The Banishment

I don't fully understand their authority on the matter, but Lake Superior State University has made a List of Banished Words for 2005. Also, where are these words banned from? Dictionaries?

Some of the words should be stopped, i.e. izzle. I didn't realise however that flip-flop was such a controversial expression. I've got a long way to go.

Just ridiculous. This money could have been put towards something significantly more helpful to the world.

The Potential

This is epic: http://www.halorising.com/epic/

It is about the future and how it relates to several computer related companies. It gets kind of ridiculous and almost humourous, but definitely worth the 8 minutes.

If I had some substantial comment to make about the events of last week, I'd make them, but as usual I don't, so I'll keep my trap shut.

The Distaste

Hi Vice,

I hate the color brown. I fucking hate wet socks. I hate people when they sneeze sitting next to me on airplanes. I hate the amount of time that I piss away doing nothing. I hate almost every movie that I have ever made. I hate that in America the right to vote is taken for granted. And I hate that having an opinion that might differ from the fucksticks on Capitol Hill is considered unpatriotic. It's the new McCarthyism (which I would have hated had I lived in that time). I hate people who use the words "organic" and "indeed" in a sentence. I hate shaved poontang (don't get me wrong, I will tolerate it, but I just hate it). I hate pleated pants. I hate puking when I'm drunk. I hate when I'm hungover and my tongue feels furry. I hate clever bumper stickers on cars. I hate crowds. I hate intolerant people, and I hate people with too much tolerance. One is full of ignorance, the other is full of shit. Oh hell, I almost forgot, I really hate pantyhose. And with the exception of Vladimir Nabokov and Iceberg Slim, I hate authors who use hundred-dollar words to complete their two-dollar thoughts. I hate the Santa Ana winds. I fucking despise West L.A. I hate people who think their religion is the only real truth. I hate anyone who picks a fight with someone they know they can whip. I hate when people think by fucking someone smart and talented that they themselves miraculously become smart and talented as well. And I hate people who think they are so goddamn smart.

Best,
Johnny

Not bad for the creator of jackass.

The Meanings to the Means

The only articles I have been reading as of late have been all about politics. I have no foundation with which I can comment effectively about politics and make coherent sense. So, I pay you all the courtesy to shut the hell up. Monday's Boasas is very reminiscent of a conversation I had with a roommate. It probably ended up with me getting made fun of.

Since my posts have been all talk and no pictures, I thought I'd post some pictures.

I'm being a monumental jerk.


I'm trying to be artistic apparently:


The first one was taken by my roommate, my plan was to take a picture of the view of the city that I could see from atop the wall...but being the photogenic person I am who seems to climb things on a regular basis, that photo was snapped instead. Another roommate then developed it in the darkroom. I am pretty sure that the second one was truly my attempt at being artistic. I'm so lame. That was the unnecessary explanation.

The Humour

The title of this article is far more entertaining than the actual article, but "Stray Mounties rescued in Idaho wilderness" (thanks inna) is still a kind of funny article, I guess. The title really says it all. This shatters the impression of mounties that I had before, one of respect, strength, knowledge and ridiculous uniforms. However, that was based on a television show with an impossible lead character, no matter how much we all wish he were real.

This, however, is a great article: "Family Secret Turns out to be Boring" We all need to read The Onion more.

There was some music trading last night and one result was rather humourous. If you want a good, solid laugh, download (or get me to send it to you) "Common People" by William Shatner. Apparently it is a remake of a Brit-pop song, I can't imagine. The person who recommended it to me, claims that he listens to this song with serious intentions. I have to give Bill credit for acting the lyrics out with conviction.

Oh and I learned a new, useless word, another to add to my collection.
"Homonecropetapyrobestiphiliac" is a word for one who prefers to have sex with underage gay animals which are currently on fire.

The Evident

Studies have shown that there is a positive correlation between the number of blogs posted and the approach of exams.

