Monday, July 31, 2006

111 Wussiest Songs of All Time

Hey! Dancing In The Dark is a cool song because I like it. All the others are wussy though.

Via misscellania.com

The Candy-Bar Taste Test

I'm not a big fan of chocolate. I like chips and/or alcohol- am I mental or what? But from my limited experience I'd have to agree with this guy on all counts (love Baci, despise chocolate mints) except I've never tasted Caramello so I'll just have to take his word on its yummy goodness rating.

We fed a blindfolded Francois Payard of Payard Patisserie and Bistro 14 mass-market chocolates, with nothing but a glass of Fiji water to clear his palate.
Dove Milk Chocolate
This one I like. This is dark chocolate; I can taste the cocoa paste in this one. It's very good. It's like having the cow in your mouth. In France, we like dark chocolate; in America, it's always milk chocolate.
Hershey's Milk Chocolate
Ewgh. This one is very sandy in my mouth, very sugary. This is terrible. Too sweet. This must be a chocolate for baking. I don't want to say that this chocolate is boring, but it is.
Caramello
I like this one, but it is very sweet. Voila this one is good. I like the caramel inside; it's very creamy.
Ferrero Rocher
Ewgh, no, this is terrible.
Nestle Crunch
This is interesting. I like the crispy, and the texture is not too much.
York Peppermint Pattie
I can tell even without seeing it that the sugary paste is very bright white, no? It's very artificial.
Junior Mints
I know these are meant to be refreshing. I wouldn't say it tastes like toothpaste,
but something like that.
M&M’s
This one is an M&M, of course. Do the colors taste different? I don’t know, do you know? I’m not sure if food dye has a flavor. I can’t tell the difference.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
I don’t like this; I don’t like having so much peanuts in me. It’s overpowering.
Toblerone
This is like an imitation of Toblerone. I used to like Toblerone. I’m not impressed with this. The nougatine piece inside is so sticky. I don’t eat chocolate to get sticky in my teeth. This is for people who don’t really know chocolate.
Kit Kat
This reminds me of when I was little because I was eating Kitty Kat every day. But this one is stale—taste it; it’s not expired to you, is it? It happens a lot with wafer.
Snickers
I can imagine this is like an energy bar. It's good, creamy, and the peanuts are good. As it turns out, I love peanuts, but most Frenchmen don't. Peanuts are very American.
Baci
This one is the most delicious. Is it Ferrero Rocher? I like the praline paste. It/s a hazelnut-and-sugar mix with cocoa-paste filling. The flavor is very good.
Cadbury Dairy Milk
No, this one is not good; it's too dense, too thick with sweetness. This is like Belgian chocolate; it tastes very fatty. There's no interesting character. You can't even enjoy the cocoa liquor in it.

Via Slashfood

Pam and the Kid



It's plain to see that this classy dame and her dapper gent are meant for each other. Isn't that a great wedding dress? Doesn't leave much left over for the honeymoon.
Ain't love grand?
1965 Anti-Pornography Propaganda film

This stuff looks a little tame compared to what's available on the internets today (or so I've heard). I like the little identity-protecting bars on nipples, buttocks etc. "Hey, isn't that Mary? I don't know, I'd have to see the nipples."
Via Cynical-C Blog

Sunday, July 30, 2006

That's a Laugh

The Venezuelan comic Benjamin Rausseo, 45, announced his plans to challenge Hugo Chavez in December's presidential election in the capital, Caracas, on Friday, as he registered his new party, Piedra, which means 'rock' in Spanish.

The last of California's summer wine?

The lush vines of California are among the most iconic images of America, with the perfect climate between the baked Central Valley and the cool Pacific coast enabling the area take its place as one of the great success stories of the boom in new-world wines.
The industry is worth billions of dollars a year and has starred in its own movie, the wine-buff-midlife-crisis road-trip hit Sideways. But just as American wines from the now famous Napa and Sonoma valleys and other enclaves have established their place at the world's top tables, a new report has warned that global warming may destroy the industry.
The study forecasts that by the end of this century up to four-fifths of the best vine-growing areas will no longer be able to grow their premium grapes because of the steady rise in very hot days, when temperatures pass 35C. And with California now in a state of emergency because of a two-week heatwave in which temperatures have soared to 49C, and which has been blamed for killing more than 120 people, the wine industry faces an imminent crisis.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

April Winchell's Award Winning Short Story

April is very funny and she entered a contest on MySpace. Here is her story:

blog.myspace.com/aprilwinchell

Black Panthers Colouring Book


Under the nixon administration, the fbi created a black panthers coloring book to scare people.

Via Sharpeworld

Interweb lingo explained


Nothing To Do With Arbroath: Interweb lingo explained

Bill Clinton Gay

onegoodmove: Bill Clinton Gay but only when it comes to evil, crazy bitches.

Another goodie from gmtPlus9

Excerpt from The Photographer, His Wife, Her Lover (.wmv video 03:02).Fifteen years ago Paul Yule created a documentary film about one of Americas greatest stills photographer - Winston Link. Link, 76 at the time, earned his reputation from photographs of train engines taken in the Fifties. In 1983 Link married Conchita who was twenty years younger than him. Conchita became his business manager making his reputation and the value of his photographs soar while turning Link into a celebrity. Soon after the completion of that film a terrible scandal broke out in the art world. It transpired that Conchita had been cheating on Link with another man, terrorized and imprisoned him in their home, to finally steal his assets and wealth.

Friday, July 28, 2006

The Top 50 Movie Endings of All Time

We spent literally months brainstorming and corralling the 50 films with the absolute best endings we've ever seen. We're not talking about the last half hour. We mean the last minute of movie. You know, the ending.

Needless to say you can consider this entire article one monster SPOILER ALERT. Most of the films here are classics that you've probably seen several times over. But if not, skip past the ones you haven't seen and put 'em in your rental queue, otherwise you're going to ruin a whole lot of good films. Check out the flicks and we promise you won't be disappointed when the credits roll. As always, apologies in advance for the ones we stupidly forgot (and we know you'll be writing to let us know -- yes, Jaws, The Sixth Sense, Seven, we're sorry!).

Via Kottke

Sex On a Boat?

There was joke that made the rounds in my youth: Why is American beer like sex on a boat? It's fucking near water.
This story reminded me of that joke.
BUDAPEST: Fancy sex on a fishing boat? Then visit the Lake Balaton resort, say Hungary's authorities in a recently launched campaign aimed at attracting young people to its main lake resort.

The tourism authority is sending around an email with an internet link http://abalatoninyar.fw.hu/ , leading viewers to a short cartoon film which features a young blonde woman having sex with a married man on a fishing boat on the lake.
The film, accompanied by a popular song from the 1980s, shows the tourist hiding his wedding ring while in bed with the woman. It also shows her wowing him after taking off her bra.
'The marketing campaign is aimed at selling Balaton as a travel destination primarily for the young generation,' the tourism authority said in a statement.

Wax on Wax HOFF

Not very challenging but it gives me a strange sort of satisfaction.
Wax on Wax HOFF

Via Folderol

Thursday, July 27, 2006

The Best Prime Minister We Never Had

Calgary Grit has a Political Idol thingy going. Check in and vote.

