leader of Eels -- and hisjourney to discover the physicist father he never really knew and to understand something of his "Many Worlds Interpretation" of quantum mechanics -- at first, painfully ignored, but now taken quite seriously.

The Internet Writes Batman

As it says, "Because NOBODY knows better than the FANS!!"

It's things like this, and the reviews of Tarot (the pictures aren't really safe for work) that keep me going back to Chris's Invincible Super-Blog.

Anti-DRM Book

You know, for the kids.

Be Jackson Pollock

It's his birthday. Try this web app and make abstract splattery art:
http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

EAT REAL FOOD

If you needed just one more reason to stop eating high-fructose corn syrup (and believe me- there were LOTS of reasons already!), I've got one more for ya: MERCURY.

Turns out that there are several food products out there that are still using mercury-tainted high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener (mercury is used in the process of making it), and mercury is toxic at ALL levels. These are brand-name products, many of which are marketed to kids.

Go read the report for yourself; they also include a list of the products in which the mercury was detected.

Peachy

Rod Blagojevich. He's not going to his impeachment and neither are his lawyers.

Looking forward to him whining because he didn't "get to" face his accusers.

Excellent. I'm Moving.

Canon is urging workers to go home early and make more babies.

I'm in. Do we get daycare benefits, too?

Beautiful Stuff I Can't Afford, No. 4

Today the BSICA is only one of my favorite shoe companies of ALL TIME.



CYDWOQ Shoes, still hand-made in Burbank, CA, are quite possibly some of the most unique, beautiful, and comfortable shoes I have ever gotten to experience. I actually do own a pair of these shoes from the days when I was the manager and buyer at a shoe boutique. But NOW- of course when there's no way I can pay $300+ for the shoes or $400+ for the boots- NOW they have more styles, more textures, colors, and materials, and MORE BOOTS available than ever.

Is there anything better than an amazing pair of boots? No, I don't think so.

They also make sandals and shoes for men and women, but really- the boots are where it's at.

Oh, Steven.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Stephen's Remix Challenge

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

What, Me Worry?

MAD Magazine goes quarterly this April.

It used to be published eight times a year (monthly except for March, June, September, and December, or something like that) in 2001, I think, it went monthly (which was around the time it switched to color and got ads, but the price dropped) and actually came out in all twelve months from then up until this year.

As long as they keep up the "Planet Tad!!!!!" joke blog thing, I'll keep laughing.

Missing the Point?

Derek Kirk Kim writes about his anger toward the casting choices of the main characters in The Last Airbender movie, which is based on the excellent Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon, which is sort of an Asian fantasy story, on his blog:

This past Monday, on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, on the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration, I discovered that the casting of the four leading characters for the upcoming live-action movie, "The Last Airbender" (based on the TV show, “Avatar: The Last Airbender”) had gone entirely to white actors. I want—no, need—to say something about this.

...

I was speaking with Gene Yang (author of "American Born Chinese" and National Book Award nominee) about the casting and he said it best: "It's like a white Asian fetishist's wet dream. All the Asian culture they want, without any of the Asian people."

...

If Rathbone had gotten the role of "Shaft," and got a perm and a "tan" to play that character (and I don't mean in a self-conscious, subversive way like Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder"), there would be a shit storm of outrage from all sectors of America, not just the African American community. It would be a headline across every newspaper, and I highly doubt that production would make it to filming. But when Joel Grey taped his eyes "slanty" and colored his skin to play a Korean man in "Remo Williams" (in 1985! we're not talking ancient history here), it went virtually unnoticed. How was that even allowed to happen? How is it continuing to happen, here in 2009, at the eve of Obama's inauguration (as I type this.) Why this double standard?

The actors are Jackson Rathbone (best known for being in Twillight), Jesse McCartney (best known for being a teeny-bopper heartthrob), Nicola Peltz (best known for, well, probably this), and Noah Ringer (best known for this).

A quote that I find interesting is:

Or let me draw a closer parallel—imagine if someone had made a “fantasy” movie in which the entire world was built around African culture. Everyone is wearing ancient African clothes, African hats, eating traditional African food, writing in an African language, living in African homes, all encompassed in an African landscape...

...but everyone is white.

It's interesting because it reminds me of the racial readjustment Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books took on when SciFi made that miniseries a couple of years ago.

