click to enlarge
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Sunday, December 21, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Times are tough. Does J-Lo's fluffer still have a job?
Click to enlarge
I was thinking today about all the people who've recently been laid off, furloughed, fired, RIF's, WARN'd, placed on hiatus, put out to pasture, forced to retire early, and been "transferred from full time to part-time." These are the people who make things we use, eat, and consume; fix things; keep them working; and sell us the parts and goods we need to keep this whole enterprise running. I guess what I am driving at is. . .in these tight times, do people like Jennifer Lopez's nipple fluffer really get to keep their jobs?
I was thinking today about all the people who've recently been laid off, furloughed, fired, RIF's, WARN'd, placed on hiatus, put out to pasture, forced to retire early, and been "transferred from full time to part-time." These are the people who make things we use, eat, and consume; fix things; keep them working; and sell us the parts and goods we need to keep this whole enterprise running. I guess what I am driving at is. . .in these tight times, do people like Jennifer Lopez's nipple fluffer really get to keep their jobs?
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F*** You, Penguin! A really focused blog
I love this blog! I admire bloggers who focus their beam on one topic or demographic, like Heather G's Derfwad Manor, or 5ives.com., or WFMU's Beware of the Blog, or even something like the Drudge Report. They have a focus I can't achieve, although we probably came close in the last six months. I could achieve that focus with, say, ten separate blogs; that will never happen, since I have enough trouble just tending to one...
I've been relieved to go back and explore the more open ended charter of All This Is That, hitting on alien lore, folk lore, music, art, strange news, hillbilly life, poetry, and the paranormal. After that rambling and long-winded lead that went nowhere, let's just say that F*** You, Penguin is a hilariously cranky site that posts pictures of animals and tell why the depicted animals are worthless. That's all they do. It's funny and interesting.
Check out F*** You, Penguin! A taste: F*** You, Penguin's post on lions:
I've been relieved to go back and explore the more open ended charter of All This Is That, hitting on alien lore, folk lore, music, art, strange news, hillbilly life, poetry, and the paranormal. After that rambling and long-winded lead that went nowhere, let's just say that F*** You, Penguin is a hilariously cranky site that posts pictures of animals and tell why the depicted animals are worthless. That's all they do. It's funny and interesting.
Check out F*** You, Penguin! A taste: F*** You, Penguin's post on lions:
"I'm not really sure where this "King of the Jungle" designation came from, but honestly, that is the biggest load of horseshit ever. Look at this dude, he looks like he's ready to put on a pair of slippers and turn in for the night. "
"I seriously wonder if the lion hasn't been resting on its laurels for the past few hundred years, and no one has actually tested one of these things. Like, some lion started a whisper campaign about how he was a real badass, and because the mane makes him look bigger than he actually is, no one wanted to fuck with him.
"WELL GUESS WHAT LION, TODAY IS YOUR UNLUCKY DAY.I'm sorry, what? Oh, no, I was talking to him. Not you, we're buddies, right? Can I get you anything? No? Okay, well you let me know."
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Friday, December 19, 2008
Snowmen from The Freaking News
The best images from The Freaking News snowman contest...obviously, most/all are digital (click them to enlarge)...
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Follow-up on the tenth planet: The Tenth Planet Isn't
The "tenth planet" a/k/a 2003 UB313 - click to enlarge
A year and a half ago, I posted a poem, and an article on the tenth planet, a subject I found endlessly fascinating. One reason I found it so interesting was that the notion of a tenth planet was a plot arc near the end of the television series Dark Skies [1].
Back in mid-2006, many scientists thought the planet would become the tenth planet:
"We are 100 percent confident that this is the first object bigger than Pluto ever found in the outer solar system," Dr. Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology said. "Even if it reflected 100 percent of the light reaching it, it would still be as big as Pluto," says Brown. Pluto is 1400 miles (2300 km) wide. "I'd say it's probably [about] one and a half times the size of Pluto, but we're not sure." Rumor has it that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has either made a decision (or will by August 2006) as to whether or not the tenth planet will really be classified as a planet or not.
As it turns out, it was not classified as a planet at all, but instead as a dwarf planet, As of mid-2008, five smaller objects are classified as dwarf planets. Ceres is in the asteroid belt, and four orbit the Sun beyond Neptune: Haumea, Makemake, Eris, and. . .Pluto!!!!!
click to enlarge
I am deflated and stunned. Not only is UB313 not the tenth planet, but Pluto had been declassified! It's not even a planet anymore. There are not nine planets, but eight. How could the Scientists do this...I mean this is truly a mindf***er! I went from thinking there were maybe ten down to eight. Having just found this out tonight, I wonder what's next: Abe Lincoln is a fictional character?
I am deflated and stunned. Not only is UB313 not the tenth planet, but Pluto had been declassified! It's not even a planet anymore. There are not nine planets, but eight. How could the Scientists do this...I mean this is truly a mindf***er! I went from thinking there were maybe ten down to eight. Having just found this out tonight, I wonder what's next: Abe Lincoln is a fictional character?
I guess we can take some comfort in the eight that remain:
[1] The crux of Dark Skies: 20th Century history as we know it is a lie. Aliens have been among us since the late 1940s, but a government cover-up has protected the public from such knowledge. As the series progresses, we follow John Loengard and Kim Sayers through the 1960s as they attempt to foil the plots of the alien Hive. The Hive is an alien race that planned to invade Earth through a manipulation of historical events and famous figures, including most notably the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In addition, the pair must stay one step ahead of a covert government agency that has mixed motives, Majestic 12.
