Six Saltines A-Highpointing

just in case you missed it...

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:14:46 GMT

The Daily Show compares Americans knowledge of Iran, with Iranians knowledge of America.

The people at the end are my favorite. And the old Iranian guy who knows EVERYTHING.

Also, here are some WWIII Twitter Propaganda posters:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctabu/sets/72157620497679512/

There are so many other awesome things I could share - a monkey peeing on the President of Zambia during a press conference, a marmot wreaking havoc at a restaurant in Washington State...

Instead I will leave you with sciencey news - as researchers at MIT attempt to develop more environmentally-friendly processed concrete that will last for 16,000 years. Our legacy to future civilizations? Toxic Waste and ugly-arsed twinkie-longevitied concrete.

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/06/17/mit-developing-concrete-that-lasts-for-16000-years/

why youtube is amazing

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:27:38 GMT

When I was 14, I saw Sunset Boulevard in London - starring Betty Buckley and John Barrowman. I was in the absolute nosebleed seats - couldn't even see anything but some blurs on the stage - but I was absolutely captivated by the blur that was John Barrowman. I wished that he had been on the official soundtrack. Now thanks to youtube - i can see the (only slightly less blurry) stage.

New Tobacco Bill BANS Clove Cigarettes!

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:37:55 GMT

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/06/22/obama-signstobacco-bill/

Distractions

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:55:49 GMT

I am not afraid of heights - but this natural infinity pool on top of Victoria Falls makes even me a a bit acrophobic...

http://atlasobscura.com/place/devils-swimming-pool

--

Color Photos from Russian in 1909. It's always cool to see a "black+white" era in color...

http://quazen.com/arts/photography/the-incredible-century-old-color-photography-of-prokudin-gorsky/

--

More breakthroughs in neural implants give hope to the paralyzed and more as the FDA approves more trials...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=braingate-neural-interface

Iran protestations

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:19:09 GMT

When I first started following the Iranian election - one image really stood out in my mind - i posted the photo here last week, a girl running through the streets with a smile, flashing the V-sign, chaos around her. It was from a Iranian photoblog site called Tehran Live. I added it my RSS feed - which posted some stuff for a few days, then went silent.

Then I read this on one of my other feeds:
"Another photojournalist missing. Via reader Teni, Life magazine posts this message about the photojournalist who runs TehranLive.org: "A NOTE TO OUR READERS: We are saddened to report that the Iranian photojournalist, whose pictures appear in this gallery, is missing. He has not been in contact with us; this morning we received the following email from one of his relatives. We will update this space when we have more details. THE EMAIL: Hi im [photographer's relative], when he go out side yester day for he never came back home and also his friend and a lot of our young brave people, government arrested them [. . .] don't let them suffer in those bloody hands. With thanks."

I hope he's OK.

And now for something completely different:

Photostills from the upcoming Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland:

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=56475

I definitely sense some technical Oscars - for make-up especially - though the fact that they forgot Johnny Depp's neck is irking.

Links like a hole in the head....

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:21:07 GMT

Trepenation as a treatment for Alzheimers/Dementia?
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227121.400-like-a-hole-in-the-head-the-return-of-trepanation.html?full=true

I need to visit this hotel (Standard Hotel in NYC) just to ride in their Danteian Elevator. The Elevator walls play this A-MAZING video - heading towards heaven when you go up, and the Infernal Realms on the way down.
It is so intricate!

and finally...
WHY DID THEY NOT HAVE SPY ROTC WHEN I WAS IN COLLEGE?!?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR2009061903501.html

now that's one i haven't seen...

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:22:13 GMT

i've been using weatherbug for over 5 years - but i've never seen this 'desert' icon before...

i'm thinking no kayaking tomorrow...

news time!

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:57:33 GMT

1) US Cities May Have To Be Bulldozed In Order To Survive

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/5516536/US-cities-may-have-to-be-bulldozed-in-order-to-survive.html

i don't have a problem with this- be a great way to combat derelict overexpansion/urban-sprawl. plus greening urban areas.