Canada has had 22 Prime Ministers and, truth be told, over half of them can only be classified as failures. When you see names like Bowell, Turner, Campbell, and Meighen on the list of our former leaders, it's not hard to wonder if there was anybody out there who could have done better.

Over the years, a lot of politicians have been given the title of 'best Prime Minister Canada never had'. So for the rest of the summer, I'll be weeding down a list of close to 100 would be Prime Ministers until one is crowned.My hope is that this will be a fun way to learn a bit about some great men and women who gave a lot to their country, without receiving the fame of glory of...say...Joe Clark.

FOOD NOT BOMBS


Respect the homeless, don't drive them out of sight.

Orlando and Las Vegas outlawed food distribution this July and two other groups are having problems with city governments. Food Not Bombs groups and the homeless they feed are having trouble with local authorities in four cities in North America. Food Not Bombs chapters in Venice, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Orlando Florida and Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada have been told that their programs should stop or move out of sight. The crisis of war and poverty has never been so bad and efforts to find solutions to these urgent problems should be supported more than ever. Over 2,500 soldiers have died in Iraq and tens of thousands of our veterans are living in America's streets yet these four city governments are spending their money and time trying to silence the very group that is feeding the hungry and working for peace. Please let each Food Not Bombs group know that you support their right to share food and literature and consider organizing a protest in your community.
Frederickton, New Brunswick??? I thought you were better than that.

Phlox Up Close and Far Away

Come On Canadians- Are We Going To Put Up With This?

Prime Minister offers no condemnation of Israel for the deadly bombing and instead suggests that the United Nations should not have put men in harm's way.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Federal officials drop investigation into border killings, leaving relatives little hope of solution


This sure sucks.
Mexican federal officials have quietly closed an unsuccessful three-year investigation into the killings of 14 women who were raped and strangled in the border city of Juarez, leaving relatives little hope authorities will ever solve a string of slayings that attracted worldwide attention.

Via Metafilter

This is right up there with dealcoholized wine on my "Why Bother" list

Joseph White's home office is like a modern-day hippie hangout. Books on Buddhism and yoga mingle with business planners and a laptop computer. An acoustic guitar rests next to a shuffle of sheet music for 'Mr. Tambourine Man,' just across the room from a fax machine.
And then there are the marijuana stalks. Towering six-footers. Pint-sized plants for personal medical use. He even has a few ripe buds kicking around on a desk, not far from his cell phone.
His stash is for sale, but it won't get you stoned. These lifelike botanicals are made of silk and wood.


Via Information Junk

Stirred But Not Shaken

onegoodmove: Stirred But Not Shaken

How-to Fold a Shirt in 3.2 Seconds

ViewDo: How-to Fold a Shirt in 3.2 Seconds

Let's see if I can convince the men in my house to fold their shirts like this before they toss them on the floor.
Via A Welsh View

Former Jeopardy! champ offers heartfelt apology to Trebek

Jeopardy! ace Ken Jennings, who won $2.5-million (U.S.) during a 74-game winning streak in 2004, has a few unkind words to say about the show -- and dapper Sudbury-born host Alex Trebek.
'I know, I know, the old folks love him,' Jennings writes in a recent posting on his website. 'Nobody knows he died in that fiery truck crash a few years back and was immediately replaced with the Trebektron 4000.'

In a 'correction' on Monday, Jennings offers an apology of sorts:
'We regret the insinuation that Mr. Alex Trebek is a robot. . . . Mr. Trebek's robotic frame does still contain some organic parts, many harvested from patriotic Canadian schoolchildren, so this technically makes him a 'cyborg,' not a 'robot.'

LCBO MIsleads on Tetra Paks

I thought I was doing something good for the environment when I bought a cute little 3 Pak of French wine last week. It's back to the bottle for me.

The mass conversion by the LCBO from bottles to Tetra Pak wine is hitting high gear. The idea is that this is environmentally friendly. In fact, these complex cartons are the toughest thing in your Blue Box to recycle and one of the most expensive to process.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Know More, Move Less. - Gridskipper

A good travel resource.
Scouring the world for discount flights, chic hotels and pretty people. Gridskipper, the decadent travel guide.

Now I Know Why I've Always Been So Afraid of Clowns

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Police are on the lookout for members of a machete-wielding gang in angry clown make-up after a rampage of robbery and violence that left nearly two dozen people injured in a park in western Washington state.
The group, who said they were 'juggalos,' devotees of the Detroit-based rap-metal group Insane Clown Posse, attacked and robbed visitors to Fort Steilacoom Park while shouting 'Woo, woo, juggalo!' to each other, according to court documents.
According to police reports, some members of the gang wore black hooded sweatshirts or clown make-up and told victims they would 'cut their heads off' with machetes. They stole cash, wallets and cell phones, the reports said.
'We don't see too many attacks like this,' said Lakewood police Lt. Dave Guttu.
Juggalos often dress in black and wear clown face paint.

Cool Hunting: Bong Vodka: Spirit of the Brand


Bong Spirit vodka is about to release their first series of artist-designed
bottles and cases featuring the work of OGI, Yosoh, Jason Thielke and Matthew
Curry.

Reminds me of bong water, that elixir of my youth...
Actually bong water is a notoriously disgusting fluid. In many movies and even in company of others stories are told of bong water's ability to stain anything and make it smell awful. Bong water ranges from clear when it is fresh, to a slightly used green, yellow or brown tint, which will get worse as the water is used more. A practice of some bong users is to turn the bowl around backwards and suck the remaining ash and unburned material down the stem into the water when the bowl is empty. While this is convenient it rapidly degrades the quality of the bong water. If this is done bong water can go from dark green or grey, to black, and will usually have chunks of dark unburned material floating around.
This marketing campaign likely won't work on us ageing hippies. If we get a yen for bong water we'll opt for a swig of the real thing - at a fraction of the price.
Hard Gay Father's Day - English Subtitles

Not timed very well but I couldn't let you wait til next June to see this.
Via Bifurcated Rivets

Deepdownhounds' Journal


A gallery of old ads with interesting captions:

'Thank heavens my golf clubs are roughly the height of my ex-wife! Now let's see here, if I stuff her body in this way....'

Via Presurfer

Monday, July 24, 2006

american history sweatshop exhibition

Harlem to Clinton: you're ruining us

Bill Clinton's decision to site his office in the largely black Manhattan neighbourhood of Harlem, as a gesture of solidarity with African-Americans, appears to have backfired.
Dozens of angry blacks demonstrated last week outside the building that houses the former president's staff, claiming that his move had led to the gentrification of the area and increased the price of homes beyond their reach.
cats

These cats are talking up a storm!
via scotto bear

Peace prize winner 'could kill' Bush

I despise George Bush but this article makes me uneasy:

NOBEL peace laureate Betty Williams displayed a flash of her feisty Irish spirit yesterday, lashing out at US President George W.Bush during a speech to hundreds of schoolchildren.
Campaigning on the rights of young people at the Earth Dialogues forum, being held in Brisbane, Ms Williams spoke passionately about the deaths of innocent children during wartime, particularly in the Middle East, and lambasted Mr Bush.
'I have a very hard time with this word 'non-violence', because I don't believe that I am non-violent,' said Ms Williams, 64.
'Right now, I would love to kill George Bush.' Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered.

