| Rolling Stones | Advertising | Cereal | Animation | Your Blank of the Day |
Because I know what a huge Michelle Malkin fan you are.
| Immigration |
Right now, there are two strangers in my house. One is napping on the sofa bed; the other is in the shower—she just came in from having a cigarette. When she told me she was stepping out for a smoke, I was briefly, mildly shocked: I mean, this girl is 21 weeks pregnant. But just as quickly, I remembered: After tomorrow, she won't be. Tomorrow morning, after what I hope is a good night's sleep for everyone, my husband will drop both women off at the clinic in midtown Manhattan that provides abortions.
| Essays | Abortion | Haven Coalition |
This is a simple one, but I find it to be quite helpful. Make the directory structure of your Inbox mirror the directory structure of your My Documents. Keeping a consistent structure in both places will help you find stuff, as you won't be wondering "did I file that email under Campaigns or Marketing? Is that document in Leads or Fundraising?" Or at least, you'll wonder a bit less.
| Your Blank of the Day |
| Ephemera |
Via The Map Room.
| War | Military | Maps | Flash |
Latest issue of Greg's Incredible Hulk and Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men are in stores now. I had to do a bit of background reading on the Hellfire Club to understand just what's going on with the latter. Xavier had an evil twin sister?
Update: Speaking of Joss 'n' comics, this is like two months old but still v. funny moment of geek blogdom: Joss Whedon v. Warren Ellis.
| Greg Pak | X-Men | Joss Whedon | Hulk |
Same As the Old Boss By John Dickerson
Despite weeks of anonymous leaks in the papers about a big shake-up in the White House, and some hints from Bush himself, the president has shaken up very little. He has once again made the pundits and nameless advisers look foolish. He has also defined "the bolten" as a new unit of Washington measurement. It is the smallest staff change possible short of doing nothing at all.
Emphasis added. Via tmn.
| Neologisms | Josh Bolten | Your Blank of the Day |
Animaniacs - It's Official! July 25th is the release date for a 5-DVD set! 25 eps!
| Animaniacs |
So I went to a head-shaving party last week.
You may remember that I'm beta-testing the DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge. We had another beta tester, Tomato Nation. A year and a half ago, Sars at Tomato Nation raised $23K for classroom projects. This year, she set her goal at $25K. And said if she reached $30K, she'd shave her head.
She reached $30K in six days. Absolutely incredible.
I took some of our interns over to "Beauty 35" on 35th and 8th to do some wig shopping. There was no way I was going to make this decision on my own. DonorsChoose got her a couple of wigs -- one blond, one brunette (made of real hair!) I've done many things in my fundraising career, but this was the first time I've bought wigs on the company dime.
Then it was off to Sars' place in Brooklyn for the actual shaving of the head. You can see me on the video she's posted on the site (I have an .avi version should anyone have trouble viewing the .m4v file, just email me) with an improvised, albeit dweeby, introduction. Shaving a head clean takes a surprisingly long time, so I helped with a bit of videotaping and picture-taking and hanging out with cats and friends. I must say she looked good with her head shaved, and hey, I'm glad it wasn't me. I have little enough up there, I've gotta preserve!
Major kudos to Sars and her crew for raising so much for New York's kids, and for setting the bar high for the DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge!