I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I have to say in addition to that, but I've got nothing. My head is currently full of terms that have no practical use and are also not in English. I also have a dictionary on my lap, it's not helping me either. In the last two days I have lost complete touch with reality, I was au courant with the happenings of the world. My hermit skills have improved significantly.

Caco is the Portuguese word for Kermit the Frog. And then there is Kippy, Kippy was a hedgehog not a porcupine, contrary to popular belief, or just mine since childhood.

I seem to have momentarily lost my sanity there, I hope you all enjoyed it. There were several hours yesterday spent procrastinating by reading the dictionary, it was between two languages, which shall remain unspecified. There were two results, one was that a new pet name around here translates to a bodily function (I'll leave that one to the imagination) because it sounds cute and that I got called a family secret. Fun things happen when you're supposed to be working.

Before I say or do something stupid, or dumber than I already have, I bid you adieu.

The Field of Dreams

I found this article pretty interesting, though there are some discrepencies about the test methodologies that were involved in proving this. And yes, I do in fact talk like this. Though I have to say I don't see any problems with their methods, except that this particular article is quite vague.
This is the article. It talks about how these scientists in Hawaii proved that sharks can detect changes in magnetic fields.

By popular demand, or three people just being completely neutral and not deciding, I am going to rant about something other than an article I read. I really don't know what to talk about, these last few days have been rather uneventful... So, let's give this a go, shall we?

A) Well, it is my humble opinion that everyone should have a waffle emoticon. They help to express any emotion really, I usually use it for comical frustration or when no other emoticon will do the job. If you are interested in this emoticon, you know where to find me.

b) I have come to the conclusion that I am a difficult person who will never be able to have a regular blog about me. I was just told that I will eventually write something vague and confuse everyone, just like a good indie kid. Go emo, go. Though I'm not much of an emo kid, whenever authentic emo music hits the deck on rotation I get an inexplicably sad feeling and then I realise what I'm listening to. I don't enjoy being inexplicably sad, I like to know why I am sad.

New Letter:
c) The Romans had something good going, they had this letter called 'eng', and this is what it looks like: ŋ. It stands for n+g, imagine how much time, money, trees, space, etc. this could save. Just think about it. (Note there is also one that looks similar that represents g+n, but that is seldom found in English.)

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get some tea.

The Rant?

So it's been a few days since I've posted anything, mainly because I haven't found anything of interest that I would like to post.

Here is a question with regards to format of my blog:
Should I continue with my current trend of posting random (and interesting) things? Or should there be more about me? I'm leaning towards the former... but I suppose this is a survey of sorts, post a comment, I guess.

The Slice

I really like this song and its lyrics seem to have substance. I present
"Pale Horse" by John Vanderslice

from the haunts of daily
lifewhere is waged the daily strife
common wants and common cares
cuts the human heart with tears

rise like lions after a slumber
in greatly unknowable numbers

let the tyrants pour around
with apocalyptic sound
on the charge of iron wheels
and the crash of horse’s heels

rise like lions after a slumber
in greatly unknowable numbers
free the blood that must ensue
we are many and they are few

from the workhouse and the prison
pale as corpses newly risen
knives are drawn now let them see
standing tall that say they’re free

your strong and simple words
set to wound as sharpened swords
wide as targets let them be
with their shade to cover me

rise like lions after a slumber
in greatly unknowable numbers
free the blood that must ensue
we are many and they are few

The Chop

This has nothing to do with the theme I usually have running through my blog, but I think, for anyone who knows me, this is a big accomplisment for me:
I ate dinner today with chopsticks and I only learned today how to use them. I think this makes me unstoppable now.