Sunflowers


This sunflower is one of many that are coming up from last year's 2 feeble plants. They fill in a lot of space and are a nice surprise but i'd like them better if they were white. Cool colours help lower the temperature in the garden.

The 25 Most Important Questions in the History of the Universe

Ever wondered:

  • Where Does Nougat Come From?
  • Is There One Move That’s More Likely to Win a Game of Rock-Paper-Scissors?
  • Can a Pregnant Woman Drive in the Carpool Lane?
  • Was Turkey a Bird or a Country First?
  • How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck if a Woodchuck Could Chuck Wood?

Neatorama provides the answers to these burning questions and much, much more. Now you,too, can be an annoying know-it-all.

Eric Goes On The Elvis Diet


Warning: Disgusting photos

Statistics of this day:
- lasted just over 6 hours (2 shy of the planned 8)
- over 300 photos taken, and 2 1/2 hours of footage
- Timed vomit sessions, for every 30 minutes (to prevent probable death)
- It was required that Eric dance, and sing along with ' a little less conversation'
during the 4 or 5 minutes of puking.
- part of the menu:
- 20 Double cheeseburgers
- Fried Banana + peanut butter sandwiches
- Three Dozen eggs
- 2 Lbs. Bacon
- Apple Pie + Cake
- 12 Pack of pepsi
- Full Bucket of fried chicken
- Bread Pudding
- Potatos + apple and cinnamon pudding, or something like it.
- Dozen donuts
- Lots more than that too!!!!
- At the end of the Day, Eric could not grasp 'what time was' ...
he had thrown up 17 Pounds of food in 6 hours.

Via Miss Cellania

The 100 Worst Album Covers EVER

Each cover comes with its own cute little commentary.

Thanks to glamour shots, psychedelic drugs, day-glo pants, stuffy visual metaphors and an unnatural love for pre-pubescent nudity, music has come in all shades of crap. Special thanks to repeat offenders Beegees, Millie Jackson, Scorpions, Butthole Surfers, The Rolling Stones and Prince. And, by the way, 1983 is officially the Ugliest Year in Music.

Via Dot Dot Dot

From A Welsh View

Looks like I may get to heaven a little sooner than planned.
Age 57 Is Heaven
A poll of 1,000 people has revealed 57- year-old men and women are the most content. When asked to rate how happy they were their lives, including friends, family and work, those in their late 50s rated themselves the highest, mainly because their families had flown the nest and they had more disposable income.

Kick back with S'mortinis

This drink sounds fattening and labour intensive. I prefer my vices simple and a drink is not a -tini just because it is served in a martini glass. I hope that my guests don't develop a perverse prediliction for this beverage - anyone who requests one of these babies will never be invited back.
Frozen S'mortinis
Adapted from a recipe by Libby Brewer, web producer at Teletoon. 24 miniature marshmallows
1-1/2 tbsp graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp chocolate cookie crumbs
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 cups ice
1/2 cup Kahlua (coffee liqueur)
2 tbsp each: Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur), creme de cacao (chocolate liqueur)
1 cup whole milk
Skewer 4 marshmallows each on 6 long toothpicks.
On medium plate, mix graham and chocolate crumbs with fork.
Pour puddle of corn syrup on to small plate. Dip rims of 6 martini glasses into syrup. Dip rims into crumbs to coat. (Leftover syrup and crumbs can be discarded.)
Put ice, Kahlua, Frangelico, creme de cacao and milk in blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into prepared glasses.
Using cook's torch, toast skewered marshmallows until golden brown. Garnish drinks with marshmallows.
Makes 6 servings.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

the human league - the lebanon

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

Via metafilter

That Dummy

onegoodmove: That Dummy
Satan Is Dead!



Via Need Coffee
BakuTen - house of dominos

An interesting experiment but I wouldn't want to clean up the mess.

Via Cynical-C

Vice Squad: Froot Loops 1/3 less sugar

Product: Froot Loops 1/3 Less Sugar
Price: $4.49-$5.29 for 350g box
Total calories: 112 for a 27g serving
Manufacturer: Kellogg Canada Inc.
The position: Froot Loops 1/3 Less Sugar gives consumers choice if they are looking to limit their sugar intake.
Top 4 ingredients: Flour mix (corn/white/whole oat flour, sugar, salt), sugar, hydrogenated coconut oil, colour
Nutritional breakdown for a 27g serving: Froot Loops 1/3 Less Sugar: 23g carbohydrate (0.9g fibre, 8g sugar, 14g starch), 0.9g fat (0.3 saturated), 2g protein, 149g sodium.
Regular Froot Loops: 24g carbohydrate (0.9g fibre, 12g sugar, 11g starch), 0.5g fat (0.5 saturated), 1g protein, 110g sodium and 110 calories
Analysis: Take a moment to compare the nutrition information of both products and see if anything stands out as being a little ... strange? Now give yourself a point if you found each of the following:
1/3 Less Sugar is higher in fat
1/3 Less Sugar is higher in sodium
1/3 Less Sugar is higher in calories
1/3 Less Sugar is only lower in carbohydrates by 1g
Shocked? I sure was. When scanning the numbers, the first three were probably easy although no less surprising to pick out. The last one may have been a little trickier. In the process of reducing the sugar content in this cereal, Kellogg's ended up using an artificial sweetener sucralose and more flour. This increased total starch by 3g and led to a slightly higher sodium, iron, thiamin, niacin and protein content.
Research has shown, however, that some starches (like white bread) actually turn into sugar in the blood faster than table sugar itself. In the end, it's the concentration of fibre that plays a larger role than the number of grams of sugar. To your body, this means there's basically no difference in sugar content between these two cereals.
You don't have to go by my word on this, however. You can ask any dietitian you want — even Johanne Trudeau, director of nutrition for Kellogg's Canada. Despite quotes from Kelloggs.ca stating that they are dedicated to the health of children and nutrition education, Trudeau was quick to clarify with me that Kellogg's 1/3 Less Sugar wasn't formulated with the health of children in mind. Say what? Apparently it was created to meet the consumer demand that moms want their children to consume less sugar.
Stunned, I asked: "Wouldn't that be for health reasons though?" Her answer: "You're going too deep." According to Trudeau, Kellogg's didn't take the time to find out why moms wanted their kids to eat less sugar, they simply made a product that would "make moms feel better."
When I pushed her on the fact that both cereals would provide a similar sugar load to the blood, she told me that although she and I might know that, "most kids and moms don't."
Alternative: I know I've been hard in the past on companies that are trying to make healthy products but in the end fall short of their goals. This, however, is an entirely different ball game. If I'm going to treat myself to a high-carbohydrate, low-fibre cereal like this one, I'd rather buy one that doesn't take advantage of consumers' lack of knowledge.
Take it or leave it: I think my work here is done.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

I Watched 2 DVDs This Week




Both of these were documentaries about anthropomorphists, a class I hold dear ... usually. I wrote mini reviews of both, tried to download the 2 movie posters and Blogger screwed around with me and I ended up deleting the whole entry. Now I have the images but I'll be damned if I'm going to try to recreate the original (oh so cogent) post. Definitely see The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. It's uplifting. Grizzly Man, directed by Werner Herzog left me shaking my head and is not for the faint of heart. I enjoyed both of them.

