hahah ahahah

The Onion reports: Heartbroken Bush Runs After Departing Rove's Car

being and light

Eric Staller does exquisite light drawings.

bigotry quote of the day

"I don't know if he even knows who he's praying to. We're not opposed to the ability of people to worship their own gods or god, but when it comes to our civil government ... it's always been the recognition of the God of the Bible. Every religion is not equal. That's my belief. That's logic."

--Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, commenting on the recent prayer offered in the California House of Representatives by Hindu cleric Rajan Zed. A few weeks prior, Zed was offering the same prayer in the U.S. Senate when a clear, loud voice came from the gallery:

"Lord Jesus, forgive us, Father, for allowing the prayer of the wicked, which is an abomination in your sight."

white flour!

Clowns protest a KKK rally in Knoxville, hilarity ensues.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt “White Flour”.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s angrily shouted once more, “White flowers?” the clowns cheers and threw white flowers in the air and danced about merrily.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s tried once again in a doomed and somewhat funny attempt to clarify their message, “ohhhhhh!” the clowns yelled “Tight Shower!” and held a solar shower in the air and all tried to crowd under to get clean as per the Klan’s directions.

At this point several of the Nazi’s and Klan members began clutching their hearts as if they were about to have a heart attack. Their beady eyes bulged, and the veins in their tiny narrow foreheads beat in rage. One last time they screamed “White Power!”

The clown women thought they finally understood what the Klan was trying to say. “Ohhhhh…” the women clowns said. “Now we understand…”, “WIFE POWER!” they lifted the letters up in the air, grabbed the nearest male clowns and lifted them in their arms and ran about merrily chanting “WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER!”

all that glitters

The world's largest diamond has been unearthed in South Africa. It's estimated to bid for almost $30 million.

"The black miner who discovered the diamond received a horse and saddle, and a sum of money."

depressing word of the day

Glamping.

Thanks, Sharon!

only the Onion can come up with this stuff

machination

Amazing photos by Haiko Hebig.

li(o)vable billboards

This is a loft I could enjoy.

a picture you can't refuse

For fans of The Godfather, here's an image created from the words of the entire script.

homegrown

These guys rigged a camera to a helium baloon and sent it into the sky. It went over 22 miles up, to the very edge of the earth's atmosphere.

ultimate camo

How to hide an airplane factory.

hoo boy

Top ten freakishly bizarre people physically modified people. My favorite? This guy:

now that's cool

The Asian Giant Hornet, which lives in Japan, is the larget hornet in the world. 30 of these hornets can take out 30,000 european honey bees in three hours. See the video here. But the Japanese honey bee has learned how to fight back:

Although a handful of Asian giant hornets can easily defeat the defenses of honey bees, whose correspondingly small sting cannot inflict much damage against such a large predator as the giant hornet, the Japanese honey bee (Apis cerana japonica) has evolved a method of defending against the much larger predator.

When a hornet scout locates a Japanese honey bee hive and approaches the nest, the scout will emit specific pheromonal hunting signals. When the honey bees detect these pheromones, a hundred or so will gather near the entrance of the nest and keep it open, apparently to draw the hornet further into the hive or allow it to enter on its own. As the hornet enters the nest, a large mob of about five hundred honey bees surround the hornet, completely covering it and preventing it from moving, and begin quickly vibrating their flight muscles. This has the effect of raising the temperature of the honey bee mass to 47 °C (117 °F). Though the honey bees can narrowly tolerate such a temperature, it is fatal to the intruder, which can handle a maximum temperature of about 45 °C (113 °F), and is effectively baked to death by the large mass of vibrating bees. Often several bees perish along with the intruder in this way, sacrificing themselves for the survival of the colony, as the death of the hornet scout will prevent it from bringing reinforcements which would almost certainly obliterate the colony.

You can watch a video of the bees "cooking" a hornet here.

apparently faith not a prerequisite for virtue

Turns out that Mother Teresa was plagued by doubts of God's existence. The evidence is found in a number of letters she wrote which have been collected by Rev. Kolodiejchuk, the priest who's making the case to the Vatican for Mother Teresa's proposed sainthood. Curiously, he said her obvious spiritual torment actually helps her case.

"Now we have this new understanding, this new window into her interior life, and for me this seems to be the most heroic," said Rev. Kolodiejchuk.

