Sunday, September 25, 2005
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Staring across interstellar space, the alluring Cat's Eye nebula lies three thousand light-years from Earth. A classic planetary nebula, the Cat's Eye (NGC 6543) represents a final, brief yet glorious phase in the life of a sun-like star. This nebula's dying central star may have produced the simple, outer pattern of dusty concentric shells by shrugging off outer layers in a series of regular convulsions. But the formation of the beautiful, more complex inner structures is not well understood. Seen so clearly in this sharp Hubble Space Telescope image, the truly cosmic eye is over half a light-year across. Of course, gazing into the Cat's Eye, astronomers may well be seeing the fate of our sun, destined to enter its own planetary nebula phase of evolution ... in about 5 billion years.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
How does it feel?
Great article on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". The best quote is Frank Zappa's:
"When I heard 'Like a Rolling Stone,' I wanted to quit the music business because I felt: 'If this wins and it does what it's supposed to do, I don't need to do anything else.'"
When the single was released, on July 20 1965, copies serviced to radio stations cut the song in half and spread it over both sides of a red vinyl 45, giving them the option of airing only the first three minutes, thus preserving their normal song-to-commercial ratios. Dylan demanded that Like a Rolling Stone play through, and soon a new pressing replaced the first - but when the song first appeared on the radio, three minutes was all you heard, with the fade sounding fake, as if something was missing. When the word spread that something was, stations were hammered by callers demanding all six minutes, and six minutes was what they got. And then, it seemed, that was all your station played."They cut it in half for the disc jockeys," explained Dylan at a press conference in San Francisco in December 1965. "If anybody was interested they could just turn it over and listen to what really happens."
Even now, when it is no shock that there is more, it is still a shock. The arrival of the third verse, the announcement that the story is not over, is like Roosevelt announcing his third term. Dylan reaches the last line of that verse, holds the last word as long as he can hold his breath, and then as the song tips into the third chorus everything shatters.
know your hurricanes
Check out this Google Maps hurricane tracker. You can view by year and by storm, all the way back to 1851.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Monday, September 19, 2005
mwuahahahaha mwuahaha
The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord
9. I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labelled as such.
10. I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum -- a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well.
11. I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.
12. One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.
13. All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.
14. The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.
15. I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.
16. I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."
5ives
Five things it would probably be disingenuous for me to rap about:
1. the streets
2. my bitches
3. thug life
4. popping a cap in your ass
5. my milkshake
Sunday, September 18, 2005
The Revenge CD
Get it here.
"Don’t you hate it when the neighbours are making a lot of noise, disrupting your concentration, sleep or calm moments with their loud sex life, screaming kids or barking dog? Well here’s your chance to savour the sweet taste of retribution with the Revenge CD, which ships with earplugs; you’ll understand why. Here’s a partial track lineup:1) Drill
2) Party (At Least 200 People)
3) Orgasm (Outstanding)
4) Train
5) Drum (Played by a Child)
6) Inhuman Screams
7) Walking (High Heels)
8) Domestic Squabble
9) Doors Banging
10) Bowling
11) Unhappy Dog
12) Practicing Scales (Violin)Crank the volume up, put the earplugs in, and sip a tea while the neighbours bang on the walls. All this fun, for all of $18."
Friday, September 16, 2005
Thursday, September 15, 2005
quote of the day
"I don't try to imagine a God; it suffices to stand in awe of the structure of the world, insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it."
-Albert Einstein
this is great
Via Boing Boing:
Planned Parenthood in Philadelphia came up with an ingenious way to fight back against anti-choice fundamentalists who block clinic doors and harass workers and patients. The idea: hold a fund drive in which donors give cash for each protestor that shows up. The more there are, the more money Planned Parenthood receives. And, let the harassers know how much their presence is helping the clinic raise funds.
Five terrible fake names for your new Irish pub
1. O’Connor O’Connor’s
2. The Chunky Emerald Yawn
3. Tipsy McShamrock’s
4. Casey O’Familywrecker’s
5. Punchin’ Pete’s Place
From 5ives.
2. The Chunky Emerald Yawn
3. Tipsy McShamrock’s
4. Casey O’Familywrecker’s
5. Punchin’ Pete’s Place
From 5ives.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
the man
As a young schoolboy in Virginia, George Washington took his first steps toward greatness by copying out by hand a list of 110 "Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation." I like #12:
"Shake not the head, feet, or legs; roll not the eyes; lift not one eyebrow higher than the other, wry not the mouth, and bedew no man's face with your spittle by approaching too near him when you speak."
Monday, September 12, 2005
Introducing Daniel's blog
We now have written evidence that Daniel Crabtree lives a very interesting life. We also now know that Daniel has a number of very interesting friends, whom his blog is mainly about. More importantly, we will also now know whenever Daniel is having a party at his house in Asheville, NC at which many of these people may be found. Rock on, Mistah Crabtree.
Or should I say...Eros, the embodiment of all sexuality:
so this angel walks into a bar..
The top 20 funniest and most offensive religious jokes.
I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: "Stop. Don't do it."
"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.
"Well, there's so much to live for!"
"Like what?"
"Are you religious?"
He said, "Yes."
I said, "Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?"
"Christian."
"Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"Protestant."
"Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"
"Baptist."
"Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"
"Baptist Church of God."
"Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God."
"Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"
He said: "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915."
I said: "Die, heretic scum," and pushed him off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)