Today's Lily


The Casablancas are my favourites. They're huge and the white has a cooling
effect on the garden in the overheated hell that is the end of July.

Amy Sedaris: Amy's celebrity playlist on Itunes

Amy, if I were you I'd definitely dump Windy and substitute either Tell Laura I Love Her or Leader Of The Pack. Patches is an inspired choice, though: "And it may not be right but I'll join you tonight. Patches I'm coming to you." Or something like that.

The Bottle, by Gil Scott Heron:
'I grew up listening to this song, I think it's the only one I know by heart. I like the pace. It's my favorite song.'
Patches, by Clarence Carter:
'I like this song because he goes up on his words and it makes me laugh really hard.'
Purrfect, by Funki Porcini:
'It always makes me feel like I am in the beginning of a movie.'
Hello Walls, by Willie Nelson:
'I've done this - talked to the walls.'
You've Changed, by Billie Holiday: '
Perfect song. Perfect voice.'
Debra, by Beck:
'I like the words in this song and I never listen to words in a song.'
Venus As a Boy, Bjork: '
I like so many of her songs and this is one of them.'
Christmas Time Is Here, Vince Guaraldi:
'The whole Charlie Brown Christmas album is great - only one I listen to, reminds me of my family.'
Windy, The Association:
'This was my favorite song when I was a kid and I listened to it so much by brother cracked the 45 in half.'
Much More, by De La Soul:
'Saw them sing this on Dave Chappelle's show - they all looked high - great song and beat.'
I'll Be Around, The Spinners:
'This song motivates me.'
Tyrone, Erykah Badu:
'What girl can't relate to this? Is he seeing anybody?'
Song for Sharon, Joni Mitchell:
'I like all of her songs. I haven't been to Stanton Island to buy a mandolin but I will.'
Pissed Off, Angie Stone:
'Reminds me of a guy I dated because of the time it came out. I think it's great.'
High Noon, by Kruder & Dorfmeister:
'Easy to listen to while entertaining a small group of people who just want to smoke it up.'

HassleMe

Not eating enough fruit? Forgot to feed the fish again? Need a little help keeping your New Year's resolutions?
Tell us what to hassle you about, and we'll nag you via email at semi-unpredictable intervals.


Or you might try my service, Nag Me. Tell me what to nag you about and I'll hassle you via email at semi-unpredictable intervals. Mr. Nag will provide a testimonial to the effectiveness of my service.

Via Presurfer

Men are from Marineland

I hadn't heard of the Sutherland article but it makes a lot of sense.

Has your wife suddenly stopped nagging you? Is she praising you for picking up your socks? For handing her a dishtowel so she can dry the dishes? You're being trained like Flipper.


Is it too late to teach an old dolphin new tricks? I'll let you know. Pick up your underwear, Mr. Nag, and you'll get a nice piece of raw fish.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Who Backs An Immediate Ceasefire?



Almost everyone, it seems.
Two countries, the US and Britain, defiantly refused to back the international clamour for an immediate ceasfire between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas. Their ambivalence about civilian deaths in Lebanon has given Israel a powerful signal that it can continue its attacks with impunity.

Today's urban def

Playlistism
Discrimination based not on race, gender, or religion, but rather on a disturbingly horrible iTunes music library discovered through a school or job network.

Refers to the 'shared music' feature available on iTunes in which one can browse the various music libraries of the co-workers or classmates in the network. Often requires awkward explanation of why you have 'that song.'
Mike accused me of playlistism when I questioned his collection of Color Me Badd b-sides.

Ruas do Porto


Streets of Porto Photo Gallery by Jose Paulo Andrade at pbase.com

Beautiful photos. Mr. Nag and I visited Portugal 27 years ago. This photo gallery has convinced me that a return trip is in order.

Via Presurfer

Cat burglar suspect in garden-glove thefts

A pink-and-white gardening glove was missing Thursday morning from Jeannine Goche's front porch. But there was absolutely no mystery about who had taken it. Willy, the cat who loves gloves, had struck again. 'It has to be him,' said Goche, an attorney. 'I've heard about him.' As if the gardeners of Pelham don't have enough to worry about, with the rocky soil and the slugs and the big trees casting too much shade, a feline felon has been sneaking into their back yards and carrying off gardening gloves.


I doubt that even Willy would have been interested in my recently retired rubber palmed, cloth backed garden gloves. I had them for years and they are virtually indestructible. As much as it pained me to throw out a comfortable, functional pair of gardening gloves (these were especially good for handling thorny roses) I had to draw the line when they began to remind me of a certain Spinal Tap record.
I tried washing them to no avail. I have replaced them with a new pair but the smallest size I was able to find was a medium (even on their website the SMs are out of stock). My hands are like tiny, mummified monkey paws and the mediums are way too large - I hate the feel of them. Maybe Willy wants them... here kitty, kitty.

Via Arbroath

Thursday, July 20, 2006

The Portland Tribune ? News

You might say that Carl Sandstrom, proprietor of It's a Beautiful Pizza at 3342 S.E. Belmont St., is a 60s kind of guy. He wears tie-dye shirts every day, and the pizzas on his menu are named after the likes of Joni Mitchell, Grace Slick, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and until a recent letter from the Jerry Garcia Estate threatening to sue him for "unauthorized commercial use" if he didn't cease and desist the late, great leader of the Grateful Dead. Not spoiling for a fight, Sandstrom immediately removed Garcia's surname from his menu, so that the pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, beef, mushroom, black olive and green pepper pizza is now listed simply as the Jerry. "Which stands for Jerry Jeff Walker (a somewhat less famous 60s musician) if they decide to pursue it," Sandstrom says. " If Jerry Garcia were alive today, he' d be turning over in his grave."

Via Information Junk

Like To Relax But Also Enjoy A Challenge?

This might be the activity for you:
EXTREME HAMMOCK

Via Web Junkie

Now They Tell Me

WOMEN can live SEVEN YEARS longer and age slower by marrying up the social ladder, research shows.
Moving down a class through marriage has the opposite effect.

Via A Welsh View

Judge strikes down law singling out Wal-Mart

In a victory for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a U.S. judge struck down a new Maryland law that required the giant retailer to provide health insurance for its employees in the state.
Judge J. Frederick Motz in Baltimore ruled that a 1974 federal law trumped the Maryland state law, which had been backed by labour groups.
The law required companies with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 per cent of their payroll on health benefits. Alternatively, big employers could pay the balance into a state low-income health insurance fund. Wal-Mart was the only employer affected by the law.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Exploding Aardvark's Blogquote of the Day

It's easy for me to casually pontificate about marriage equality. No one stood in the way of my heterosexual marriage, despite the fact that it was performed under the influence of tequila on the roof of a Seattle record company by a mail-order minister dressed in a fish costume.
The Big Lebowski - F_cking Short Version

If you're offended by the F-word you won't fucking like this.

