Links posted in September 2005
September 30, 2005
Meet Produce Man, surely the king of the Island of Misfit Mascots. Actually, king or schlimazel. Either one. [more inside]
quoth the conservative: "you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down"
I wonder if the christian right will have words for the former education secretary...
September 29, 2005
DangerDoom = DangerMouse + MF Doom + Adult Swim
The Bubble Project - collaborative graffiti.
September 28, 2005
Contracts in the music business are always good for gossipy fodder and are plenty of fun to read about when either party isn't so into the other anymore. Some bands leave their indie labels in the lurch when they sign for a big guy. Others release an improbable "greatest hits" album (or have one released for them) to fulfill a contracted number of albums. Some artists churn out crap to get to that number.
Rising above all others like a slacker king must be Van Morrison, who (as the story goes) sat down one afternoon and churned out 31 one minute tracks to get out of an early contract. I'd recommend you hit up "Ring Worm" and of course "Want a Danish", both of which are about exactly what it sounds like they're about. "Do It" should have been on the Starsky and Hutch soundtrack and "Hang On Groovy" should have given co-writer credit to Brian Wilson. I would have loved to see the exec's face on the first listen to this thing.
Name History Wizard This really deserves its own post... This baby Name Generator has a really cool java applet that follows names through the generations based on birth certificates. It plots the occurances over the decades. [more inside]
September 27, 2005
The Constant Gardener I haven't read the book, but I thought this was a pretty damn good movie. [more inside]
September 26, 2005
My hobby is finally a business. Since childhood, I have loved doing voice-overs since before I could talk. And, this little business of mine has really taken off since I got my PhD!
So anyway, if you know anyone looking for a good voice, then tell em to start finding out why Matt is "a voice verifiably versitile" and one of the fastest growing voice talents in the industry today!
If sG ever gets that buying bug again and wants to sell the jet-ski and/or car to finance some new technology gizmo, I'd have to suggest a high speed camera. Just look at pictures from something as simple as water drops! And you know that Mythbusters is made ten times better when you get to see stuff in super slo-mo...
September 25, 2005
September 23, 2005
Ever gone to an art museum and thought "I could totally draw that". Now you can.
September 22, 2005
Katrina Affected Physics and Astronomy (KAPA)
Community Bulletin Board. This bulletin board has been created for Physics and Astronomy faculty, postdocs, and students affected by Hurricane Katrina (and, soon, H. Rita). Its goal is to connect those needing temporary employment, housing, or other support to offers from secondary and higher education institutions, government organizations, and industry.
[more inside]
September 21, 2005
So it looks like Rita will be coming to texas. I would be prepared for power outages around here if there are tropical storm winds. You can save shit in your fridge by freezing bottles of water and using them to keep the fridge cool, although I doubt that the power will be off for long. Keep an eye out for tornado warnings because hurricanes tend to spawn tornadoes inland. The torrential rain could cause lowland flooding around town in places around creeks (shoal creek is a notorious flooder). I doubt any of you are stupid enough to drive through flooded creeks but remember that's a no-no.
I'm a little bit worried about the flooding problem for the whole corridor between austin and san antonio. This area is known for its flash flooding as you saw in 2001 down in New Braunfels and I lived through during the '98 flood in san marcos.
Anyways, this should be an interesting event and I'm curious to see if we get any hurricane force winds or if it will die out before it makes it all the way to us.
September 20, 2005
cycllist's penis “The perineum is the area behind the scrotum to the anus. It’s soft tissue, and there’s internal penis there. You have as much penis inside your body inside your body as you do outside your body, so the first thing you’re doing is you’re sitting on this penis."
Ben's unprotected "inside penis" unavailable for comment.
In the bwaaahaha you've got to be kidding me wiping tear from eye files, Ford complains about japanese auto makers hogging all the hybrid vehicle parts. I wonder if unkie Bush can make Fordie-wordies bluesies-woosies go away somehow...
As Rita bears down on galveston/houston we should take a break to see the break from south padre caused by Katrina: [more inside]
September 19, 2005
The Opossum Project
What is it?
A careful and scientific study of what happens to a deceased opossum when it is placed in a bucket of water.
Why would anyone do this?
Hey, a visiting dog killed an opossum in my back yard and I collect skulls. It seemed to make sense.
How can I help?
I don't know. Maybe send me money? Or water? I am using cold-water maceration as the process. Or just send FAN MAIL like this lovely lass did!
It's called brand leveraging. First, invent your own brand extension (in this case, the King of Snakes Nagraj). Then, add value and entice customers by providing something familiar such as Superman, Spiderman, and Batman banding together. Then, for some reason, add a weird equivalent to Captain Lou Albano. Now comes the magic. Nagraj has to save the world once Superman, Spiderman, and Batman fail, kills Lou Albano along the way, and scores the hot chick. Uff!