This confuses me. First off, how does her doubt make her heroic as a saint? I'll agree that her actions, her self-sacrifice were heroic (although some would disagree), but can she really be considered a saint? After all, her letters betray her faith. It will be interesting to see how the Vatican handles this one.

go Llewelyn

The trailer for No Country For Old Men is out. If you haven't read this book by Cormac McCarthy, get thee to a bookstore. Although the writer's fans don't always get along, the movie looks like it'll please all. Except the squeamish, of course.

For those who missed Oprah's interview of Cormac discussing his latest book, The Road, you can view it here. (note: you must sign up to watch the videos. Trust me, it's worth it.) By the way, The Road has been awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

“I’ve got some booze at my place.”

Modern Drunkard Magazine has a great article on the trials and tribulations of the notorious "after-hours" party, when the bars close and it seems like a great idea to keep denying you have work in the morning.

why not

I can't imagine why anyone would need to hear their computer's IP address moaned by a sexy girl, but hey, there it is.

the emptiness

found here

infallible

This video actually made me get up and go pet my dog Scout for a while.

spiffy

Get your Calvin & Hobbes fix -- and I mean your entire fix -- here.

good boy, Hachiko

This is quite possibly the coolest dog story I have ever read. I love it when ancient myths come to life.

air Caesar

Archeologists have discovered a footprint made by the sandal of a Roman soldier - one of the few such finds in the world - in a wall surrounding the Hellenistic-Roman city of Sussita (Hippos), east of Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee).

UPDATE: Egypt has gotten into the game and upped the ante.

cross your Ts..

This is one of the more clever wedding invitations I've seen.

Engineering credo

quote of the day

Get me off of Wikipedia. I spent hours tonight learning from my new favorite philosopher, Heraclitus, who invented the concept of logos (see the Gospel of John, line 1) and contributed to the idea of panentheism, a most hopeful ideology. He was an originator of process philosophy (i.e understanding the universality of change) and was, consequently, an early dialectic philosopher (in which opposing views are to be continually synthesized). All that aside (as if), I liked this:

"By cosmic rule, as day yields night, so winter summer, war peace, plenty famine. All things change. Air penetrates the lump of myrrh, until the joining bodies die and rise again in smoke called incense."

some understatements

"Oh, Diamond! Diamond! thou little knowest what mischief thou hast done!"

-- Sir Isaac Newton had on his table a pile of papers upon which were written calculations that had taken him twenty years to make. One evening, he left the room for a few minutes, and when he came back he found that his little dog "Diamond" had overturned a candle and set fire to the precious papers, of which nothing was left but a heap of ashes.

"This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest."

-- This quote appeared in April 1953 in the scientific paper where James Watson and Francis Crick presented the structure of the DNA-helix, the molecule that carries genetic information from one generation to the other.

"There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today."

-- British Admiral David Beatty had just watched two of his battle-cruisers explode and disintegrate under German fire at the Battle of Jutland, May 31, 1916.

"I think there's a problem between Shias and Sunnis."

-- The Egyptian Foreign Minister in a 2006 BBC interview regarding current affairs in the Middle East.

"The straw-man technique is also used as a form of media manipulation."

from Wikipedia's definition of Straw Man. According to the site, a straw man "is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To 'set up a straw man' or 'set up a straw man argument' is to create a position that is easy to refute, then attribute that position to the opponent. A straw man argument can be a successful rhetorical technique (that is, it may succeed in persuading people) but it is in fact a misleading fallacy, because the opponent's actual argument has not been refuted."

Imogen Heap is ...beautiful music

i love coffee/you

dark knight leak

Spoilerific photos of the new Batman movie here. Nice.

quote of the day

"There's nothing quite as frightening as the realization that your kids will probably act the exact same way you did when you were their age."

-- read here.

Why aren't monocycles popular?

I'd ride one of these.

quote of the day

"How well we know what a profitable superstition this fable of Christ has been for us."

-- Pope Leo X (1513-1521)

go Mack

On the far-away island of Sala-ma-Sond,
Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.
A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat.
The water was warm. There was plenty to eat.
The turtles had everything turtles might need.
And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed.