Via Cynical-C

Hospital staff accused of killing patients after Katrina struck

I think these health care workers did what anyone with a shred of humanity would have done. I read about similar incidents at the time and I thought seriously about the moral dilemma these hospital staff were facing. They could have abandoned their patients and they did not. They could have let them suffer under excruciating circumstances and they chose not to do so. I am thankful that I have never had a decision like this forced upon me.
A doctor and two nurses have been charged with deliberately killing patients stranded in a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city.
Cut off by the floodwaters, lacking food, water and electricity, and enduring temperatures approaching 38C (100F), staff at the New Orleans Memorial
medical centre ended the lives of several patients.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Gossip Fueled Art


Gallery of the Absurd :14 illustrates the sordid world of gossip and slander while trying to keep a straight face.

Nag to God, Come In God, Do You Read Me?



The Prayer Antenna is part of a series of Religious Technological Artifacts that I am making. The Antenna receives signals from God (yes, your God). The Antenna
currently takes the form of a surplus / thrift-store motor-cycle helmet (or similar) that is ornately ordained and fitted with sufficient technology to receive signals. The helmet bristles like a porcupine with many different antennas. The visor is blacked out.
Integrated headphones allow the worshipper to experience the signals. Sufficient controls allow the worshipper to tune the signals. The helmet is mounted to the wall on an ornate arm (at around waist level) and a small kneeling stool is provided (like a prayer kneeler). To use the Antenna the worshipper must kneel on the stool and inset their head into the helmet. The wall and surrounding are painted with a
decorative pattern.


Via Web Junkie

Dutch court lets paedophile party contest country's general election

The Netherlands cemented its reputation as Europe's most socially liberal country today when a new political party formed by paedophiles was told it could contest this year's general election.
A Dutch court rejected an attempt by anti-paedophile campaigners to ban the Brotherly Love, Freedom and Diversity party (PNVD), which wants to cut the age of consent from 16 to 12 and to legalise child pornography. 'The freedom of expression, the freedom of assembly and the freedom of association should be seen as the foundations of the democratic rule of law and the PNVD is also entitled to these freedoms,' the court in The Hague said in a statement.
The new party wants to legalise the possession of child pornography and to allow pornography to be shown on daytime television. Violent pornography would be allowed after the evening watershed, young children would receive sex education and youths over the age of 16 would be allowed to appear in pornographic films. Sex with animals would also be allowed by the party, although abuse of animals would remain illegal.

Monday, July 17, 2006

50 Albums That Changed Music

The 50
As disagreeable as I usually am, I agree with most of these.

I Can Get Behind This

FOR those who yearn for a well-aged, full-bodied vintage wine but lack the funds
to feed the habit, the solution may lie with a Japanese boffin, a zany-looking
contraption, a couple of metres of latex tubing and a few hundred volts of
electricity.
Squirrelled away in his chemical engineering laboratory in rural Shizuoka, Hiroshi Tanaka has spent 15 years developing an electrolysis device that simulates, he claims, the effect of ageing in wines. In 15 seconds it can transform the cheapest, youngest plonks into fine old draughts as fruit flavours are enhanced and rough edges are mellowed, he says.


Via Kottke

Poor Mr. Nag



Here's another picture of Mr. Nag, this one from Sunday's paper. He's despondent because he has to deal with the train derailment on his own and there's kryptonite leaking from the boxcars so he can't use his superpowers.

He had a church fire last night, in that terrible heat, in all his fire gear. Explosions, derailments and fires! What next, a plague of locusts? Now he knows what it feels like to be in hell. Come to think of it he's been married to me for a long time so he already knows what hell is like.
Pug bowling

Via Davezilla

Cynical-C Blog: Stanford Prison Experiment Video

It might be preferable to have Judge Magnum blow you away in the courtroom.
Stanford Prison Experiment Video

One Stop Justice

I hear Judge Magnum is a real straight shooter,"Listen punk, you're guilty. Bang!" - a cleverly efficient way of enforcing that right wing agenda.

They have the flowing black robes to lend them dignity and gravitas. They have
gavels to command attention from the wise guys in court. Now judges in New York have been given permission to carry guns while carrying out their duties.
The ruling, reported in the New York Law Journal, dispensed some advice on how to achieve the difficult balance of being fair-minded while packing a piece. "This committee believes that keeping your firearm concealed and safeguarded on your person while you are on the bench is advisable," the ruling said.


Don't be alarmed, I'm told that there will be a new set of rules to help judges deal with their new responsibilities:

  • Rid your courtroom of unsightly blood stains (hydrogen peroxide with a drop of ammonia usually does the trick).
  • Pick up spent casings/shells (crunching underfoot will distract from the proceedings).
  • Don't confuse your gun with your penis pump .

In closing, gun control means hitting your target ... and remember guns don't kill people, judges do!

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Moral Arbiters

I think every small town must have its moral arbiters, most often older, kind and wise women like Mary Worth. You know the type, keepers of cultural tradition and social order, philanthropists to the less fortunate, and mothers of the race. They do not squander their moral authority casually. Those of you on the brink of old age will remember this comic strip that appeared in the local dailies along with those other unreadables, Terry and the Pirates and Rex Morgan, M.D. I was surprised to see that it's still going strong. Mary, a 60 year old retired teacher and widow, now lives in The Charterstone Condominium Complex in California. She is an astute observer of human behavious who continues to give advice (solicited or not) on such complex matters as drug and alcohol abuse, infidelity, and teen pregnancy. I don't know how she does it but she looks even younger now than she did 40 years ago. The woman is awesome!

I got to thinking about these Mary Worth types after having a discussion with Mr. Nag about a situation of elder abuse he encountered while painting the abused man's house some years ago. Mr. Nag, at a loss as to what to do, consulted a neighbour and they agreed that our town's moral arbiter should be brought in. Within days the abuse victim was safely ensconced in a care facility. Mr. Nag recalls that there was a similar social paragon in Essex where he grew up. She kept the local alcoholics and adulterers in check. Her name was Ma Billings - really! I once heard about a woman named Hope Muckle who filled a similar niche in Durham.

My aunt, Kitty Hawkey (no kidding), plays this role in her community out west. When a Senor Frog franchise opened in her neighbourhood she decided that public intoxication and urination and late night hooting and hollering violated the standards of her community. This little old lady unleashed her morally upright wrath upon the heathens who, unable to withstand her steadfast assault, folded the franchise. Her neighbours also seek her counsel on a wide range of issues.

Mr. Nag has suggested that I could don the mantle of moral arbiter when the current model passes on. I guess he thinks that my sporadic Tourette's - like explosions of moral outrage qualify me for the position. I possess neither a weird enough name nor the necessary moral rectitude so I shall have to decline. I am far from a paragon of virtue and besides there are already too many moral arbiters-in-waiting in my little town.

(Drat! I have a great little Mary Worth comic strip and Blogger won't let me upload it.)

It's Not the Heat It's the Humanity

It's hot as hell and I'm debating whether to head down to the grocery store but having to don elbow pads to shove my way past throngs of tourists is an unappealing proposition. I live in a lovely town with theatres, wineries, interesting shops, fruit festivals (strawberry, cherry, peach) and a rich heritage so perhaps I shouldn't whine but July and August weekends here in NOTL pose challenges for residents: crowded sidewalks, no parking spots, lineups at the Valumart....