2) Prairie dogs immediately escape from $500k escape-proof habitat

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-md.ci.zoo12jun12,0,685569.story

Prairie Dogs:1 Humans:0

3) 2nd biggest man-made hole in the ground

I used to have nightmares about things like this - I *think* they may have started after watching Empire Strikes Back, but it might have been before then.

(p.s. it's the Mirny Diamond Mine in Siberia)

huh - i had no idea prostituion was legal in Canada

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:41:50 GMT

"Prostitution is LEGAL (with restrictions) in Canada, most all of Europe including England, France, Wales, Denmark, etc., most of South America including most of Mexico (often in special zones), Israel, Australia, and many other countries. It is either legal or very tolerated in most all of Asia and even Iran has "temporary wives" which can be for only a few hours"

wish: granted

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:38:23 GMT

one thing i wish my iPhone had is a mirror - like on the back, or a way to flip the back to reveal a mirror.

behold! mirror stickers!

http://www.anokimobi.com/Wholesale/Mirror_Stickers/#

Hellmouth

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:07:27 GMT

I am totally fascinated by those long-burning underground fires - like Centralia, Pennsylvania. Here's a new one! "Gates of Hell" in Turkmenistan. Caused by a mining accident, it was releasing toxic gases and was set alight by the Soviets, burning since 1971.

"these sorts of mine fires can stay lit for a very long time. One burned in the city of Zwickau, Germany from 1476 to 1860. Another coal fire in Germany, at a place called Brennender Berg (Burning Mountain), has been smoking continually since 1688"

An equal, but opposite interest of mine, is green roofs. Here is a soothing, palate-cleansing vegetative roof.

you can see more at: http://dornob.com/green-in-3d-16-vertical-farm-skyscraper-park-designs/

I am waiting very patiently for my SimCity2000 Arcologies...

watches Iran with wonder

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:07:26 GMT

World Leaders American Should Know The Names of...

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:32:50 GMT

(and I am actively trying to remember)

Robert MUGABE - Zimbabwe
Dmitriy Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV- Russia
Mikheil SAAKASHVILI - Georgia
Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD- Iran (currently winner in the election against the less-crazy Mir-Hossein MOUSAVI )
Hugo CHAVEZ - Venezuela
Hamid KARZAI - Afghanistan
Gordon BROWN - UK (for now)
Shimon PERES - (Israel (President))
Binyamin "Bibi" NETANYAHU - (Israel (Prime Minister))
Asif Ali ZARDARI - (Pakistan (President))
Syed Yousuf Raza GILANI - (Pakistan (Prime Minister))
Felipe de Jesus CALDERON Hinojosa - (Mexico)
HU Jintao - (China - President)
WEN Jiabao - (China - Premier)

Pakistan surprised me - how did I miss Musharraf resigning? oops. And I still thought Vicente Fox was president of Mexico. d'oh.

Feel free to add additional ones in the comments. I wave my ignorance flag that I don't know the Prime Minster's of Canada or Austrailia. Kinda sad.

edited to add
Thanks to foolsguinea for providing Canada (Stephen Harper) and Australia (Kevin Rudd), and also suggesting China be added to the list.

Step 1: Get Goats

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:30:35 GMT

Step 1: Get Goats
Step 2: Get GOAT TOWER.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goat_Tower

GOAT TOWER!!!!!

Also, behold these awesome old Pharmaceutical Ads from days of yore!
Teething children? Give them morphine! and heroin! Alchohol is... a boon to nursing mothers!
http://www.pharmacytechs.net/blog/old-school-medicine-ads

And finally - an absolutely amazingly awesome Parkour video. In my fantasy life - I am kick-ass at Parkour.

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:04:20 GMT

What I've been up to:

18:43 Is once again at Pom Poms Teahouse and Sandwicheria. So. Awesome.