They were... until Yertle, the king of them all,
Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small.
"I'm ruler", said Yertle, "of all that I see.
But I don't see enough. That's the trouble with me.
With this stone for a throne, I look down on my pond
But I cannot look down on the places beyond.
This throne that I sit on is too, too low down.
It ought to be higher!" he said with a frown.
"If I could sit high, how much greater I'd be!
What a king! I'd be ruler of all that I see!"

So Yertle, the Turtle King, lifted his hand
And Yertle, the Turtle King, gave a command.
He ordered nine turtles to swim to his stone
And, using these turtles, he built a new throne.
He made each turtle stand on another one's back
And he piled them all up in a nine-turtle stack.
And then Yertle climbed up. He sat down on the pile.
What a wonderful view! He could see 'most a mile!
"All mine!" Yertle cried. "Oh, the things I now rule!
I'm the king of a cow! And I'm the king of a mule!
I'm the king of a house! And, what's more, beyond that
I'm the king of a blueberry bush and a cat!
I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!
For I am the ruler of all that I see!"

And all through the morning, he sat up there high
Saying over and over, "A great king am I!"
Until 'long about noon. Then he heard a faint sigh.
"What's that?" snapped the king
And he looked down the stack.
And he saw, at the bottom, a turtle named Mack.
Just a part of his throne. And this plain little turtle
Looked up and he said, "Beg your pardon, King Yertle.
I've pains in my back and my shoulders and knees.
How long must we stand here, Your Majesty, please?"
"SILENCE!" the King of the Turtles barked back.
"I'm king, and you're only a turtle named Mack."
"You stay in your place while I sit here and rule.
I'm the king of a cow! And I'm the king of a mule!
I'm the king of a house! And a bush! And a cat!
But that isn't all. I'll do better than that!

My throne shall be higher!" his royal voice thundered,
"So pile up more turtles! I want 'bout two hundred!"
"Turtles! More turtles!" he bellowed and brayed.
And the turtles 'way down in the pond were afraid.
They trembled. They shook. But they came. They obeyed.
From all over the pond, they came swimming by dozens.
Whole families of turtles, with uncles and cousins.
And all of them stepped on the head of poor Mack.
One after another, they climbed up the stack.
Then Yertle the Turtle was perched up so high,
He could see forty miles from his throne in the sky!
"Hooray!" shouted Yertle. "I'm the king of the trees!
I'm king of the birds! And I'm king of the bees!
I'm king of the butterflies! King of the air!
Ah, me! What a throne! What a wonderful chair!
I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!
For I am the ruler of all that I see!"

Then again, from below, in the great heavy stack,
Came a groan from that plain little turtle named Mack.
"Your Majesty, please... I don't like to complain,
But down here below, we are feeling great pain.
I know, up on top you are seeing great sights,
But down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.
We turtles can't stand it. Our shells will all crack!
Besides, we need food. We are starving!" groaned Mack.

"You hush up your mouth!" howled the mighty King Yertle.
"You've no right to talk to the world's highest turtle.
I rule from the clouds! Over land! Over sea!
There's nothing, no, NOTHING, that's higher than me!"

But, while he was shouting, he saw with surprise
That the moon of the evening was starting to rise
Up over his head in the darkening skies.
"What's THAT?" snorted Yertle. "Say, what IS that thing
That dares to be higher than Yertle the King?
I shall not allow it! I'll go higher still!
I'll build my throne higher! I can and I will!
I'll call some more turtles. I'll stack 'em to heaven!
I need 'bout five thousand, six hundred and seven!"

But, as Yertle, the Turtle King, lifted his hand
And started to order and give the command,
That plain little turtle below in the stack,
That plain little turtle whose name was just Mack,
Decided he'd taken enough. And he had.
And that plain little lad got a bit mad.
And that plain little Mack did a plain little thing.
He burped!
And his burp shook the throne of the king!

And Yertle the Turtle, the king of the trees,
The king of the air and the birds and the bees,
The king of a house and a cow and a mule...
Well, that was the end of the Turtle King's rule!
For Yertle, the King of all Sala-ma-Sond,
Fell off his high throne and fell Plunk! in the pond!

And today the great Yertle, that Marvelous he,
Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.
And the turtles, of course... all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.

yesssssssssssssss

Taken by this guy. He has many more stunning photo here. This is HDR.

you are here. maybe.

