Sunday, August 31, 2008

What is McCain Thinking? One Alaskan’s Perspective.

“Is this a joke?” That seemed to be the question du jour when my phone started ringing off the hook at 6:45am here in Alaska. I mean, we’re sort of excited that our humble state has gotten some kind of national ‘nod’….but seriously? Sarah Palin for Vice President? Yes, she’s a popular governor. Her all time high approval rating hovered around 90% at one point. But bear in mind that the 90% approval rating came from one of the most conservative, and reddest-of-the-red states out there. And that approval rating came before a series of events that have lead many Alaskans to question the governor’s once pristine image.

There is no doubt in my mind that many Alaskans are feeling pretty excited about this. But we live in our own little bubble up here, and most of the attention we get is because of The Bridge to Nowhere, polar bears, the indictment of Ted Stevens, and the ongoing investigation and conviction of the string of legislators and oil executives who literally called themselves “The Corrupt Bastards Club”.

Read the rest here

Saturday, August 30, 2008

MYTHBUSTERS - FASCINATION WITH THE DODO BIRD Pt 10, with Adam Savage.

Wow

Friday, August 29, 2008

Behind the Dude: Steve Buscemi on The Big Lebowski

Ethan probably called me and said, "We have a script and we're sending it. Tell us what you think." As simple as that. I do remember my impressions reading it, that it was funny and unpredictable. I couldn't tell where it was going.

read more | digg story

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Help find Steve

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Kids can't "go out and play" anymore

Thirty years ago, the "going out to play" culture coexisted with other culturally sanctioned forms of independence for even very young children: Kids as young as 6 used to walk to school on their own, for instance, or take public buses or -- gulp -- subways.

read more | digg story

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Michael Phelps 100M Butterfly Victory!!!

Previously unseen 2nd Camera angle from Phelps' amazing .01 second victory

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Star Wars The Force Unleashed Demo Gameplay

Filled with awesomeness, let the path to Dark Side commence

Friday, August 22, 2008

Betrayal 2: The sequel to the original montage

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Live Action Trooper Clerks Trailer



From the genius minds of trooperclerks.com

SOUVENIR!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Penny Arcade! - A Life Of Service

Halo 3 Video | Mancannon Missle

I don't really play Halo 3 anymore, but this is a great vid I ran across on Digg

Funniest claymore kill Video - Call of Duty 4 Game - MLG Game Room

Death Star over San Francisco // Current

Not such a long time ago in a galaxy not so far away apparenly

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

I Google Myself

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Monday, August 18, 2008

So THAT'S why Harry Potter is so popular

Sunday, August 17, 2008

"..might be the beginning of the end of the American empire"

The economist who predicted the current economic crisis for the US, has more dire predictions.

read more | digg story

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Poison show notes

So we just got back from the Poison show here in Cincinnati, and it was a decent show all things considered.

We missed Sebastian Bach and only caught about half of Dokken (not a fan of Dokken so no big deal there).

Poison was exactly what you'd expect with one Cincinnati specific exception.

Earlier this year a former colleague of mine, Mr. K from WEBN, passed away due to injuries sustained from a motorcycle accident. Mr. K was one of the kind of guy that was just great to be around. He exuded charisma and humor. You just felt you could trust him no matter what and it was truly a sad day in the area to have lost a friend, an entertainer, and a talented musician.

While at EBN, Mr. K was best known for his Wednesday lunch show - Big Hair Wednesday - and had one of the most entertaining shows on the station at the time. While the show always had a bit of ironic humor to the music, it was obvious that he truly had a love for that genre and was respected throughout the "Glam" community for his efforts to keep fun rock relevant.

Tonight at the show Brett Michels gave a very heartful and emotional sendoff to Mr. K, dedicating the entire show to him and then honoring him with the song "Ride The Wind."

I've been to hundreds, if not thousands, of live shows in my life and never had I had the goosebumps I felt when the entire crowd raised their arms and voices to honor a man that I feel truly humbled to have known. Well done.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Alaska without the Cruise Ship

For most people, "Alaska" is synonymous with "cruise ship." In fact, of the 1.6 million tourists who visited Alaska last year, 1 million did so by cruise ship. For whatever reason, it has been drilled into our heads that there is no other way to see the 49th state.This is absolutely not true.

read more | digg story

Friday, August 08, 2008

KISS Bears

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Creative Writing Assignment

This assignment was actually turned in by two of my English students:
In-class assignment for Wednesday: Tandem Story. Each person will pair off with the person sitting next to them. One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on until both people agree a conclusion has been reached. The story must be coherent, and each paragraph relevant to the prior one.
-------------------------------------------
Rebecca and Gary
English 144A
Creative Writing
Prof. Miller

At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The camomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who had once said in happier times, that he liked camomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So camomile was out of the question.

