Quick update for everyone. First up, the Last Supper…from Star Wars nerds?
I’m taking away points for not having blue milk on the table.
And speaking of Star Wars, watch this awesome VW commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0
Morgan Spurlock is trying to reimagine Times Square with no ads. But really, it’s a lot of work. But I imagine some of the touched up images will become ads themselves with creative use of the textures.
I am, also really excited about this game:
And speaking of awesome video games, I am so incredibly excited that this is coming out in five days (I had no idea!):
Google has a new project that uses a Street View type interface, but instead, goes through art galleries. I’ll be checking it out later.
First he didn’t understand how the tides work, now he’s confused about the moon. More proof (like we needed any) that Bill O’Reilly is a fucking retard. And I use that phrase out of respect to Stephen Corbert’s wishes. One of the people in the comments hit it spot on though:
The difference between O’Reilley and a scientist is, the scientist says, “I don’t know, let’s find out.” and O’Reilley says, “I don’t know, therefore God must have done it.”
Did you watch the State of the Union? How about all the match-making on with it? While I like the idea behind it, I am kind of sad that it actually turned into celebrity match-making. Sigh:
Another update for everyone, but first some quick site news. I tried installing an extension that will work with GoodReads, but so far, it has not worked yet. I’ll keep working on it, see if I c an get it to work. Also, Joomla 1.6 was just released, I’ll probably be upgrading sometime in the next month or so. It will probably take me a little bit to get everything back to normal, so the site will probably be down for a weekend or so.
Would you like to play the first Super Mario Bros. as Link, or Samus, or Mega Man? Check it out here.
Here’s some retro/cold war style video game posters, I like this one a lot:
We’ll start off this update with an awesome video:
As well as another I told you so moment. Although this one, I think most sane people knew already, it’s fun to see how deep the crazy can go! I’m also thinking that if this ploy hadn’t worked, the next idea would have been cough syrup. Why not?
To everyone that reads That’s Church, you know about Ginny’s hatred of pigeons. Well, a writer in Seattle has the same reaction to crows. Fair warning, it contains foul (fowl) language.
According to Palin, environmentalists caused the oil disaster, by not letting us drill for oil. I can almost, almost grasp her reasoning. But then I remember that I have a brain and am usually grounded in reality.
I think the Student Flush might be the best named event almost ever. At least this month. Good luck to everyone participating!
I don’t think I’ll be able to pull a team together in time, but how much fun would this mini-golf fundraiser through the South Side be? Also, why have I not know that this happens every year?
Here’s an article about online ads, and specifically, why they suck.
Well I’m back. Well I never really left, so here’s a giant update for everyone, enjoy!
I somehow missed this commercial the first time around, and I really like it:
For all the music folk out there, Slate has a cool article about playing in tune. I remember going to a concert of Catham Baroque in College, they had major issues because where they were performing was a cold space, except the floor was heated. It wreaked havoc on all their instruments.
Also in Slate, an article about the AP Styleguide and how changes are made. I need a new one, I’ll have to check out their store to see if the 2010 version is available.
And again in Slate, a cool article about PowerPoint. It can be awesome, it really can be, just don’t do what most people do!
The first part of Star Wars Uncut is up. The project brings people from all over the world to do small segments of A New Hope and then splices them together:
Also, I’ve watched this video a couple times, and it’s amazing, an Octopus steals a diver’s camera while it is still on. The diver chases and finally gets it back:
Want to know what kind of hell happens to your mind when you stay inside a Wal Mart for 24 straight hours? Read the hilarious report here:
An employee yelled “Shut up!” to me after I stood in the middle of the lingerie section and screamed “Spring Break!” at the top of my lungs.
I know it’s over, but I meant to post this while the contest was going on, but this Lost video was made by a local guy. It didn’t end up winning, although when I watched all of the finalists, I really liked it the best:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiKABfaQsbY
Ok, some more about Lost. Here are the characters are summarized by cats:
There was a theory that the eruption and subsequent ash cloud of Mt. Eyjafjallajokull would cool us down a bit, or maybe even stave off summer. Sadly, it’s been warm here. Read the article here, and I’ll be glad that my friend Kyle was finally able to make it back from Europe after all kinds of delays getting there (and the possibility of becoming stuck)
NASA captured this amazing photo of clouds over Africa:
I fully realize that this would probably clog anyone’s arteries in about three seconds after putting the first bit in your mouth, but it still looks really good: pancake, cheesecake, pancake, strawberries whipped cream. I’m assuming the strawberries make it healthy, right?
