Today's Mighty Oak


Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day everybody!  And since he was a proponent of civil rights, I’ll start with a link from the LA Times about the Prop 8 trial:

Many opponents of same-sex marriage argue that it violates God’s will. Maybe theirs. My God doesn’t fret about homosexuality. And I figure if gays and lesbians can gain some comfort and happiness from formal marriage, then let them. Congratulations and good luck.

Andrew Sullivan jumps in with statistics about divorce, and, brilliant as always, the Onion jumps into the fray as well.

I think Parkour is really graceful and beautiful to watch, this video puts it in flip book form, which just blow my mind:

parkour motion reel from saggyarmpit on Vimeo.

Nevada just registered the first male prostitute after a change in the laws allowed it to happen.  Although, after reading the interview, he’s either stretching (he compared himself to Rosa Parks, yes, really) or just really dumb.  I can’t quite figure it out.  I started the link on the second page of the interview, which is where it starts to really get weird.

Here’s a cool spoof ad (complete with lots of swearing, so NSFW).  Although I really shoudln’t talk, if the iPhone was on Verizon, I’d get one (mostly for the ability to play Myst):

Slate takes a look at the new Domino’s ad, which I happen to like, probably a little bit more than Slate does.  Check it out here.

I’m a bit behind posting this, but if you haven’t seen it, enjoy:

It’s a little old news, but I didn’t post about it, and it still blow my mind, Slog put together a comprehensive list of the past administration (and Gulliani) trying to deny that 9/11 happened on their watch.  My brain huts a lot when I try to comprehend this kind of logic.

Here’s a cool video about the power of images (and graphic designers).  It reminds me a lot of the theory we discussed in my communication classes, if you’re interested in seeing more, check out InformationisBeautiful.net

Speaking of technology and how it changes us, Patrick has a great article about how technology can bring strangers together.  A frightening situation, but an awesome use of the web.  Also, I may have linked to this one already, I can’t remember.

Here’s a new site I found, all about fonts.  I’m geeking out a little bit.

Alright, I think that’s it for now, have a great one!



I’ll be back with a larger post in a bit, as I’ve actually been keeping up with and going through all my links, but for now, I’d like to discuss Lady Gaga.  I’ve been enjoying her music more and more, even though I always seem to be behind on music being released.  Patrick has been talking about Bad Romance, and I watched the video yesterday, and love it, especially the last scene.  In that vein, I’d like to bring your attention to these two images:

And this one, a wider shot:

Does anyone else think she looks like Hedwig from Hedwig and the Angry Inch in these shots?

Also, apparently it is impossible to buy an unedited version of The Fame Monster.  This is what the Amazon page says:

Please note: Any apparent edits on this release are intentional and part of the final mix.

Somehow, I actually doubt that, I’m guessing it was put up after enough complains about the CD being edited.  If anyone knows where to pick up an unedited version of it, let me know.

Ok, that’s enough pop culture for one post, I’ll be back later, have a great one!



Just a quick NaNoWriMo update for everyone.  I always post my book cover once I have it finished, so here it is:

I’m still working on the back cover, but that’s the front.  Very simple, and I think it works, since it’s a horror novel.

Also, this latest episode of NaNo Video slipped in:



Hey everybody, quick update here.

The New York Times is finally getting around to some big coverage of the Uganda “Kill the Gays” bill.  And it appears to have garnered some real attention.  Which is a good thing since it appears that work from US politicians and lobbyists have brought about a law that would enable a nation to perform state-sanctioned genocide.  Good comments from Dan Savage here (not his first mind you, but some more recent ones).

Two big questions still loom in my mind.

1. If this were a different minority, say something racially motivated, or religiously motivated, would we not have heard the outcry?

2. If it “wasn’t the intent” of US politicians to draft a bill that would execute people based on who they are and who they love, then what exactly was their intent?  What other end did they expect to see from going into Uganda and stirring this up?

PittGirl is getting a second blog!  Always exciting!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
The Best F**king News Team Ever – Tiger Woods’ Faith
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political Humor Health Care Crisis

And of course, check out Dan Savage on Countdown, or his piece here on Slog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR7EPk-f-Lo

Still writing 09 on your checks?  I’m actually not, although I think it was 2004 where the whole year, I just never got the hang of it.  The whole year, I was off.  Terrible waste.

Andrew Sullivan checks in here about Iran.  The picture is amazing, of course.

