Today's Mighty Oak

“Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines/And often is his gold complexion dimmed;”

Yesterday's nut February 15, 2020

Alright, catching up on a bit of a backlog in addition to some current items, but let’s see what we have today. First up, a favorite web comic/series, Surviving the World is returning with classic reposts! Here’s where he ended it. Class Dismissed.

Science news you can use: don’t drink your whiskey ‘neat’:

The United Methodist Church is splitting over gay issues. As someone who has come out of that on the other side, hey welcome, it’s a bumpy ride. Sorry you have to do this, it’s painful.

This fight (is still going on all across the country) happened in September in Arizona. Their GOP governor said they don’t need to extend non-discrimination protections to gay people, and their supreme court said businesses can deny service to gay people. The fight continues, and is seemingly never ending.

In other disturbing news, the Interior Department cut sexual orientation from their internal discrimination policies as well.

I wrote earlier about my displeasure at Marvel (and Star Wars) for LGBT erasure. The upcoming film, The Eternals, will, for the first time, feature a gay superhero (and kiss). Yes, it’s progress. Should it have taken 11 years? No.

In other movie news, the trailer for the new Wes Anderson film looks amazing:

If you haven’t, check out Eastsiders on Netflix. It was an amazing series, and here’s an interview with the creator.

Stranger Things 4 gives us a present from Russia (with love).

In good news, a New York state park will be named for Marsha P. Johnson!

The Church of England said sex is only for straight, married people. Then they apologized for offending people, not actually changing their minds.

Firefighters who got angry comments when they showed their support for the queer community hit back in an awesome video.

NASA is adding a luxury hotel to the ISS. Spoiler, if you’re reading this, you will not be able to afford visiting.

An awesome video from a favorite creator that I’ve been mulling over: death and minimialism:

The Utah Governor pulled the campaign that put AMAZING art on condoms to prevent STIs. They’re all great, and it’s a shame he pulled them.

Speaking of, the UK has seen a massive decline in HIV infections due to PrEP. No surprise there.

The Catholic bishops in Texas have blasted their governor (who is Catholic)over his rule to not accept refugees. I’m highly, highly critical of the Catholic Church, so I have to give them points when it’s appropriate. Good for them.

Disney is announcing more details of their immersive Star Wars hotel for their resorts, and it looks amazing and I can’t wait to go!

Google pretty much hit it out of the park with their Superbowl ad:

And another great ad, this time from Microsoft:

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face”

Yesterday's nut September 29, 2018

Alright, let’s see what we have today, it’s a fairly short update.

First up, what we witnessed on Friday, while showing the absolute strength, resolution and power of women and sexual abuse survivors, was, all-in-all, one of the most heinous things concocted by the Republicans in the 242 year history of this country, and that is saying something.  Don’t forget to take some time for yourself and self-care, and if you need help, reach out.

A priest in Chicago defied the Archdiocese and performed an ‘exorcism’ of a Pride flag, burning it.  A reminder, the Catholic Church is a hate group, full stop.

There’s a new trailer for the next Fantastic Beasts movie:

Google celebrated Mister Rogers this week with a wonderful Doodle!

That’s it for today, have a great one!

Why be difficult? Put some effort in and be impossible. (2)

Yesterday's nut October 6, 2013

It’s been a while, so I have a lot of fun stuff to share, let’s get started.  First up, amazing facts about frogs:

Holy crap, scientists have invented Lightsabers!

The commissioner of the NBA slams the Olympics for their handling of the Russia LGBT laws.  And speaking of, Brian Brown, head of NOM, worked with Russia lawmakers to draft the legislation working its way through the Duma to forcibly take children from LGBT adults.

And lastly about Russia, a music video about the torture of the Russian church:

Sometimes, grandmothers play one of my favorite games, Cards Against Humanity.  Yeah, weird and creepy, and I would have given her the point for that round.

Just like you can’t open a business and refuse to serve the Irish, or women, or Jews, you can’t flat our refuse to serve the LGBT community.  Unless the Republican party gets it way, of course.

