Home
|
« April 2007 | Main | June 2007 » May 31, 2007Like Rain On My Wedding Day 100 words every HS grad should know I do better with the second half of the alphabet, it would seem. By min | May 31, 2007, 3:13 PM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (3) | Link RIF Remember when i used to read? By min | May 31, 2007, 3:02 PM | My stupid life| Link I won't take all that they hand me down, cause I'm not like everybody else, And I don't want to ball about like everybody else, But darling, you know that I love you true, I'm not like everybody else, Like everybody else, If you all want me to settle down, I'm not like everybody else, Like everybody else (like everybody else), By fnord12 | May 31, 2007, 9:39 AM | Music| Link
The five best beards in comic books Here. By fnord12 | May 30, 2007, 2:22 PM | Comics| Link This bastard got me sick Link: The man told the Journal-Constitution he was in Rome during his honeymoon when the CDC told him to turn himself in to Italian authorities to be isolated and be treated. The CDC told him he couldn't fly aboard commercial airliners. "What do i care if i put all those other people on the flight at risk of getting TB? Fuck them, at least i got home. I'm a very well-educated idiot." I had TB last Friday. I'm sure it was this guy's fault. I got better due to my incredible stamina, but others might not be so strong. By fnord12 | May 30, 2007, 10:52 AM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (1) | Link
First Came the McJob.... Then the McMansion (thanks to nsxt290 for the link). I wonder if McDonald's will sue the Oxford English Dictionary over this one, too. Or they might go straight to the petition to falsify the definition. I wonder what other words we can change the definition of. Houses with five or more bedrooms were the fastest-growing type in that time, adding to the nation's consumption of resources and reputation for excess. That won't be a problem in the new house, which has four big bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms and a three-car garage. "Our kids have more stuff. They need more living space," said Valerie Astle, a grade-school teacher. In much of the country, the growth in big houses is fueled by suburban homebuyers seeking luxury, rather than big families needing space, Ahluwalia said. "They are buying for lifestyle," he said. Nationally, the average household size has shrunk slightly since 1990, to about 2.6 people. Meanwhile, the average new house grew by nearly 400 square feet, to 2,434 square feet. "You cannot sell a new home today with 1 1/2 bathrooms," Ahluwalia said. "Even if only two people are in house, they still want 2 1/2 to three bathrooms." Most big homes in the U.S. are going up in the suburbs, contributing to sprawl and congestion, said Vicky Markham, director of the Center for Environment and Population. All those big suburban houses require more land, more materials to build and more energy to heat and cool, Markham said "Excess is a matter of how each person views their own life," Markham said. But, she added, "Each person today is taking up more resources, more land, more energy than generations before." This is just really sad. They are renting storage space because they have no room for their things. Hey, lady, here's a tip. Quit getting your kids so much stuff. If you can put it away in storage and it's not seasonal stuff (e.g. lawn equipment), you prolly didn't really need it in the first place. Sell it. Give it away. Don't buy it in the first place. We have lots of stuff. I'm the first to admit it. But it's all stuff we're using. Musical equipment, comic books, regular books, and music. Well, ok. We're not really using those cds anymore now that they invented mp3s and iPods. I'm afraid to get rid of the cds in case we somehow lose the mp3s. Some of them also have sentimental value to me. Ofc, now with the CD fascists out there, we prolly wouldn't be able to sell our cds now anyway. But, for the most part, we're not collecting stuff just to have stuff that's new and big and shiny. We collect stuff that we need, want, and use. That's bad enough. But at least it's not in storage. Damn consumerism. By min | May 29, 2007, 3:45 PM | Ummm... Other? | Comments (8) | Link Ask Dr. Wallace Breen Let me read a letter I recently received. 'Dear Dr. Breen. Why has the Combine seen fit to suppress our reproductive cycle? Sincerely, A Concerned Citizen.' Thank you for writing, Concerned. Of course your question touches on one of the basic biological impulses, with all its associated hopes and fears for the future of the species. I also detect some unspoken questions. Do our benefactors really know what's best for us? What gives them the right to make this kind of decision for mankind? Will they ever deactivate the suppression field and let us breed again? Allow me to address the anxieties underlying your concerns, rather than try to answer every possible question you might have left unvoiced. First, let us consider the fact that for the first time ever, as a species, immortality is in our reach. This simple fact has far-reaching implications. It requires radical rethinking and revision of our genetic imperatives. It also requires planning and forethought that run in direct opposition to our neural pre-sets. I find it helpful at times like these to remind myself that our true enemy is Instinct. Instinct was our mother when we were an infant species. Instinct coddled us and kept us safe in those hardscrabble years when we hardened our sticks and cooked our first meals above a meager fire and started at the shadows that leapt upon the cavern's walls. But inseparable from Instinct is its dark twin, Superstition. Instinct is inextricably bound to unreasoning impulses, and today we clearly see its true nature. Instinct has just become aware of its irrelevance, and like a cornered beast, it will not go down without a bloody fight. Instinct would inflict a fatal injury on our species. Instinct creates its own oppressors, and bids us rise up against them. Instinct tells us that the unknown is a threat, rather than an opportunity. Instinct slyly and covertly compels us away from change and progress. Instinct, therefore, must be expunged. It must be fought tooth and nail, beginning with the basest of human urges: The urge to reproduce. We should thank our benefactors for giving us respite from this overpowering force. They have thrown a switch and exorcised