Sure, the people of Earthsea are more Caribbean, Indonesian, and Filipino, but it's still the same sort of thing.

And I don't see it changing anytime soon, even if a Mexican lesbian gets elected president during the next go around.

(Art by finni)

What do we live in?

Perhaps a hologram?

Rinku & Dinesh

A little while ago two Indian nationals won a pitching competition the Million Dollar Arm. I don't know the specifics of the contest but the ultimate prize was a minor league contract with The Pittsburgh Pirates (which is a good news/bad news sort of prize).

Anyway both are from rural backgrounds and know little of America or baseball. They train at USC and keep a blog of their experiences.

It's freaking awesome. An excerpt:

One very, very bad thing about the news is that they say I on the BABEWATCH. This not true. i not watching girls. i only pitching, training, eat, watch baseball/Movies and sleep. American women very dangerous and very crazy. I like only Indian woman. Dinesh and JB, Sir have been harrassing me about this BABEWATCH. I do not like the BABEWATCH.

I also learn how to play darts from Neil, sir. First time, I thinking I throw darts too hard and they no sticking. Neil, sir also claim to be real person they make Snakes in a Plane movie about. Dinesh and I not believe him anymore. He is a tricky one.

I think my favorite part is their movie reviews.

RUSH - YYZ Performed by 13-yrs girl

Serious skills.

\m/

GROW Tower

Eyemaze has released the newest GROW game, GROW Tower!

Hooray!

I Like Medium Large

Get more here.

Artfull Bras

They may not all be to my taste, but I love the overall idea of the Artfull Bras Project, and some are really funny and clever... or maybe really punny, but whatever! Still good! I do wish they had them on real models instead of hangars, though...

Obama's Inaugural Speech

I created a wordle of Obama's speech:

Click the thumbnail to see it at full size.

Update: Check out the new whitehouse.gov.

The Porter.

Enemy of The Lager.

Foundation, The Movie

It looks like Asimov's Foundation series is coming to the big screen. Since Roland Emmerich (director of "Independence Day") is on board I imagine they will add more action and one liners-- Your ass is psychohistory!

Cthulhu Fhtagn!

Have you heard the bad word?

Zelda Super Dance Fun Time

You gotta love the Japanese.

Sewing Tutorial

For Ms. Kamice, even though I'm not sure she ever looks at this site (*AHEM*).

Wristlet Tutorial from Whip Up

Rootbeer Campaign

I enjoy ad campaigns when I actually think they're funny. My grandmother, of all people, sent me these first, which proves that it's not always a frightening thing to have her generation on the internet. I doubt that this will get me to buy IBC, though.



And, if nothing else, cute ape! The hairy one, not the one in clothes.

Watchmen Legal Battle Settled

Can it be? At last we will be able to see the unfilmable Watchmen film on the big screen. Hallelujah.

Sh'Farv

Create your own superhero.

It's here to protect the world's supply of Earl Grey from the Mokt'Gloj Empire.

Damn

Keanu Reeves will be playing Spike in a Cowboy Bebop movie.

Happiness, Intelligence, Graphs

Freakonomics does a back of the envelope investigation of Simpson's Other Paradox. (or should that be Other Simpson's Paradox?)

More Financial Storm Watching

This is a pretty important little graph:


And here's a link to a bigger version.

It's basically a measure of investors willingness to take on a minimal amount of risk. You can see that it peaks in early October.

It's noteworthy because it's back under 100 points, indicating that investors are willing to invest in things slightly more risky than treasury bills. That is a good indication that the financial crisis, at least, is subsided and we are now left with just a really bad recession.

The treasury department got dragged into doing the right kind of rescue late, and there are plenty of things to be annoyed with in the TARP, but it would appear to have gotten the job done. Now, in dealing with the effects outside of finance, we have to hope that Congress can act quickly to pull off some sort of fiscal stimulus (lending cheap money to the states should be priority A1).

Slogan for 2009: "We Could Do Worse But We'd Really Have to Try!"