The Word

This is what I want to do if I grow up.
from here

Dude -- professor studies 'dude'
Linguist says word draws power from cool kinship

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Dude, you've got to read this.
A linguist from the University of Pittsburgh has published a scholarly paper deconstructing and deciphering the word "dude," contending it is much more than a catchall for lazy, inarticulate surfers, skaters, slackers and teenagers.
An admitted dude-user during his college years, Scott Kiesling said the four-letter word has many uses: in greetings ("What's up, dude?"); as an exclamation ("Whoa, Dude!"); commiseration ("Dude, I'm so sorry."); to one-up someone ("That's so lame, dude."); as well as agreement, surprise and disgust ("Dude.").
Kiesling says in the fall edition of American Speech that the word derives its power from something he calls cool solidarity -- an effortless kinship that's not too intimate.
Cool solidarity is especially important to young men who are under social pressure to be close with other young men, but not enough to be suspected as gay.
In other words: Close, dude, but not that close.
"It's like man or buddy, there is often this male-male addressed term that says, 'I'm your friend but not much more than your friend,"' said Kiesling, whose research focuses on language and masculinity.
To decode the word's meaning, Kiesling listened to conversations with fraternity members he taped in 1993. He also had undergraduate students in sociolinguistics classes in 2001 and 2002 write down the first 20 times they heard "dude" and who said it during a three-day period.
He found the word taps into nonconformity and a new American image of leisurely success.
Anecdotally, men were the predominant users of the word, but women sometimes call each other dudes.
Less frequently, men will call women dudes and vice versa. But that comes with some rules, according to self-reporting from students in a 2002 language and gender class included in the paper.
"Men report that they use dude with women with whom they are close friends, but not with women with whom they are intimate," according to the study.
His students also reported that they were least likely to use the word with parents, bosses and professors.
Historically, dude originally meant "old rags" -- a "dudesman" was a scarecrow. In the late 1800s, a "dude" was akin to a "dandy," a meticulously dressed man, especially out West. It became "cool" in the 1930s and 1940s, according to Kiesling. Dude began its rise in the teenage lexicon with the 1981 movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
"Dude" also shows no signs of disappearing as more and more of our culture becomes youth-centered, said Mary Bucholtz, an associate professor of linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
"I have seen middle-aged men using 'dude' with each other," she said.

The Mann

This came up today: http://wearcam.org/steve.html
Make of him what you will.


This is a good one:
John Vanderslice - "Pale Horse"

The Cut

TOP 10 WORDS OF 2004
The top 10 words of the year based on searches of Merriam-Webster Web sites.
1. blog
2. incumbent
3. electoral
4. insurgent
5. hurricane
6. cicada
7. peloton
8. partisan
9. sovereignty
10. defenestration

See them all! http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/04words.htm

The Phenomenon

EXTRAORDINARY PHENOMENON.-The inhabitants of the village of Moulton were greatly astonished on Saturday last, at observing a considerable quantity of hay (from a field where it was in cocks for stacking) rise rapidly into the air. There was not the slightest breeze of wind perceptible at the time; however the hay continued to ascend until it apparently passed through the clouds, which were sailing high at the time. After the lapse of a few minutes it again appeared like a small black streak in the cloudy vapour, where it continued to form a most novel and extraordinary sight for ten or fifteen minutes, when it gradually descended again to the earth.-Linconsure Chronicle.
From here , thanks O

The Green List

The Environmental Transport Association has released its list of top 10 green cars. The description can be found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/cars/story/0,15383,1357788,00.html
These are the European versions of these cars, (if the car even exists in North American - i.e. Peugot, etc.) but the North American versions are probably similar.

Here is the list.
1 Honda Civic 1.3 IMA Executive
2 Toyota Prius 1.5 T3
3 Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 CDTI 16V Life
4 Daihatsu YRV Premium
5 Ford Focus C-Max 1.6 TDCI LX
6 Daihatsu Charade 1.0 EL
7 Smart Pure Fortwo Coupe
8 Volkswagen Touran 1.9 TDI S
9 Peugeot 407 1.6 HDI S 110
10 Honda Accord 2.2 I-CTDI Sport

The Achievement

This guy designed his own version of a portable play station 2 and made it. He tried to get it done before it was officially released.
http://www.benheck.com/Games/PS2p%201.htm
Sure this is nothing earth shattering, he might have saved a few bucks (or it could have cost him more) but that's is still pretty neat.