Strange Maps is one of my favorite new sites.

so simple

great idea!

how women get what they want

as long as it works

You may be surprised to find out exactly how your credit score works.

fishtainment

I want to build this.

strategic

"Deep inside Siberia there is a lake, one of thousands others. And in the middle of this lake there is a small island. And on this island people have found an ancient fortress, which is dated more than 1500 years old. Excavations are needed in order to reveal all its view for visitors, but even now from the air its a nice site in different times of the year. First part of photos were made during short Siberian summer."

king of the wild frontier

The Crockett Almanacs were a series of amusing tales about life in backwoods America that appeared between 1835 and 1856 and were "narrated" by Davy Crockett, the hero/frontiersman/soldier/politician from Tennessee. I've long been a fan of "old Southwest humor" (as this genre is known) and am delighted to find that someone has scanned several pages from these Alamancs and put them online. If you find these interesting you can read a dubiously-titled book on the subject or you can buy the whole set. Cost: $50,000-75,000.

define "best"

Much like the post on weird religious practices below, it would be hard to determine the 10 best natural phenomena, but somebody's given it a try. I was sceptical, but check out the crepuscular rays video.

chess thumping

If you like chess -- I mean, if you really like chess -- then you'll probably find Arimaa captivating.

Arimaa was invented by Omar Syed, a computer engineer trained in artificial intelligence. Syed was inspired by Garry Kasparov's defeat at the hands of the chess computer Deep Blue to design a new game which would be difficult for computers to play well, but would have rules simple enough for his four-year-old son Aamir to understand. ("Arimaa" is "Aamir" spelled backwards plus an initial "a"). In 2002 Syed published the rules to Arimaa and announced a $10,000 prize, available annually through 2020, for the first computer program (running on inexpensive, off-the-shelf hardware) able to defeat a top-ranked human player in a match six games or longer.

incomprehensively making the incomprehensible comprehensible

It would be quite easy to find many, many more, but for the sake of brevity we present ten of the weirdest religious practices.

magnetic media

This website makes me miss my cassette tapes. Sort of.

for the vegetarians

By Till Nowak

Live always now
Be the rain
Sparkle

Life's 10 greatest inventions

Come to think of it, multicellularity is pretty cool.

Supreme Court roundup

A short tutorial on Constitutional law.

Court allows student's anti-Bush T-shirt

Even in Agreement, Scalia Puts Roberts to Lash

In Steps Big and Small, Supreme Court Moved Right

Justices Limit the Use of Race in School Plans for Integration

and of course.. Morse v. Frederick

tragically, yes

the thrill of boredom

If they can turn games like Doom and Mortal Kombat into films, there's no reason why they can't make a film based on Minesweeper. In fact, they have.

curious

A DIALOGUE WITH SARAH, AGED 3: IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT IF YOUR DAD IS A CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR, ASKING “WHY” CAN BE DANGEROUS

I think I am, therefore, I am. I think.

Gotta love George Carlin.

new perspective

When you're just too cool for this planet.

go mcd!

My cousin and name-doppelganger McDowell has made Eagle Scout. Attaboy!

McDowell Pinckard, seventeen year old son of Les and Caroline Pinckard Dothan AL, has recently been awarded The Eagle Scout Award. This is the highest advancement ranking given within The Boy Scouts of America. Approximately 2% of all Boy Scouts achieve this award. McDowell is a member of Troop 38 sponsored by First United Methodist Church of Dothan.

Over a seven year period, McDowell has completed twenty two merit badges and advanced through seven different scouting ranks. Merit badges include topics on citizenship, first aid, camping, personal management, personal fitness, environmental science, family life and communications.

Additionally, McDowell has been a camp counselor at the local Camp Alaflo for three consecutive summers. Responsibilities included kitchen management, camp activity organization and merit badge instruction.

McDowell has also become a member of The Order Of The Arrow. This is Scouting's national honor society. He was chosen by members of his troop to partcipate in this distinguished group. In 2006, he was awarded The Founders Award as the top scout within his Order Of The Arrow.

To achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, McDowell has performed an Eagle Scout Project which he had to design,organize and manage. With the assistance of approximately 25 scouters and leaders from his troop, brush was cleared from the northeast parking lot of First United Methodist Church and fifteen much needed parking spaces were reclaimed.

