Super Bowl Sunday -- what else is there to watch?

Every year I threaten to have friends over for a Jane Austen film festival on Super Bowl Sunday. I'm not a football (American that is) fan and I like to have my little rebellion. Well, another year later and I haven't pulled it together. Oh well.

For those who wish to spend time with the television on Sunday, but want to avoid the football broo-ha-ha, mental_floss to the rescue: What else is on Super Bowl Sunday? Other than the Puppy Bowl, the list isn't exactly the best television has to offer. But the Biography channel's program on Charles Manson could be interesting.

On a completely different note, I'm really like this song from Laith al-Deen. The official video is disabled so take a listen to this one. No need to watch. That would be a waste of time.

Makes me feel smart

I love stories about stupid criminals. It's Schadenfreude along with a bit of superiority. "No matter what, I'd never by that stupid."

From News of the Weird. You can get their daily e-mail which is delightful in a twisted way.

Your Daily Losers
If you're a couple carrying $2.5m worth of cocaine, you might stay on the highway itself rather than driving on the shoulder, and more important, you might anticipate what your cover story's going to be if you get stopped. Like, if you're visiting "cousins," are they the husband's cousins or the wife's? If they're yours, why don't you know their names? When did you last see them (5 yrs ago, or last month)? Thus, Jose and Virginia Melendez and their 21-yr-old daughter are in lockup. Omaha World-Herald

Ummm, sorry about that

My friend Jeannie sent this to me. I don't know where it originated but it's indeed beautiful.

Dear World,

We, the United States of America, your top-quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service.

The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located and the software responsible was replaced on November 4, 2008.

Early tests of the newly installed program indicate we are now operating correctly and are fully-functional as of January 20, 2009.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to providing full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,

The United States Of America

Disturbing dance

I am not a fan of liturgical dance (free-form dancing during a worship service). I find it hard not to giggle. I know some people find it very moving and helpful in accentuating the biblical message. I am not one of them.

Here's the brilliantly silly Stephen Colbert with his take on "King of Glory." 

Sophisticated love song

Love can make us act a little crazy and sometimes stupid. The brilliant Hugh Laurie's take:

Proud to be an American

"This Land Is Your Land," is a song that made my teeth hurt. But on Sunday in the We Are One concert, I changed my mind. It fits the tone and hope running through the country. I actually sang along! For the first time in a long time I was proud to be an American.

What a day!

It still doesn't seem real. But it is! The President is Barack Obama. (I love the new White House site!) I'm hoping to see footage of people all over the world celebrating -- just like they did on election night.

This Candorville cartoon was in the Sunday paper. Totally gave me the chills. In a good way. See it larger and/or buy it here.

Elephant pal

This is a beautiful story. One day I'd like to have an animal sanctuary. All sorts of dogs that don't have homes. Mostly Pit Bulls, probably. It will be great.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Silly goodness

More silly goodness from Toothpaste for Dinner.


toothpastefordinner.com

'Cool' doesn't begin to describe it

Via the Color Association, a watch by Nicolas Meiresonne that changes color depending on the time of day. Amazing.

Nicolas explains, “I thought of a bracelet with a color that shows what time it is. Blue/green = morning, yellow/orange = noon , red/purple = evening and night. The colors rotate around the bracelet. The color on top indicates the current “time”. When one colour reaches the top for a second time, 24H have past.”

Another cool personality test

Via the EatonGolden blog. EG is a fabulous interactive firm.

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a Self-Knowing Tree Hugging Believer

Better than a resolution

From Jack Cheng, writing about Buckminster Fuller.

Buckminster Fuller saw each person as an experiment by the universe, and therefore each has important role in the greater story. Fuller believed that it was his responsibility to take on what the Universe called him to do and live as proof of what a single individual was capable of. With this sense of purpose, he was able to approach projects, successes and failures alike with gratitude and patience.

Oooh la la, Twittervision

I'm captivated by Twittervision. It's a world map and as people tweet you get the text, their profile photo and location on the map. The map scrolls around to follow the tweets. It's in real time. It's fun to see little bits of information from people all over the world. Who says the Web makes us less connected?

Focus for 2009

I like the idea of choosing a learning focus for the year. A focus that I wouldn't naturally navigate toward. (I got the idea from Peter Drucker, a big advocate of lifelong learning, who would focus on an area he knew nothing about for something like two or three years.)

For this year I think I'll focus on learning more about Asia. Yes, a bit broad! I'm thinking particularly of China and southeast Asia (e.g., Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam). Not just the wars but what are the cultures and people like? What are the histories? I'm hoping that in addition to being interesting, it will push my brain outside it's western-world focus. I know next to nothing about this area of the world. I'm notoriously distractable so it will be interesting to see if I can stay with this.

Earlier I thought I'd really challenge myself by concentrating on economics or something math related. I am not gifted in these areas and frankly, they freak me out. For longevity's sake it's probably best not to focus on something that makes my stomach seize up.

But for now I need to finish When the Astors Owned New York. It's not about Asia but it's another world -- ueber wealth -- I know nothing about.