charming

The art of Tomasz Maronski.

ice land

This guy takes wonderful photographs.

You don't know nothin'

Wait, now you do.

quote of the day

"It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious."

-- Oscar Wilde

no, no, no, no, no

yours is a very bad hotel

These people had a bad experience at a hotel. And they went to great lengths to describe exactly how bad the experience was. (link is to pdf document)

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

mesmerizing

behold

Incredible photos from the recent Atlantis spaceshuttle mission. Be sure and look at the first and second pictures from the last.

quote of the day

On maintaining superstitious beliefs:

"Should a traveller, returning from a far country, bring us an account of men, wholly different from any with whom we were ever acquainted; men, who were entirely divested of avarice, ambition, or revenge; who knew no pleasure but friendship, generosity, and public spirit; we should immediately, from these circumstances, detect the falsehood, and prove him a liar, with the same certainty as if he had stuffed his narration with stories of centaurs and dragons, miracles and prodigies. And if we would explode any forgery in history, we cannot make use of a more convincing argument, than to prove, that the actions ascribed to any person are directly contrary to the course of nature, and that no human motives, in such circumstances, could ever induce him to such a conduct."

-- David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Sect. VIII, Part I, p. 65

the power of [magic]

Sam Harris always has something interesting to say: In defense of witchcraft.

Fishes

call the fashion police

Top ten ugliest bridesmaids' dresses.

Great read

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (also called The Jefferson Bible) was an attempt by Thomas Jefferson to glean the teachings of Jesus from the Christian Gospels. Jefferson wished to extract the doctrine of Jesus by removing sections of the New Testament containing supernatural aspects as well as perceived misinterpretations he believed had been added by the Four Evangelists.

palimpsest

This is an interesting story on a greek text believed to have been authored by the ancient mathematician Archimedes that has been found and "deciphered." But the problem is that the book was almost beyonf deciphering--the texts, formulas and drawings by Archimedes, executed in brown ink, were erased in the Middle Ages and overwritten with a religious text. Museum specialists have irradiated the pages, made of goat leather, with UV light. Then they were bombarded with X-rays in a particle accelerator to bring out the traces of iron in the Byzantine ink. Amazing. I hope it's authentic.

Eye

candy.

mpg

This is good. In the face of legislation proposing drastically increased fuel economy standards American automakers are freaking out. Their staunch support of SUVs is withering away as consumers grow sick of expensive gas, forcing the companies to focus their lobbying efforts on taming the energy legislation instead.

I didn't realize this, but the current fuel economy standard for cars, unchanged since 1983, is 27.5 miles a gallon. Light trucks, including S.U.V.’s, pickups and minivans, must achieve a minimum average of 21.3 miles a gallon over each carmaker’s entire fleet. I guess that explains how they can get away with making Hummers that get 10-12 miles per gallon. Under the proposed legislation, cars would have to achieve an average fuel economy of 36 miles a gallon by 2022, while trucks would have to reach 30 miles a gallon by 2025. It's a start.

the green fairy

I've always wanted to try real absinthe, not the fake tripe you get in Amsterdam which is basically almost pure grain alcohol with no thujone. But these folks are selling the real stuff. For quite a price, unfortunately.

Because I dare to care about sporting my receding hair while reclining in my chair

Hair Piece

I'm aware some stare at my hair
In fact, some really despair of my hair
But I don't care
'cause they're not aware
nor are they debonair
In fact, they're just square
They see hair down to there
say BEWARE and go off on a tear
I say "No fair"
A head that's bare is really nowhere
So be like a bear
Be fair with your hair
Show it you care
Wear it to there, or to there,
or to THERE if you dare
My wife bought some hair at a fair
to use as a spare
Did I care? Au contraire!
Spare hair is fair
In fact, hair can be rare
Fred Astaire has no hair
nor does a chair
or a chocolate eclair
And where is the hair on a pear?
Nowhere, mon frere
Now that I've shared this affair of the hair
I think I'll repair to my lair
and use NAIR, do you care?
Here's my beard
Ain't it weird?
Don't be sceered
's just my beard

-- George Carlin

boltage

Amazing pictures of a supercell over Geneva, Switzerland.

What is wrong with these people, indeed

It seems the followers of Fred Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, have decided to put their hatred into song.

distance + time

If you can't afford a shiny new Garmin Forerunner, you can still map your jogging route using Gmap Pedometer. Google keeps impressing me.

beyond insurgency

"The enemy was a phantom who never showed his face but transformed a neighborhood into a network of houses rigged to explode..." Great NYT article on how the fighting in Iraq seems to have taken a dramatic twist.

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men
Originally uploaded by solaceincinema.com.

Ask a stupid question

..get a stupid answer.

oh insult me again, please

If Shakespeare were alive today he'd be an Alabama politician, given our legislators' natural eloquence and complete abstention from violence.

You speak unskilfully: or, if your knowledge be more, it is much darkened in your malice.

More Shakespearean insults here. Stolen liberally from Eartha.

charlatan, set to song

Time for some serious Ministrywatch, among other things.

quote of the day

"I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."