The new trailer for the next Hobbit movie:

You’ve probably seen the Chipotle ad that’s making its way across the Internet, but here is the “truth” version.

Here’s a great essay about the impact Harry Potter has.

And another great essay at the Good Men Project about gay sex.

This will make you smile, I promise:

That’s it for now, have a great one!

Muffin, Prince of Denmark and Deborah the “Man Witch” No, not Manwich. Man. Witch.

Yesterday's nut August 25, 2013

Alright, let’s see what we have today.  Lots of political news, so fair warning.

Oh, the irony of the NRA creating the database they’ve been screaming about for years.  Oh, the irony.

Rick Perry: Vocally hates Obamacare, quietly asks for $100 million benefit from it.  You know, because he hates it.  So much.

I could probably talk about this over at the King of Spades, but as it turns out, schools with anti-homophobia policies are safer…for all their students.  Amazing.

But then again, according to Justice Scalia, we’re an “invented” minority, and thus don’t deserve equal rights..  I wonder when I first came into being?

And here’s the three articles that make me furious.  An Iraq vet was booed at a city council meeting…because he’s gay.

A church in Tennessee kicks out a family…for supporting their daughter, who just happens to be a lesbian.

And lastly, an interracial couple gets assaulted, and has homophobic slurs thrown at them (they had been out with a gay friend), in New York City, which has this rash of homophobic attacks lately.

Well, this has been a depressing post.  In happier news, I’m heading to a reading of “The Birdcage” tomorrow as a fundraiser for the Zoo (the flamingo enclosure, specifically), and this Saturday is the City of Play Festival.  Come downtown to play some new games and run around downtown, it will be fun!  And if the games aren’t fun, we’ll make it fun!

The most important thing is to ban everyone immediately.

Yesterday's nut July 18, 2013

Alright, let’s see what we have going on today.

First up, need a pick-me up?  Watch this crazy video.  Sometimes I really miss soap operas.

Or just watch this:

Just remember, the separation of Church and State is only applicable if it’s what you want.  Or something like that.

I never thought of it this way, but second amendment extremists have met their match: insurance companies.

Whoever is running the social media accounts at JCPenny is awesome:

As a reminder, Orson Scott Card, the writer of Ender’s Game, is a hateful bigot.  Like, he has said that he thinks members of the LGBT community should be rounded up arrested and put in camps.  But now, he wants us to forget about that, so he can make money on his new movie.  Needless to say, the responses have been epic, and I won’t be seeing the movie.

And this is what happens when capitalism goes unchecked:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvA1E2MgrI4

There is a cool documentary coming out about Walt Disney trying to secure the rights to Mary Poppins, and it looks amazing. Also, Tom Hanks looks exactly like Walt Disney himself.  Check it out here.

Wolverine: the puppet musical.  So that’s a thing.

And lastly, the trailer for The Fifth Estate, the movie about WikiLeaks.  It looks good, but I think all the good parts may be in the trailer:

That’s it for now, have a great one!

Roses are red, violets are blue. Bourbon is cheaper than dinner for two.

Yesterday's nut February 7, 2013

And we’re back.  Here’s what we have today.  First up, my new favorite song from Glee:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8IqcLVDr2o

The Governor of Michigan admits that the war on unions doesn’t benefit the workers.  Imagine that.

Really cool Walking Dead art installation, the fingers got cut off as the days counted down:

“Wait, I can do something.  There’s injustice involving cake!”  More reasons to love Charm City Cakes.

Say goodbye to the iron, and hello to the cat.  This is why I only play Stars Wars Monopoly.

Speaking of Star Wars: Death Star lollipops:

It is sadly, now strange enough to print a newspaper, that it can be a reality show.

Awesome church sign of the day:

 That’s it for today, have a great one!

“Think not, is my eleventh commandment; and sleep when you can is my twelfth.”