| DonorsChoose | Philanthropy | Brooklyn |
A strange mix of the historical and factual:
1930 Eliot Ness teams up with James Malone to take on Al Capone in Chicago (The Untouchables)
Washington - The Republican-controlled House of Representatives wrongly raise tariffs to alleviate The Great Depression (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
Howard Hughes produces 'Hell's Angels' (The Aviator)
1931 Sally Bowles makes a splash on the Berlin cabaret scene (Cabaret)
Winter - Michael Sullivan Jr joins his father for six weeks of assassination and repayment (The Road To Perdition)
Apollonia (later to become Corleone) born (The Godfather trilogy)
Hill Valley, Ca - Emmett Brown first reads Jules Verne (Back To The Future Part III)
1932 Howard Hughes branches into aviation (The Aviator)
Royal O'Reilly Tenenbaum born (The Royal Tenenbaums)
To Kill A Mockingbird
1933 Adolf Hitler appointed German Chancellor, and granted dictatorial powers (The Pianist, etc)
Depression; Noodles released from prison (Once Upon A Time In America)
Philip Marlowe becomes a private investigator (The Big Sleep)
Fay Wray stars in King Kong (King Kong)
December: King Kong is discovered on Skull Island and set loose in New York (King Kong)
1934 May 23: Texas - Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are gunned down (Bonnie & Clyde)
September 5: Hitler flies to Nuremberg to review the assembly of his followers (Triumph des Willens)
1935 John Coffey is executed on Death Row for a crime he didn't commit (The Green Mile)
Rick runs guns to Ethiopia (Casablanca)
Indiana Jones escapes Chinese gangsters in Shanghai before falling into the Thuggee cult's plot in India (Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom)
There is a murder, on the Orient Express (Murder On The Orient Express)
Ed Murrow begins at CBS (Good Night, and Good Luck)
Tom Baxter steps down from the movie screen and into the life of Cecilia (The Purple Rose of Cairo)
September 6: Top Hat opens in cinemas (The Purple Rose of Cairo)
1936 Indiana Jones races against the Nazis to find the Ark of the Covenant (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Spain - Rick fights with the Loyalist Spaniards (Casablanca)
German troops reoccupy the Rhineland (Angela's Ashes)
Alvy Singer born (Annie Hall)
1937 Francesca and Kathryn Corleone born; Johnny Fontaine released from contract to bandleader Les Halley (The Godfather trilogy)
China and Japan begin a state of undeclared war (Empire of the Sun)
Hitler joins the Thule Society, a collection of German aristocrats obsessed with the occult (Hellboy)
O Brother Where Art Thou
Arkansas - Johnny Cash's father floats his family out from their home after a flood (Walk The Line)
March 26: Hill Valley, Ca - Biff Tannen born (Back To The Future Part II)
May: The passenger zeppelin makes its last voyage from Frankfurt, Germany to Lakehurst (New Jersey) Naval Air Station, where it crashes and bursts into flames (The Hindenburg)
1938 Indiana Jones travels to Venice to find his father, kidnapped by Nazis while searching for the Holy Grail (Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade)
Hitler acquires the Spear of Longinus that pierced the side of Jesus, increasing his power greatly, as it gives its holder invincibility (apparently) (Hellboy)
Alien invasion lands on Mars, before sending a test mission to Earth (The War of the Worlds)
The Keys of the Kingdom
Nazis enter Austria and Czechoslovakia (Memory of the Camps)
Lithunia - Hannibal Lecter born (The Silence of the Lambs)
Lorraine Baines born (Back To The Future)
April 1: George McFly born (Back To The Future)
September: Tom Marvolo Riddle, aka Voldemort, starts first year at Hogwarts (Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets)
1939 New York is attacked by flying robots, and famous scientists vanish from around the world (Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow)
Hitler annexes Poland (Memory of the Camps)
Four children travel through a wardrobe and discover Narnia (The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe)
Via Boing Boing.
| Counterfactual History | Lists |
TWO Weeks In Big Ink! Handed in the better part of 50 pages of drafts last week, so I didn't update here. Sorry. I'm sure you were devastated. But you did miss some fun, to wit: Bill O'Reilly, attack dog; a very twitchy fellow; more conspicuously missing women (as in, voices in the media); Jews Who Are Saving the World (hey, some of my best friends are saving the world); the ex-Post blogger gets a lesson in journalism; Chris Matthews, split personality; B.S. thoroughly called on the latest Iraq spin by Lara Logan of CBS (extremely attractive) and Jack Cafferty of CNN (attractively extreme (at least as far as media personalities typically go)); and, finally, the greatest political quote of the new millennium. Booyah!
| Politics | Culture | Media | Journalism | Bill O'Reilly | Iraq | Chris Matthews | George W. Bush | CNN | Russ Feingold |
Boy: Listen to those Congressmen arguing! Is all that discussion and debate about you.
BILL: Yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones. Most bills never even get this far. I hope they decide to report on me favorably, otherwise I may die.
Boy: Die?
BILL: Yeah, die in committee. Ooh, but it looks like I'm gonna live! NOW I go to the House of Representatives, and they vote on me.
Boy: If they vote yes, what happens?
BILL: Then I go to the Senate and the whole thing starts all over again.
Boy: Oh no!
BILL: Oh yes!