our demons in a single stroke. They have given us the strength we never could have summoned to overcome this compulsion. They have given us purpose. They have turned our eyes toward the stars. Let me assure you that the suppressing field will be shut off on the day that we have mastered ourselves...the day we can prove we no longer need it. And that day of transformation, I have it on good authority, is close at hand. By fnord12 | May 29, 2007, 3:22 PM | Video Games | Comments (1) | Link Self-Determination and Relationships Researchers performed a study that might show making sacrifices, big and small, for your partner because you want to rather than because you feel obligated to, can result in feeling happier about your relationship. Patrick found that partners who engaged in PRB because they wanted to -- not because they felt pressured or obligated to -- were more satisfied in their relationships, more committed to them, and felt closer to their mates following PRB experiences. But she also found that people who simply perceived that their partners engaged in PRB because they wanted to were also more satisfied and committed to their relationship after a partner's PRB. Patrick says her research has practical applications. She sees it being used for individual and couples therapy. She says this new information gives couples and psychology professionals insight into why some relationships aren't fulfilling even when everything looks OK on the surface. My question is, are they feeling more committed and more satisfied because they voluntarily performed these PRBs or is it the other way around - are they more likely to engage in voluntary PRB because they already are satisfied and committed to their partner? How do you know what is the cause and what is the effect? The article doesn't specify how exactly they measured a couple's level of commitment after each PRB experience. This last part of the article i totally agree with, though, and it's not about picking up your dirty socks from the living room floor. Along with Patrick, Ryan, who is a professor of psychology, psychiatry and education, and Deci, the Gowen Professor in the Social Sciences, a fourth Rochester researcher, Dr. Geoffrey Williams, associate professor of medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, will present at the conference. He will unveil new findings that demonstrate patient involvement in a quit plan leads to smokers who are more motivated to quit because they genuinely want to, not because they are being nagged or bullied into kicking the habit. Williams said the method has also proved successful for patients managing diabetes, weight loss, and dental care. You can't make people change if they don't want to. By min | May 29, 2007, 2:55 PM | Science| Link SuperMegaSpeed Reviews Ant-Man - kind of like Heroes for Hire bringing in Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy, bringing in Damage Control is a signal to me that this series is going to be more of the "goofy/funny" than "serious-disturbing/funny" and that's disappointing. I like the idea of a series about a total bastard who is not a super hero but pretends to be one in order to get chicks and loot, but i don't like goofy-bad comics like howard the duck or she-hulk. This issue was fine but i'm wondering if there's really anywhere to go from here. FF - i've read a few reactions to this online and i can see where people feel like suddenly the Black Panther just pulled a bunch of gadgets out of nowhere in order to settle the conflict, and it did feel like everything resolved a little too neatly but A) Reed Richards constantly pulls wacky devices out of his butt to defeat the bad guys and B) in this case the devices in question are from the much-loved Christopher Priest Black Panther run. Regardless of that, this has been a great run with good dialogue and characterization. Captain America - great stuff. The very last line of Bucky's inner monologue threw me for a loop. Very funny (serious-disturbing funny). Overall, it was a great set of reactions to Cap's death, confirming for me that i didn't need Jeph Loeb's probably awful Fallen Son mini. I loved the squabble between Red Skull and Dr. Faustus. When Arnim Zola is acting as a mediator, you know you're dealing with some unstable people. Zola's description of Doom's technology ("A lot of his science isn't exactly... science") was cool, too. My only (minor) complaint is that Epting's usually awesome art fell apart when showing the remnants of the resistance fighters - suddenly people's faces were melting. Secret Wars count - i couldn't keep track due to the crowd scenes but i didn't get anywhere near eight. By fnord12 | May 29, 2007, 2:30 PM | Comics | Comments (2) | Link
Qualifiers Headline: Home sales soar by record level . First sentence of article: By fnord12 | May 24, 2007, 11:55 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link That much closer to a Secret Wars movie With Marvel now making their own movies, they shouldn't have to worry about different production companies owning the rights to various characters when they're ready to do the mother of all cross-overs. Assuming Marvel doesn't go broke and lose the rights to all their characters if the movies don't do well. Now they just need the rights back for their major characters like Spidey, the FF, and the X-Men. How does that work. Do the rights to the characters expire over a period of time, or are they licensed to do a specific number of movies, or what? By fnord12 | May 24, 2007, 10:51 AM | Comics | Comments (1) | Link Keith Olbermann: "The entire government has failed us" Link: Few men or women elected in our history - whether executive or legislative, state or national - have been sent into office with a mandate more obvious, nor instructions more clear: Get us out of Iraq. Yet after six months of preparation and execution - half a year gathering the strands of public support; translating into action, the collective will of the nearly 70 percent of Americans who reject this War of Lies, the Democrats have managed only this: You, the men and women elected with the simplest of directions - Stop The War - have traded your strength, your bargaining position, and the uniform support of those who elected you... for a handful of magic beans. You may trot out every political cliché from the soft-soap, inside-the-beltway dictionary of boilerplate sound bites, about how this is the "beginning of the end” of Mr. Bush's "carte blanche" in Iraq, about how this is a "first step." Well, Senator Reid, the only end at its beginning... is our collective hope that you and your colleagues would do what is right, what is essential, what you were each elected and re-elected to do. Because this "first step"... is a step right off a cliff. And this President! And yet when faced with the prospect of someone calling you on your stubbornness - your stubbornness which has cost 3,431 Americans their lives and thousands more their limbs - you, Mr. Bush, imply that if the Democrats don't give you the money and give it to you entirely on your terms, the troops in Iraq will be stranded, or forced to serve longer, or have to throw bullets at the enemy with their bare hands. How transcendentally, how historically, pathetic. Any other president from any other moment in the panorama of our history would have, at the outset of this tawdry game of political chicken, declared that no matter what the other political side did, he would insure personally - first, last and always - that the troops would not suffer. Well, any true President would have done that, Sir. You instead, used our troops as political pawns, then blamed the Democrats when you did so. Not that these Democrats, who had this country's support and sympathy up until 48 hours ago, have not since earned all the blame they can carry home. "We seem to be very near the bleak choice between war and shame," Winston Churchill wrote to Lord Moyne in the days after the British signed the Munich accords with Germany in 1938. "My feeling is that we shall choose shame, and then have war thrown in, a little later..." That's what this is for the Democrats, isn't it? Their "Neville Chamberlain moment" before the Second World War. The Democrats have merely streamlined the process. And where are the Democratic presidential hopefuls this evening? Judging these candidates based on how they voted on the original Iraq authorization, or waiting for apologies for those votes, is ancient history now. The Democratic nomination is likely to be decided... tomorrow. The talk of practical politics, the buying into of the President's dishonest construction "fund-the-troops-or-they-will-be-in-jeopardy," the promise of tougher action in September, is falling not on deaf ears, but rather falling on Americans who already told you what to do, and now perceive your ears as closed to practical politics. Those who seek the Democratic nomination need to - for their own political futures and, with a thousand times more solemnity and importance, for the individual futures of our troops - denounce this betrayal, vote against it, and, if need be, unseat Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi if they continue down this path of guilty, fatal acquiescence to the tragically misguided will of a monomaniacal president. For, ultimately, at this hour, the entire government has failed us. Mr. Reid, Mr. Hoyer, and the other Democrats... have failed us. They negotiated away that which they did not own, but had only been entrusted by us to protect: our collective will as the citizens of this country, that this brazen War of Lies be ended as rapidly and safely as possible. Mr. Bush and his government... have failed us. They must now speak, and make plain how they view what has been given away to Mr. Bush, and what is yet to be given away tomorrow, and in the thousand tomorrows to come. Because for the next fourteen months, the Democratic nominating process - indeed the whole of our political discourse until further notice - has, with the stroke of a cursed pen, become about one thing, and one thing alone. The electorate figured this out, six months ago. Our politics... is now about the answer to one briefly-worded question. While i'd have included the deaths on the side of Iraqi civilians as well as the US troops, and while i think references to Neville Chamberlain are overused at this point (although this is used deliberately in a different context than it has been these past few years), i strongly agree with these sentiments. However, while i was originally ready to give up on the Dems entirely, this post by Kos made me rethink that a bit: I've got to say, of all the things that get me down about this job, there's nothing worse than the people who want to quit the game and take their ball home every time we face a setback. It's as if every word I've ever written about this being a long-term battle means zero. As if it's instant gratification or nothing. It's not about supporting these Democrats. It's about trying to turn the Democratic party into something that i would be proud to support. By fnord12 | May 24, 2007, 9:49 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link Time to break out the emulator From Game Informer (not online): More at wikipedia. By fnord12 | May 24, 2007, 9:24 AM | Video Games | Comments (1) | Link When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful, But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible, And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable, There are times when all the worlds asleep, Now watch what you say or theyll be calling you a radical, Won't you sign up your name, we'd like to feel you're By fnord12 | May 24, 2007, 9:15 AM | Music| Link
Must Love Hello Kitty I can't decide if i want one or not..... But it still REWLS! By min | May 23, 2007, 3:41 PM | Science & Ummm... Other? | Comments (1) | Link Don't Need No Man Scientists in Northern Ireland have discovered that hammerhead sharks can reproduce asexually. In 2001, a female hammerhead shark that's been in captivity since it was a pup and didn't have any contact with a male for 3 years recently gave birth at a zoo on Nebraska. At first they thought mebbe she had incubated the sperm for 3 years or had mated with another species in the tank. When they tested the pup's DNA, it had no traces of paternal DNA. The DNA was only from the mother which also rules out mating with another species. "The discovery that sharks can reproduce asexually by parthenogenesis now changes this paradigm, leaving mammals as the only major vertebrate group where this form of reproduction has not been seen." The team established the most likely form of asexual reproduction that had occurred was a specific type called automictic parthenogenesis, which leads to less genetic diversity in the offspring compared to even the mother.