Lilies at Night


I saw fireflies in my back yard last night. This is a first.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

We Know You Love Your iPod


So dress it in cunning little outfits.
iAttire

Via Neatorama

What a wacky cult!

Watch these lunatics indoctrinate young, helpless children. Someone should report them to the child protection authority.

WAVES OF GLORY!
A Report and Photos on the Kids on Fire Summer School of Ministry

Our anticipation level of what would happen that night on a scale of one to ten was about a fifteen! We were not disappointed as the moving of the Spirit at prayer time the second evening was even more intense than the first. Gold dust began appearing on the hands of the kids for the second night, which was an amazing sign and wonder to all of us, but especially the kids. "It was sweet! (meaning "cool") one boy testified with a grin.
One little girl went down under the power of God and was pinned to the floor by the Holy Spirit and could not get up for over an hour. The presence of God was so thick in the room one could almost reach out and touch it. But the toll of such extreme responses to Him physically again literally exhausted everyone. No one complained when we required an hour and a half rest period the next day. I fully understood then why God can only visit His people in limited amounts, because to be in the
fullness of His glory would be too much for the human body to endure.

Via J-Walk

My Hero

Mr. Nag had a busy day yesterday - an explosion in the morning and a train derailment in the afternoon. He's the guy to the right (staring pensively at the horizon) in this photo from today's Toronto Star.

Autism controversy could sting Liberals

When I worked for a politician a couple of years back I advocated for many parents whose autistic children were on a waitlist for government subsidized ABA treatment. Some were on the list for 2 or 3 years. When the children reached the age of 6 they were no longer eligible for the treatment and were removed from the list and essentially abandoned by the government. These cases tormented me. With treatment costing $60,000 per year parents were (and still are) forced sell their houses and cash in all their assets to pay for treatment for their children's medical condition. This certainly would not happen if the child had cancer or a heart condition. One father I knew went to the beach each weekend with a bucket and was given permission to solicit change from people for his son's treatment. This story broke my heart.
In opposition Dalton McGuinty promised to end the Conservative government's practice of cutting off funding for treatment for autistic children once they reach the age of 6. But once in office, he broke the promise.
A group of parents went to court and won a ruling last year that the age barrier violated the Charter of Rights. The McGuinty government appealed, and in a ruling last week, the Ontario Court of Appeal sided with the government.
Shame on all of them!

Friday, July 14, 2006

SCRAPITERIA: Nocturnes For The Queen Of Hollywood

Celeb Chef Bourdain Stuck In Lebanon

Celebrity chef, author and TV personality Tony Bourdain ran into a snag filming an episode of his 'No Reservations' series for the Travel Channel.
Bourdain and his crew were in Lebanon, and had just finished shooting in Beirut when Israeli airstrikes began. In a posting on the eGullet.com forums, Bourdain stated that the crew had been due to film in the Bekaa Valley on Thursday, but the violence forced them to cancel plans.
In a posting late Wednesday night, he said, 'The Israelis just bombed the airport. Looks like we won't be going anywhere soon.'
After the success of the TV version of 'Cook's Tour' on Food Network, Travel Channel offered Bourdain a chance to do a similar show but giving him more creative control. Touring everywhere from New Jersey to Peru, he explores culinary life at street level and manages to find a wide range of bizarre items to eat and drink.
As of Friday, there was no official word from the Travel Channel on Bourdain's situation.
Margaret Cho - Asian Chicken Salad

Via Exploding Aardvark

Ryugyong Hotel Tower

I know this is back issue but I just came across it. Who thought this one up? The Ministry of Stupidity? Who did they think would stay there if it had been finished? Totalitarian tourists? If we build it they will come? As if. Who wants to visit a gulag with nukes? Perhaps North Korean multimillionaires? That takes care of 1 room (Beloved Illustrious Leader Kim Jong, your suite is ready).

The construction of the 330 m tall tower began in 1987. It has a total 360,000 m (3.9 million ft) floor space and 105 stories. The building should have been opened in 1989, by that time it could have been the tallest hotel in the world and the 7th largest skyscraper. North Korea have spent ~$750 million or 2% of the country's GDP on the Ryugyong Hotel. The hotel was designed to have 3,000 rooms, 7 revolving restaurants, casinos(!), nightclubs(!) and Japanese lounges. In 1989 -the original completion date- they had several construction method and material problems therefore the opening was delayed, but in 1992 the construction came to a complete halt due to funding problems, electricity shortages, and the prevailing famine.

iPad

Via White Man Stew

Paste's 100 Best Living Songwriters

The Top 10
10. Prince
9. Joni Mitchell
8. Elvis Costello
7. Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys)
6. Leonard Cohen
5. Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings)
4. Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan
3. Bruce Springsteen
2. Neil Young (Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
1. Bob Dylan

Listen to some of them here

Dad Gone Mad Weighs In On The Zizou Fooforaw

I'm going to tell you something right now: I thought that head-butt was the shit. I loved it. That foo betta reck-uh-nyze that you don't talk shit about nobody mama. And if you do, and if you talk shit about the mama of someone whose first AND last names begin with the letter Z, well you just bought yo self a first class ticket to like the 48th level of hell, b'yotch! "Here's my forehead. EAT IT!"

Quatorze Juillet

Allons enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé.
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé.
See the movie or some old prints
Have a cocktail or une coupe de champagne
Smoke a Gauloise
Eat crepes
Watch fireworks
Forgive Zidane

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

It's OK Mum , You Don't Have To Go To Every Game

Pam Anderson is such a great mum!


I go to every game!' says the 39-year-old actress, discussing her young sons' sports schedules in an interview in the August issue of House & Garden magazine.

Via A Welsh View

Take her or leave her

Government Sex Manual

They lost me at "wash their clothes".
Seduce them with loving nicknames. Enchant them with your voice. Offer them specialities and, if you're feeling generous, wash their clothes. That, for the Brazilian work ministry, is the job description for the world's oldest profession. In an online sex workers' manual, which has left civil servants red-faced and church leaders enraged, the ministry offers tips on successful living as a call girl or boy.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Sartre's Cookbook

We have recently been lucky enough to discover several previously lost diaries of French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre stuck in between the cushions of our office sofa. These diaries reveal a young Sartre obsessed not with the void, but with food. Apparently Sartre, before discovering philosophy, had hoped to write 'a cookbook that will put to rest all notions of flavor forever.' The diaries are excerpted here for your perusal.