Yesterday's nut October 23, 2012

Alright, let’s see what we have today.  First up, Hero registration cards!

Seattle had an opt-out program for phone books, which was just declared unconstitutional.  The courts say phone books are protected speech.  I have to disagree, but we’ll see how this progresses.

A new CD comes with a cardboard turntable!  Pretty cool!

Courts have also overturned a ruling, now saying that cities can place restrictions in place barring protests (think Westboro).  As strange as it is, it’s probably better if cities cannot stop that kind of speech.  But then again, when they protest, they always take the risk of being taken to task.  And while that is what they want (they then sue to raise money), it is great to watch this takedown as Westboro protests a funeral of a solider (only because she was a lesbian).

A law that has lost in federal courts five times, which the majority of the country opposes, and Speaker Boener had to request a special amount of 1.5 million to defend is a giant waste of time.  Now that he’s run out of money, he wants more, even after a year and a half of defeats.  Colossal waste of money and time.

Italy is now charging property tax on its churches, as a way to raise money.  Seems like a good plan, hopefully it helps them.

That’s it for now, have a great one!

I keep my jealousy close, becasue it’s all mine

Yesterday's nut October 17, 2010

Hey everybody, couple big updates on the way, starting with this one.  I’m going through a whole bunch of stuff, so some will be a bit old, but all still really cool!  Hope you enjoy!

Did you know that you can use bacon to track the economy?  Yeah, we might use bacon for too much at this point.

Are you concerned about genetically modified food?  You shouldn’t be, we have blenders that will hep us test them!  Slate explains.


Oh my god.  Double windmill.  What does it mean?

Sorry, had to be posted.

Want to make your own laundry detergent really cheap?  Here’s a recipe.  I’ve heard good things about this, but have yet to try it.

I’ve always says that the internet can (and usually is) a force for good.  And 4chan proves me right once again:

This is old news, but good nonetheless, now it’s legal to “jailbreak” your phone.  You know, the one that you own!

Once tablets get more and more popular, we’ll see this more often, which I’m sure would make it easier to keep menus updated, as well as save a lot of paper:

Need a primer on the whole Glen Beck is trying to swindle his viewers out of money out of greed and stupidity?  Check it out here.

Pittsburgh City Paper has a cool list of historic dates at the Civic Arena.  Check it out here.  And follow it up by a collection of stories from the Igloo, all very touching.  And they round out the hat trick with another nice piece, this one the history of the building from the start.

I have not watched all of this yet, but it’s the history of the Soviet Union, as told through Tetris:

I think I might have posted about this before, but I would change the title to “Going to Church: You’re doin’ it right“

I haven’t talked much about the mosque controversy in NYC, but I’ll chime in with these comments.  That is all.

Want to get away?  Teleport somewhere using Google Maps!  Pretty cool!

Check these out, there are ten total, and I like this one a lot:

You want to see Star Wars as a silent movie?  Okay, here you go:


Anachronisme
Uploaded by LesSingesHurlants. – Arts and animation videos.

Anne Rice isn’t a Christian anymore!  I guess I would care if I ever read any of her stuff.  But her reasoning is sound I suppose, but I would always say find a church that fits you.  They’re out there.

I finally got the tote bag I was waiting for (I saw them, but they weren’t for sale yet), and it is a Leave No Trace bag (how fitting).  Here’s a fun mockumentary about why plastic bags aren’t exactly great for us:

This police log is pretty awesome:

Overdressed for the occasion, a man who not only lacked the mandatory skanky hoodie but was all spiffed up in a white dress shirt and slacks made an extremely literal beer run at an Alliance Road stop ’n’ rob. That is, he snabbed an 18-pack of The King of Bland Beers and scurried out the door.

But then we find that sometimes they are written as limericks!

A car parked ’twixt striping of blue
Had nothing whatever to do
With handicapped access
Cops thought what it lacks is
A ticket, and also a clue.

That’s it for now, but I’ll try to be back later in the week with some more.  Have a great one!

it’s so freaking cold in here, it makes me want to hug fire.