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Back to the Future: The Wedding Cake, Jan Term, and Criminal Crafts

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:34:44 GMT

It's not a DeLorean - it's the actual TOWN from the movie. In Cake Form.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snotboogie/sets/72157619459505191/

The Washington post had an interesting article - "Should Kids Go To School Year Round" ?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/05/AR2009060501971_pf.html

My school used to have a program called "Jan Term" - the month of January you could take fun/different/life skills classes. It was always the best time of the year - I took languages like Arabic and Yoruba, learned how to play Bridge and Backgammon, took basic electronics - there were 2 2 week sessions. So if a summer program was like Jan Term - that could be pretty cool.

Also, an Etsy store that sells CAKES WITH FILES IN THEM. they won't send to prisons, schools, or mental hospitals.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22878264

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:06:44 GMT

What I've been up to:

19:47 at Pom Pom Teahouse and Sandwichteria

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The JumboJet Repo Man

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:37:09 GMT

This is so cool - he's a repo man for planes - having to reposses them from drug lords, dictators, white supremacist militias - he's been jailed, tortured, shot at, etc.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/06/06/lear_jet_repo_man/

His story needs to be made into a book or movie!

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:03:30 GMT

What I've been up to:

18:04 Is seeing Up! 3D

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Cool Stuff

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 20:11:02 GMT

Chimps use/create 5 tools to help them extract honey from underground bee colonies.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/06/02/chimpanzee-tool-kit.html

Now someone should sue for Bad Luck after buying Lucky Charms

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:22:13 GMT

Heartbroken cereal litigant loses suit over non-existence of "Crunchberries"
http://www.loweringthebar.net/2009/06/reasonable-consumer-would-know-crunchberries-are-not-real-judge-rules.html

Bored at Work?
listen to some monkeys laughing. i like the Bonobo. sounds like a giggle.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090604-apes-laugh-tickle-chimps-gorillas.html

Round-up of Amazing Links!

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:05:42 GMT

Yemen's Socotra Island - is being called the "Galapagos of the Indian Ocean". These pictures are beautiful, and that Dragon Blood Tree is awesome. Yemen! Who knew?
http://www.latimes.com/la-tr-socotra-pg,0,4561756.photogallery?track=rss

A really cool kinda-underground house with a grass roof. I've loved houses built into hills since that Laura Ingalls Wilder book I read in 6th grade.
http://dornob.com/underground-home-modern-house-with-a-green-roof/

FDA approves ankle replacement. This will be great for arthritis sufferers, and those whose only options are bone fusion. Plus, I welcome our bionic super-race.
http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2009/06/new_total_ankle_replacement_receives_fda_approval.html

Awesome progress on the Cancer Cure front with some Cancer Immune therapies working (fighting cancer by getting your own immune system to recognize and fight it)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/31/cancer-immune-therapies-f_n_209508.html

"A big problem has been getting the immune system to "see" cancer as a threat...Viruses like the flu are easily spotted by the immune system because they look different from human cells...but cancer comes from our own cells...the immune system has trouble distinguishing the normal cells from the cancer cells."...
To help it do that, many cancer vaccines take a substance from a cancer cell's surface and attach it to something the immune system already recognizes as foreign _ in the lymphoma vaccine's case, a shellfish protein."

The Future is HERE

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:32:48 GMT

If Microsoft's Project Natal works like it does in their promo video (which I know is probably actors and a green screen television) - then I can live my life happily knowing that I got to live in the SciFi Future. Take that flying cars!

Sun, 31 May 2009 19:01:49 GMT

What I've been up to:

12:51 Is dizzy hungry waiting for her food at Dandelion. Where is my hempy hummus and vegan chili?
12:53 Starvation averted! yfrog.com/5i592zj

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Dr. Who?

Fri, 29 May 2009 12:27:51 GMT

Casting Spoilers for next season

a 26 year old Doctor and a 21 year old companion? Is this Doctor Who or Gossip Girl?