October 3
Spoke with Camus today about my cookbook. Though he has never actually eaten, he gave me much encouragement. I rushed home immediately to begin work. How excited I am! I have begun my formula for a Denver omelet.
October 4
Still working on the omelet. There have been stumbling blocks. I keep creating omelets one after another, like soldiers marching into the sea, but each one seems empty, hollow, like stone. I want to create an omelet that expresses the meaninglessness of existence, and instead they taste like cheese. I look at them on the plate, but they do not look back. Tried eating them with the lights off. It did not help. Malraux suggested paprika.
October 6
I have realized that the traditional omelet form (eggs and cheese) is bourgeois. Today I tried making one out of a cigarette, some coffee, and four tiny stones. I fed it to Malraux, who puked. I am encouraged, but my journey is still long.
October 7
Today I again modified my omelet recipe. While my previous attempts had expressed my own bitterness, they communicated only illness to the eater. In an attempt to reach the bourgeoisie, I taped two fried eggs over my eyes and walked the streets of Paris for an hour. I ran into Camus at the Select. He called me a "pathetic dork" and told me to "go home and wash my face." Angered, I poured a bowl of bouillabaisse into his lap. He became enraged and, seizing a straw wrapped in paper, tore off one end of the wrapper and blew through the straw propelling the wrapper into my eye. "Ow! You dick!" I cried. I leaped up, cursing and holding my eye, and fled.
October 10
I find myself trying ever more radical interpretations of traditional dishes, in an effort to somehow express the void I feel so acutely. Today I tried this recipe:
Tuna Casserole
Ingredients: 1 large casserole dish
Place the casserole dish in a cold oven. Place a chair facing the oven and sit in it forever. Think about how hungry you are. When night falls, do not turn on the light. While a void is expressed in this recipe, I am struck by its inapplicability to the bourgeois lifestyle. How can the eater recognize that the food denied him is a tuna casserole and not some other dish? I am becoming more and more frustrated.
October 12
My eye has become inflamed. I hate Camus.
October 25
I have been forced to abandon the project of producing an entire cookbook. Rather, I now seek a single recipe which will, by itself, embody the plight of man in a world ruled by an unfeeling God, as well as providing the eater with at least one ingredient from each of the four basic food groups. To this end, I purchased six hundred pounds of foodstuffs from the corner grocery and locked myself in the kitchen, refusing to admit anyone. After several weeks of work, I produced a recipe calling for two eggs, half a cup of flour, four tons of beef, and a leek. While this is a start, I am afraid I still have much work ahead.
November 15 I feel that I may be very close to a great breakthrough. I had been creating meal after meal, but none seemed to express the futility of existence any better than would ordering a pizza. I left the house this morning in a most depressed state, and wandered aimlessly through the streets. Suddenly, it was as if the heavens had opened. My brain was electrified with an influx of new ideas. "Juice, toast, milk," I muttered aloud. I realized with a start that I was one ingredient away from creating the nutritious breakfast. Loathsome, true, but filled with existential authenticity. I rushed home to begin work anew.
November 18 Today I tried yet another variation: Juice, toast, milk and Chee-tos. Again, a dismal failure. I have tried everything. Juice, toast, milk and whiskey, juice, toast, milk and chicken fat, juice, toast, milk and someone else's spit. Nothing helps. I am in agony. Juice, toast, milk, they race about my fevered brain like fire, like an unholy trinity of cruel denial. And the fourth ingredient! What could it be? It eludes me like the lost chord, the Holy Grail. I must see the completion of my task, but I have no more money to spend on food. Perhaps man is not meant to know.
November 21 Camus came into the restaurant today. He did not know I was in the kitchen, and before I sent out his meal I loogied in his soup. Sic semper tyrannis.
November 23
Ran into some opposition at the restaurant. Some of the patrons complained that my breakfast special (a page out of Remembrance of Things Past and a blowtorch with which to set it on fire) did not satisfy their hunger. As if their hunger was of any consequence! "But we're starving," they say. So what? They're going to die eventually anyway. They make me want to puke. I have quit the job. It is stupid for Jean-Paul Sartre to sling hash. I have enough money to continue my work for a little while.
November 24
Last night I had a dream. In it, I am standing, alone, on a beach. A great storm is raging all about me. It begins to rain. Night falls. I am struck by how small and insignificant I am, how the entire race of Man is but a speck in the eye of God, and I am but a speck of humanity. Suddenly, a red Cadillac convertible pulls up beside me. In it are these two beautiful girls named Jojo and Wendy. I get in and the take me to their mansion in Hollywood and give me a pound of cocaine and make mad, passionate love to me for the rest of my life.

Register Your Sissy Boy For Vacation Bible Gun Camp!


What can I do to help my child have a great camp experience?
Fathers, before your boy leaves for camp, privately discuss the importance your church family's reputation. Make sure that he is fully aware that if he does anything to embarrass you or the Lord this summer, Jesus will tell on him and you will beat his little bare behind with a rusty buckle and have him shipped off to a Russian orphanage when he gets home. Let him know that you didn't raise him to be a sissy or a cry-baby so if you get word that any of that nonsense is going on, he'll have to find a new Daddy when he gets back from camp, because you don't want him to be your son anymore.

Via Wood's Lot
Stars, before they were stars.

Such a stunning array of talent! Perhaps there's still hope for me?
Via Ursi's Blog

Keyboard Food Tray by Duck Young Kong


Just what every blogger needs! Wouldn't it be great if they could come up with a potty attachment for your computer chair?

Via Oh Gizmo!

I'm Lovin' It

Adam Carolla hangs up on Coulter

Via Metafilter

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Flower power, love-ins - and lies


I sure looked like a hippie - a hippie stoned on Maui Wowie. This photo was taken with a groovy Polaroid Swinger ( Polaroid / 1968 : It's more than a camera, it's almost alive. It's only nineteen dollars and ninety-five!), thus the deteriorated quality. Actually the photo has aged more gracefully than I have.
No generational gazumping for me - if anything I try to minimize the peccadilloes of my youth.

Parents who have been trying to impress their children have resorted to exaggeration and outright lies over what they did during the flower power decade. Claims of liberated teenage years at love-ins and being at live Beatles gigs have led to the coining of a new phrase - generational gazumping - to describe 50-somethings desperately trying to appear cool.

Kropserkel's Horse Head Pillow.

Call the nico nazis!


French captain Zinedine Zidane enjoys a quiet smoke during a break from training at the team hotel in Frankfurt. Now every kid in France will want to smoke.

Be Your Own Pet

A shocking depiction of out-of-control-youth.
Bicycle Bicycle You Are My Bicycle

I Wish You Could Smell This

The fragrance from these two blossoms fills the entire garden.

Friday, July 07, 2006

CLAUD BUTLER King of the Lightweights


















Mr. Nag came home today with a Claud Butler Olympic. I don't know where he got it-we have a don't ask, don't tell policy. He says he's been wanting one of these all his life (although I've never heard him mention it before). Unfortunately he's just a bit late for the Tour de France.


The 'King's' first shop start up was in Battersea, 1928. The enterprise grew to become a multi store empire until it's demise (under CB ownership) in the 1960s. Claud had a flair for self promotion.. But his bikes always stood for quality and excellence...
The top builders who brazed and filed under the CB banner over the years included Fred Dean, George Stratton, Les Ephgrave and Bill Philbrook...

Claud passed away in 1978.

Genuine CB-at-the-helm era
bicycles now are among the most collected in lightweight vintage circles....

ikeahacker

Sort of a "Pimp My Ikea Stuff" site:



what brilliant use of ikea items. can you spot the cabinet door handles
masquerading as coffee cup rails?

cgfan's coffee contraption is the 'brewtus' with two simple accessories added: cabinet door handles as cup rails and a timer, both courtesy of ikea. the timer works particularily well as a shot timer, as it has a strong magnet that keeps it parked securely enough right on top of the E-61 grouphead. a nice feature is that it works as both a countup or a countdown timer, the latter providing an alarm when it reaches 0. it also recalls the last countdown time used at the moment you silence the alarm, ready to go again for timing the next shot.'