Maybe the national media wouldn’t be blindsided by things like Arizona’s new anti-immigration law or Virginia’s racially tone deaf governor if it took attacks on gays and lesbians seriously, if the media saw them for the outliers they are, and stopped giving politicians like Brewer and McDonnell a faith-based pass when they attack sexual minorities. Because governors and legislators who attack sexual minorities today invariably go on to attack other minority groups tomorrow. Hate is hate is hate.
Leviticus 19:33-34 (NIV) When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt.
Moral of this story, don’t celebrate a win before the game is over:
Aussies are safer in a strip club than a church, suggests new government data. According to the latest figures compiled by the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 1600 people were charged with committing a range of 27 offences in the state’s “places of worship” in 2008. Astonishingly, the data showed only 282 people were charged with the same offences in adult entertainment premises.
I think I have a new favorite blog, it’s called The Big Caption, bringing together images and typography
I’m angry at Arizona for so many things, including their ban on willingly creating a human/animal hybrid (How will I amass my Centaur army now?!), but this is always heartbreaking, Arizona is now firing or moving teachers that don’t speak English properly, which makes sense to me (granted, how they frame that bill and everything associate with it was kind of underhanded), but I’d like to bring attention to what ope of the Secretary of Education’s advisers said:
Teachers should speak good grammar because kids pick up what they hear
And thanks to Jezebel for putting together this awesome guide to traveling in Arizona:
Thank you, that is all.
Ok, it’s cool, but the bicycle wheel is just showing off:
This ad is awesome, one because it’s the first motion-sensitive billboard that I’ve seen, and second, the format works great for the venue. A coworker of mine is in D.C. this weekend and even though I’ve never been there, I recommended the Spy Museum, I’ve only heard people rave about it, next time I’m down in Washington, I’ll have to check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc1FeR54F-Y
Just because it’s funny:
I don’t want to say I told you so. But I told you so (well, at least maybe).
Student newspapers at private schools are sticky business, I should know. From where I stand, the school is in the clear to do this. Should they? Well that is another matter entirely. My heart goes out to the writers and editors, I know how hard it can be, without the administration threatening the jobs of faculty members (good grief).
Panera is testing a “pay what you think it’s worth” store, and if it works (the money goes to charity), will open more. It’s fun, since I’m writing this in a Panera. With moronic teenage girls running the bakery counter. I’ve heard them argue about the unfairness of driving, and how they are stapling napkins. I’m not sure why either.
Ever want to know how the stop sign was created? Slate investigates here. And here’s what would happen if a corporation had been charged with making it:
And Slate takes a look at this year’s Clio Awards.
This is amazing, and the first building reminds me of Myst Island. I know, huge nerd, but we all knew that, didn’t we?
Hello everybody! Big ole update for you today, enjoy the links and all the fun things!
I saw Alice in Wonderland last week, and I enjoyed it, although the 3D was totally unnecessary, and I would suggest you save the money and see it in normal 2D. One entire section of the movie is the classic orange/blue contrast (Alice’s dress and the Mad Hatter’s hair), which was cool, but kind of overdone. And strangely enough, every singe preview before the movie was for a Disney movie. My brother and I both noticed it, I hope that does not become a trend. Disney however, did do a cool thing and pull the original Alice out of the vault for an ‘unanniversary’ release. And finally on the subject of Alice, check out what Disney did with $700,000 dollars:
The Wrap discusses the blurring of the line between news and advertising and the journalistic integrity/ad revenue debate that always rages on. Do I like te ad? Not really, I don’t think it made much use of the medium. Do I think readers realized it was an ad and knew to turn the page? Yes. Do I think it probably annoyed them? Yes. But then again, those are just my thoughts.
Queen of the Nerds, Felecia Day will return as Little Red Riding Hood on SyFy (I feel dirty just typing that). I’m very excited, hopefully it turns out well. Now to wait for The Guild season 4!
Also in nerd news, BrentalFloss’s first CD is coming out soon:
I’ve been dating someone really great for a few months, but he’s never referred to me as his girlfriend. How do I take it to another Level?