Yesterday's nut August 22, 2010

Whole bunch of stuff to add in today, still not quite caught up, but it’s a big dent, I hope you enjoy:

It’s no longer illegal to jailbrake your phone!  I could have put this under the Great and Secret Show, but I have some other ideas for that, so I figured I would just link this here.  Hooray!

I have no idea where I found this, but it involves The Muppets and Kick-Ass:

Jane Lynch is going to be hosting SNL!  Be sure to tune in on October 9!

Over the summer we searched for fake merit badges and found this page.  I really like the “Easy Button” on!

How about a lot of Iron Chef America secret ingredients?  Ok:

Amazon is now selling more eBooks than physical books.  Kind of scary, but interesting.  Slate takes a look at it, I can’t remember if it is that article, or another that makes mention of the idea of dynamic eBook covers, which I think is an awesome idea.

Good.  Freaking.  Gravy.  This is why I get fed up with people.

I’ve been reading PostSecret for a while.  Frank’s mail carrier retired, but she put some thoughts up on her own blog.  Check them out here.

And here’s another fun video for you:

And here’s an awesome news story coming from I’m not even sure where.  But I have to say, The strippers sound more level-headed than the pastor:

And I was up at camp when it all went down (and continues to go through the legal system), but here’s some updates on Prop 8 being struck unconstitutional:

Andrew Sullivan pulls out the facts from the Judge’s ruling.  He also links to some other excellent writing.

The lawyers go on both Fox News and CBS, and absolutely destroy their opponents (not legal opponents, in these clips, the talking heads).  Both are amazing to watch.

And strangely enough, Fox News seems to be flipping.  One anchor supports Marriage Equality and Bill O’Reilly tries to make Obama stop enforcing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

And on a related note, a candidate for Governor of Florida (and their current Attorney General) wants to ban same-sex couples from adopting, based on his personal religious views.  Dan Savage takes him down a few pegs:

We’re not allowed to slam McCollom for this because, you know, he’s talking about his personal, religious faith here… a personal, religious faith that McColloum would like to impose on everyone in Florida by force of law. And I think we can all agree that every child deserves a mother and a father—particularly the 20,000 kids that are in foster care in Florida right now because they were failed, neglected, abused, or abandoned by their mothers and fathers.

And finally, AFER (American Foundation for Equal Rights), the lawyers for the plaintiffs in the trial, put together this video about one of the couples they represent (points for including Wii Tennis!):

Paul and Jeff from American Foundation for Equal Ri on Vimeo.

 

That’s it for now, catch everyone later!

It’s true that every time you hear a bell, an angel gets its wings. But what they don’t tell you is that every time you hear a mouse trap snap, and Angel gets set on fire.

Yesterday's nut July 23, 2010

Quick update for everyone, which will be a whole lot of pictures, actually.  Another update with video will be coming later, probably tomorrow.

First off, WWNPHD?  Get your t-shirt here:

There is a Star Wars convention coming up in Orlando.  Even though I’m a huge nerd, I didn’t know about this.  But most importantly, they are giving away custom cereal!  I really want the Admiral Ackbar cereal, but I’m afraid it’s a trap.  Check out Greedo’s and Raisin Han, too!

Quantum Mechanix has some new merchandise, including this awesome figure of Wash from Serenity (I actually just washed that episode yesterday):

Not a picture, but it was an awesome video.  More reasons why I love Rep. Grayson!

An Anglican church in New Zealand has some awesome billboards, including this one which I absolutely love:

Here is the other one I’ve found from them:

Did you follow along with the Old Spice one day social media blitz?  It was pretty awesome, but I loved reading about how they pulled it off.  Sounds tiring, but worth it!

And finally, copyranter takes a look at an ad from  Beirut.  And their nightlife.  Which is apparantly reminiscent of bombs.  Sigh.

That’s it for now, but I’ll be back soon after I get some more work done, catch everyone in a bit!

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