By min | May 23, 2007, 12:00 PM | Science | Comments (1) | Link What country are we living in? Eventually I was seeing my local Verizon repair guy, who was repeatedly being summoned to my home to restore service, more often than my best friend. So I was naturally suspicious when I caught an unfamiliar man, no uniform or badge, fiddling with the posts in my building's phone box. "Who are you and what are you doing?" I demanded. The dude knocked me down and bolted out a door into an alley. Giving chase, I watched him drive off an unmarked white van with U.S. government plates. By fnord12 | May 23, 2007, 11:42 AM | Comics & Liberal Outrage| Link It's not too late The Democratic "leadership" has wimped out already, agreeing to remove timelines from the Iraq funding bill. I don't know why they would "compromise" with a man with approval ratings in the low 30s who is moving forward with an unpopular war, but i bet they think they were being strategic and trying to not look like hardliners. Here's how that "strategy" has been perceived: Democrats Retreat in Funding Showdown Bush Wins Congressional Battle Over Iraq Democrats Concede. Democrats Retreat. Bush Wins. And that's not even covering the many stories on how the Democrats "caved in" or "blinked." Yes, that's exactly the kind of news everyone was looking for after 2006. I think we were all hoping for headlines just like these. There are a few stories out there about how Democrats need to explain this position to "liberals," that being the 70% of the public who wants out of Iraq. I can answer that one quickly: don't bother. Despite the failure of our "leaders", its still possible to reject this by getting the rank and file Democratic congress people to vote against the watered down bill. If you care, you can call or email your representative and tell them you don't support removing the timelines and that they should vote no. By fnord12 | May 23, 2007, 11:16 AM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (2) | Link
They Needed To Use A Winch The man, who weighs 32 stone (203kg), was on board a luxury five star cruise ship anchored in the Firth of Forth when he suffered gastric problems. The guy received emergency surgery and is recovering. FYI, 32 stone is about 448lbs. In an earlier incarnation of this article, they said that the usual procedure is to get the person onto another boat, but they assessed the situation and deemed it would be impossible to expect him to climb down the side of the ship. I wonder how far a climb that would be. I would imagine it would be difficult for someone who is ill or injured to make the climb down even if they didn't weigh 32 stone. And, ofc, it had to be an american. For those who aren't sure, this is a winch. I'm sure you've seen them lots of times in movies and videogames. They're constantly getting jammed or burning out in these genres. You might also see them on trucks for towing. By min | May 22, 2007, 12:33 PM | Ummm... Other?| Link
What do your stars mean? Ideally, the iPod's random feature would take a look at ratings and play songs with 5 stars more frequently and stars with 1 star almost never. Since they don't do that, it seems most people have redefined the meanings of the stars. Here's what mine mean: How about you? By fnord12 | May 18, 2007, 12:57 PM | Music | Comments (3) | Link Frodo To Play Iggy Elijah Wood's been picked to play Iggy Pop in a biographical film The Passenger. It's supposed to chronicle the early years with the Stooges. This site has side-by-side headshots of Iggy Pop and Elijah Wood for likeness comparisons. I figure Wood's got the stoned out look perfected after all his practice on LOTR. By min | May 18, 2007, 9:38 AM | Movies & Music| Link
Hope For the Balding Researchers at UPenn were able to grow hair on mice, and they think mebbe it will lead to getting dormant hair follicles to grow hair again on humans. In its experiment, small sections of the outer skin layer, or epidermis, were removed from mice. Just this act appeared to awaken stem cell activity in the area, the scientists said, which included the production of a number of hair follicles. If the action of the wnt gene was blocked, no hair follicles were produced; but if it was boosted, then many more hair follicles were produced, with the skin layer eventually being indistinguishable from surrounding areas. It's all very preliminary, though, so it could be years before anything comes of it. Meanwhile, there'll be plenty of furry mice hanging out at UPenn. Currently, hair transplants are the most expensive and most painful way to treat baldness. Then there's the chemicals like Rogaine where some say that after they stopped using it (you're not supposed to use it for longer than a few months straight), all their hair fell out again. Stupid Rogaine. Fostering hopes and then stomping them to bits in the mud. I'd suggest you start taking zinc supplements as i've read that helps with hair growth, but that would be contrary to what i just told you yesterday. Better to be bald than have prostate cancer. By min | May 17, 2007, 1:20 PM | Science | Comments (1) | Link Mercy, mercy, why didnt we hear it? Please forgive us, we dont know what was done in our name. Please forgive us, we dont know what was done. Please forgive us, we didnt know. By fnord12 | May 17, 2007, 9:25 AM | Music| Link