-- Robert McCloskey

good to know

Mythbusters results. My favorite result:

The Mythbusters agreed that putting a grenade in the refrigerator was not a good idea.

we've all been there

this pretty much sums it all up

I love the Perry Bible Fellowship.

deeper into the bizarre

And Steven Cerio does indeed go there.

quote of the day centuries

Mongol General: Hao! Dai ye! We won again! This is good, but what is best in life?
Mongol: The open steppe, fleet horse, falcons at your wrist, and the wind in your hair.
Mongol General: Wrong! Conan! What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.
Mongol General: That is good! That is good.

very odd

quote of the day

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOOoooHOOoooooo - what a ride!......"

-- anonymous (found here)

damn I'm good

God help the purveyors of this blog from suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect. But we already suffer from Lake Wobegon effect so there's little hope.

vandalism?

Impressive graffiti.

I do have a birthday coming soon

For only $250,000 you too can own your own rocketpack.

how to rid your house of unwanted pests

drinking problems

I could use a couple of these bottle openers.

delightfully bizarre

The art of d'Holbachie Yoko

US States and the countries with which they share similar GDP

This puts things in perspective.

where worlds collide

oh really

"According to various observers there are many parallels between communist ideology and practices, and the economic and political system in The Smurfs, a popular comic book and animated series originally created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo. While some strongly support this theory, others see it as an ad nauseam overanalysis of something primarily aimed at children."

what'd she say?

The best of Overheard in New York. My favorite:

Blond Tourist Bimbo: I've never even heard of the G Train.
Blond Local Bimbo: Yeah, it's a ghetto train.
Blond Tourist Bimbo: Where does it go?
Blond Local Bimbo: Nowhere.
Black eight-year-old boy: Except my home, bitch.

--G train Hoyt/Schermerhorn station
Overheard by: Ian Robertson

homonyms and homophones

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

No, really. (This may help too.)

this is a steampunk computer. I hate the term steampunk, by the way.

3d

Spacetime is a very cool new browsing experience. Odd, but interesting.

the longest day, indeed

Fascinating article on the "Beast of Omaha," a German soldier who was in a machine gun nest on Omaha Beach, Normandy on D-Day in 1944. He fired over 12,000 rounds and probably killed around 3,000 G.I.s.

be there now

This is Rome.

crime does pay

In honor of the upcoming (and hopefully good) film Ocean's 13, the purveyors of this blog (who never carry more than $100 in cash) present 13 actual famous heists from around the world.

fyi

More information about Inuit kayaks than you ever wanted to know.

shocked, but not surprised

A recent Gallup poll has confirmed that the GOP has been effectively appropriated by the religious right. The poll found that the majority of Republicans in the United States do not believe the theory of evolution is true and do not believe that humans evolved over millions of years from less advanced forms of life.

sigh.

assisting English majors nationwide

It doesn't often happen that the author of a famous book actually says what the book is really about. We should listen when they tell us. Of course many don't, but in a way that's what remains compelling about some books--even the authors themselves cannot enforce a particular meaning on the reader. At any rate, Ray Bradbury, who recently won a Pulitzer, has refreshingly told the world that Farenheit 451 is not what you thought it is about.

my hero

Joshua Abraham Norton, otherwise known as His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, was a celebrated citizen of San Francisco, California who proclaimed himself "Emperor of these United States" and "Protector of Mexico." One of our most illustrious citizens, without doubt.

It finally happened

Dutch students have developed a powdered alcohol--just add water.

How to be persuasive

The new method.

Use of big words is persuasive several times over. They make you look all smart and other people look all stupid; hence, your argument becomes the more compelling. Furthermore, use of big words means you'll talk longer, and usually whoever talks the most is the most convincing. "Wow, look at all he has to say about this," people will say to themselves as they observe you making a protracted argument. "He must know a lot about this subject."

By way of example, compare the persuasiveness of the following two statements:

• "Hockey is better than football."
  
• "You are the manifest profusion of delusional ideology incarnate if you do not fulminate against the institution of football with great superciliousness and promulgate the preeminence of hockey."

this is great

The landlord.

thanks Richard

wow. I mean wow.

from the Creationist Museum.

Jesus vs Darwin

Jesus! vs Darwin!
Originally uploaded by The Searcher.

PAC man

The is the best political action committee ever. It's purpose?

To filter funds from controversial or unpopular groups to other PACs and candidates for the purpose of hiding the actual source of a candidate’s campaign campaign money from voters.

i shure do luv Alabama

Alabama senator throws punch in scuffle in Senate chamber.

she walks on hidden currents

via.

mesmerizing

how loquacious of you

100 Words That All High School Graduates — And Their Parents — Should Know.

judging books by the cover

This is quite cool.

word of the day

Simulacrum.

secret room? what secret room?

My next house will feature these.

And the coolest part is that it can be made to open by arranging chess pieces on a nearby board in a specific configuration.

yes

I must have this tie.

oh dear

Water Spout
Originally uploaded by Spam for Sam.

jump!

Performance art takes a decidedly silly turn.

water, color

Nice shots.