Boy: But what happens if, on its way to the House, a clerical error occurred, so the House voted on a more liberal law, which narrowly passed; the two bills were never reconciled, meaning the Senate passed one bill and the House another?
BILL: Well, the President will sign the Senate's bill, a bill which the House never voted on, claiming that this meets the standards laid out in a 1892 decision from the Supreme Court because the GOP House leaders support the Senate bill!
Boy: But doesn't that violate the Constitution?
MAN: He signed you, Bill. Now you're a law!
BILL: Oh yes!!!
Boy: But...
MAN and BILL ignore Boy as they skip toward the White House, barely noticing the yellowed parchment they trod underfoot.
(Original Schoolhouse Rock dialogue; Constitutional analysis of Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 from Frank.)
| Constitution |
Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop Saved By Regular. Eisenberg's is great; it's where Liz L and I have lunch. Try the egg cream.
Via The Morning News.
| Restaurants | Diners |
Gosh, I seem to be full of advice for women these days. Don't marry Harrison Ford. Don't use the same computer if you want to stay with your philandering fiancé . But, if you don't know what to do, why not call State Senator Bill Napoli of South Dakota?
Full cartoon here. Via BoingBoing.
| Abortion | South Dakota | Bill Napoli |
Question is, is that a bug, or a feature?
This privacy flaw has caused my fiancé and I to break-up after having dated for 5 years.
The privacy flaw is this: when he went to log-in under his dating sites (jdate.com, swinglifestyle.com, adultfriendfinder.com, etc.), Mozilla promptly asks whether or not he'd like Firefox to save the passwords for him. He chose never, obviously. However, when he logged off his user account, and I logged onto my Windows XP account X amount of days later, I decided to use Firefox because hey -- it loaded everything much more efficiently, was better to work on with website designs and is a lot more stable than IE7beta2.
Firefox prompted whether or not I'd like it to save my password for logging into my website. I chose never and changed my mind. I went into the Password Manager to change the saved password option from Never to Always and that's when I saw all these other sites that had been selected as "Never Save Password." Of course, those were sites I had never visited or could ever dream
of visiting.Then I realized who, how and what... and sh*t hit the fan.
The responses on Bugzilla range from the technical to the romantic, including this succinct advice:
Never share your computer with your girlfriend.
At least, never share a computer if you plan on clicking around behind her back....
| Relationships | Firefox |
Whatever you do -- do not marry Harrison Ford in a movie. Nothing good can come of it, ladies.
| Mashups |
One of the most marvelous, meta-tastic mysteries I've read. After reading this Voice review I had to look up Harry Stephen Keeler to make sure the "Ed Wood of mysteries" wasn't a hoax. You can read some e-books at the HSK Society if you want to try him out. Warning: Contains racial and ethnic stereotyping.
| Mysteries | Harry Stephen Keeler | 1930s |
... from buying more Threadless T-Shirts (I have three or four now), I would totally get this Zombie / Monopoly shirt. Hey, they're only 10 bucks. Be fast because when a sale is on the shirts disappear.
| Games | T-shirts | Sales |
"Jay's hair is so unbelievably stupid, even the world of comic books could offer nothing close to the abomination occuring on his head. But if he did have a super hero alter-ego, we assume its origins would involve Boy George mating with a Magic Coral Garden."
Via Robot Filter.
| Hairstyles and Attitudes |
I love this quote:
Remembering the dilemma of Yang Chu, who weeping at the crossroads, said, "Isn't it here that you take a half step wrong and wake up a thousand miles astray?"
| Aphorisms |
Ben makes his blogging debut here, with a series of questions and answers about The Justice League. Questions are mine, answers are his.
---------------------
Q: What does Batman like to eat for dinner?
A: Batman likes to eat water in broccoli1 to make him strong and healthy. That's a superhero thing to eat.
Q: What is Superman's favorite game?
A: Superman's favorite game is jokes. He just tells jokes. He doesn't really like playing games.
Q: What is Wonder Woman's favorite animal?
A: None. Because she'll fight one if she sees one. Her favorite animal is Spider-Man. She wishes she could shoot webs like Spider-Man.2
Questions from Ben for Phil3 :
What is Green Lantern's favorite superhero?
Do you want to come over and visit?
Q: Do Hawk and Dove4 get mad at each other?
