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?
I posted the first one before, but here is the fully sick rapper again:
Synaesthesia is really weird, especially in how many different forms it takes, and I’m pretty sure I fit into at least one, and possibly two categories. I don’t watch Dr. Who, so I’m not going to call myself a Time Lord, but how cool would that look on business cards!
Here’s an interesting article about the current state of the GOP. I’m always excited when Buckley is discussed, since I actually know a little about him (and his son, one of my favorite authors).
Do you love Dr. Horrible’ Sing Along Blog? Of course you do! Do you miss 8-bit video games? Of course you do? Check it out:
Would you like to make prank calls…as Tiger Woods? Again, of course you would! Slate has your soundboard here.
This is making its way around the internet, guerrilla bridge building:
Andrew Sullivan has been talking about a giant statue of Mary, and here’s a follow up post about the area around the statue. The image reminds me of a combination of Er’Cana (from URU) and the beginning area of Myst V. I know, I’m a huge nerd. This shot also reminds me of some of the areas in “The Great and Secret Show” and “Everville.” As much as I want to post it over here I won’t, since it only has to do with the book.
This is a cool graph, and I think shows one of the reasons I love podcasts so much, I can multitask with them. And I listen to free ones (well, all but one).
Are you upset by the Catholic Church? How about trying to get excommunicated? One Seattle writer tries it, I’ll keep you posted. The letter is gut-wrenching and heartfelt, here’s a snippet:
I demand to be excommunicated because I do not believe women are second-class citizens. I demand to be excommunicated because your missionaries are informing impoverished citizens of third-world countries that birth control is a sin when it is in fact the single most important thing they could do to gain some small amount of control over their economic situation and health. I demand to be excommunicated because your church has become a hate group as virulent as any this world has ever seen, one that is unnaturally obsessed with the sex lives of good men and women across the planet. I demand to be excommunicated because I do not condone child rape or the concealment of child rape.
And my mind has been blown in like eighteen little pieces from trying to understand this link. I heard this elsewhere recently and I’m trying to remember where, but for the life of me I can’t. Maybe that’s because we’re exploding backwards from a white hole!
A guy has made a computer program called Jarvis, and integrated it into his apartment, as well as his GPS phone and his friends phones. It can tell when they are coming home and turn lights on, turn lights on and off for the dog and all kinds of other things. Here he is showing how it helps him out in the kitchen. Very much a bachelor, and I do think the paper towels so close to an outlet and the George Foreman grill may be a safety hazard:
Thank goodness Ginny commented on this picture, I had seen it that morning in the PG and screamed a little inside. Sometimes I love Harrisburg:
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.
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:
It’s at the end of November, I’ll be scrambling to finish my NaNoWriMo novel, but I really want to go anyway. Anyone else interested? More details here.
Just some quick Dollhouse news for everyone, it was reported that Summer Glau will come to the Dollhouse in a recurring role. As excited as I am, we all kind of saw this coming, but hey, it’s good news for the show.
I went to the casino last night, which was wonderful, I’ll probably be writing about it over at Pittsburgh Metblogs, but suffice to say I did get to play the Star Wars slot machine!
Speaking of Star Wars, I’m flying through the new Fate of the Jedi series. It’s strange, I’ll actually be up to date in the Star Wars universe, that never happens!
Alright, I’m off to clean and hopefully just relax for a little bit, have a great one!
It’s been a crazy couple days, doing all kinds of cleaning, unpacking and even more cleaning. I’ve also been slowly ripping a good portion of my CDs and putting the music onto my Zune. It’s been taking longer than I thought it would, but then again, I have more music than I remember!
Check out this really cool music video, I’ve never heard of the song or the artist, but I really like the art style:
I started reading the new Star Wars series, “Fate of the Jedi.” I flew through the first one, and just picked up the second one, I think the third one comes out pretty soon, but most of the rest won’t come out until next year. The strange thing is that all of the books are coming out in Hardcover. For whatever reason, Star Wars books have this awful way of being published where the more important ones come out in Hardback (and then a year later in paperback), and the rest in paperback. This was not a problem, but an annoyance, especially during The New Jedi Order since it was such a long series.
I do realize I’m a dork. Just so you know. But I’ll stop. For now.
Patrick, DC Metblog’s captain, has an awesome entry on his blog about his circles of friends, and the reading of his blog. A lot of it I think applies to my own friends as well, although I would add that I always find it strange when one of my friends talks about what I wrote. One, because I never expect them to read my blog, and secondly, because like Patrick, I keep my blog primarily as a record for myself. But I am thankful to my readers, I am. I would like to find out a way to somehow automatically port comments from facebook over to my blog. I don’t know if that is possible, but I’ll start to do some research for that.
Ok, I think that’s it for now. I’ll be ramping up Pittsburgh Metblogs as we get ready for the G20, but until then, I’ll catch everyone later, have a great one!
Yes, according to my neighbor (from college) I celebrate the birth of the Episcopalian wonder baby! Oh, I love religion. Anyway, a quick update I’ve been meaning to link to: George Lucas has lost his mind. He’s authorized the rights for a Star Wars musical to open in England. I think he has forgotten the monstrosity that was the Star Wars Holiday Special.
Ok, back to work tomorrow, I’m updating my mp3 player as I type this for my ride to work, all kinds of fun podcasts!