Emily Post has a hangover

For all of your finer offensive stationery needs.

certainly

This is a list of failed predictions. Some favorites:

• February 20, 1524 - Worldwide deluge according to German astrologer Johann Stoffler (later moved to 1588)
• 1882 & 1911 - End of the world according to Scottish astrologer Charles Piazzi Smyth based on the calculations of the great pyramid of Giza
• 1952 - evangelist Billy Graham stated "It's all going to be over"
• "I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." -- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957.
• "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" -- H. M. Warner, co-founder of Warner Brothers, 1927.

Also see Unfulfilled religious prophecies made by Christians.

show/tell

Herman Krieger takes amazing photo essays.

It's so because I said so

Please, if you're going to accuse someone of "begging the question" at least do it correctly.

(original site context here.)

I wanna mold your band

Blender has a nice rundown of the top 100 most important days in rock 'n roll.

all apologies

I shouldn't post blond jokes but I have to admit this made me laugh..

A blind man wanders into an all girls biker bar by mistake. He finds his way to a bar stool and orders some coffee. After sitting there for a while, he yells to the waiter, "Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?"

The bar immediately falls absolutely silent. In a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says, "Before you tell that joke, sir, I think it is only fair -- given that you are blind -- that you should know five things:

1. The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat.
2. The bouncer is a blonde girl.
3. I'm a 6 foot tall, 175 lb. blonde woman with a black belt in karate.
4. The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weightlifter.
5. The lady to your right is blonde and a professional wrestler.

Now, think about it seriously, Mister. Do you still wanna tell that joke?"

The blind man thinks for a second, shakes his head, and mutters, "No, not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times."

Jazz dispute

the spectrum

According to this guy:

Fundamentalists: believe 2+2=5 because It Is Written. Somewhere. They have a lot of trouble on their tax returns.

"Moderate" believers: live their lives on the basis that 2+2=4. but go regularly to church to be told that 2+2 once made 5, or will one day make 5, or in a very real and spiritual sense should make 5.

"Moderate" atheists: know that 2+2=4 but think it impolite to say so too loudly as people who think 2+2=5 might be offended.

"Militant" atheists: "Oh for pity's sake. HERE. Two pebbles. Two more pebbles. FOUR pebbles. What is WRONG with you people?"

360

At Papervision they make Nice panoramas.

David Blaine's AMAZING street magic INCREDIBLE

god is math is god

At Castle Hills First Baptist School in San Antonio, Texas, they take teaching mathematics very seriously.

GEOMETRY
Students will examine the nature of God as they progress in their understanding of mathematics. Students will understand the absolute consistency of mathematical principles and know that God was the inventor of that consistency. They will see God's nature revealed in the order and precision they review foundational concepts while being able to demonstrate geometric thinking and spatial reasoning. . .

ALGEBRA II
. . . Mathematical study will result in a greater appreciation of God and His works in creation.

PRE-CALCULUS
. . . The students will focus on the mathematics concepts that connect the thoughts of the mind with the realities of the universe, experiencing the creative power and order of God.

CALCULUS
. . . The students will recognize that God created our minds to be able to see that the universe can be calculated by mental methods.

hundreds of years before the dawn of history

Interesting article on History's Most Overlooked Mysteries.

whoa

eye candy.

vogue time

8 million years ago is all the rage now. Scientists have recently discovered that the the world's oldest trees are that old as is the world's oldest ice. They just don't make nature like they used to.

best, t-shirt. ever.

found here.

Build your fantasy election team here!

tyranny through architecture

Introducing The Seven Wonders of the Totalitarian World.

words failed him

When Florida Representative Bob Allen (R) was arrested last month for sex-related charges stemming from an encounter with a police officer in a public bathroom, he gave what has to be the worst excuse ever.

old salt

Right now I'm reading Mark Kurlansky's Salt: A World History, a fascinating story of how important salt has been to human society. While I figured salt was an important commodity to certain cultures for millenia, I had no idea that in fact it was a crucial commodity to most cultures, playing a pivotal role in the fortunes of many countries. Because salt could be used to preserve meats and vegetables, it made food mobile and allowed long-range travel possible both on land and water. It was used as money in many places and was the direct cause of countless armed conflicts across Europe and eventually in America. I'll let you read the rest. In the meantime, you can get a glimpse into the strange world of salt mining by exploring the Wieliczka Salt Mine, a massive multi-level mine in Poland that has has been producing salt since around the tenth century. In addition to salt carvings and salt chandeliers, the mine contains chapels and ballrooms carved from the salt rock. You can take a virtual tour of the mine here.

pecunia non olet

Nice Wikipedia page listing direct English translations of common Latin phrases, such as veni vidi vici and et cetera.

dern them terrrrists

This forward from mom was too good to pass up.