Meanwhile, Advance Team Captain Carl Harris was leading his patrol squadron into orbit over Skylon 4. Carl had more important things to think about than the neuroses of that air-headed asthmatic woman named Laurie who, after one sweaty night over three months ago, was still desperately clinging to an illusion of a relationship she had fabricated in her unbalanced mind. "Alpha Tango One to Geostation One-Niner-Three", he said into his subspace communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance..." But before he could sign off a bluish plasma beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit threw him out of his seat and into the cockpit control panel.

He hit his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel", Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth -- when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.

Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian battleship launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted, bleeding-heart peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through the U.N. had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empire who was determined to enslave the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet and nothing to stop them. They swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in a submarine off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 15 million other Americans. He slammed his fist on the conference table. "I KNEW this would happen! I am exercising my executive privledge to annul that treaty effective IMMEADIATELY! Ready the nukes, we're gonna blow those bastards out of the sky!"

This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.

Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.

Asshole.

Bitch.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Added only for the last cut


Funny Accidents with Commentators - The most amazing home videos are here

Deeper Thoughts

    Purportedly from a newspaper contest where entrants age 4 to 15
were asked to imitate "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey." This stuff
is hilarious.

I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why
I don't have any clean laundry because, come on, who wants to wash
clothes on the last day of their life? --Age 15

Give me the strength to change the things I can, the grace to accept
the things I cannot, and a great big bag of money. --Age 13

It sure would be nice if we got a day off for the president's birthday,
like they do for the queen. Of course, then we would have a lot of
people voting for a candidate born on July 3 or December 26, just for
the long weekends. --Age 8

Democracy is a beautiful thing, except for that part about letting just
any old yokel vote. --Age 10

Home is where the house is. --Age 6

I bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween. --Age 13

I often wonder how come John Tesh isn't as popular a singer as some
people think he should be. Then, I remember it's because he sucks. --Age 15

For centuries, people thought the moon was made of green cheese.
Then the astronauts found that the moon is really a big hard rock. That's
what happens to cheese when you leave it out. --Age 6

My young brother asked me what happens after we die. I told him we get
buried under a bunch of dirt and worms eat our bodies. I guess I should
have told him the truth--that most of us go to hell and burn eternally--
but I didn't want to upset him. --Age 10

I gaze at the brilliant full moon. The same one, I think to myself, at
which Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato gazed. Suddenly, I imagine they
appear beside me. I tell Socrates about the national debate over one's
right to die and wonder at the constancy of the human condition. I tell
Plato that I live in the country that has come the closest to Utopia,
and I show him a copy of the Constitution. I tell Aristotle that we have
found many more than four basic elements and I show him a periodic
table. I get a box of kitchen matches and strike one. They gasp with
wonder. We spend the rest of the night lighting farts. --Age 15

When I go to heaven, I want to see my grandpa again. But he better
have lost the nose hair and the old-man smell. --Age 5

I once heard the voice of God. It said "Vrrrrmmmmm." Unless it was just
a lawn mower. --Age 11

I don't know about you, but I enjoy watching paint dry. I imagine that
the wet paint is a big freshwater lake that is the only source of water
for some tiny cities by the lake. As the lake gets drier, the population
gets more desperate, and sometimes there are water riots. Once there
was a big fire and everyone died. --Age 13

I like to go down to the dog pound and pretend that I've found my dog.
Then I tell them to kill it anyway because I already gave away all of
his stuff. Dog people sure don't have a sense of humor. --Age 14

As you make your way through this hectic world of ours, set aside a
few minutes each day. At the end of the year, you'll have a couple of days
saved up. --Age 7

Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher. That
is, I used to, until she got an unlisted number. --Age 15

It would be terrible if the Red Cross Bloodmobile got into an accident.
No, wait. That would be good because if anyone needed it, the blood
would be right there. --Age 5

Think of the biggest number you can. Now add five. Then, imagine if you
had that many Twinkies. Wow, that's five more than the biggest number
you could come up with! --Age 6

The only stupid question is the one that is never asked, except maybe
"Don't you think it is about time you audited my return?" or "Isn't it
morally wrong to give me a warning when, in fact, I was speeding?"
--Age 15

Once, I wept for I had no shoes. Then I came upon a man who had no
feet. So I took his shoes. I mean, it's not like he really needed them,
right? --Age 15

If we could just get everyone to close their eyes and visualize world
peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be until the
looting started. --Age 15