Listen to this:
Interpol - "Evil" and "A Time to be so Small" but I assure you the entire albums "Antics" is great

The Heart

I think I am somewhat ready to discuss the movie I (Heart) Huckabees. If you have not seen it. Go watch it. You have to be in a certain frame of mind because you will be messed. Conversation after the movie included, "that didn't happen. I saw it happen, but it could not have possibly happened." And "we need to discuss this, but not now. Maybe in a week." None of which was actually relevant to the movie.

It asks questions such as, "how can I not be myself?" Think about it. It is a movie about uncovering one's existence. It is also about how one must live life in order to deal with it. Pretty complex stuff. They offer only confusion, maybe I just didn't get it, that is quite likely.

The movie is a comedy though, the kind that makes you think.

But if you are pondering your existence, check it out and tell me what you think.


This is catchy:
The Chinese Stars - "Electrodes in Captivity"

The Herb

Be a vegetarian:

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996674

This article describes how Ankylosaurs were probably the most well protected dinosaurs to roam the earth. Their armour is similar to that of bulletproof fabric. They were also herbivores.

The Problem?

When doing a search for the continuity problem with respect to Medieval science and its influence on early modern science, I got this as a hit:

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Continuity Problem
Whenever the power rangers are fighting, it is usually in a park or city but when they call the Zords and fight with them, they are in a completely different landscape such as a desert
with the occasional cardboard building or electricity pylon to disguise the complete lack of budget for this show!!

Now, really, did we need to use the Power Rangers as the exemplar?

On to important things. This guy is really important to math, here is an interview with him: http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp;jsessionid
=GIFFGHCOEGGO?id=ns24731

There will be discussion of things soon, I hope.

The Future

This is interesting, by 2010 there could potentially be flying taxis. Check it out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3990329.stm

I also mention that back in 1994, I read or watched something about there being water powered cars out on the roads by 2000. I was excited and subsequently disappointed.

The Scare

Warning, you might find this slightly disturbing. There is sound and video, the video requires quicktime.
http://www.5minutesonline.com/quicktime/grillskill.html

(thanks dan)

The Promotion

Exerpt from http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/11/05/newyork.sex.reut/index.html
Bus ads: Read a book, get oral sex
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- New York officials were red-faced on Friday after they discovered that clothing ads on city buses that appeared to promote reading suggested a love of books could be rewarded with oral sex.
The advertisements that ran on about 200 buses across the city in recent months carried posters displaying a suggestively posed woman in hot pants kneeling among a pile of books beside the snappy slogan "Read Books, Get Brain."
What unhip, unsuspecting local transportation officials did not know was that "get brain" is street slang for oral sex.
The ads -- from hip-hop clothing maker Akademiks, which intended the double-entendre -- was stripped off New York buses on Friday after transportation officials discovered the street slang meaning.
Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman Tom Kelly condemned the "vulgar street phrases" in the racy ads he said were "demeaning women."
"To me and I believe to everyone else, while it was done by a clothing line, it would give the impression that it was also promoting reading and literacy," Kelly told Reuters.

The Brick in the Wall

The art of Nathan Sawaya, of www.nathanbrickartist.com

Our favourite Late Night host.



A Hans Solo carbon.



I would call this one: Multifunctional

The Ridiculous Art

From www.DonnyMiller.com:
Listen to Donny Miller




"When I was 6 or so, I made these family portraits. Tempura paint on hard board.I was obsessed with swastikas at the time. I had no idea what they meant. I just thought they were strong. I was really into question marks and exclamtion points, too, for some reason. There are additional paintings of my mother, my two brothers and my sister, but I can't find them.Now that I look at this one, it's a totally evil depiction. He doesn't even have red hair. I kind of had this pirate thing happening here with a bandana. I'm convinced that when you're a child, it's like you're on psychadelic drugs all the time. Obviously, I was on angel dust when I painted this."


