This is odd, but interesting. The Conceptual Metaphor Page is a research tool for the study of conceptual metaphor systems. The target phrases, "A problem is a region in a landscape" are strange but once you read them they make sense. It refers to what metaphorical process occurs when we say "We've got to survey the problem." The problem is now a geographical entity.

Today is my birthday. I'm 30. I'm taking off work and going kayaking..

Akiyoshi's illusion pages is a collection of truly amazing geometrical illusions created by a psychology professor in Japan. Note the disclaimer at the top - 'if you start to feel dizzy, you had better leave.'

It's brash opine, the poem. Read it and weep. Then scratch head.

Nice hippu hangu jeans! Apparently English words are infiltrating into the Japanese language, much to the consternation of elderly Japanese, who can't figure out that shadoh means 'eye shadow.' Sounds like a bad case of Engrish to me.

Anyone need a roll-up keyboard? I know they used to have floppy disks, but this is bizarre. I need a roll-up monitor, too..

Yaaaay Debbie! The CPA exam is behind her. She doesn’t know what she made, but I hope she passed. Four hours of gruelling test-taking has killed stronger people.. So we went out and celebrated with margaritas, and a mariachi band serenaded us with “Tequila” first, then later came back and Debbie requested a Gypsy Kings song, which they knew, and while they were singing two waitresses came over and grabbed us and started dancing! Soon we were all getting jiggy with it right there in the middle of La Manchas, or whatever the place is. More fun than a barrel full of monkeys. Now on to Europe..

All I have to say right now as we enter the vicissitudes of the Alabama gubernatorial election shakedown, is: Spasm waiter dropping to his knees, sees Slander on wrap paper ties Lifting up his head he feels the sunlight in his eyes Grasp a kettle top and shoot the breeze, please Ramble while slop scraper sighs Tossing in his bed at night he'll dream until he dies Operations at the sink The dribble liquid visible beneath his troubled eyes Feels it tilt and start to slide Mask a pretty hopper's foot with squeeze cheese Dangle some grape apple pies Tranquil and serene until he runs out of supplies Your hands and feet are mangos You're gonna be a genius anyway Your hands and feet are mangos You're gonna be a genius anyway

who dat

lovely

"If this magnetar were as close as the Moon, it would rearrange the molecules in our bodies," says scientist. Amazing.

Interesting Discovery Channel (who?) article on the recent assasination of al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen by a drone. Unmanned war becoming reality. I just hope everyone's watched "Maximum Overdrive."

Oh great. This site claims that You Are Where You Live. Apparently, where I live people are extremely likely to...

Be pro wrestling fans

Buy gospel music

Own a Mazda

Watch BET

Read GQ. What's up with that? I burn my gospel music--I don't buy it..

Tom Petty Is Pissed. And he is right. Great article on his beef with society and the music industry.

This site is pretty fun. Paint by numbers! Haven't you always wanted to create your own mark Rothko?

An update on the Sokol incident. Two brothers apparently received PhDs for spouting nonsense at Bourgogne University. The article is here. The ivory towers are showing a little yellow around the edges..

This bogus research paper by this guy, Alan Sokol, got into this academic journal, Social Text in the mid 1990s. In it he attempts to prove that "physical reality ... is at bottom a social and linguistic construct." Ha! A hilarious and illuminating story of the power of obfuscation.

A forward from Kelly: Work VS Prison > Just in case you ever got the two mixed up, this should make things a bit clearer: > > IN PRISON...you spend the majority of your time in an 8X10 cell. > > AT WORK... you spend the majority of your time in a 6X8 cubicle. > > IN PRISON...you get three meals a day. > > AT WORK...you only get a break for one meal and you pay for it. > > IN PRISON...you get time off for good behavior. > > AT WORK...you get more work for good behavior. > > IN PRISON...the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you. > > AT WORK...you must carry around a security card and open all the doors > > for yourself. > > IN PRISON...you can watch TV and play games. > > AT WORK...you get fired for watching TV and playing games. > > IN PRISON...you get your own toilet. > > AT WORK...you have to share with some idiot who pees on the seat. > > IN PRISON...they allow your family and friends to visit. > > AT WORK...you can't even speak to your family. > > IN PRISON...all expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required. > > AT WORK...you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they > > deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners. > > IN PRISON...you spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out. > > AT WORK...you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars. > > IN PRISON...you must deal with sadistic wardens. > > AT WORK...they are called managers.

Ah, Dave Barry. Here he rants on technology -- has it gone too far?

Who should run the Internet? The body that manages a key aspect of the internet, Icann, has failed and should be scrapped, argues technology consultant Bill Thompson. Interesting info on just how in the hell the Internet works.

The Storm King Art Center celebrates landscape sculptures, those huge things people do in large fields that few people ever see -- until now. Some really good discussion of the relationship between ourselves and the landscape we inhabit, as well as the aesthetics of landscape.

This guy rocks. In 1982 he tied 45 six-foot weather balloons to a lawn chair and shot up into the sky to 16,000 feet, was spotted by Delta Airlines jetliner pilots and eventually shot the balloons with a BB gun until he descended to earth near San Pedro, Calif., unharmed. The F.A.A. cited him for four violations of the Federal Aviation Act, including operating a "civil aircraft for which there is not currently in effect an airworthiness certificate." I love it.

What the hell is this? Some weird creature found in Chile. Article is translated through babelfish.

Beautiful images from the Galileo Project can be found here. Galileo has been in space for 13 years taking thousands of photos and readings, but it is time he left us. On November 4th, the craft will plunge into Jupiter, depleted of fuel, film and functionality. Read the obit here. Where are you, Rocket Guy?

I want a bar of this. Caffeinated soap seems to be the latest in techno geek/silicon valley accoutrement. Now you can start your buzz even sooner in the day! And if the soap isn't enough, you could just take the shower using caffeinated water...

The Democratic Underground has identified The Top Ten Conservative Idiots. At last?

This site discussing "nether belching" is rather ridiculous. --< gets cheap laugh by talking about farts >--

This is a good article on the latest work by Andy Goldsworthy, an artist whom I find incredible. This is what he does. Check it out.

A liberal argument for a regime change in Iraq, by Salman Rushdie here. Wonderfully written. Via (viva!) metafilter.

Since college and all that implies I have been a fan of recreational mathematics. This site is a listing of some very nice fractal web sites, where you can download eye candy by the bushel. Wow, man..