randomWalks

What a fine, fine poem.

Revolting, yet somehow mesmerizing! Once you’ve seen it, you never ever forget it, and everybody has seen one!

A lot of people ask me why American people love watching this show. I say that I'm doing a cooking battle, I'm not doing a cooking show. I don't need any gimmicks. I'm doing a very serious cooking battle. I'm a serious battler. It's like a gunfight [reaches for an imaginary six-shooter and fires].

There are various options when you are faced with a terminal disease. One is cure-chasing, where you head off to Shanghai or Brazil or the Dominican Republic to be with these great maestros who can save you. The other thing is to do what you always wanted to do. So that means head to Cape Canaveral to see a shuttle launch, on to sunrise over the pyramids, on to a month in the Grand H?tel de Paris. I wasn't too keen on that, either. My tendency was just to twist another bomber and think about it all.

I read arblog today.

Our collective irritation at high gas prices in the US burned hundreds of Nigerians to death today.

Everything I’ve ever read about “how to make a good cup of coffee” says to use 2 tablespoons of grounds for a drip machine per 6 oz. cup. But whenever I try that method, it makes the strongest, bitterest coffee I’ve ever seen. When I use 1 tablespoon (recommended on the can) I end up with a cup that approximates the stuff you get at the office or at a coffee shop. So what gives?

por-tal
n.

1. A doorway, an entrance, or a gate, especially one that is large and imposing.
2. An entrance or a means of entrance.
3. A web page with way too many links.

I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now – free charts and canned horoscopes and transit reports are available at Astrodienst. thanks, texting.

Dear Mr. Vernon,
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it is that we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us: in the simplest terms and in the most convenient definitions.... But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain. And an athlete. And a basket case. A princess. And a criminal. Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours,
The Breakfast Club.

The Anti-Ad Server “serves up random banner ads that are parodies of actual web advertising or critical of modern day consumer culture capitalism”. Cool!

Some Zippy the Pinhead pages.

This site has been blowing my mind on a regular basis for about 5 years. I think I just found the front door, but I may never be sure.

The New York Times takes you through the looking glass at Big Brother. It’s an interesting read, but I can’t help but wonder who the sad, sick people are who produce this show. Imagine standing in the control room with a dozen other people watching strangers on the toilet for 8 hours a day. I’d be more humiliated to be operating that camera than to be taking a shit. What’s wrong with us?

Escalating its protest against the Pentagon’s ‘Star Wars’ missile program, the international anti-nuclear organization Greenpeace is sending its vessel MV Arctic Sunrise into waters off the launch site at Vandenberg Air Force base where a test launch is scheduled for Friday evening.

They say the first step towards treating a problem is admitting that you have one, so here goes: when I really let myself dream, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing than traveling the world with a pack on my back and my family by my side. It’s really bad – I have no trouble maintaining my illusion of the romance of such a lifestyle in the face of all kinds of harsh reality. What’s worse is that I can’t even pretend that I don’t know better than to take such a journey. Geez… I thought I’d feel better after admitting that, but I just feel worse.

While many people when pressed would sooner be apologists for slavery than apologize, it’s heartening to see someone take some direct action.

The US Forest Service is fighting to preserve a unique historical record in northern Arizona: thousands of bark carvings done by Basque (French and Spanish) and Mexican sheepherders on aspen trees. The carvings date from the mid-1900s back to the 1880s.

Unfortunately, the practice of advertising for slaves was commonplace in newspapers prior to abolition. We are not proud of that part of our history and apologize for any involvement by our predecessors at The Courant in the terrible practice of buying and selling human beings that took place in previous centuries.

The officials found a ball of solidified milk nearly 1 inch in diameter that apparently harbored the growth of the bacteria. Although the valve was supposed to be cleaned out once a week, the company records showed that the last cleaning had taken place on June 2.

From the New York Press: the best movies of the year, so far.

Two takes on Apple’s next mouse: Appleinsider has posted some renderings of the ugliest looking blob I’d never want on my desk, and ZDNet has some nice stylized illustrations of the general shape of the new mouse, which is to be buttonless and possibly cordless. A new keyboard is expected to accompany the new mice.

If you’ve missed the sharp wit of MacWeek’s MIA Mac the Knife column (recently revealed to be officially retired) then check out MacEdition’s Naked Mole Rat Report in which we witness the return of the cutting-edge Mac industry scoops and rumors.

The tendency to sneeze on exposure to bright light is termed the "photic sneeze". It is a genetic character transmitted from one generation to the next and which affects between 18 and 35 per cent of the population. The sneeze occurs because the protective reflexes of the eyes (in this case on encountering bright light) and nose are closely linked. Likewise, when we sneeze our eyes close and also water. The photic sneeze is well-known as a hazard to pilots of combat planes, especially when they turn towards the Sun or are exposed to flares from anti-aircraft fire at night.

So why didn't Icebox do something really gutsy and similarly 'original' by calling this show 'Mr. Sambo'? Why not give their character old-time African American stereotypical facial features instead of Asian? Why not make Mr. Sambo a shuffling butler who worships his 'massa?' Why not have Mr. Sambo later get lynched when he kisses his pretty white 'massa?'