Stop or i shall say "Stop!" again TPM: "You ignored the subpoena, did not come forward today, did not produce the documents and did not even offer an explanation for your noncompliance," the senators wrote in a lettter to Alberto Gonzales today. "Your action today is in defiance of the Committee's subpoena without explanation of any legal basis for doing so." You can read the letter here. The senators set a new deadline, this Friday at May 18, 10 AM. If the Justice Department does not respond to the subpoena, the senators ask that they at least explain why they're not responding "so that the Chairman and the Committee can assess any objections to the subpoena or privileges claimed by the Department." C'mon guys! At least give us a reason why you're ignoring us so we can pretend we still have some dignity. By fnord12 | May 16, 2007, 4:08 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (1) | Link Don't Take Your Vitamins A study has come out that shows taking multi-vitamins might increase the risk of dying form prostate cancer. But experts caution that the study could not establish a causal relation between the risk and use of multivitamins, meaning multivitamin use does not necessarily raise the death risk associated with prostate cancer. The study, a statistical analysis, but not a trial, found that men who used multi-vitamins more than seven times a week were twice as likely to die of prostate cancer as men who never took vitamins. Those men were also at an increased risk of developing advanced or fatal prostate cancer, compared with men who never used multivitamins, reported Karla A. Lawson, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute and colleagues. Another explanation by the editorialists is that "reactive oxygen species in moderate concentrations are essential mediators of reactions by which the body gets rid of unwanted cells. Thus, if administration of antioxidant supplements decreases free radicals, it may interfere with essential defensive mechanisms for ridding the organism of damaged cells, including those that are precancerous and cancerous." This explanation sounds more plausible, the foodconsumer.org scientist commented. Still, the study per se could not tell the readers that multivitamin use definitely increases risk of fatal and advanced prostate cancer. I hate it when things that are supposed to be good for us turn out to be bad for us. All those years parents have been feeding their kids Flintstone vitamins to help them grow up stronger and healthier, and all they were doing is giving them prostate cancer. Jerks. Next they'll discover it increases the chances of ovarian cancer in women. By min | May 16, 2007, 2:59 PM | Science | Comments (3) | Link
Death Report Jerry Falwell died. If God does exist, Falwell's in for a shock. As if not being able to bring his money with him in death wasn't enough to depress him. By min | May 15, 2007, 2:53 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link Nudists Seek Younger Recruits Thank goodness for outside sources otherwise i'd never post anything. From slyn: To draw 20- and 30-somethings, nudist groups and camps are trying everything from deep discounts on membership fees to a young ambassador program that encourages college and graduate students to talk to their peers about having fun in the buff. "I think people think that we're all hippies," said Laura Groezinger, 22, of Billerica, Mass., who grew up visiting Solair with her family. "Other people, I don't know the right way to say this, but they think it's more sexual, kind of. They don't understand just the being free with your body and being comfortable." "I hope to get the word out to younger people that hey, it is OK, and here's a safe place to be, a very accepting place," Maguire said. "Unlike any other place in life, people actually look at you when they talk to you." They're talking to you. So, all you under-40s out there, go and be free with your body....and stuff. Just not in my house. By min | May 15, 2007, 2:46 PM | Ummm... Other?| Link I don't remember reading about this one in Edith Hamilton Priapus, the god of the well-endowed. (Scroll down to 'Priapus in popular culture' and you'll see how i came to know about him). By fnord12 | May 15, 2007, 1:54 PM | Comics & Ummm... Other? | Comments (2) | Link Treadmill Desk Thanks to shmoo for this link. I don't think i would mind having a treadmill at work, actually. My ass often starts to get sore from too much sitting. I clearly have a hard job. The question is, how do you tell someone they're overweight and you think it would be in their best interest if you took away their desk and forced them to walk on a treadmill all day instead? I'm thinking alot of employees are going to be unhappy about that. Ofc, in the U.S. we're all fat asses so everybody's desk would get replaced anyway, so nobody would feel singled out. By min | May 15, 2007, 11:21 AM | | Link Fear Life Spored sent me this link yesterday. Teachers staged a mock gun attack on 11 year olds during a week long class trip. Needless to say, the children and their parents aren't thrilled about this. The kids pretty much thought they were all going to die. I bet the bill for the therapy is going to be really big. Morons. On the other hand, this teaches kids to fear life and people and really, i'm down with that. By min | May 15, 2007, 10:39 AM | Liberal Outrage| Link
Do they have the equivalent of frequent flyer miles, too? If you're rich and you do crime, you can do time at the "nice prison" for a small fee: This is part of a larger op-ed about how taxes actually serve a purpose and Republican 'reduce taxes and increase spending' policies are destroying our society. ...come to think of it, here at work i have a regular door, an ipod, and a laptop. By fnord12 | May 14, 2007, 4:24 PM | Liberal Outrage | Comments (1) | Link Congress-speak Listen to this guy try to say "I'd like the person with the banner to leave the room." By fnord12 | May 14, 2007, 1:17 PM | Liberal Outrage| Link Plush Five Everybody loves plush monsters. I was on the Troll and Toad site (if you're in my D&D campaign that should worry you) and i ran across these: First, the D&D creatures: By fnord12 | May 14, 2007, 11:28 AM | D&D & Godzilla | Comments (1) | Link SuperMario trilogy Also via Mike (who needs to step away from the YouTube), here are three different people doing incredible things with the Super Mario theme: By fnord12 | May 14, 2007, 11:09 AM | Music & Video Games| Link Stop motion song Also in the stop-motion theme, here's a guy that doesn't know how to play drums or piano, but he recorded himself hitting a bunch of drums and notes and then put it all together in an order that makes a song. Jerk. When i was in high school, all i wanted was a four-track and a drum machine. Nowadays these kids with their fancy schmancy technology can do anything they want. (SuperMegaCredit to Mike again). By fnord12 | May 14, 2007, 11:06 AM | Music| Link Stop motion fight This fight, filmed in stop-motion video, is pretty cool (via Mike). By fnord12 | May 14, 2007, 11:02 AM | Ummm... Other?