The show featured a number of real-life 1960's personalities in the plot, such as The Beatles, Robert Kennedy, Jim Morrison, Carl Sagan, Ronald Reagan, and J Edgar Hoover.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Snowmaggedon in Seattle!
sledding, skiing, tobogganing - click to enlarge
A snowman on the ledge of Kinnear Park, with a view of the needle. Click to enlarge.
Walking...click to enlarge
It's been a hairy, but beautiful day in the Puget Sound region. As the storm first hit last night, it took me nearly three hours to get home to the Ballard Neighborhood in Seattle, which had no snow at all. But overnight it began to come down...with a vengeance.
By noon today, more than half a foot of snow had fallen in parts of the Puget Sound region, and especially the hills (of which Seattle has at least eight good sized ones). 9 inches fell in parts of Redmond, near where I work, and north of Seattle in Arlington, two feet came down in some communities. Most work and school is cancelled. And there will be an even bigger storm this weekend.
We're about as good at dealing with the snow as we are with sunshine. Actually, we exploit the sunshine better than anyone on earth. Snow, however. . .we know how to play in it, but driving? The streets and freeways are littered with abandoned cars, jackknifed buses, and people just simply stuck, with bad tires, and no chains.
The best part of all this chaos: in the neighborhoods, most people don't drive. So everyone is walking, sledding, and cross country skiing. And it's quiet, both from the lack of cars, and the snow muffling the vehicles that are on the road...
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Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Matt Drudge uses special Obama photo for Man Of The Year Flash
Drudge report: COOL: MAN OF THE YEAR!
The photo used by Time Magazine
When Time Magazine named Barack Obama their "2008 Person of the Year" subtitled "Why History Can't Wait," Matt Drudge was quick to report the news. Drudge used what can only charitable be called a less mainstream photo. However, I like it anyway. . .
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NY Governor David Paterson unleashes a volley of 88 new taxes in retribution for his portrayal as befuddled on SNL
By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor
Governor David Paterson in an apparent fit of pique, has unleashed a set of 88 new taxes that insiders say are a punitive measure against what the Governor privately called "This c***sucking Saturday Night Live generation of Blackberry packing, iPod toting, spoiled a**holes!"
Editor's Warning: The video clip of SNL has been sporadically available on YouTube. The link below may well be broken by the time you read this. Bending to pressure from Patterson, and other groups, YouTube has deemed the video clip "offensive."
The Governor also said "I've been up front with these f***ing a**holes, admitted having affairs, snorting coke. My wife had affairs and did blow too. So motherf***ing what! Look what honesty gets me! Ridiculed on Saturday Night Live. How f***ing dare they mock my blindness! I can't pay back the whole f***ing country over this one. But I'll be glad to start with these New York creeps."
Although the Governor is attempting to close a $15+ Billion dollar budget gap, most observers agreed the new taxes were retaliatory. The Governor's office rolled out a punitive tax package that included, among many other taxes:
an 18% tax on soda,
an iPod tax,
a new movie theater tax,
doubling the taxes on beer and wine (holy cow!),
new taxes on massages (up to 50% for "full release/happy ending"),
an additional tax on cigars,
a tax on all digitally-delivered entertainment (which, of course, includes phone ringtones, phone games, games delivered online like World of Warcraft, movies pn demand or purchased, videos, and iPod downloads to name a few),
a sporting event tax,
another taxi tax,
a new bus tax,
a limo tax,
cable TV tax,
a radio tax,
and a clothing tax.
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Video: Bob Dylan sells bras and panties
Well, if you're going to make a commercial, this is a lot more interesting than selling Chevrolets or Bud Light! This commercial is an interesting mix of the sensuous and sinister. . .
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Jack Brummet at age 2 /3? with Santa Claus a/k/a Dick Cheney working his way through college
Click to enlarge Jack and Santa Claus, 1955/56
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Film clip: Bob Dylan plays Love Minus Zero/No Limits
I don't know where this rather odd film clip comes from, but it does include Bob Dylan playing one of his masterwork songs. It may even be from the Pennebaker film.
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Google presents: An incredible motherlode of photos from Life Magazine, soon to include 10 million images
Just last month, Life Magazine opened up their treasure trove of photographs and they are available here on Google.
Jackie Kennedy - click to enlarge
Crosby Stills Nash & Young - click to enlarge
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Charlie Parker - click to enlarge
Marilyn Monroe in Capris - click to enlarge
The official Google blog goes into great detail on these images: "We're excited to announce the availability of never-before-seen images from the LIFE photo archive. This effort to bring offline images online was inspired by our mission to organize all the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We're digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time. Today about 20 percent of the collection is online; during the next few months, we will be adding the entire LIFE archive — about 10 million photos."
The official Google blog goes into great detail on these images: "We're excited to announce the availability of never-before-seen images from the LIFE photo archive. This effort to bring offline images online was inspired by our mission to organize all the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We're digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time. Today about 20 percent of the collection is online; during the next few months, we will be adding the entire LIFE archive — about 10 million photos."
Jackie Kennedy - click to enlarge
Crosby Stills Nash & Young - click to enlarge
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