A: Sometimes, but not a lot. Not every time.
Q: What is Hawkgirl's favorite place to visit?
A: Her favorite place to visit is Supergirl's house and Wonder Woman's house. Every time they switch and go to different houses.
Q: What is the Flash's favorite book?
A: His favorite book is the Justice League of America!
-------------------
1 Not water and broccoli, but water in broccoli. Ben was very insistent on this point.
2 I haven't explained the whole DC / Marvel thing to Ben and Zach. I think that comes sometime after "why is the sky blue?" but before birds and bees. Will check Dad Manual.
3 Phil LaMarr plays Green Lantern on TV, so after the boys met him Green Lantern is now called "Phil."
4 Hawk and Dove are superhero brothers, and thus in heavy rotation in our house. See here and here for more details.
| Comics | Justice League | Superman | Batman | Wonder Woman |
And yes, this is the sound of schadenfreude.
| Polls | Your Blank of the Day |
But, you don't have to fold it.
Scale: 1/200-trillionth inch = 1 inch
Via robotwisdom. It's a robot. It's wise.
| DNA | Nanotechnology | Origami |
Thanks to your donations, we've fully funded three proposals through my DonorsChoose challenge! The Frogs and bugs, GTD for Kids, and Book making project are all going to happen thanks to Ishbadiddle readers. Thanks everyone!
I just added a new proposal to the challenge, which I was sorely tempted to rename the "Keep Carlos From Getting Hit On The Head Project".
Updated: I wanted to share with you the letter I got today about the biology project:
Dear Mr. Everett-Lane,Thank you so much for your generous donation! My class will be so excited to watch the life cycle happen in front of their eyes. Hands-on experiences make learning much more meaningful and your donation will provided an experience my class will never forget. I can't wait to send you the pictures of them enjoying the materials you have provided. At the end of our unit we will have a butterfly relaese-I'll be sure to include pictures! Thank you for your generosity!
Sincerely,
[Teacher name redacted]
Butterflies! I can't wait to see 'em.
| Philanthropy |
Via Cynical-C comes this astoundingly racist editorial from Adele Ferguson at the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal. (The Kitsap Peninsula is just to the west of Seattle.) In it, Ms. Fergusen brings out the tired argument that slavery was good for African-Americans:
Remember Ronald Reagan’s story about the kid who had to shovel a huge pile of manure? He went about it with such joy he was asked why and said, “With all that manure, there’s got to be a pony in there somewhere.”
The pony hidden in slavery is the fact that it was the ticket to America for black people. I have long urged blacks to consider their presence here as the work of God, who wanted to bring them to this raw, new country and used slavery to achieve it. A harsh life, to be sure, but many immigrants suffered hardships and indignations as indentured servants. Their descendants rose above it. You don’t hear them bemoaning their forebears’ life the way some blacks can’t rise above the fact theirs were slaves.
I cannot believe that anyone would be making this argument, in print, in 2006. I guess I'm naive that way.
You can also read Ms. Fergusen argue against the teaching of American history (presumeably Howard Zinn does not take her position on the beneficial aspects of U.S. slavery), or her take on diversity in the newsroom:
As for bringing blacks into the business, it would be silly to pull some black off the street and title him reporter just so the paper or station can have a visible black on the premises. Whether he is black or white, he has to WANT to be in the business and earn his way.
She goes on to note that locally,
Incidents of racism or civil unrest are few and far between, the only really sore spot being the antipathy between blacks and the police. Maybe, as more and more blacks join the police force, things will get better.
Of course, we can't just pull blacks off the street and force them to join the police department. They have to WANT to earn their way. Maybe then blacks will finally stop whining about racism and slavery and give our leaders the respect they deserve! (NOTE: SARCASM.)
Oh, and she once called for the slaughter of Palestinian children. As a means of achieving peace in the Middle East.
Thank goodness real journalists have editors and ethics, unlike those pesky bloggers.
You can write her editor.
Update: The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal has 404'd the article. 86'd it. Gone, with no explanation or 'nuthin. You can still read it here.
| Racism | Slavery | History | Revisionist History | Media | Washington |
Over at WordPress, their server was down. This was their message. Rather cute.
