One More Video, But It's Worth It!

via Boing Boing

Not With a Bang But With a Whimper

From CNN this morning:

As Seen on TV

Three movies in our departmental office (for professors to show to their classes):

• Bizarre Rituals


• Brain Sex III


• Star Trek ep. 102: "Darmok"

Another YouTube Post = Lazy Blogging

Yes, I know. I've been really busy at work and I haven't been sleeping well. However, here's a tidbit to tide you over. Kirk Cameron and his mustachioed friend use a banana to prove the existence of God. Not since Judas kissed Jesus at Gethsemane has fundamentalist Christianity been so homoerotic!



How many logical inconsistencies/incorrect assumptions can you spot? A prize for the astute reader who lists the most!

Highlights Of My Day

#1: I bought bunion pads. For the bunions. On my feet. It's a long story, but I can tell you it involved the immoderate use of pointe shoes during my youth. Voila - I have my grandmother's feet.

#2: This video of Hugo Chavez. If you get to the sixteenth time he inexplicably refers to George W. Bush as "Meester Danger" and you still have a straight face, you officially have no soul. Also, there are cows in the background. For the love of God, cows!

Because men hate ceiling fans?

From the MSN home page, a link for their new lifestyle feature BeJane - Home Repair for women.



I was prepared to be offended, but the actual site isn't as horrific and pandering as I feared. There's lots of information on practical things like laying a walkway, how to paint over stain, and when you should break down and hire a contractor. And the interface isn't even pink. Still, the idea of a special home repair site for women... I don't know. It seems a little patronizing. To be fair, though, I'm probably not the the best woman in the world to evaluate this site:

1. I rent. I've never owned a house, and I have no idea what kind of work goes into fixing a house. Even as a renter, though, I've had the chance to do some home repair -lite (patching holes, painting, etc.). In these cases, I've always been able to rely on my ability to read a book (or do a frickin' google search) in order to learn what I needed to know*. And not some special home repair book for ladies, just regular, old books. The idea that women need specialized information on how to fix their houses implies that they won't or can't access more traditional sources, possibly because they're too manly.


2. I'm not married. Never have been. Additionally, when I have been in the position to cohabit with a man , they've been the sort of worthless layabout that, although good looking, would be overwhelmed by the experience of picking up a paintbrush. Perhaps in more traditional couples, the male half of the couple does the home repair - I wouldn't know. However, a ladies-only site assumes that women, married or not, need this information, while dudes already have it in their heads (possibly via osmosis).

Another thing I noticed about BeJane is that, unlike 99% of msn.com features, it's not an advertisement poorly disguised as a web feature. In fact, there's almost no advertising at all - just one little ad for LowerMyBills.com. Why no advertising? Wouldn't this be the perfect place for Home Depot or Lowes or something? Hell, even blogs with no advertising are rare. What's the purpose of having a site with a targeted audience (and it doesn't get much more targeted than single female homeowners) if you're not going to make a buck off of it? How very humanitarian of them.

I hate the fact that I'm poised to be offended by this site, even though it's done nothing patently offensive. There's just too must that puts my offense-o-meter on alert.



*In the interest of full disclosure, the first thing I do before undertaking any home repair project is call my mom, who is very good a practical quick fixes. Unless I need to fix my car - then I call my youngest brother. Not because he's a dude, but because he knows stuff.

La Blonde Overheard

In Target, a woman talking to her seven-year-old daughter:

"Be quiet now. You're as bad as my momma with the Johnny Depp."

Yarrr!

Avast, ye scurvy dogs, it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day! I'll be swabbin' the decks here in the lab, and celebratin' with rum and ill-gotten booty* later tonight!

*Actually, more like bourbon and my borrowed copy of Crashing The Gate. Whatevs. Yarrrr!

UPDATE: LoadingReady provides the finer points of talking like a pirate. Go there now, me beauties!

A Week of Crabby: Things Can Only Get Better

I got home from my run tonight, and found that the empty apartment next to mine was now full. Not only were they blocking my parking spot with their car, but they are in possession of a small, odious child. I predict that this will not be a positive experience.

Crabby Extra!

Oh my sweet Christ.

via BoingBoing

A Week of Crabby: Crabby on the Road

Last night, I attended the 1-year anniversary party for the Oakland chapter of Drinking Liberally. First, few words on the city of Oakland:

• Not so much on the left turn lights


• Also, not so much on the left turn lanes


• In fact, if you're ever in Oakland, you probably shouldn't plan on making any left turns. Ever.

But I did get there (thanks for fucking nothing Google Maps), and had a great time. I was really amazed by (1) the amount of progressive energy and optimism, and (2) the sheer number of people who write for liberal blogs. Unfortunately, I can only remember two. Regardless, give them some click lovin', won't you?

Matt O. @ firedoglake

A.Citizen @ The DL Oakland Blog

Also, my favorite quote of the evening was from a guy who had spent the day phone banking, and was relaxing with a bottle of malt liquor or three:

"In the language of the metric system, we call that 'off the fuckin' hinges', dude!"

Lesson learned? If you're ever in Oakland, CA on the first or third Wednesday of the month, drop by Lukas taproom and lounge. The french fries with curry mustard are fantastic. Be prepared to make a lot of right turns.

