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Thursday, July 29, 2004
A new beginning  After that awful George Clooney version, it would have been easy to give up on Batman movies forever, but the new Christian Bale Batman movie for next summer is getting good buzz already. Now there's a small trailer available, and damn, that looks really good. No telling if the script will live up to the look, but I have high hopes. And that's only partially because of the Liam Neeson and Gary Oldman factors. My one concern: I looked at the IMDB page for the movie and I see Alfred, but no Dr. Leslie. Shouldn't she be involved in this origin story?
And don't forget, only one week till War Games starts! I know Christina finds it funny that I think the big summer crossover event is exciting and not cause for cynicism. Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Taking the low road  Some blogs have all that high-brow discussion of issues and candidates (though Obama's speech was amazing, dude), but I'm not prepared to be that thorough and thoughtful (maybe Christina will be?), so you get from me politics in the form of crazy shit. (With shoutouts to my coworkers from whom some of these links come (we work occasionally, too)).
First, I don't know how the restaurants and hotels in Boston are making out, but the prostitutes are apparently raking it in. Conventions are especially lucrative they say, and women were flown in from all over the country to help out. Also, CafePress and its ilk have made everybody a political commenter. Much of this stuff is lame, but I've found a few worth my time. The Sacremento Girlie Men are annoyed with Schwarzenegger. I got a Stop the Bushit button from the owner of our favorite Peruvian restaurant a month or so ago. Don't Change Horsemen in the Middle of an Apocalypse is true genius (and not just because I love any reference to an apocalypse, though that is certainly true). Finally, I'm probably going to buy a Rosie the Riveter Women for Kerry Dog Tag. And, in the interest of fairness, some wacko right wing gear. I had to spend 5 minutes looking to see if these were parodies - I mean, they're so stupid - but apparently they are the real thing. Sunday, July 25, 2004
Lord of the Rings news  There was some vital Lord of the Rings news from Comic-Con this weekend. First, you can see the packaging for the Return of the King Extended Edition DVD, which apparently includes a miniature Minas Tirith that opens up to store things in. I'm not quite sure what kind of decor that fits in with, but maybe I could put it on my shelf of action figures in the library. And really, why didn't they do this with Meduseld and The Two Towers? I would have been so into that.
There were also panels discussing the content of the EE DVDs, and you can read spoiler-ific reports of those here and here. They say it's 50 extra minutes of footage. I'm shaking with excitement; my husband wanted to know if we'll be able to pause it for snack breaks. In other, who-really-cares-anymore news, George Lucas is pleased to let you know that his last (with any luck) Star Wars movie will be named Revenge of the Sith. Gollum still beats Jar-Jar all day long, Georgie boy. Saturday, July 24, 2004
When vegetables attack Sorry, light posting this week because I'm swamped with Confluence. To keep you amused (or at least fill some space), here's a very silly picture my sister sent me of one of her orchids: 
That's all. Talk amongst yourselves. Or not. Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Birds do it, bees do it, even manatees do it  Things are a little hectic right now, with work and other distractions, but manatee content has been sadly lacking around here lately, so I give you: gratuitous manatee pictures and manatee poop research. Just typing the words "manatee poop research" makes my day seem better and brighter!Monday, July 19, 2004
And all of the angels are cowboy singers  It's been two years today since gifted alt-folk musician Dave Carter passed away. With Tracy Grammer, he released three albums of songs that are joyful, mournful, bitter, ironic, and full of grace.
If you've never heard their music, you're missing something special. Any one of their three albums ("When I Go", "Tanglewood Tree", "Drum Hat Buddha") is a good place to start; "Drum Hat Buddha" is probably the best known. None of them is ever far from one of my CD players, and one of the main reasons I started learning guitar was so that I could play these songs. There's also an obscure pre-Tracy album named "Snake-Handlin' Man". I've been looking for it, unsuccessfully, for a couple of years, but Froogle certainly offers some interesting alternatives. Tracy Grammer will be on the radio show World Cafe tomorrow, Tues. July 20. You can listen online at 2pm EST, or, if you're in Pittsburgh, catch it at 6pm on WYEP 91.3. (Photo by Jason Reiser.) Some TV talk to break up all the comic-reading  Okay, the summer is dragging on while we wait for Dead Like Me to start, but I have some news from the upcoming TV season to keep us going. To justify using the Irina picture, two notes about Alias. First, JJ Abrams says he's working on it. He noticed what all of the rest of us noticed - that last season was not all that and the chips - but he's trying to get back to what works. I saw a rumor that Bradley Cooper will be returning for some episodes next season, but I don't have official confirmation. I saw something that was more definite-sounding about this a week ago, but I've since lost that link - bad blogger should save those links instead. The return of Will could make everything better, even without all that other stuff that JJ is talking about. In other JJ Abrams news, the only new show that I'm really stoked about is Lost. I can't wait to see what's on that island, and how long it takes for Greg Grunberg to show up on the series.