While the obvious answer is “Accomplish a story task in the boyfriend track for XP equal or greater to your next level threshold,” I get the feeling you might be hinting that you want to descend into the fetid labyrinth that festers beneath his ancient wizard’s tower. In that case the stairs are in quadrant M23, behind the Throne of the Kobold Hetman.
I know it’s been over for a while, but this is one of the coolest things to come out of the Olympics: Water usage (specifically dealing with toilet flushes) during the gold medal hockey game. Pretty awesome!
Here’s a cool video made entirely from a flatbed scanner:
I missed it (due to date and the fact it was in Washington State), but even though I’m horribly afraid of any kind of public protest, I might have gone to a protest for Pluto:
ATTENTION ALL CONCERNED CITIZENS!
A horrible injustice has occurred! Aghast astronomers, intrepid interstellar adventurers, and many others have joined forces to protest one of the darkest days in recent solar system history. Pluto—the smallest and most distant planet—has been removed from the planetary pantheon.
We refuse to bow to this outrageous decree and declare: PLUTO IS A PLANET.
It’s been stirring for a while, but here are some of the letters that have been send to the Itawamba County School Board, in response to their cancellation of prom and then trying to blame it on one of their students.
And speaking of, here is a great, great editorial piece written in response to it, here is one of my favorite paragraphs, which is a little out of context, so I would encourage you to read the whole thing:
What happens is that some Protestants cherry-pick edicts out of the Bible that support their prejudices and then, in a neat bit of mental judo, spread their arms wide and claim their religion is under attack if anyone contradicts them. “What about tolerance for ME?” they cry. It’s as if I seized a copy of the Bible and began beating someone over the head with it and, when you try to stop me, I accuse you of failing to respect my faith.
And some more old news, check out Jon Stewart discuss the Massa/Beck interview:
Cool video showcasing monsters/aliens taking profile pictures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcbZ0v8Mpvk
Here’s an interesting article about how to put together a useful online news room, some great ideas, although I would probably pick and choose a couple of things, depending on the situation of course. And Nathan discusses some of his favorite online tools.
I saw this on Slog, and I think a couple other places, but here’s a cool video about possible future kiosks that will work with tablets:
Penguin Books is going to be releasing cloth bound, hard cover classics, the design is very old, but impressive (especially the cloth). Here is what the first and second sets will look like.
Apparently one of Tiger’s mistresses has released the contents of her text messages with him. Apparantly we already knew half of the conversation, so Slate put together their own version:
Joslyn: Sent: 04:02 PM 08/28/2009: What would you say to Carlsbad Caverns if you were there right now?
Tiger: Sent: 04:06 PM 08/28/2009: I want to be deep inside you
Joslyn: Sent: 04:12 PM 08/28/2009: LOL. I love spelunking.
And in scout news, the Girl Scouts (who are surprisingly more and more progressive, even if their paperwork or organization doesn’t really work or make any sense), even (denying and then admitting) to putting out a sex-positive, realistic pamphlet. The PR is kind of a nightmare (denying it, then making up lies, then saying that it was yours all along). And the story is at a conservative site that uses a boy scout merit badge sash by the way. And over on the other side of the gender gap, an Eagle project had to be changed from a volleyball court to bocce due to noise concerns. It doesn’t make any sense to me at all, but that is part of the process, working with the community. I will add though, that when we play bocce at camp, we are generally pretty loud, it’s because we’re having fun!
The Kill The Gays bill in Uganda debate rages on, Andrew Sullivan covers it, here’s a quote:
The anti-homosexuality bill, simply put, is a backlash. A backlash from a group that, in the long run, is losing the battle of ideas.
Even though we have been together for six years, shared a household for five and a half years, pooled our finances for five and a half years and will be celebrating our third wedding anniversary this summer, we are total strangers as far as the federal government is concerned. And if the federal government recognized our marriage, I would have been an American citizen three years ago. In fact, if I had married a longtime female friend 20 years ago, I would be a long-standing citizen right now. (Yes, a heterosexual marriage would have voided the HIV ban automatically for the past 22 years.)
What does the federal government call a legally married man who has paid taxes for twenty-two years and has a PhD, and a job? A faggot.
In college we read a book called The Influentials, and this made me think of my friend Teri, who most certainly was an influential on our campus. I’ll have to alert her to her changing status…
I don’t have anything to add to this trailer, it’s just awesome:
And finally, here’s a cool montage of movie endings:
Alright, I hope everyone had a good weekend, I’m back with all kinds of stuff, enjoy everything!