A Week of Crabby: You might say I'm crabby, but I'm not the only one

Bill Maher, to the Onion AV Club:

People come up to me all the time and say, "This [America] is such a stupid country." And it is. Unfortunately, it is. It has millions of bright people in it. I like to think that they comprise a good part of my audience. But there's no doubt about it, it's a stupid country. It was in The New York Times last week that when they asked the question "Do you think human beings evolved from an earlier species of animal?" the only Western nation that responded "no" more often than America was Turkey. Thirty different countries, including Bulgaria. Ooh, that one hurt. I got to say, that hurt. That was like a knife in the gut. Even Bulgaria gets it about evolution more than we do. That's a stupid country.

Read the rest of the interview here

A Week of Crabby: Hits From The Blog

The following Google searches have brought people here in the last week:

• Sinful Ladies


• Emo conservative magazine


• trannies parisienne


• how to look attractive daily


• blonde Jared Leto


• it really bothers me when


• "russias greatest love machine"


• colon cleanliness


• castration


• i'm ashamed

I think that makes two of us. All in all, a pretty fair summary of what goes on here.

A Week of Crabby: Day One

What's my problem? Who knows. I'm crabby.

I love Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations show (Mondays at 10 on the Travel Channel) almost as much as I love the man himself.

...but if he describes one more place as "a land of contrasts" I'm gonna punch my TV.

I *Heart* The Friday Random Ten

My God, there's no Bowie, no Elvis Costello. I barely recognize it...

Cemetery Gates - The Smiths
Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad - Meat Loaf
FM - Steely Dan
Indiana Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor
No One Is To Blame - Howard Jones
Babe - Styx
Different Drum - Linda Ronstadt
Instant Happiness - Gary Reynolds
Faithfully - Journey
Hard To Say I'm Sorry/ Get Away - Chicago

Today In Bad Ideas, Part Deux

A man in South Bend, Indiana was huffing a can of compressed air. Perhaps not the best life choice, but things didn't go really bad until the propellent was ignited. By the cigarette he was smoking. While he huffed. The can - and the huffer - promptly exploded.

And people say I'm a dumb ass.

Via Daily Rotten

Good News Overload

I've gotten so used to depressing news, I'm not sure I can stand it. They're gonna find me slumped over at my desk with big-ass smile on my face. Dead at 29 from acute optimism.

Item 1: Nature Magazine is reporting that Pope Benedict the whatever-th will come out against intelligent design, following meetings with a philosopher, a Jesuit priest and a molecular biologist at his annual retreat. (Link is subscription only, unless you're on a university network.) The proceedings will be published later this year. According to the article:

...discussions at the meeting suggest that the Church will probably affirm a form of theistic evolution, which posits the general principle that biological evolution is valid, although set in motion by God. At the same time, it seems likely to reject the fundamental intelligent-design principle that God was a watchmaker, intervening in the details. "Intelligent design as an intervention of God during evolution will not be an outcome," predicts Schuster [The above-mentioned molecular biologist, and also the president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences]. "I got the impression that there was general agreement that evolutionary biology is a undeniable science and not a hypothesis."

Item 2: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has postponed the vote on Bolton's nomination to the UN. Richard Lugar, a Republican Senator from Indiana (Grrrrr) has not said why the vote was postponed, but you don't have to read too far between the lines. In fact, it's so easy, I'll do it for you: (From the Reuters article)

Given Democratic opposition to Bolton's nomination, all Republicans on the committee would have to back him in order to send his name to the Senate with a full endorsement. Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who is locked in a tight re-election bid, has not publicly said how he would vote.

Wow, fascism sure is hard when rubber-stamping the president becomes a political liability!

via Kos and Atrios, a.k.a. 'The Big Dogs'.

Isn't that nice? That's what it feels like when every day doesn't bring a fresh excursion into the depths of bowel-twisting dispair!

I Love Google Ads

While reading an article on methamphetamine use the other day, I found this, and just had to take a screen shot:



Google Ads: Givin'The People What They Want

The Previous Post

Was removed. Not because of any problem, but because I'm still not comfortable with the whole anonymity thing. I was nervous about somebody I know in real life finding it. Too bad, too, because I was getting some good advice!

More Lies From The Liberal Media

On August 29th, a Chicago girl was bitten by her pet monkey. Although both the web page and the accompanying video unambiguously describe the animal as a spider monkey, if you watch the video you will see that it is obviously, obviously a rhesus macaque. How about some goddamned accountability in reporting?

In other news, Fergie's new song, "London Bridge" sure does suck some ass, doesn't it?

Friday Random Ten

It appears that I've got one ecclectic-ass music library. Whatever. I'm going shopping tomorrow.

Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Will To Love - Dreams Come True
If She Wants Me - Belle and Sebastian
Honky Tonk Women - The Rolling Stones
Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution - AC/DC
Purple Rain - Prince
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours - Stevie Wonder
Belive - Cher
Take On Me - Ah Ha

I'm A Very Bad Girl

It's the Friday before a long weekend.

Neither my boss or the lab manager will be in today. I'm flying solo.

Got paid today.

One must ask oneself: what would a mature, responsible scientist do?

Would she burn illicit mix CDs?

Would she spend the morning reading dKos?

Would she print out directions for her big weekend shopping trip?

No, she would not.

Screw it. I don't have shelf space for that Nobel anyway.

More bloggy goodness, including the Friday Random Ten, to come. Stay tuned!