Harper’s Index: The Bush Years

Minimum number of Bush appointees who have regulated industries they used to represent as lobbyists: 98

Years before becoming energy secretary that Spencer Abraham cosponsored a bill to abolish the Department of Energy: 2

Number of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and North African men detained in the U.S. in the eight weeks after 9/11: 1,182

Number of them ever charged with a terrorism-related crime: 0

Percentage of Americans in 2006 who believed that U.S. Muslims should have to carry special I.D.: 39

Chances an American in 2002 believed the government should regulate comedy routines that make light of terrorism: 2 in 5

Percentage of the amendments in the Bill of Rights that are violated by the USA PATRIOT Act, according to the ACLU: 50

Read the whole thing and weep.

Dog- An Elephant's Best Friend

The narrative is wicked cheesy, but the story is fantastic.

Social Media is Amazing

US Airways Airbus crashes in the Hudson river, and the first picture and "coverage" is posted on Twitter.
Who needs journalists anymore?

(Kidding! Kidding.)

(Sort of.)

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it)

Seriously, this almost made me cry with laughter.

Chart Selection Flow Diagram

Click for embiggening.

I *Heart* Hedgehogs

It's like watching an old guy eat without his dentures.

Breaking News

This just in: There will be an Arrested Development Movie.

That is all.

(Actually, that's not totally all. Apparently Michael Cera is the only holdout at this point. C'mon, George Michael! You're not THAT famous!)

Insane, Retarded, Animated

this GIF:
I didn't copy it; it's hotlinked. Don't cry when the link dies. I can't be bothered to care.

Beautiful Stuff I Can't Afford, No. 3

Today's BSICA is really not SO far out of reach, and is a little bit of a surprise to me, too. I'm not usually a person who gives much of a damn about purses, but then I found Cotton Candy Boutique on Etsy (DAMN YOU, ETSY!!!).





Fifty bucks each for these, which is really not much but still out of the range of conceivable for me for a damn purse. But still... sigh... Let me know if you get one so I can snuggle with it for a while, alright? I promise not to drool. Much.

"I am not a number, I am a free man."

Patrick McGoohan died on Tuesday at 80.

Mimi Smartypants

I forget how I found Mimi Smartypants, but I love her. I know next to nothing about who she really is, but I think we should be best friends, except I'm probably not smart or funny enough (and I don't and won't live in Chicago or like sports. C'est la vie). And just when I think it can't get much better than her, along comes her young daughter with a graphic novel entitled "The Ham Came to Life." (See the entry from 1/13/09 for that gem. See all other entries for constant fabulousness in the most delightfully nerdy and snarky way.)

Why!?

Lot of "regular" folks are buying the new issue of Amazing Spider-Man today... because it has Obama in it.

But will they do that when Obama makes his first appearance in a This Modern World collection?

Khan!!!

Ricardo Montalbán has died.

Interview with an Adware Author

Technically, I was working. But I actually encourage everyone to read this. It sort of wakes you up to the realities of malware and personal privacy, if you weren't awake already. An interesting look at how incidious software can be, and makes me consider switching to linux 100%.
http://philosecurity.org/2009/01/12/interview-with-an-adware-author

Even if it's fake, it's funny.

"Man tries to pay bill with spider drawing"

The Bloggess

I met Jenny, The Bloggess, last year at BlogHer where she put on quite a show. She regularly makes me laugh my ass off, but today's post, while admittedly totally appealing to my immature side, had me rolling.

It's okay if you don't feel the same, but she's my kind of insane.

Ill Doctrine

Ill Doctrine is simply the smartest, funniest, most humane voice of hip-hop on the net. Jay Smooth deserves a wide audience.

Crayon Physics Deluxe

This makes me wish I had a tablet pc:

Hmm... this may be a future gift for Cole (and me).

But... What is "The American Way"?

Bill Willingham, writer of the most excellent Fables and co-writer of the nearly as excellent Jack of Fables, has decided to step away from the "Age of Superhero Decadence." Where "Old fashioned ideals of courage and patriotism, backed by a deep virtue and unshakable code, seem to be... well, old fashioned."

Wanting to emphasize the "hero" in "superhero" is a worthy goal, I think, but I'm always disturbed by the thought that we, whoever "we" is, are right. I think I know what courage and patriotism are, but are they the same for me as they are for Mr. Willingham or anyone who may read this?

Are heroes ever justified in killing? Is one who has a code against killing better than one who doesn't hesitate to blow a hitman's head off?