Via Folderol

Unique photo of Mozart's widow revealed


The newly discovered black and white image is the only photograph ever taken of Constanze Mozart, the widow of the Austrian composer and genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The previously unknown print was discovered in archives in the
southern German town of Altotting, local authorities said on Friday, and has now been authenticated as including Mrs Mozart, on the far left.
The long-lost photograph was taken in October 1840, when Constanze Weber was 78 years old, at Max Keller's home. The Altotting state archive said it was the only time in her life that she was photographed.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Coulter is a Copycat As Well As Being A Stupid Cow

The Rude Pundit: Ann Coulter has a bad habit. And that habit, as mentioned before by the Rude Pundit (followed up by Raw Story), is that she appears to like to copy whole sentences from other sources without putting them in as quotes or even citing where she might have 'paraphrased' from. You judge for yourself:

Here's Coulter from Chapter 1 of Godless: The massive Dickey-Lincoln Dam, a $227 million hydroelectric project proposed on upper St. John River in Maine, was halted by the discovery of the Furbish lousewort, a plant previously believed to be extinct.

Here's the Portland Press Herald, from the year 2000, in its list of the 'Maine Stories of the Century': The massive Dickey-Lincoln Dam, a $227 million hydroelectric project proposed on upper St. John River, is halted by the discovery of the Furbish lousewort, a plant believed to be extinct.

Strangely similar, no? By the way, that's a story from 1976. Coulter doesn't tell you that little tidbit, making you think it happened last week.

Are You In a Kinky Mood?



I can't believe this dude is still going strong. He's running for Governor of Texas.

Help! The Growing Things Are Taking Over

View of the shed/ Mr. Nag's House of Horrors

Polish Movie Posters


While most movie posters in the United States pretty much showcase the standard corporate style imagery to hawk the film, the fine folks in Poland have a brilliant dramatic license when marketing Hollywood's finest in their country, resulting in some of the most brilliantly surreal and amazing pieces of movie artwork ever created. Some of them are obvious, some seem to be crazy nonsequiters that have nothing to do with the original picture, while others seem to change the focus of the movie altogether. Weekend At Bernies now looks more like a horror film, and Polish poster for The Terror of Mechagodzilla looks as if it was animated by the folks that made Yellow Submarine.

Via Kottke

Player Haters

Daily Show on violent video games

Via Grow-a-Brain

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Canadian Design Resource


Some neat stuff here.

Footage You Were Never Supposed To See

Artist Brian Springer spent a year scouring the airwaves with a satellite dish grabbing back channel news feeds not intended for public consumption. The result of his research is SPIN, one of the most insightful films ever made about the mechanics of how television is used as a tool of social control to distort and limit the American public's perception of reality.
Take the time to watch it from beginning to end and you'll never look at TV reporting the same again. Tell your friends about it. This extraordinary film released in the early 1990s is almost completely unknown. Hopefully, the Internet will change that.

Via Daily Jive

On The Train To La Musique Francaise

Les langues de France en chansons

Click on the Trains Directs box in the lower corner and listen to music from the various regions of France and get a geography lesson at the same time.

Coming Soon To a Theatre Near You


The U.S. Vs. John Lennon

Tidbits from the new book What to Eat

*There are 3,500 calories in a pound of body fat. It is estimated that carbohydrates and proteins yield 4 calories a gram, fats 9 calories a gram and alcohol 7 calories a gram.
*Seventy per cent of shoppers bring a list to the supermarket. Ten per cent stick to the list.
*French fries, potato chips and iceberg lettuce account for a third of the vegetables consumed in the U.S.
*Misters in the produce section can spread mould.
*Waxes on fruit and vegetables are a nuisance, but not a health problem. It is difficult to wash off all traces of wax.
*Snack calories account for a quarter of U.S. calorie intake.
*Good and bad news: an increase in the production of dairy foods is linked to high-fat products (cheese, ice cream) and to low-fat milk.
*Margarines are all basically a blend of soybean oil and food additives. Margarine was invented in 1869 after Napoleon III offered a prize to anyone who could invent a butter substitute for soldiers. It was originally a mash of suet and milk.
*All salad and cooking oils are from vegetable sources. Unidentified 'vegetable oil' is from soybeans.
*You should assume that all salmon and shrimp are farmed unless labelled wild.
*Farmed salmon are fed pellets. Their flesh is grey, so dyes are added to the feed.
*To get rid of half the PCBs in farmed salmon, score the flesh, grill or broil until juices run off and internal temperature is 175F, remove skin before eating.
*Profit margins on bottled water are 20 to 60 per cent. Forty per cent of bottled waters (plain, bubbly, coloured or flavoured) start as tap water.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

It's the 4th of July

And nothing says it better than fireworks and hot dogs.

Via Miss Cellania

Monday, July 03, 2006

Martinis On The Patio Music

David Byrne's collection of standards is exactly what Mr. Nag and I lounge lizard it up to most evenings (without irony). Nat King Cole, Chet Baker, Julie London, a warm breeze, a cool intoxicant - ain't nothin' like it.
Though they are often referred to as standards, these songs are only viewed that way by a relatively small group others would view Hank Williams as the 'standard', or Robert Johnson, or The Doors, or Professor Longhair or Aretha or Grandmaster Flash. And they are right- this music has little to do with the majority of existing musical genres but it has influenced all of them. To my mind, here is what happened to classical music between the wars here is where that road led. The rest of orchestral classical music burrowed deep into academia or morphed into Hollywood soundtracks but, for sophisticated music that was as popular as the Italian operas once were, and that's how I'm defining classical music not by instrumentation this is it. And this was where musical genius of a certain stripe gravitated.

Harry Reasoner Hated Hippies

And hippies would have hated Harry Reasoner if they knew he existed. This video makes me feel ancient!
CBS Interview with the Grateful Dead (1967) -

Saw Two Flicks This Weekend

Schultze Gets the Blues sounded promising and had won all sorts of awards:
Schultze is a retired lignite miner living in an East German village and a passionate Polka musician on his accordion. One night he listens to a Zydeco tune in the radio, which changes his taste of music radically. Notwithstanding his complete ignorance of the English language he starts a trip into the heart of the Zydeco; to Louisana.

I thought I'd love it but I didn't. Now I'm not a fan of action flicks but I do like something to happen in a movie. I found this one almost unbearably slow. I didn't want to be blown away but this movie was as uneventful as Schultze's retirement. The premise was filled with promise but didn't deliver.

I did enjoy the award winning documentary, My Architect , Nathaniel Kahn's quest to understand his long-dead father, legendary architect, Louis Kahn. We also develop an understanding of the elder Kahn, a complex man who had a charismatic effect on people, especially upon the two women who mothered his illegitimate children, Nathaniel being one. Some of the most celebrated architects of the day are interviewed as well as the women, taxi drivers and Nathaniel's siblings. Nathaniel travels a long path through understanding to forgiveness and we walk along it with him. Kahn's architectural accomplishments, though few, are breathtaking, especially the Capital Complex in Bangladesh which he did not live to see completed.

Find the Absolut


A Where's Waldo type game for vodka drinkers. I did well but I think Mr. Nag would have more natural ability.

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