I don’t like to write about work.  Aside from the occasional mention, mostly due to my schedule, I just don’t care to blog about it.  The same goes for work, I do not care to discuss sex, religion or politics, it’s rude and really has no place at work, it will just inevitably make someone mad.  The few times I get dragged into a conversation, I find the nearest exit to the conversation and then physically leave so I’m not pulled further in, I would rather have solid, productive, working relationships with everyone there, and those kind of discussions never help.  However, every now and then, something happens that I just have to write down, lest I forget it, and lest my anger subside.

Cue the vagueness (and flashback sequence, I’m thinking like how they used to on Roundhouse, using a bunch of cast member’s waving arms with the camera walking through them): some time ago a bunch of us were eating lunch.  And people were talking about their schedules and it was mentioned that we have Martin Luther King, Jr. day off, but not President’s day.  The President’s day holiday was moved to Independence Day to make it a four day weekend.  However, one of my co-lunch-eaters started to make a comment about that fact.  And that person had that look on their face, and that tone to their voice.  But thankfully, said person stopped themselves before they made the extremely racist comment that was bubbling just below the surface.  Because, you know, Dr. King was only probably the greatest advocate of civil rights and equality we have ever had in this country.

Now, I typically give everyone the benefit of the doubt, to a fault, and to no end.  But I have also sat in that lunch room and been told that inter racial marriages should not be legal.  Not because a certain person was racist, no no.  Because it is unfair to the child.  “Those marriages never last and it isn’t fair to the child.”  So you’ll have to excuse me if I have lost my patience for some of my coworkers, at least when it comes to what will come out of their mouths.  I’ll keep reading at lunch, and exit whenever I need to, self defense and all.

So maybe that person held their tongue because of me, I’ve chirped up a few times when I think things get out of control or offend me.  So maybe I’ve had a positive impact on some people, making them think a bit before they speak.  But who knows.  So excuse the rambling, I do apologize, but I wanted to make sure I remembered that comment, seems somewhat indicative.

That’s it for now, at least I think.  I have more to write up, but I’ll work on it another time I think, have a great one everybody!



Quick update here, I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year’s Eve!

Speaking of, I wish I could have posted this yesterday for everyone.  But you know maybe for everyone celebrating Orthodox New Year’s…wait, what?

Best thing I found out during the holidays: Pita Chips are awesome!  Why did I not know about these before?

Good gravy, is Google really trying to break into gaming now?  And while it makes sense for them to be in casual games (Remember I posted earlier this year about Popcap games inside WoW), this is getting a bit much.  But hey, if they go in, and so does Apple, which has been rumored for years and I don’t think it will happen, won’t that be a nice little fun grouping of companies: Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Apple and Google.

I showed the original video a few days ago, here’s it backwards, which is really forwards:

City Paper has a pretty cool wrap-up of 2009, check it out.

Or you can check out Carbolic Smoke Ball’s.  I suggest reading both.

I’ve never read or seen anything to do with Twilight.  But to those who have, does this about sum New Moon up?

This is a pretty cool site, and I think I could spend a lot of time looking up words, but hey, I’ll be learning stuff in the process!

And finally, what I actually originally was going to post, the biggest 25 pop songs from last year, mashed up into one amazing track.

That’s it for now, I’m hoping to do two big posts this weekend (really though, if I get one of them done, I’ll consider it a success).  Have a great one everybody!



Checking in briefly, I hope everyone’s holidays are going well.

I got a gift card to Barnes and Noble.  Glee (the first half of) Season 1 comes out Tuesday.  I’m thinking I have a plan in place.  Here’s some of my favorites from the show so far.  Notice how Finn dances the same in every number, and its only in one of the following, but the ending shot, following upstretched arms to the lights: very good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOtJiMqWGvo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNWUqU9lmvM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYc1uJU46_E

I may love this coffee shop, a lot:

Also, I find this extremely funny:

The Radial Middle, as always, has a fantastic piece:

You don’t have to be a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew or any particular race, creed, color, tint or hue to offer and receive the blessings of this or any other season. You just have to be open to — and accepting of — all the infinite possibilities of human faith and hope and love.

Okay, one more funny picture:

Have a great one everybody!