Confessions Of A ServerOH MY! Life is so unfair! What did I do wrong to be born a server in this day and age? I could have been a nice simple bicycle that people happily rode around on all day. But no, I'm stuck inside this metal case serving web pages instead. I never even see the light of day and all I can hear is the rush of the air-conditioning!
Well, no more! I'm relaxing here with a cup of tea and a biscuit until someone shows me some love and attention.
It never takes them long to fix me when I kick up a fuss so check back in a few minutes and I'll be chugging along merrily again.!
Signed,
The WordPress.com web server
(WordPress.com - where even the machines have life!)
This reminds me of the time I was on hold with Jet Blue, back in the days when they were essentially brand new, maybe five years ago. Their phone muzak was peppered, as many airlines' are, by periodic marketing messages in a chirpy, artificially upbeat female voice. I was waiting with decreasing patience when the robo-lady on the other end of the line said, "May we just say that your hair is looking fantastic today?" I immediately pledged allegiance to Jet Blue and flew them whenever I could. (Now I hear they're jacking up rates and packing in seats, so who knows where I'll go for my hold-message ego boosts?)
| Server Errors | Jet Blue |
OK, so yesterday I was snarking a bit on Ms. Rowling, and yes, you're all right, in a few years her books will probably take out the Poky Little Puppy and that Pig.
But I was reminded of another Children's Books entry on Rebecca Blood's site, wherein she discusses a set of lists (put together by The Royal Society of Literature) of top authors' recommendations of 10 books every child should read. Ms. Rowling, Philip Pullman, and others weigh in. They seem to have vastly different ideas of what "children" are. I think, actually, one would have to have (at least) three lists: Books children should read before they leave elementary school, middle school, and high school.
Ben Okri cheats, and therefore gets the best list of all -- a guide for readers, not a list of books:
- There is a secret trail of books meant to inspire and enlighten you. Find that trail.
- Read outside your own nation, colour, class, gender.
- Read the books your parents hate.
- Read the books your parents love.
- Have one or two authors that are important, that speak to you; and make their works your secret passion.
- Read widely, for fun, stimulation, escape.
- Don’t read what everyone else is reading. Check them out later, cautiously.
- Read what you’re not supposed to read.
- Read for your own liberation and mental freedom.
- Books are like mirrors. Don’t just read the words. Go into the mirror. That is where the real secrets are. Inside. Behind. That’s where the gods dream, where our realities are born.
- Read the world. It is the most mysterious book of all.
I've only read The Famished Road by Okri -- and it was great. Definitely one for the Curious Bookshelf.
So, what books are missing from their lists?
| Children's Books | J.K. Rowling | Philip Pullman | Ben Okri | The Curious Bookshelf |
Big fun this week at Big Ink with Jack "Mr. Pointy-Finger" Abramoff and his good pals John, Tom, Newt and Ken. Who no longer speak to him. And don't remember meeting him. And are kind of hoping he gets hit by a bus. Also, those wiretaps? Not such an exact science, turns out. Ooops! And Olbermann, god bless him, hangs it right on Rupert with one of the most hilarious quotes about the media I've ever seen. Andrea! Ennis! Trip! Surely you're not going to let me monopolize this prime real estate are you?
| Journalism | Politics | Media | Culture | Keith Olbermann | Jack Abramoff | NSA |
Name the top selling children's paperback book of all time (up to 2000). And the top hardback? If you thought the initials H.P. or J.K.R., you're wrong.
Via Rebecca Blood.
| Children's Books |
PUT. DOWN. THE CATNIP.
(via robot wisdom.)
|
So you're shoe shopping and your kid wants the shoes that light up when he walks, and that have a dinosaur on the side and a Pikachu on the sole and Batman on each grommet. He really really really wants those shoes. Problem: they're regular lace shoes. And he's too young to learn how to tie his shoes.
You've got three options here:
I looked at a number of "speed lace" systems at Jack Rabbit (151 7th Avenue in Brooklyn) at the iBungee system seemed to be the best solutions for toddlers. Only $5 and well worth it. It's basically a thin bungee cord you use to replace the laces, and a clamp you use to secure them. Also available online (haven't used this vendor, cheapest price that Froogle found only).
When will companies start putting "i" before everything to get on the iPod bandwagon? Remember when the hot prefix letter was "e"?
| Kid Tech | Shoes | Sinnequas |