Coming soon, Lego.

The Regression

During a dinner discussion with my roommate we discussed sexism and how it has reversed. We discussed the change from the days of female oppression, to the empowering of women and now the almost favouritism of women and oppression of men. Affirmative action was introduced to balance and equalize the working environment for women and minorities. Scholarships that are exclusive to women and minorities were introduced to encourage them to attend post-secondary institutions. However now, the playing fields are closer to equal, and yet these advantages still exist for women and minorities. This is unfair. If there is an exclusive female only scholarship, there should be an equivalent male only scholarship. The best candidate for the job/scholarship/opportunity should be the one who receives it. We are creating a new type of oppression/discrimination now one that is towards males and Caucasians. This can be seen in many aspects of modern life, for example those shirts with the phrase "boys are stupid, throw rocks at them," imagine if the shirt was actually "girls are stupid, throw rocks at them," all hell would break loose. There would be such an uproar at the thought that girls are stupid, but it is ok to consider boys such. This is a trend appearing throughout the media, that the woman is the one that knows how to take care of everything.
Just one note that I think I should mention, things appear to be evening out in the work place, but women still make only about 60-70% of the income that men do at the same jobs, things are not quite equal just yet.
The original goal was to reach equality, not tip the scales from one end to the other. We are creating another type of inequality. There should be equal opportunity all around and the most qualified/deserving (depending on circumstance) should be given the opportunity, but I realise that bias plays a significant role in this and makes it quite difficult to achieve this for certain. I can be an idealist sometimes, can't I?

The Diagram

Ok this is the idea. I will try to post more often, but there is just not enough time.

The Idea

I know this is probably being worked on right now, but there should be a focus pill. That will defnitely be the highest purchased and manufactured drug on the market if ever developed. Everyone needs to take a focus pill. And an enlightening pill, but not everyone is ready for that one.

This idea is too expensive to actually happen, but I would for one would like to see it. Liquor bottles should come with shot glasses on the lid, much like mouth wash. But this would raise prices by about $10 per 26er, likely. Instead, these shot glasses should be sold separately for $10, or however much (they could be collector's items, have company logos, etc.) and the bottle itself should just have the ridges on it to place the glass. I think that my explanation is not clear. Diagram to follow, as soon as it can be done.

The Fine Art

This is an entertaining artist, Jeff Koons:
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/koons_jeff.html
I'm not much for understanding art, but his porcelain statues are gold. I mean, c'mon, giant balloon dog, nothing is better, nothing. "Made in Heaven" is a pretty gutsy collection, but he could just be really conceited. It is him and I believe a German pornstar in "artistic" poses, but those are also quite old.





This is all right:
Elvis Costello - Pump it Up
And this is pretty good:
The Brian Jonestown Orchestra - Take it from the Man

the Roll

This was in an article I read:
"Many more Israeli aircraft[s] have been downed by birds than by enemy air battles in the last three decades."
I'm not sure if this kind of information should be released, could this not be a danger?

I think this is a fair prediction or just entertaining, whichever:
"When the all planets are in alignment, the dark age will be ushered in, and the Spice Girls will reform."


This could be good:
Jack Johnson - "Taylor"

The Power

While this is still novel.

I want to make this about sharing the interesting and exciting, and the generally notable.

I got this link and since this is a Google blog, and everything is Google now, people should read this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/salon/story/0,14752,1331700,00.html

And like Google, we should all wander the office on Segways.

The Squandering

Ok.
This is the first entry... Mid-term tomorrow. This is pretty elaborate in terms of procrastination. Should I get some sort of recognition for going this out of my way to slack?

A lot of bizarre things cross my mind, lest us not forget scrababble. I'll try to put as many of these odd things up here, or just cool things I think everyone should know about.

Done.