| Link I had this Wanyas sent me this link a while ago but i'm just getting around to posting some things in my email. Although this was made in 1975, i had this as a kid. Even though it's essentially card board cut-outs, it was very cool and it probably had a lot to do with the fact that i love the marvel comics so much. At the time i played with these, i had no idea who most of these characters were, so as i read comics they probably clicked with early memories in my brain and stuck. (Click for bigger image.) By fnord12 | May 14, 2007, 10:57 AM | Comics & My stupid life| Link SuperMegaSpeed Reviews Punisher - this is really slow and boring. I know they tried to establish earlier that the Punisher has some kind of Cap worship thing going on, but this is taking it way too far. Also, even though i agree with the politcs, the full page lecture on immigration was a bit much for me. And i find this story continues for two more issues? Dropping is imminent Iron Fist - When i think back on what happened in this issue, it was "Iron Fist and Iron Fist Senior crawl out of the sewer and go back to the Rand Corp Headquarters, where they find more bad guys." I remember enjoying it at the time though so it must have been some damn good sewer crawling. Also i'm glad to see Luke, Colleen, and Misty show up. Amazing Spider-Man - Good but like a lot of current comics it moves a little too slowly and i'm not really feeling the immediacy of Parker's rage at this point. The chronologist in me is trying to figure out where this fits in the Kingpin's history since he's been forced out of the country in Daredevil and already come back into the country in Runaways. I'm pretty sure this takes place immediately after Civil War, though. That works best for me as i'd like this storyline resolved before the New Avengers stories start. Avengers - Well, the Bendis doubters were essentially right. Everyone was trying to figure out who the new Ronin was based on the few lines of dialogue in his debut appearance. The clues were that he directed his comments to Luke Cage, talked with a bit of a street slang, and didn't seem to have be familiar with working with the Avengers. Adding all that together and considering the fact that he uses a sword and that the original purpose of the New Avengers team was to get all the recognizable fan-favorite characters on one team, i had my money on Blade (thinking that the slang and the fact that he was only talking to Luke was a white writer's way of indicating that the character was black). Considering that it ended up being Hawkeye, who re-joined the team despite Cage's protest, those lines of dialogue ended up being very throwaway. Still, i enjoyed this issue despite the very sketchy art which i really am getting used to. By fnord12 | May 14, 2007, 10:22 AM | Comics| Link
Hot Enough For Ya? Remember when we were kids and a hot day in the summer would be 87? Last summer we were regularly experiencing temps in the mid-90s. And it's only going to get better. Previous and widely used global warming computer estimates predict too many rainy days, the study says. Because drier weather is hotter, they underestimate how warm it will be east of the Mississippi River, said atmospheric scientists Barry Lynn and Leonard Druyan of Columbia University and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. But every now and then a summer will be drier than normal and that means even hotter days, Lynn said. So when Lynn's computer models spit out simulated results for July 2085 the forecasted temperatures sizzled past uncomfortable into painful. The study showed a map where the average high in the southeast neared 115 and pushed 100 in the northeast. Even Canada flirted with the low to mid 90s. Many politicians and climate skeptics have criticized computer models as erring on the side of predicting temperatures that are too hot and outcomes that are too apocalyptic with global warming. But Druyan said the problem is most computer models, especially when compared to their predictions of past observations, underestimate how bad global warming is. That's because they see too many rainy days, which tends to cool temperatures off, he said. An editor of the journal Climate had this to say about the study: Weaver said looking at the map of a hotter eastern United States he can think of one thing: "I like living in Canada." Canada just keeps looking better and better. By min | May 11, 2007, 11:12 AM | Science | Comments (5) | Link No Ipods for Grandpa Ipods have been found to interfere with pacemakers. So, unless you're trying to give the elderly a heart attack, you should prolly keep it away from them. Hopefully, by the time we're using pacemakers, they'll have solved this problem. Course, we might have run out of power to keep any of it running. Or we could die from cancer and never make it to the point where we might need a pacemaker. You gotta think positively. Cell phones also interfere with pacemakers, but mobile phone manufacturers tell users that it's not a big deal. Just don't put it in a shirt pocket. Cause mobile phone manufactuers would be the first people to dissuade the use of cell phones if they thought it might cause harm. Riiight. By min | May 11, 2007, 10:54 AM | Science| Link Typical Magic Girl - now with exploding panties Link: By fnord12 | May 11, 2007, 9:58 AM | Ummm... Other? & Video Games| Link And that's why they call him "Ego" Ego the Living Planet hitting on the Earth. From the Marvel Adventures line. Brilliant. By fnord12 | May 11, 2007, 9:52 AM | Comics | Comments (3) | Link