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists themselves have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

Also, the French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Surrender" and "Collaborate." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

It's not only the English and French that are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

good question

Why is it that some countries drive on the right and others on the left?

astro

This Week's Sky at a Glance gives you updated reports on what stars, constellations and planets are within your view, should you take a moment during the evening and look skyward.

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide,
   and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with
   much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

- Walt Whitman

um ok

Design your website's color scheme based on toad colorings.

180

thuggee life, yo

Fascinating article on the historic origins of the term "thug." From the ever-fun blog Damn Interesting.

troubled bridges over water

CNN has a list of all the dangerous bridges in America, and as you can imagine it is disturbing how many are eather "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete." This is the list for all the bridges in Alabama.

And in a twist of irony, it now appears that tons of repair equipment on the Minneapolis bridge may have contributed to its collapse.

Walking is good

How walk-friendly is your house? See what your walk score is here. (May be down right now--I think it got Dugg and Google freaked out.)

do the Bushdance

boom

Attention photographers:

Are you good enough for National Geographic?

(I know Dave is)

I'd take his class

Something tells me that this professor knows a LOT about certain types of chemistry.

astronomy domine

This gal/fella/blogger has a pretty good roundup of the top five Virtual Sky Simulators that are available for free online. I used Stellarium when Mary Pat and I were living out in the country last year and it was impressive. I would switch it to the low-light setting and take my laptop out onto the porch and look up and see exactly what constellations were swirling above us. The coolest part was choosing the mythology overlay, which superimposes the Greek and Roman gods and figures on top of the stars. Good for aiding that post-modern imagination of yours, decidedly lacking in such flights of fancy.

good lord

Now that is some bling.

Pop!

and after

figures

Interesting graph showing how much time each news network has devoted to each candidate. You mean Fox doesn't have much to say about Obama?

"once you taste it, you won't waste it"

I don't normally blog about food, but I must break out of my foodie closet and holla a big "daaaaaaaayyuuummmmmm" to the folks over at Loose Lip Larry's, who have concocted both a terrible website and an exquisite barbecue sauce. I recommend the Sweet Georgia Honey Mustard Spicy Barbecue on chicken and darn near anything else you can eat except ice.

Lifted

Pixar's latest animated short. It's good.

of sound mind..

Just in case you wanted to, you can read Jerry Garcia's will here.

update: you can now own Jerry's bidet, too.

&*%^*&

Not that you really need to know this, but here's a little refresher on how swearing works.

keystone cops

While the purveyors of this weblog would never condone anyone doing anything that might arouse the ire of the police, it would be foolish to deny that our fine law endorcement officers sometimes make mistakes and accuse us of various transgressions. Like that one time those cops "caught" me and Richard Dubose sneaking out after midnight. Or that other time they "busted" me at the Mexican border. Or the time they "found" me spraypainting my name in the ditch. Or the time they received a "complaint" about Daniel's loud-ass parties and "fined" him. Because the police frequently make honest mistakes such as these, it is useful to know how to handle situations in which we are the victims of police error. However, do not follow this guy's instructions, as he doesn't know what he's talking about. You'll be better off doing what these people say. And don't do any of these things.

der skraakenswild

I'd love to live in this house.

beyond mural

The artist Blu is a very odd sort of fellow. You can see more of his art here. Of course this is one of my favorites.

death and taxes

Making a potentially huge distinction, a lawyer in Louisiana recently convinced a jury that for tax purposes, not necessarily all compensation one receives for labor counts as "income." If ever such an argument were to be presented widely, the attorney said, the income to the federal government would plummet. Now the lawyer is trying to make the argument widely available. I may have to don my tin foil hat for this one.

decrepit

Lost America is a collection of skilled photographs of the abandoned American West.

quote of the day

"Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."

- J. K. Galbraith, Letter to Kennedy, 1962