In Joss Whedon-y news, the WB wants an Angel movie, but I for one hope that Boreanaz says no. If there is a movie, I'll watch it, but I think it's time to put that whole universe to bed. Luckily Whedon is pretty busy with the Firefly movie right now anyway. For Christina and the rest of the disenfranchised West Wing fans, NBC is hoping to fix things, but truthfully it doesn't sound all that promising to me. Best to write it off for good and remember the happy times. I think Christina gave up on Smallville, but she might want to rethink based on the spoilers coming out right now. (Warning, stop here if you don't want to know). Rumor is that Clark is going to fly this year. Apparently they had some sort of no flying promise there at the show, so this I'm sure, has the fandom a-buzz (probably even moreso than the fact that Lois Lane is coming to break up Clark and Lex). Friday, July 16, 2004
The Time Machine  That little digital clock in the corner of your monitor is boring, isn't it? Accurate, sure, and convenient, but sadly lacking in pictures of slightly drunk people or kangaroos or makeshift cardboard signs, and isn't that what we're really looking for in a clock?
Humanclock.com has you covered. It serves up a different picture for every minute of the day, either digital or analog. Anyone can submit a photo, and there are pictures from all over the world, even Pittsburgh.  Humanclock went online on July 16, 2001, so it's three years old today. That's a lot of cardboard.
Coming soon: Humancalendar.com. Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Sysadmin Month!  If you know and love a sysadmin (and really, if you work in an office that has a system, you should love your sysadmin) or if you are a sysadmin, ThinkGeek is having an event for you. It's Sysadmin Month, culminating in Systems Administrator Appreciation Day on the 30th. They're even having a kinda scary sounding (I mean, are they going to have the winner in a bathing suit? ::shudder::) pagaent - I would nominate my husband, but he would kill me, though it would totally be worth it if I could keep the lightsaber.
Anyway, even without entering your sysadmin in the pageant, you can shop for sysadmin-targeted gifts, though some sysadmins I know have more expensive habits. Monday, July 12, 2004
Data mining craigslist is a long-running city-based bulletin board where users can find jobs, apartments, casual sex, and free-to-a-good-home-only-slightly-stained furniture. Motto: "No crap. OK, maybe a little crap. But it's your crap." I never got into craigslist, but now and then I cruise through the "best of craigslist" in the throes of advanced work-avoidance. The posts range from the disgusting to the desperate to the even more disgusting, but there's some quality timewastage in there if you look. There's poetry: Haiku Rant: Your exploding car, My melted tail-light Your exploding carThere's commerce: Cat for sale: $5000 I'm moving and can't bring my cat with me. She's really fuzzy, nice and smells good. She's not a purebred or anything but I'd like to reiterate that she smells really good, so I'm asking $5,000-- however we can negotiate. She comes with a catnip mousie toy and a free '95 Honda Accord LX. The cat likes sleeping in the sun, the Accord gets 28/MPG.Sometimes the title says it all: Dear Guy-With-Sock-Puppet, Please don't call again. Thanks. There's mystery: You: naked guy with a box, running, 15th/Castro, a.m. And more disturbing mystery: Seeking EXPERIENCED puppeteers to service distinguished businessman There's drama: Alberto, fix your contact info, and call a lawyer There's triumph: To the Judgemental Hipster Girl at my video store And there's pure Schadenfreude: Rave: Your Hummer. And then there's lots of free stuff. A free ugly couch, free uglier couch, free obnoxious fish and, strangely, another free obnoxious fish (must be something in the water). If you're in the right city, you could even get free legs. And every now and then, there's the sublime: GONE - Virgin Mary, free to good home. Thursday, July 08, 2004
The New Slash First it was Bush and Blair in the Endless Love fan video. Now, wanting to make sure the Democrats have their own Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name, comes the John Squared Community, dedicated to the proposition that John+John=4Eva!!!1! Even the Drudge Report agrees with the idea (not that I recommend that site, for the record). And then there's Michael Moore's Photoshop classic of he and the President holding hands. Words escape me on that one, though I do love the goat. The upcoming Presidential campaign has all the signs of being nasty and just plain exhausting and will no doubt make me despair, so thank goodness some people are willing to have a little fun with it. Not much on TV right now, so my pop culture updates are mostly comic-oriented  To get us all geared up for the big Batman crossover event (and oooh, how exciting that will be), Devin Grayson gave an interview talking about the event, but mostly about where she's taken Nightwing and the controversy surrounding her run on the book. I myself see no controversy - the book is excellent now that she's writing and these complaining people really need to go with the story and see where it takes Dick. She is right that reading a serialized work like a comic means you don't know the end of the story, and if this is Act 2, then I can't wait for Act 3.