Creeping What is the deal with people who are stopped at a light or in traffic and feel the need to creep up? When i'm sitting there waiting for the light to turn green, i just sit and wait. I don't roll the car forward a few inches every 10 seconds. I don't understand the reason for this. You still can't go anywhere until the light changes. And you most likely will still have to wait for the guy in front of you to start going, too. You're not saving yourself any time by creeping. I've seen some people creep themselves practically into the intersection. I find the behaviour to be very perplexing. So, please, if you're a creeper, explain to me what's going on. What are you doing? By min | May 10, 2007, 3:11 PM | My stupid life | Comments (1) | Link SuperMegaWeenie Everytime i play Wii bowling, i nearly pull a muscle in my tricep. By min | May 10, 2007, 3:05 PM | My stupid life | Comments (3) | Link All movement is accomplished in six stages, Change return success. The time is with the month of winter solstice, Change return success. All movement is accomplished in six stages, Change return success. By fnord12 | May 10, 2007, 9:33 AM | Music| Link
And i've got 3,000 dust collectors in the garage link: Why this trend, and why now? It's difficult to say, but to be sure, there is no love lost between retailers who sell used CDs and the music industry. The Federal Trade Commission has scrutinized the music industry for putting unfair pressures on retailers who sell used CDs, following a long battle between the music industry and retailers in the mid 90s. The music industry dislikes used CD sales because they don't get a cut of subsequent sales after the first. Now, via the specter of piracy, new legislation is cropping up that will make it even less desirable to sell second-hand goods. Can laws targeting used DVDs be far behind? The music industry has never been a big fan of the Doctrine of First Sale, and the rise of digital music sales will only exacerbate the tension between consumers who believe that they "own" what they pay for, and the music industry. As more and more content-oriented goods transition to digital formats that are distributed free of physical formats, this issue is going to get tricky because it will be harder to spot the counterfeits from the authentic products, and consumers will still expect to exercise robust rights with the content that they've paid for with their hard-earned cash. By fnord12 | May 9, 2007, 2:13 PM | Music | Comments (2) | Link Goodbye to the cassette mix link: By fnord12 | May 9, 2007, 2:07 PM | Music| Link
4/7/07 So, i don't really know how it started, but then again, i never do. Bits of the Hulk's personality and memories were being stripped from him and manifesting physically. All the physical manifestations looked like the Hulk, but they acted slightly differently. One was infantile. One was super stupid. Things like that. Nothing really flushed out. I think one was super-deformed. Gigantic head, regular-sized body. The Hulk was completely unaware of this. These people from another dimension had been gathering and tending to the various Hulk-bits. They wanted to bring them back to the Hulk and somehow re-merge his bits to the whole. Hulk, ofc, had no idea what had been happening and when these people approached him, he assumed they were attacking him. He attacked back. Typical. Miraculously, none of them were seriously hurt by the Hulk's rampage. As the fight continued, the others managed to herd the Hulk-bits to the scene and Hulk finally understood he was not being attacked but helped. On a side note, at one point, She-Hulk arrives and the infantile Hulk recognizes her immediately and is overjoyed. She isn't sure exactly what's going on so she tries to get away from him. She disguises herself in a lab coat and glasses and sets herself up at a desk in a lab. As if this would work. Ah well. By min | May 8, 2007, 2:44 PM | Comics & My Dreams| Link He-Man 2008 The people who made Superman Returns seem to be thinking about making a new He-Man movie. I don't know what on earth would bring this on. The He-Man cartoon that they redid a couple of years ago didn't go very far, did it? They had even thought of bringing back She-Ra, but the He-Man cartoon got cancelled before that could happen. All i know is there's even an IMDB entry for it. Also, Brad Pitt is rumored to be the top pick to play He-Man. Mostly, i just love that picture of Pitt's head on He-Man's body. Not having actually watched Superman Returns, i'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Not that it should be hard to top the Dolph Lundgren version, for sure. All they have to do is not teleport them to L.A. or some other real city. And keep Ang Lee out of it. Then they should be golden. Meanwhile, when are they going to put the Captain America movie on dvd so i can Netflix it? I bet it's awesome. By min | May 8, 2007, 11:53 AM | Movies | Comments (1) | Link
Multiple Choice In recent issues of Iron Man, when Dum Dum Dugan compares Tony Stark's job as Director of SHIELD to the way Nick Fury handled things even though Maria Hill had been the director of SHIELD in recent years... A. It's because Marvel can't keep their continuity straight By fnord12 | May 7, 2007, 7:35 PM | Comics| Link SuperMegaSpeed Reviews Iron Man #17 - Interesting plot and happy to see something of a redefinition of the Mandarin. I like how he's examined himself and realized that he's acted too much out of rage in the past and now he's going to correct that. This should really re-establish him as a top villain. The genetic terrorist manipulation and the struggles Tony is having running SHIELD is also good. This book has definitely gotten better. Astonishing X-Men #21 - While this is an "any heroes will do" generic type of story, it's being executed well and i'm enjoying it. After