Month: November 2002

Because he wasn’t humiliated enough in his 1984 bid for the Democratic presidential candidacy, Gary Hart is reportedly considering another run at the presidency. Something tells me that he is a little deluded…

The implications of yesterday’s elections haven’t fully been realized yet. I do know that Ben “Cooter” Jones’ defeat in his bid for Virginia congressman is a shame. OK, maybe not, but I just thought it would be cool to say that Cooter from “The Dukes Of Hazzard” made it to Congress. I guess that shows where I stand on the voter apathy scale these days, although I did vote (eventually). Maybe he should have rethought his platform in portraying himself as a “`NASCAR Democrat’ who sought to ‘take care of mama ‘n them and make sure the kids get a good education.’”

The Big Cartoon Database is to cartoons what the Internet Movie Database is to movies. OK, it’s not as comprehensive as IMDB yet, but it’s still a great source of information and nostalgia.

I’m really enjoying the recent, long overdue trend of artists willing to speak their mind against the practices of the record industry, like the mention I made of Don Henley last week. In the wake of Tom Petty’s latest album, The Last DJ, Rolling Stone’s interview with Tom Petty shows that he is not afraid to speak his mind. The title track of the song has apparently been banned from some radio stations because it is seen as a slap in the face; the track laments the fact that DJs no longer have any freedom and are forced by corporations to play canned playlists. I highly recommend the album, and after reading this article I am that much more glad that I am supporting artists like him.

Choose from hundreds of works from different artists and recreate them in this paint by numbers site.

What do you get when you have a helicopter, a digital camera, and some time on your hands? Well, I can’t think of a good punchline, but one answer is California Coastal Records Project, an “aerial photographic survey of the California coast.” Currently, “6900 photographs (totaling over 44GB) of the California Coast [are] on file, from approximately Bodega Bay…to San Onofre…and the Oregon Border…to Eureka.” This is way cool…

Just in case you still haven’t come to your senses and downloaded Mozilla yet, here are 101 things you can do in Mozilla that you can’t do in M$ Internet Explorer. My favorites are tabbed browsing and the ability to easily turn off not only pop-up ads but also annoying ads within pages. The fact that Mozilla is being developed as open source software means independent developers are able to contribute their talents in creating new add-ons and projects, including custom sidebars and toolbars, among many other things. C’mon, what are you waiting for?!

Don’t you just love election years? Even the judges here in Montgomery County, Maryland have resorted to mudslinging and distorting the other guy’s record. What blows my mind is the amount of money spent on these elections. Gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend produced a video tape specifically for Montgomery County voters. As far as I know, all households with registered Dems received a copy of this tape. That’s a lot of tapes and a lot of $$$. I wonder how many people will even watch it? Or how many of those will be prompted to vote for Townsend because of it? Or how many of those will change their mind on the way to the polls because somebody handed them a glossy brochure with another candidate’s name on it?

What we need is a forum where all prospective voters can find factual information about any candidate, presented in an objective and fair manner. Then we need people to learn to use this forum, and not rely so much on the glossy literature that has little to say, costs lots of money, and mostly just goes into the landfill (or recycle bin). The best example of this forum I have found is run by the League of Women Voters. You can put in your ZIP+4 and have a list of all the candidates, ballot issues, etc. with information about all of them. Imagine an election where campaign contributions are not a factor, and the piles of propaganda are considered unnecessary. Hey, it could happen. In the meantime, get out and vote! It gives you the right to demand more from your politicians.

Got $55,000 some spare change lying around? Then put in a bid on ebay for a MiG-21. Just be aware that “supersonic flights in any aircraft over the US are limited to certain military test areas. We can get permission for buyer at China Lake and Edwards AFB.” Wow.

CottAGE has a whole bunch of classic arcade games available to play in your web browser. What fun!