Coming to Kindle and Smashwords
November 2013
Jun 29, 2012
Jun 28, 2012
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours at 35
I'm a huge fan of Fleetwood Mac's California cocaine trilogy of Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, and Tusk. It's amazing that this year Rumours turns 35. Ken Caillat, who co-produced and engineered the record, has just written a new book that I'm really looking forward to reading titled "Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album." From a CNN interview with Caillat
after all these years, still brillant.........................,,
Like Tears in the Rain, by Gareth Branwyn
Jun 27, 2012
Jun 26, 2012
the good ole days..........
Creeptastic video of Bolaj Badejo rehearsing in his Alien mask
Collector of anomalies, esoterica, and curiosities.
Deeply creepy test footage from Alien (1979) of alien actor Bolaji Badejo slithering around The Nostromo in a prototype costume head. Posts one YouTube commenter: "movie about a tall skinny black serial killer in space that wears an oblong black mask would be awesome"
Jun 22, 2012
Jun 21, 2012
gotta luv it.............
Infinite Schwarzenegger "Gear Up" scene
Fond as all civilized people are of 1980s action movie "gear up" scenes, it is often noted that Mark Lester's Commando contains the genre's highest point of achievement. In the 1985 classic, Arnold Schwarzenegger's protagonist conducts an amphibious landing on a tropical beach. Unbundling his cargo, it is revealed to be an astounding collection of weapons, all of which he attaches to his person in a perfectly edited montage of exaggerated gestures and sound effects. So excellent is it that its influence was felt immediately from B-movies to arcade games — and yet it lasts but 30 seconds
royale w/t cheese M**ha F**ker
Lead Breakfast (and how Pogo makes 'em)
From Pogo, of Alice fame. [Video Link]
Update: Pogo has a howto explaining his methods, so you can learn to make your own mashups
Jun 20, 2012
Jun 18, 2012
dig it.......
Datamancer's Seafarer keyboard: brassy, nautical steampunk confection
The latest Datamancer keyboard is the Seafarer:
Coming Soon! We recently decided to try our hands at some brass-casting
and this is the first result, "The Seafarer", an intensely ornate,
nautically-themed keyboard with a worn-in, weather-beaten aesthetic. It
features a gold foil map faceplate, protected by thick acrylic, spiral
cut rods, and engraved gold metallic keys.
We plan to make several more cast brass designs in the near future, so feel free to join the mailing list to stay informed of their availability
HOWTO think like Alan Turing
There was something about Turing that made his friends and family want
to compose rhymes. His proud father openly admitted that he hadn't the
vaguest idea what his son's mathematical inquiries were about, but it
was all good anyway. "I don't know what the 'ell 'e meant / But that is
what 'e said 'e meant," John wrote to Alan, who took delight in reading
the couplet to friends.
His fellow students sang songs about him at the dinner table: "The maths brain lies often awake in his bed / Doing logs to ten places and trig in his head."
His gym class colleagues even sang his praises as a linesman: "Turing's fond of the football field / For geometric problems the touch-lines yield."
Turing's favorite physical activity, however, was running, especially the long-distance variety. "He would amaze his colleagues by running to scientific meetings," Hodges writes, "beating the travelers by public transport." He even came close to a shot at the 1948 Olympic Games, a bid cut short by an injury
Jun 15, 2012
Michigan leads the way.....
Brown, a Democrat, argued that her Jewish faith allowed for therapeutic abortions when the mother's life is in danger without regard to length of pregnancy.
"I have not asked you to adopt and adhere to my religious beliefs. Why are you asking me to adopt yours?" she said. But what came next is what got her in trouble: "And finally, Mr. Speaker, I'm flattered that you're all so interested my vagina, but 'no' means 'no.'"
The Detroit News reports today the House Republican leadership did not allow Brown to speak on a bill about the retirement of school employees.
Jun 14, 2012
Jun 13, 2012
Jun 12, 2012
Jun 8, 2012
Jun 7, 2012
Jun 6, 2012
Wisconsin Recall (DAMN!!!) Vote: Exit Poll Shows Key To Scott Walker Victory
WASHINGTON -- The published exit poll
points to a reasonably clear explanation for how Scott Walker prevailed
in the Wisconsin recall election. Walker held much of the vote he
received in 2010, and while Democratic challenger Tom Barrett prevailed
narrowly among the new voters, it was not enough to overcome Walker's
support.
