Hell

There's a show on TV Land called High School Reunion. For me, a high school reunion is the epitome of hell. Throw in continual small talk, math (story problems, shiver) and country music and it's a big hellfire and damnation party.

Accident Hash: Black Lab

Accident Hash is a favorite* podcast. All sorts of independent bands. A fabulous song from Black Lab, "Perfect Girl". It's the first track after the morning-DJ-type intro (forward to 3:00 to skip it).Accident Hash

*The host can be quite annoying -- calling listeners "home fries" -- but the music is worth it.

5 good things

Five things good about today:

1. Peter Smith's very clever commentary about how to end the Minnesota Senate race: sumo wrestling.
   
   
2. Whad'ya Know now available as a full-length podcast.
3. Heard a lovely call and response between a couple of birds this morning.
   
4. The sun is shining.
   
5. Pele has not chewed on a library book in over a week.

Laika

Another beautiful ditty from Rather Good, the creator of the Fearsome Stomping Kittens and Looking for My Leopard.

In honor of Laika, the first dog in space.

More fun at Bush's expense

What's in the George S. Bush library? I'm not sure where this list came from but thanks to Karen for forwarding!

The George W. Bush Presidential Library is now in the planning stages and accepting donations. We urge you to support this effort because those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
The Library will include:

• The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.
• The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you won't be able to remember anything.
• The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't even have to show up.
• The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.
• The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.
• The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room, which no one has been able to find.
• The National Debt Room, which is huge and has no ceiling.
• The Tax Cut Room, with entry only to the wealthy.
• The Economy Room, which is in the toilet.
• The Iraq War Room; after you complete your first visit, they make you go back for a second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth visit.
• The Dick Cheney Room, in the famous undisclosed location, complete with shotgun gallery.
• The Gift Shop, where you can buy an election.
• The Decider Room, complete with dart board, magic 8-ball, Ouija board, dice, coins, and straws.

The library will also include many famous quotes by George W. Bush:

• "The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."
• "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
• "Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child."
• "No senior citizen should ever have to choose between prescription drugs and medicine."
• "One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is "to be prepared"."
• "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."
• "We're have the best educated American people in the world."
• "Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it."
• "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
• "I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."

I know you see the priceless nature of this collection. PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY!
Sincerely,
Jack Abramoff, Co-Chair
G.W. Bush Library Board of Directors

A Super Bowl ad worth the hype

I saw just a few Super Bowl ads yesterday. Mostly ho-hum. CareerBuilder's, however, was brilliant. It was like a British ad. Yes. It was that good.



By Wieden + Kennedy.

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.