this wraps up and Whedon leaves, i'm going to be blind to the X-Men section of the marvel universe again. Maybe i'll have to get that big event. Runaways #26 - Several laugh out loud moments ("Why aren't you awesomed by me??") and great character moments as well (oh, the story's ok too). As long as Joss Whedon doesn't kill anyone, this should continue to be one of my favorites, even if the next issue is a time travel story. Omega Flight #2 - Man, they'll slap an "Initiative" label on anything. This is good. I'd have expected the Wrecking Crew to actually kill Sasquatch, but dragging him around like a dog is pretty sadistic so it works even if the point from a plot perspective is to keep him alive and rescuable. It's still not paced right for a miniseries but i'm using my reality-manipulation powers to ensure that this becomes an ongoing so that'll be fine. The shock ending was ruined a bit by the preview/filler issue that came out at the end of civil war. Nonetheless, good. Hulk #106 - this was great. I love the Richards/Cho 'chess' game. Pak said in an interview that if he could have done anything differently about Planet Hulk, it would have been to have sub-plots running through the series dealing with Hulk's supporting cast back on Earth. I wish he had done that because he's apparently a very good writer. I just haven't gotten the Planet Hulk stuff because i'm not all that interested in the Hulk-as-gladiator thing. World War Hulk: World Breaker #1 - This was pretty pointless, and not nearly as well written as the main Hulk issue so it actually had negative value. And how is it a prologue if it takes place after #106? It's nice to have the first appearance of Amadeus Cho reprinted in the back although it turns out his bond with the Hulk isn't based on very much. The best thing in here was the Mini Marvels. Buti felt like they ran with the Black Bolt hand signal bit a little too long. God, i just hate everything, don't i? By fnord12 | May 7, 2007, 8:11 AM | Comics| Link
The Stupid Giving Vegans A Bad Name A couple in Georgia have been convicted of starving their baby to death. They claim to be vegans, feeding the baby soy milk and apple juice. Fulton prosecutor Chuck Boring said the verdict isn't a condemnation of veganism, a strict form of vegetarianism that doesn't allow the consumption or use of animal products. Instead, jurors believed prosecutors' assertions that the couple intentionally neglected and underfed the child and then tried to use the lifestyle as a shield. Despite the prosecutor saying it's not a condemnation of veganism, it's what most people will remember. I'm sure the Sally Fallon brigade will be out in full force twisting the facts to make it sound like soy was the real killer. Surely, it is better to feed babies unpasteurized milk with ground up beef liver in it. Unfortunately, the fact that these people had to be idiots to think soy milk and apple juice would be sufficient and therefore had no right to reproduce really won't play as much of a role in people's memories. The soy milk containers clearly stated it was no substitute for formula. And when your baby is so emaciated, you can see its bones, you don't have to be a genius to know something's not right. The mothers of this couple were at the trial and cried when they heard the verdict. Nice of them to show up. Where were they when their kids were busy starving their grandchild? At least the jurors got to hear from a nutritionist who wrote a book about raising kids on a vegan diet. That leaves a tiny bit of hope that at least those 12 people will blame the parents and not veganism. *sigh* By min | May 4, 2007, 12:49 PM | Ummm... Other?| Link
Know your Zabu By fnord12 | May 3, 2007, 12:06 PM | Comics| Link
Get on to the bus Your words burn the air It's a grind grind I'll scratch you raw Yellow no. 5 Voulez-vous the bus? By fnord12 | May 3, 2007, 8:46 AM | Music| Link
Ferret lust is perfectly natural "There is something deranged about you... The excessive concern you have for ferrets is something you should examine with a therapist... There is something really, really very sad about you... This excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness...You should go consult a psychologist... Your compulsion about - your excessive concern with it is a sign that there is something wrong in your personality...You have a sickness, and I know it's hard for you to accept that...You need help." - Rudolph Giuliani By fnord12 | May 2, 2007, 11:27 AM | Liberal Outrage & Ummm... Other? | Comments (1) | Link
Some people (see comments in the Marvel Sales thread) just don't like Rob Liefeld. But is it really an absolute, or is it a question of taste? What it comes down to is: some people like a grotesquely deformed Captain America, and some don't. Update: Not work safe. Although, is it really appropriate to be reading SuperMegaMonkey at work in the first place? By fnord12 | May 1, 2007, 4:38 PM | Comics | Comments (3) | Link Artificial Nasal Mucus I'm sure there were plenty of people out there who could have helped them out with nasal mucus. They didn't have to go to the trouble of making fake mucus. The researchers at the University of Warwick and Leicester University coated sensors used by odor sensing electronic sensors with a mix of polymers that mimics the action of the mucus in the natural nose. They found the artificial mucus greatly improved the performance of the electronic devices, allowing them to identify a more diverse range of smells. By min | May 1, 2007, 1:55 PM | Science | Comments (2) | Link Xanadu On Broadway This idea is so bad, it's awesome. It's jazz hands!!! Greek Muses and rollerskates. You'd think with a combination like that, you couldn't possibly go wrong. Oh, how mistaken you are. The movie was terrible. They say this musical version will be tongue-in-cheek, but i don't see how that could make it measurably better. By min | May 1, 2007, 1:06 PM | Movies & Music | Comments (1) | Link |