July 31, 2005
Send more cops.
Follow-up to yesterday's zombie mob— lots of pix!
- eatbrains.com
- crypto.nsa.org
- Flickr photoset of the Zombie Mob
- Flickr photos tagged with zombie
This guy is great. But his zombie sock puppet is absolutely brilliant!
p.s. Here's a better shot of the sock puppet. And another.
The Emperor's New Film
March of the Penguins (IMDB:7.9|Rot:94%)
I'm a sucker for nature documentaries. If there are birds and/or David Attenborough, I'm there. No David Attenborough this time, but narration by Morgan Freeman makes up for that. And penguins!
Amazing close-up shots of penguins, eggs, and godawful-cute baby penguins. I had no idea that the little guys could "sing". It's a nature documentary, so of course there are some Bad Things That Happen. This is not a movie for people who were traumatized by Bambi, The Lion King, Old Yeller, etc. But if you are looking for a way to beat the heat, going to your local air-conditioned cinemaplex and watching a movie about penguins surviving the Antarctic winter gets my vote.
July 30, 2005
Aw, man!
I just read about this zombie gathering in San Francisco (today, starting at 3 p.m. PDT) on bOING bOING. I hope that Puck and Poz stop in for a quick bite. More info here: eatbrains.com/.
chrism: We live on the wrong coast.
Rhythm method
I was driving to work on Friday morning, listening to The River (92.5 WXRV). They've been doing a call-in contest all week where the caller has to spell a tricky word to win the prize. As a former winner of the 4th grade diocesan spelling bee, I felt qualified to compete. I grabbed my cell phone and looked up the number. Busy. Redial. Busy. Repeat ad nauseum.
Amazingly, the phone started to ring and I actually got through! I spelled "rhythm" correctly and won tickets to see Coldplay at the Tweeter Center (Great Woods) in Mansfield next Saturday. Apparently a limo ride is also part of the deal, but it leaves from the radio station in Haverhill, so that's suboptimal for me.
The first contestant misspelled "affidavit" (I think he tried "affadavit") and the second misspelled "liaison" (left out the first "i"). Finally, those countless games of Scrabble have paid off! (Particularly those where I have a rack full of consonants and no vowels.)
July 17, 2005
Jared Diamond and Bombay Sapphire
48 minutes in and I'm completely hammered. Guns, Germs, and Steel: the drinking game. Every time you hear the phrase "Fertile Crescent," drink.
All kidding aside, the show is quite interesting. I haven't read the book yet, but we just ordered it through inter-library loan.
"Your culinary crime wave has just crashed against the shores of justice!"
The Tick (animated series) is currently being shown on ABC Family on Sundays at 11 a.m. ET. (It's also being shown weekdays at 1 a.m. on Toon Disney, but we don't get that channel.) According to New England Comics:
"If ratings are good (and why wouldn't they be we know you ALL will be watching) it may spark The Tick cartoon show FINALLY being released on DVD. So show your support and please watch watch watch!"
Set yer TiVos/ VCRs/ alarm clocks. If you need some Tickisms to tide you over 'til next week, go here or maybe here.
I just don't understand
Santorum's Director of Communications is gay, yet completely supports the Senator. As Jon Stewart would say, "Whaaa?"
Senator Santorum […] has been a staunch opponent of lesbian and gay rights and one of the Senate's strongest supporters of the Federal Marriage Amendment. The amendment would prohibit lesbian and gay couples from ever achieving marriage equality in the United States by requiring that all marriages be between one man and one woman."Isn't that the ultimate homeland security? To defend the sanctity of marriage?" asked Senator Santorum during last year's debate on the cloture motion to force a vote on the Amendment.
July 16, 2005
Undulating balustrades?
I wish that I could have seen the NECCO Factory before its transformation into a Novartis research facility. (Reading Steve Almond's Candyfreak has only increased my fascination with old candy factories.) That said, the new facility sounds pretty nifty:
For the main entrance, an old loading dock was demolished and an addition built that features a sunken winter garden, seating area, and cafe. Exiting at the other side of the lobby, a once-barren stretch of cement that led to the NECCO power plant was rebuilt into a courtyard landscaped with greenery, sculpted stone benches, and tables. Meanwhile, the old power plant was transformed into an amenities building that features a restaurant with striking ice-green, glass-block flooring and a wavy laminated copper half-wall. It also has an 180-seat auditorium with pear wood acoustical panels and blue suede seats.
Bonus Candyfreak rave: Lake Champlain Chocolates' 5-Star Chocolate Bars: available at a store near you. I want to try the Hazelnut and the Fruit & Nut.
July 13, 2005
Because I like to be good and angry before I go to bed
It's not like I had any shortage of reasons to hate Senator Rick Santorum, but Brian McGrory's recent column just drives the point home.
p.s. Don't look up "santorum" in the Urban Dictionary.
July 12, 2005
Invasive exotics. Invasive exotics.
After reading an article in today's Globe, I am pretty sure that the mutant bamboo that is taking over the corner of the schoolyard and our dead-end street is Japanese Knotweed. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there is any way to get rid of it. (I do wonder if this gadget would do the trick.) Also, invasive.org has more info and pictures.