Month: April 2006

Helena Keefe had an interesting idea:

…I put out an open call for people to write speeches for President Bush, offering a $50 cash prize.

A group of five students, ages 7-10, from Rooftop Elementary in San Francisco accepted the challenge. Upon receiving their humorous and thoughtful contributions I had the speeches recorded by Jim Meskimen, a professional impersonator based in Los Angeles. The prize money was used to throw a cake party for the kids and their classmates.

The W impersonator is really good, but the (mostly unintentional) hilarity of the kids’ speeches makes him that much better… 🙂

There’s a somewhat unusual phenomenon indigenous to Southern Maryland that I didn’t think too many people knew about. Well, the cat seems to be out of the bag now, as NPR has now done a story entitled “Where the 10-Ounce Bud Is the King of Beers” that sheds light on a local predilection towards “tenners.” That’s right, here in Southern Maryland many locals (and some transplanted locals) prefer 10-ounce Budweiser cans to the usual 12-ounce ones, claiming that “smaller cans taste better, stay colder longer, and that the cans feel better in the hand.”

Reasoning with anyone about this has proven fruitless, as most proponents swear that they can taste the difference. One quote from a friend at work stands out in my mind: “I’ve been all over the world and drank a lot of beer, and the best beer I’ve ever had is a 10-ounce Bud.” I kid you not; he was stone cold serious.

In case you’re wondering, it’s not a matter of money, as most of the time the 10-ounce beers end up costing the same or even more than 12-ounce cans, which still boggles my mind. I remember when I first moved down here in ‘97 and thought that I got an awesome deal on a 30-pack of Buds, only to find that it was a suitcase of 10-ounce cans rather than 12-ouncers. For the record, I’ll also state that my beer tastes have become much more refined since then. I guess you could say that this former Bud drinker has turned into a total beer snob. I think that’s for the best… 🙂

Finally, I’ve found that most people don’t mind a gentle ribbing about their preference. However, pointing out that 12-ouncers would stay colder if they just didn’t nurse them is considered by some to be taking it too far (especially after a few’ve been consumed)… 😉

BLDGBLOG came across the amazing page Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America, which contains a series of maps that “show the paleogeography of North America over the last 550 million years of geologic history.” The small image at right depicts present tectonic state of North America.

foldedspace.org has assembled an amazing collection of Sesame Street Video Clips. This could take some time to get through…

One of the funniest (and geekiest things) I’ve seen in a while is the Geek Week video-cast clip What If Jack Reenacted Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars (YouTube video), in which a bunch of guys go out to a field and reenact scenes from Marvel Comics’ Secret Wars.

Quite scary. Even scarier, I happen to have the entire mini-series packed away in the basement from when I collected comic books in middle school. Shut up. ;-p

Note: I’ve removed the embedded player, as it takes too long to load and the static image is kind of ugly…

NEXGame isn’t the most exciting of Flash games, but damned if I didn’t get addicted enough to sit here and play until I finished it. Now you too must prove your mettle…

Rolling Stone’s article The Worst President in History? doesn’t pull any punches:

George W. Bush’s presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. … Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history.

The article is quite thorough in comparing W’s (in)actions and policies during his tenure to that of other widely criticized presidents, and although it stops short of labeling W The Worst President Ever. However, as detailed in the article (and through his previous and continued unforgivable incompetence), there is little that he has done that will commend him to much better than that.

But just because the article won’t come out and say it, you can be sure that I won’t miss the opportunity. Insert Comic Book Guy voice here: Worst. President. Ever.

A skit on The Showbiz Show challenged two filmmakers to recreate the original trailer for Jurassic Park with toys (embedded Windows Media Video). Considering the limited amount of junk at their disposal, it came out surprisingly well, especially when shown next to the actual trailer. I love that Laura Dern is an Army figure with a yellow wig… 🙂

CNN reports that June Pointer, the youngest of the 80s music group The Pointer Sisters, died from cancer at the age of 52 last week. The Pointer Sisters had many hits in the ‘70s and ’80s, including I’m So Excited, Jump (For My Love), Slow Hand, and many more.

I didn’t know until recently that The Pointer Sisters were the vocalists for the Sesame Street Pinball Song, so in tribute to June Pointer, I just had to post a link to the YouTube video.

Note: I’ve removed the embedded player, as it takes too long to load and the static image is kind of ugly…

The Washington Post reports on How To Steal An Election:

It’s easier to rig an electronic voting machine than a Las Vegas slot machine, says University of Pennsylvania visiting professor Steve Freeman. That’s because Vegas slots are better monitored and regulated than America’s voting machines, Freeman writes in a book out in July that argues, among other things, that [W] may owe his 2004 win to an unfair vote count. We’ll wait to read his book before making a judgment about that. But Freeman has assembled comparisons that suggest Americans protect their vices more than they guard their rights, according to data he presented at an October meeting of the American Statistical Association in Philadelphia.

The short article has a table comparing the regulation of Las Vegas slot machines to that of electronic voting machines. It’s unfathomable to me that this is allowed to happen…