If you're thinking about mechanisms for assisting the blind in enjoying media (as I apparently am), there are several interesting options. In some theaters, you can get a device (described here) that sits in the cupholder and overlays captions. A screen high in the back of the auditorium plays the captions reversed and your piece of glass (like a modern teleprompter) reflects it so just you can see it.
If you're at home and want to catch all of the sight gags on the Simpsons, there seems to be another SAP channel that contains DVS (Descriptive Video Services). Hilarity can ensue. Has anyone here ever turned the DVS on? Do we get it on our local affiliates?
Another Bush busted under the influence in Austin. It's all about the family values.
Female or Shemale? A more or less SFW Photo Quiz.
September 18, 2005
Summary of the Khan Language - The language of Khan consists of only one verb, the stem version of which is “Khan”. The meaning of which there exists no direct translation into English. In order to fully understand the meaning, one must take into account the culture of the native speakers of Khan. They are despised each other and the world, and only lived to express such hatred. Therefore, the Khan language represents varying degrees of hate in their verb. So, it can be translated as, “I hate you/I want you to die/May God strike you down”, et cetera, in the varying tenses, persons, and plurality. [more inside]
September 16, 2005
Ahhh, the joys and wonderment of Lego stop motion films.
This is hilarious looks like the egos of theoretical physicists are at the same level now that they've always been. Though it is ballsy as hell to reject a paper for publication when it was written by Einstein.
At least the leader of the free world has his priorities in order.
September 15, 2005
This Superman Trailer is so fucking good I came down with otaku sweats while watching it. [more inside]
Man, I feel like I'm coming straight out of the stone age with my 3-blade razor. Now that the five-bladed Fusion exists, that is. I only just heard about it but you probably already knew thanks to the Onion. As they put it in 2004, "Shaving with anything less than five blades is like scraping your beard off with a dull hatchet."
Cosmetics from executed Chinese, paper says. Could this be real? It is the Brittish saying it...
September 14, 2005
US is Rome and Bush is Nero (Sorry for the length) [more inside]
The Aristocrats as told by Bob Newhart (artist's conception). [more inside]
Professor Sex - "One of the critiques, which specifically cited a class discussion on shaving pubic hair, threatened a sexual harassment lawsuit." [more inside]
Holy fucking shit this has to be the most bizarre story that I've ever seen. The movie is very interesting, but the insane conservative interpretation has to be the craziest thing I've hever seen.
Remember the nursing home in St. Bernard Parish Where all of the old people perished? because apparently no one thought that the most vulnerable members of society might have a problem evacuating on their own? the negligent owners/operators have been brought to justice. 45 people continue to be dead, however.
September 13, 2005
Great invention... Did somebody already post this? Definitely click on the link and watch the flash video at the end of the article. It's hilarious.
How Bush Blew It - from Newsweek, no less.
September 12, 2005
Do you like to watch movies? Sure, we all do! You know what will fix that? Well, watching movies for twelve hours straight is a good start. ButtNateAThon II (Once More With FeelingTM) will be held this Friday at Laura's house (more details). So sit back, relax and enjoy the show. [some links are mpgs]
Sometimes you come home from a hard days work to find this waiting for you beside your door. On the bright side there's a new apartment open here at Stoney Ridge.
Go TSUSM physics! The professor that did this work is a badass and probably clinically insane. I love the fact that he pretty much created his own field and doesn't really give a shit about much else. I think the only reason that TSU got and kept him was because his wife teaches there and they let him pretty much do what he wants.
Ladies, do you ever have that not so fresh feeling? Thinking about using a douche and not in the South-Park-insult sense? You should throw back to a simpler time when you might have used Lysol. You know, friendly neighborhood Lysol, the air freshener/disinfectant/huffee. The DOD MSDS disagrees with this indication.
This just in FEMA director resigns.
Nary seven more days til it be international talk like a pirate day, ye scurvy dogs.
At least one reason why sG can't run for president: [more inside]
The Guardian has a regular column entitled "Bad Science" (I just learned about it, so bear with me if you knew). A recent post ponders the question: Why is most science journalism so terrible? (present company excepted) Reading this article helped me understand why creationist ideas (for example) keep getting reported on: the papers feel like they have to give both sides of any science debate just like it was politics. But when you give equal voice to one crank vs. the entire scientific establishment, that doesn't do justice to the facts.
