We're Gonna Need a Bigger Blog

This HD is killing me. Again, the video is too wide for this blog. This is what I pictured in my mind before I went to the supposedly awesome Boston aquarium years and years ago. This is NOT what the Boston Aquarium is like:
The video is here.

U Can't Touch Vader

What I really want to know is what happened AFTER this little number? Was this part of an extended performance? A guided tour? A battle re-enactment?

Total Eclipse of the Sun

There was a total eclipse of the sun a couple of days ago, visible only in asia, and fortunately, their camera technology has advanced beyond my iPhone. Since the video is too huge and awesome for my narrow little blog, you'll have to follow the link.

And what about our comptroller?

The latest news is that the Naked cowboy is running for mayor of New York.

"No one knows how to do more with less than yours truly, and that's the kind of thinking I plan on sharing with my fellow New Yorkers when you elect me," said Robert Burck, announcing his bid to run against Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

I'm sure that Michael Bloomberg is actually very happy that the Naked Cowboy's candidacy may cut into Reverend Billy's support base; nobody knows what William Thompson thinks about this development, though he will only find it even harder to get in a word edgewise, running against a billionaire, a street preacher, and a cowboy in his underpants.

Turns out, the Cowboy has some political roots.

Some Words from Woody Guthrie

So I've been away a little while (I'll post a photo of the kidney stone soon). Here is a letter from Woody Guthrie to the Library of Congress. Note the return address in the upper right:

Written for Men by Men

First of all: Google Books? Who knew? (probably most of you- assuming there are any of you).

I will be making Warren G. Harding's Waffles this weekend.

Detroit: City of the Future, Gilden-Style

Bruce Gilden, one of the great street photographers, portraitists, and New York-attitudes I have ever come across, has a recent essay on Detroit on the Magnum In Motion website:

As part of his work on the effects of foreclosures in America, Bruce Gilden recently traveled to Detroit, Michigan. What he found was a desolate landscape where the subprime mortgage crisis is the latest blow hitting the "troubled city" already on its way to collapse and insurrection.

Well There Goes That Theory

So every time I walk past road construction in Brooklyn or Manhattan or Queens, I have generally been attributing it to The Stimulus. Apparently I'm wrong, though I think its more likely that the non-transparent accounting methods of New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx and Richmond counties are to blame for the fact that $0 of stimulus has gone to the five boroughs of New York.

An interactive map of The Stimulus:

All Commercials should be Local Commercials

Everyone has their favorite local commercials from when they were growing up and watching too much TV. (Gallery Furniture, for all of y'all growing up in Houston) These guys make me wish that I was growing up right now in High Point, NC.

Royal Mail Fail

We got this awhile back from a friend who was traveling in Morrocco, and I was just re-amused by it the other day.

Hint to Royal Mail: the delay is not what bothered me when I finally received this.

I would say something like "I pity the fool.." but that's a little too obvious

I don't think I ever had any Mr. T toys growing up, but I think I had a hot wheels A-Team van.

And I gave the 'Pocket Mr. T' to my roommate for Hannukah last year.

But let's not forget one of Mr. T's important contributions the bolstering of adolescent self-esteem (and the post-disco music scene- "reach out!")


Be Somebody, or Be Somebody's Fool:


A collection of "pitiful" Mr. T toys.

The Premature Arrival of the Future (Future Shock!)

Holy Crap! There's a Future Shock Movie! And its on YouTube! I can't handle it!

It also has a really freaky opening sequence and synthesizer-score clearly meant to demonstrate to 1972 audiences how disorienting modern film and musical styles could be to those who had previously only seen films made in the ancient, pre-1971 past.

In all seriousness, Future Shock is an important idea, as proven by the fact that Orson Welles himself is the host and narrator of this film (I see Future Shock-ism as the next decade's Scientology).




You can see the rest over at Smashing Telly.

Jose Canseco told you so (but I guess nobody wants to hear that)

Let's just get all of the sporting news out of the way. Manny Ramirez failed a drug test last week, and Jose Canseco called a press conference. And only one guy showed up:

"Don't you know you're hittin' Ron Artest?"

I've been away for a while, and I'll blame the Rockets. I have to say that I love this team, and they seem to get tougher and tougher as they lose their stars to injuries. I was a little surprised that they pasted the Lakers the way they did this afternoon; I still don't have the unwavering confidence in them that I had in those old Olajuwon-led teams of the '90s, but I am starting to develop it (to everyone out there who knows me- especially Judd- I'll leave my Olajuwon-is-the-greatest/Clutch-City comments aside for now).

And Ron Artest could be my favorite (though for a second during game 2 I thought that he had become completely unhinged and was threatening to cut Kobe Bryant's throat) not as a player, but as an all-around personality. I see why the free Darko guys like him so much.


He's probably in my top-5 favorite Rockets of all time, mostly because of this interview and his haircut.

Part 2 of the interview (and apparently this story is true):

Cassini and Saturn

[Cassini peers through the fine, smoke-sized ice particles of Saturn's F ring toward the cratered face of Mimas]

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now a nearly a year into its extended mission, called Cassini Equinox. The craft has been taking and sending some of the most amazing space photographs I have ever seen.

The Boston Globe has a nice collection (as always) of large photos from the mission:

[Saturn's high north is a seething cauldron of activity filled with roiling cloud bands and swirling vortices. A corner of the north polar hexagon is seen at upper left.]

Miss Missy-Bait

From Boing Boing this afternoon:

I picked this tip up from Stan Fischler's books. So the original City Hall station has been closed since the 1940s. There are some good pictures online that will give you an idea of what an amazing piece of architecture this station was. We're talking chandeliers, beautiful arched ceilings, intricate tile work...the whole nine yards.
Most of the time, this is closed to the public. But there is supposedly a way you can sneak a peek. Following Fischler's instructions, you take the Lexington Ave. #6 local southbound to the end of the line and (if the conductor will let you) stay on the train as it does a loop past the old City Hall station to turn itself around. During the loop, you can see the City Hall station out the train windows.
I should note that I never managed to successfully pull this off. I was in New York in the summer of 2002, and (unsurprisingly) convincing subway workers to let you have a little leeway wasn't so easy at the time. But there seem to be people who've done it recently, so you should try it. And, if it works, let me know. I would love to be jealous of you.

"Salad go Nice with Riunite on Ice"

For some reason, last night, the '80s product, Riunite, popped into my head without warning. Apparently, its 'America's all-time favorite wine':

Those Were The Days

I think this picture may be the best argument ever for the revival of drive-ins.

Colbert and Gay Marriage

So of all the parodies of the NOM "Gathering Storm" ads, I think Colbert takes the top prize (though the original ad itself came in a close second):

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

White Civil Rights

This reminds me of how a co-worker and I used to joke about the 'white civil rights' movement. Its still a funny concept, though I am curious about the people who believe in the these sorts of things. Maybe everybody just likes to play the victim sometimes.

Anyway, now that its all over, I'm going to have to create a collection of the best signs/posters, etc. from yesterday's Tea Parties.