First, I’m going to kill you with cuteness. This monkey sounds like R2D2!
Last year it was announced that Joss Whedon was going to direct an episode of Glee. And now it was announced that Neil Patrick Harris will guest star in that episode!
Conan put the Tonight Show up on Craigslist, although it has already been taken it down, you can check it out at The Consumerist.
And here is the most expensive sketch, from his final night:
Speaking of, this is how the late night wars went down, according to a Japanese news station. I don’t understand either:
Watch this clip of Gov. Rendell (The Gov. of Philadelphia, I mean, Pennsylvania), does me make some sort of slip implying that he’s gonig to run for Senate, or am I reading too much into his comment about “some of us” losing our races:
This is floating around out there, but apparantly, the number of Crayola crayons doubles every 28 years:
If you didn’t watch the Hope for Haiti telethon last Friday, here is my favorite performance of the night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBSaCo39EaI
If you haven’t heard, the fear-mongering and hateful Focus on the Family will be running an ad during the Super Bowl. Which is interesting, since CBS doesn’t show ads “touches on and/or takes a position on one side of a current controversial issue of public importance.” Right…
I don’t like cats. Never have. However, I do have to give this cat credit. A lot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh0fYZirSv8
The guys over at the NOH8 campaign have an awesome blog post called “Redefining Republican,” written after the two McCain’s (Cindy and Meghan) joined the campaign. Worth a read.
Speaking of Prop 8, you’re telling me that the LDS church didn’t want anyone to know that they were involved? I’m supposed to be surprised, right? Here’s the followup, it’s just as important as the first link, as it corrects some of the reporting. Basically, it’s not a direct quote, but how a witness observed the communication.
Patrick, once again, has an awesome blog post, this time about the Internet as support group, including a note from “The interwebs.” A little past Cluetrain, but still related, so I’m going to tag it.
The following video is supposedly DVR proof. The concept is sound, and I believe proven. If you keep your product in the middle of the screen, even someone fast forwarding through the commercials will see it long enough to make an impression in your brain. And while yes, that is true, this ad misses the mark. Seeing a picture of a grasshopper does in no way make me want to purchase their phone, it doesn’t even correlate, because the brand isn’t in my mind first of all, and secondly, since it isnt, there isn’t enough time for me to see the tiny phone and make the connection. Not bad for effort, but totally missing the mark:
Caution, more fun animals: Ok, moose are funny enough when they walk or run, they appear as though they just have extra joints and their limbs just kind of flail about. And the music in this video is awful. But watch it anyway, just on mute.
Have I mentioned how much I love Representative Grayson? And I’m still trying to learn more about the Supreme Court decision, apparently it doesn’t’ change as much as first thought, but it’s still a scary precedent, to be sure!
The guys from the Woot! podcast went to CES and made this video. If the Wii by itself destroyed TVs, than that bowling ball is going to make so many, many people cry. Who would think that that is a good idea?
What would The State of the Union be like of Steve Jobs delivered it? Slate finds out.
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:
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:
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!
First things first, Bowtie Tuesdays was a success! We’ll be back on January 5. Be ready!
Patrick has a cool article up about ad placement online, check it out here.
Slate’s gaming club takes a look at the games of 2009. For whatever reason, I only remember seeing this column at the end of each year. As always, I tend to disagree with most critics (Bioshock is not nearly the best example of tough moral questions in a game), but they did at least have a large conversation about this year’s games, as well as touch on quite a few.
Slate also sent a reporter to the convention of the Modern Whigs, apparently vying to be a third party. I wish we had more parties, although not quite as many as the Netherlands, but I’ll happily remain an independent.
I probably should have been watching this, but D.C. has weird political rules for their city so I forgot, their city council voted the second time to legalize marriage equality. Now, after the mayor signs it, as long as congress does not block it, it will be law in 30 days. Strange proceedings, but a wonderful outcome (thus far). Patrick, anything you care to shed some light on, or am I generally correct in how it works down there?
Storming the stage in protest at a nationally televised awards show is practically an annual event for Kanye West, but his “performance” at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards was particularly ill-advised…According to Linda Holmes of NPR’s Monkey See blog, “when you’re a big-mouth and you get in a tangle with another big-mouth, nobody necessarily thinks the less of either one of you. You get in trouble, however, when you’re picking on people who aren’t even old enough to drink – unlike you.” Later in an interview with Jay Leno, Kanye apologized and ashamedly acknowledged that his mother would have been disappointed.