Also, I'm coming to all this late, so I didn't realize that Gail Simone, whose work I adore on Birds of Prey, is also the Gail Simone who made the Women in Refrigerators list 5 years ago. (Women in Refrigerators being an enumeration of all the bad things that have happened to women in comics, and a challenge to writers to rethink how they're writing these women.) I just read the entire run of Birds of Prey and the writing with her in charge as opposed to Chuck Dixon (whose Year One books I like, but that's about it) is quite different, and in my opinion, much better. Instead of Canary always being kidnapped and having to be saved, the women work together and sometimes get into danger and save themselves/each other. It's a refreshing change. Birds of Prey also has an event coming up, by the way. They are doing a new book every two weeks for the next six issues. I love that Simone has integrated Huntress into this story and is giving her some character development. I know she has issues, but I feel for her. I think I may need that pull file soon. Tuesday, July 06, 2004
For the Alton Brown fan who has everything  Via TV Tattle, the suburban Atlanta house in which a couple of seasons of "Good Eats" were filmed is listed for sale on ebay. The house is not owned by Alton Brown, but by the producer of "Good Eats". There are no bids yet, but the bidding is started at a measly $850,000 (reserve not yet met).
Sadly, the house probably does not come with the big papier-mache chicken, oven-cams, and all that lovely All-Clad cookware. However, Alton Brown will make you dinner: This Ebay offer also includes a unique opportunity for the buyer to experience a dinner for 8 people personally prepared in this kitchen by host, author and James Beard award winner Alton Brown of "Good Eats" fame (based on host availability. See details at end of offering).A corkage fee with dinner is one thing, but closing costs would be a bit much. Friday, July 02, 2004
The other Lord of the Rings  Just a quick link today. I am entranced by the pictures Cassini is bringing back from Saturn. NASA has an awesome page of pictures and movies and updates. And they found this tiny 12-mile big thing that they call Pan that makes one of the gaps in the rings! There's a movie of it circling around, making a gap. This is too cool.
I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back Mom emailed me today to ask who wrote "I wish I had worn more purple." I don't know (anyone?), but it sounds a lot like Jenny Joseph's poem "Warning," which I love. With birthdays looming, it seems apropos to post the poem here: WarningI'm going to start by learning to spit right away! Of course, now I'm going to have Michelle Shocked's song "When I Grow Up I Want To Be An Old Woman" in my head all day. Thursday, July 01, 2004
Flying sharks!  I love sharks. I love the silent ominous glide, the aerodynamic silhouette, even the beady little eyes. Really, the only way they could possibly be any cooler is if they could fly, and maybe explode.
They still don't explode, but at Seal Island off the coast of South Africa, great whites fly up out of the water to catch tasty seals. National Geographic has a fascinating interview with Chris Fallows, who has spent years photographing sharks in the air and under the water. Better still, they have an annotated gallery of several of his amazing photographs: Photo Gallery 1 and Photo Gallery 2.  Fallows runs a company called Apex Images Expeditions with his wife; they conduct shark tours for tourists and sell prints and posters of their photos. Don't miss their Photo of the Month section.
Part one of the interview discusses threats to shark conservation in South Africa. In part two, Fallows describes his techniques for photographing sharks up close and personal, and goes into more detail about the breaching sharks at Seal Island. The highest I have ever seen a white shark jump out of the water is about eight to ten feet clear of the water. Occasionally you will be looking vacantly out across the ocean and one of the sharks of Seal Island will suddenly take to the air, leaving you and your guests speechless as to how such a huge animal can jump so high.  The sharks launch themselves from deep water up towards seals swimming on the surface; when they reach the top, going 25 mph or faster, they burst up into the air with the unlucky seal. The seals are fast and agile, however, and they get away in about half of the encounters.
Obviously the seals don't enjoy the experience much, and it's a shame that they get to die in a sudden burst of violent force, but still: Flying sharks! I'm in love. |