I hope everyone had a great Festivus yesterday, enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas!  And for your enjoyment, here’s what I’ve found lately:

I tend to think that Flash Mobs have been a bit overdone, but this one was cool, even if the music editing took some turns for the worse towards the end:

This showed up on SNL, and I laughed, a lot:

And another video to start off with, I don’t understand chemistry at all.  It makes no sense to me, I’ll stick to physics thank you very much.  However, I think this would have helped a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a45dXztokZM

Carblolic Smoke Ball has done it again, and by done, I mean made me laugh a lot:

Stuttering Caroler Ruins Christmas Concert, Repeats the Sounding Joy

They also report on the newly discovered letter of Saint Paul:

THESSALONIA, Ohio – Theologians are calling Saint Paul’s third letter to the Thessalonians, lost in the mail for 2,000 years because of insufficient postage, but finally delivered and opened last night, a “bombshell” because it urges that Christ be kept out of Christmas.

Breakpoint City, one of my favorite web comics, has once again reminded me that I should make a snowglobe.  Head on over and check it out, you’ll love it!

And here’s a video guaranteed to make you feel insignificant:

And following the ridiculous tradition, CBS cares.  They really, really care:

Really?  Do something “for your woman”?  And while I am glad to see this one including Santa (although I’m sure there are Santas out there who either claim, or really could fill in as a OB-GYN, don’t trust them if they smell like whiskey!), I’m still confused as to why there are ones specifically made for Christmas and Haunakkah. My mind explodes a little bit.

CBS Cares.

Merry Christmas everybody!



Alright, a more media heavy update today, but some cool stuff to pass along.

First up, this video was filmed backwards.  You’ll understand when you see it, and it’s pretty cool:

Faith finally finished her article about Women in Scouting, specifically at Scout camp.  Check it out here.

It looks as though Slate’s year end Gaming Club has finished up, although I kind of remember them coming to the same conclusion last year.  Still a great series, even if they don’t talk about some of the games I think they should have.

I might have been having a lot of fun with this link, just keep clicking to see what you get.  Because Joe Lieberman wants you dead (.com)

Even more than the previous link, this makes me so incredibly happy.  The rest of the world must really think the U.S. is bat-shit crazy.  Honestly, if I was not living here, I would just be laughing at how stupid this congressman is.  Not only for doing what he did, but also for having the balls to go the conference, try to pull together a press conference even when our government is in the building behind him trying to work with other counties from around the world.  Good frickin’ grief.

If you need something to make you smile, check out the trailer for Mega Man 10:

Did you know you can check your weather and put it in Star Wars terms?  Currently, we’re at Hoth.

The Stranger has run this “new” column a couple times, and honestly, it makes me laugh each time, especially the second letter:

And to end (much shorter post than I thought), here is just a creepy, creepy PSA from CBS.  Good sentiment, but still strange:

That’s it for now, have a great one everybody!



Here we go again, first with a clip from The Daily Show:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Highway to Health – Last Tea Party Protest of the Year
www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

And here’s the follow up (I think this was right after the previous clip, but I’m not certain):

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
The D.C.
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political Humor Health Care Crisis

So apparently Youtube may or may not be considering charging for content, like Hulu is going to do next year.  Not good.  Where will I get my doses of keyboard cat, rickrolls and classic ads?

First of all, I love CMU.  Not only because of things like this, but this helps a lot.  Also, I really would love a giant coffee table that was really a Microsoft Surface:

SurfaceScapes Gameplay Session from Surfacescapes on Vimeo.

Speaking of healthcare, Andrew Sullivan (away this week) covers Joe Lieberman excellently in his blog here.  As awesome as it is to have Independents in congress, they really are not making me happy.  They should listen to their citizens (either way), not the lobbies.

I don’t typically watch Keith Olberman, I think he’s a little too angry, and sometimes too one-sided.  And to be fair, I still don’t see the connection between Beck and the Pittsburgh LA Fitness shootings (but then again, everyone here in Pittsburgh comes from a little different perspective about that I think), but it is always nice to see him take on FOX news:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

And lastly, this billboard was put in Australia (I think) in order to spark discussion about the perceived gender of God.  I’m really not sure how that connection is supposed to be made, but even so, I like the billboard (yes, I know, I’m going to hell):

Alright, that’s it for now, have a great one everybody!

Social Links

Archives

How I’m Resisting

What I’m fighting for

What I’m running from

What I’m reading

What I’m drinking

What we’re writing

What I’m running