I look forward to seeing how well Mr. Willingham can stick to this mission statement when he co-writes Justice Society of American later this year. If editorial doesn't like what he and his co-writer do with the characters, will he leave the book or compromise?

(The comments section is interesting, too. Some are well thought out and others are just insane. What does creating multicultural characters have to do with morality? Especially when the character brought up (the new Blue Beetle) is a very heroic character with a moral base.

Or the guy who said, "The only noise you should be hearing out of bastard-child Lois Lane in Superman's presence is 'slurp slurp slurp.'" 'Cause, you know, that's Superman, all the way.

Ain't the internets grand.)

(Via Robot 6)

The Recently Deflowered Girl

Just check it out.

RiP: A Remix Manifesto

Check out the Rip site.

Dragon Cake

Next birthday, right Dani!

EIN, ZWEI, DIE!

Speaking of new movies, I've got a good one for ya.

Dead Snow.



The Premise?

For eight medical students, Easter vacation begins innocently enough. They pack their cars full of ski equipment and enough beer to fuel their escape from everyday life to the snowy, isolated hills outside of Øksfjord, Norway. Once there, they receive a late-night visit from a shady hiker, who tells them a story about Nazi occupation of the area during World War II. After doing their fair share of raping and pillaging, the dreaded battalion faced a brutal and vengeful uprising by the citizens of the town. The soldiers who managed to survive the onslaught, including their dreaded leader Colonel Herzog, were driven into the hills by the angry mob, where they supposedly froze to death, never to be seen again. But if the horror genre has taught us anything, it’s that the raucous behavior and promiscuity of the younger generation always have a way of bringing evil spirits back to life.

Yup- ZOMBIES. German, fast, smart, NAZI zombies!

Check out the trailer linked above. The cheese looks to be high with this one, but dammit! I may just have to find a way to see it anyway.



(Thanks to Sweetney at MamaPop for finding this. Excellent!)

Movies!

Check out Wired's list of upcoming movies. Good and not so good looking stuff coming soon.

"The 'misunderestimated' president?"

The BBC brings us its favorite Bushisms.

Controversies That Fade

NPR has a list of "Who Cares?" stories from 08.

My thoughts:

The New Yorker cover was certainly the dumbest of non-stories this year. Well, other than Brett Favre.

I remember a lot of arguments about the price of oil during the summer where I was derided as hopelessly naive for saying that since oil was just commodity like any other, a price increase did not mean that that we were on the brink of running out of it.

Hilary's tears were sorta interesting, because it did raise the question of how the press and the voters were going to act toward a female presidential candidate.

Never really cared about Jeremiah Wright. I imagine that I would think that what most Pastors say in church sounds pretty nuts to me. See Johnny Logic's entry from yesterday.

ESPN's crazy over hyping of Brett Favre caused Chad Pennington (the man he replaced) to fall to me way lower in my fantasy draft than he should have. I had a good long laugh when Pennington put up better numbers than Favre, and did his best to help me mock my coworkers.

Adult Swim's The Story of Lot

Japanese Watchmen Trailer

Macbook Wheel

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Screamin'Jay Hawkins - I put a Spell On You

Eye rollin' minstrel factor aside-- this is damned fun.

MC Chris (AKA MC Pee Pants) on The Goonies

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

The Zaky

It's part totally creepy, and part incredibly intriguing: The Zaky.



I have to admit, I'm interested. It almost looks like it would work. Maybe too much like Thing is your nanny, though.

Senator Francken

Behold the new Senator from Minnesota:

Is her hand cold?

The image is a crop from a painting called "The girl and the ghost" by Mike Krahulik, aka Gabe from Penny Arcade.

It's his Deviant Art page that's been distracting me.

Sock Monkey Art.

I'm in love.



Be sure to check out the other year's versions.

Hourly Comic

(This is the last two panels of the hourly comic for 2008.)

Today, John Campbell, creator of the enormously funny pictures for sad children, should have finished drawing this year's first Hourly Comic by now. (It'll be posted tomorrow. There's a 24 hour delay.) Here's his about this thing.

He started drawing comics for each hour he was awake during the month of January back in 2006.

Hourly Comic Day is on February 1st, and this is the day when we should all join in with John and draw at least one panel for each hour of that day we're awake.