Bananas & Corn
That's a bananas to corn comparison! I love the Norwegian cover of Freakonomics.
Amazon.com: Giraffes? Giraffes! (Giraffes? Giraffes!): Books
I really want this book. Giraffes? Giraffes! (Giraffes? Giraffes!). it sounds superbly silly.
Company
I picked up the new Max Barry novel, Company, yesterday (from Big Hat Books, Indy's only independant general interest bookstore) . Hilarious book, and great satire abotu business (and I'm only on page 49).
My favorite passage so far, when the new hire Jones realizes he works for a company that he (and no one else) knows what it actualls does:
junklog
junklog is a really cool tool created by Brad (who has already brought us greatness in Brad Sucks, Stripcreator and In4mador). Junklog basically lets you build a list/feed of things you've recently read, watched or listened to with a short review and a rating.
Only critiques: should add ability to add/rate games, and shoudl have the ability to add things that aren't in the amazon database.
Update 1/20/05: Brad added games. Super!
Here's my junklog
Story Time 1
I had an idea while browsing my flickr contacts. It's probably been done.
Pick a photo on flickr (your own, a contact's, or a random one) and write the first bit of a story that comes to mind when when you see that picture. I did this when I ran across this picture from Matt's photo stream:
The idea came from Matt's description of the guy in the seat in front of him:
This guy ended up talking to me for a while. He's kind of a seedy fella that talked about cheap women and whether or not Gary, Indiana, was a "swinging" town.
And the image/story that popped into my head from that description:
He walked into my office reeking of cheap whiskey and even cheaper cigarettes. I could tell this could only end two ways - bad or worse.
It was a woman. A dame. It was always a dame with guys like this. She'd left him for a salesman in Gary, or so he said.
I was about to tell him to scram when he dropped a large envelope stuffed with cash on my too small desk, right next to the pile of late bills. Whatever he was, he wasn't subtle.
I guess I need to pack my bags for Gary.
Is it crap? Probably. But ah well, it was fun when it popped into my head fully formed.
Sick, Sick, Sicko Scooter Libby
Ohhhh lordy. I really never should have read this. Apparently recently indicted Lewis "Scooter" Libby wrote a book called The Apprentice and got it published in 1996. Not only that, it's fuckin' sick. If you are squeamish, you might want to move along now.
You Should Be….
- Reading: The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth. Excellent "what if" book that looks at "what if Charles Lindburgh defeated FDR in 1940 and installed a pseduo-fascist administration."
- Listening To: The Party Party by rx. Free MP3s that use (mostly) clips of W to do the singing.
- Listening To: Jonathan Coulton Reminds me of They Might Be Giants in some ways. Doing a "Thing A Week" which included a folksy cover of "Baby Got Back" that rocked my socks.
- Watching (in theaters): Doom. Awesomely horrible, and there certainly have been much worse video game to movie adaptations. And it has a Big Fuckin' Gun and The Rock kicking ass and monsters and demons.
- Watching (on TV): My Name is Earl on NBC. Funniest new sitcom on TV, one of only three I watch (others? : Arrested Development and Scrubs)
- Watching (on TV): Invasion on ABC. The creepiest show on TV since X Files. Also, the official website is done as a "blog" by the show's resident conspiracy theorist character, Dave. But the comments don't seemt o be real and you can't leave comments of your own. Also hasn't been "updated" in a month. They should have made it a REAL blog updated along with the show with actual comments. Would have been nice to throw in tidbits on the blog that give clues that aren't in the show - you know, post the pictures he was taking, all that.
- Playing: Sudoku. I think I mentioned this before.
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Randomness
All but one is non-political so i'll get it out of the way first. But even before that, space.com and livescience.com are both awesometastic sites.
Four years after the 2001 terror attacks exposed the need for more robust, interconnected communications during such calamities, with nearly a billion dollars appropriated by Congress for the task last year, the United States still lacks uniform systems that can keep all emergency responders in touch.
"We're no better off than we were then,'' Louisiana state Sen. Robert Barham said last week.
Where, pray tell, does the buck stop in this country?
Nobody knows how many people sit wrongfully convicted in prison due to errors in fingerprint matching. But a new study suggests there could be a thousand or more unknown identification errors a year in the United States.
You mean fingerprint matching isn't as solid as it is on CSI?
Speculative Poetry
My dad did a special guest-editing stint at the online speculative fiction magazine Fortean Bureau. His issue (September) is a special speculative poetry issue. I've been digging what I've read so far, so go check it out.