That’s it for now, I’m trying to post more often to keep my inbox from getting too full, hopefully I can keep up with it. Have a great one!
Alright, I’m finally starting to go through everything from last month, let’s see how much I can cram into this one post before it gets too unwieldy or I get lost and confused. I’ll try to break up the links with images and videos, so read and click away!
I’ve followed the story here and abroad for a while because I’ve found it extremely interesting, but it seems that now gay men can donate bone marrow in Canada. Another step in the right direction for Canada, we’ll see how long it takes the U.S. to follow. Sweden also recently ended their ban on gay blood donation.
I kind of like Lady Gaga’s music, and even though she sometimes comes off as bat-shit crazy, she really is a good person. Seen here, she meets Queen Elizabeth II, obviously knowing when to pick her publicity/battles. I wonder what she would be called if she was ever given the title “lady”?
This is kind of crazy, but strands of tiger DNA has been found in the AIDS virus. From what I’ve read, it is thought that HIV/AIDS came from monkeys (I think), so I’m not sure how this fits in with research and whatnot. But in a giant breakthrough, researchers have found that stem cells can kill HIV, or at least, have the proof of concept.
Have you seen the Wii’s holiday ad, I really like it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGRaTaNCPMc
The Episcopal Church elected its first openly lesbian bishop. Canterbury isn’t too happy, I can’t even imagine (or care for that matter) what ex-bishop Duncan is saying.
When you click through to see Yale students protesting some evangelical preacher on their campus, make sure to see how many categories on his sandwich board you fall into. Obama voters, Dirty Dancers (really?), Hindus, Feminists…you’re all on there. And going to hell, apparently. Like I always say, it will be a party, and we’re all apparently invited!
This link from Gizmodo, is an awesome cheat sheet for buying a new TV, check it out if you’re in the market.
I think the evangelical preacher at Yale would like this link. It ends up making me angry if I read too much, but if you want to see the hilarious things that people worry about, namely, people working retail during December that would dare to with you “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas.” Stupid people aren’t allowed to believe things that I don’t. Currently the most offensive, GAP, mostly due to their awesome commercials. Here’s an example:
I am absolutely sickened by the new Gap commercial comparing Christmas to Solstice and “do what you like”. I will NOT shop at the Gap, Old Navy, or their sister stores any more nor will my teenagers. …
And here’s the commerical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVMPWlWDvsI
I’m liking the campaign mostly because it’s pissing off the right so much. And from what I can gather, a direct response to the right after they pulled shenanigans back in the fall.
The Catholic diocese of St. Louis sent $10,000 to Maine to help overturn their marriage equality law. I have a big post coming up for that, with all kinds of links and updates, really everything that has happened since NaNoWriMo, and the election at the beginning of November. People are now protesting the diocese of St. Louis, but truth be told, $10,000 was just a drop in the bucket. It will make your skin crawl, stay tuned.
Dollhouse may be cancelled, but their marketing is just really starting up (thanks a lot, Fox), here is Rossum’s November ad:
I don’t understand this at all, how it works, or even that it could be done. Scientists have trapped a rainbow, and my mind just exploded a little bit.
I found this song on a mix CD that I’ve had for a while, and I’m really liking it, although the music video leaves a lot to be desired:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF-3TUcva9M
If I was in Seattle, I would go here, and blow up golf balls and use cannons for mini-golf! I would go there a lot.
This has been making its rounds, and it rocks:
And since it is the end of the decade, we’ll be getting lot of these vidoes. Although I think this left out a lot of stuff, it’s a good start.
Ok, one more video then I’ll break it up a little bit. This video made me like Martha Stewart a lot. It’s a good thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ow_nZO8vfQ
If you liked Harry Potter, or even if you didn’t, you should really read The Magicians, I read it, and could not put it down, and was really hoping there would be more than one, but as of now, it’s a one off book. However, you should pick it up, it examines what a magical world would be like if it was college, instead of a prep school, and the hazards and problems young adults have to face instead of teenagers. Check out this article from io9 about it if you’re interested, and you should be.
Ok, I think that’s it for now, sorry for the length, although there is still a lot more for me to go through and post for you. I’ll be back with more soon, enjoy the day!