[more inside]
September 11, 2005
Bush, in an effort to recreate his hero Ronald Reagan's era, is updating the US position on preemptive nukular strikes. Don't worry though, in order to strike there must be a direct order from the president and he's never been wrong about suspected WMD's in the past. [more inside]
Got 15 minutes or so? Great. Let's play the Blame Game.
[more inside]
September 09, 2005
microsoft sued a college stundent for selling their software on ebay and he actually won. without a lawyer!
It's a little bit long but well worth the read.
For a good laugh today, go to google, type "failure" and hit the "I'm feeling lucky" button. Hopefully this can counteract whatever Fox News can do.
September 08, 2005
For those that enjoy Pease Park, the Austin Parks Foundation is having a volunteer "Action for Parks" day to maintain and improve large portions of the Shoal Creek greenbelt.
Attention: the FEMA is doing a great job. There aren't any dead people out there. I mean, if there were, you'd see pictures, right? No, no, they've got plenty of official pictures you can look at though. Yup, those official ones capture everything you could want to see.
Sign o' the Times - SomethingAwful photoshops road signs.
The Austinist is recruiting!
Now you can have your wonderfully written material reach a much larger audience than just a handful of physics grad students.
[more inside]
September 07, 2005
In times of National Crisis like we face now, it is important to remember the immortal words of the mere mortals that have gone before us. For example, the lyrics to "Rump Shaker" can be particularly soothing. [more inside]
September 06, 2005
Do you have a Brazilian friend looking for a wonderful English phrasebook to improve their learning? Do you also have a mendacious spirit? If so, direct them post haste to English As She Is Spoke. Written by a Portuguese speaker using a French-English phrasebook, a French-Portuguese dictionary, and insanity, its smooth easy-going style will put you in a mind of a nice game of Gleek, a delicious medium-well cut of Shi Ass, or a raucous night drinking some orgeat with the local Porkshop Keeper or The quater-Grandfather. Because as they say, Nothing some money, nothing of Swiss.
We all love the movie 'Breaking Away', especially the training scene where Dave Stoller races the truck while wearing a yellow Campagnolo hat. However, did you know that the race at the end of the movie is real? The Little 500 was started by the son of a former Indy 500 winner to raise money for scholarships, and it continues to this day in Bloomington.
September 05, 2005
The rise and ignominious fall of Michael Larson, the man who avoided the Whammies and beat Press Your Luck (sfw despite rotten.com). I had heard how he earned it but never learned how he lost it all...
September 04, 2005
Talk about loving your city,
Mayor C. Ray Nagin sure does. You've probably all heard clips of this interview on the news, but here it is in its entirety from NYT. It's not really an interview (the interviewer is obviously a supporter of the mayor), but it does make me say, for the first serious time in my life, that someone "is keepin' it real."
[more inside]
"We Monitor James Hetfield's Hair So You Don't Have To" - The James Hetfield Hair Watch, complete with charts and graphs. [WFMU]
Reminder: Dalai Lama Tix will be distributed on tuesday morning at 7am. Post below if you are interested in queuing with me. [more inside]
Read the eighth paragraph of this link. I can't do it "justice." Fuck you, Focus on the Family, fuck you very much. I know you're just trying to find a way to cope, but blame the victim is a strategy only bastards use.
Chief Justice Rehnquist is dead. I really hope I won't be hearing the phrase "Chief Justice Antonin Scalia" anytime soon
September 03, 2005
My brother is on TV!!1!one!!uno Sorry, no direct link to the movie file. The site is flash-based and I can't figure out how to direct link. Menu path: Power Sitting --> Promotionals --> Power Sitting (:60). [more inside]
Google Maps now has Katrina Overlay - link shows the Superdome; toggle between 'Satellite' and 'Katrina' to survey damage. [more inside]
September 02, 2005
Crown and Anchor at 3:30 until ... Come and have a beer with me! It's more fun than browsing the web on a Friday afternoon.
This needs to be in a movie of some sort.
An interview with mythbuster Adam Savage. What a perfect job...
September 01, 2005
This has to be about my favorite blog ever. Often, they are shooting fish in a barrel, and often, it is excessively Red Sox/As-centric, but damn, it can be funny.
Fuck you, Bush good job overriding your scientific staff. Maybe you can geet all of the real scientists in the FDA to resign. Also, moron, your war on birth control will only produce more abortiions, which you seem to pretend to dislike. Damn. link via Cosmic Variance
Before
- After. (More here.) I didn't realize how bad the damage had gotten, but apparently law and order are breaking down and the city is out of control. Some folks are standing fast. Oh, and by the way -- we shoulda seen this coming. Luckily some douchebags altruistic folks are stepping forward to help. [MeFi]