The final unofficial turnout (2.5 million) exceeded the 2.16 million who voted in the 2010 race that elected Walker as governor, but fell short of the 2.98 million that gave President Barack Obama a 14-point victory in the state in 2008.
The exit poll, conducted by Edison Research for the National Election Pool consortium, shows that 13 percent of the 2012 voters did not participate in 2010, and they favored Barrett by a 53 percent to 45 percent margin. That result was positive for Barrett. Unfortunately, these self-reports also imply that Walker did a better job than Barrett of turning out 2010 supporters. Those who voted this year reported supporting Walker in 2010 by a larger margin (47 percent to 34 percent) than Walker actually enjoyed. According to the exit polls, both candidates held over 94 percent of their 2010 vote.
Consistent with that turnout pattern, the percentage of the 2012 voters who identified as conservative (36 percent) fell slightly short of the levels of the 2010 election (37 percent), but ran ahead of what voters reported in 2008 (31 percent) and 2006 (26 percent).
The recall was often framed by both sides as a battle between Walker and Wisconsin's labor unions, but those lines were somewhat blurred on voting day. Walker won 38 percent of the vote among members of union households, exit polling shows, roughly reflecting the partisan breakdown among union members.
Those numbers are nearly identical to 2010, when Walker won among 37 percent of union household members in his race against Barrett for governor. Walker's foes had hoped that number would shrink. "If that doesn't change, then congratulations, they will have formed their own suicide squad," former Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentin
The final unofficial turnout (2.5 million) exceeded the 2.16 million who voted in the 2010 race that elected Walker as governor, but fell short of the 2.98 million that gave President Barack Obama a 14-point victory in the state in 2008.
The exit poll, conducted by Edison Research for the National Election Pool consortium, shows that 13 percent of the 2012 voters did not participate in 2010, and they favored Barrett by a 53 percent to 45 percent margin. That result was positive for Barrett. Unfortunately, these self-reports also imply that Walker did a better job than Barrett of turning out 2010 supporters. Those who voted this year reported supporting Walker in 2010 by a larger margin (47 percent to 34 percent) than Walker actually enjoyed. According to the exit polls, both candidates held over 94 percent of their 2010 vote.
Consistent with that turnout pattern, the percentage of the 2012 voters who identified as conservative (36 percent) fell slightly short of the levels of the 2010 election (37 percent), but ran ahead of what voters reported in 2008 (31 percent) and 2006 (26 percent).
The recall was often framed by both sides as a battle between Walker and Wisconsin's labor unions, but those lines were somewhat blurred on voting day. Walker won 38 percent of the vote among members of union households, exit polling shows, roughly reflecting the partisan breakdown among union members.
Those numbers are nearly identical to 2010, when Walker won among 37 percent of union household members in his race against Barrett for governor. Walker's foes had hoped that number would shrink. "If that doesn't change, then congratulations, they will have formed their own suicide squad," former Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentin
So it was the hand that started it all . . . His hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms . . . His hands were ravenous
Ray Bradbury Dead: 'Fahrenheit 451' Author Dies At 91
Trinity: the birth of nuclear weapons in graphic novel form
Jonathan Fetter-Vorm's Trinity is a nonfiction book-length comic for adults about the birth of nuclear weapons. It covers the wartime events that spawned the idea of a nuclear weapons program, the intense period of wrangling that gave rise to the Manhattan Project, the strange scientific town in the New Mexico desert that created the A-bomb, the tactical and political decision-making process that led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the unspeakable horror experienced by the people in those cities and the existential crises the Nuclear Age triggered for scientists, politicians, and the world at large. Though this is primarily a history book, Trinity is also a pretty good nuclear physics primer, making good use of the graphic novel form to literally illustrate the violence of atoms tearing themselves apart, and the weird, ingenious, improvised mechanisms for triggering and controlling that violence.
Jun 1, 2012
Zombie Apocalypse: CDC Denies Existence Of Zombies Despite Cannibal Incidents
The horrific face-eating arrest in Miami and several other seemingly subhuman acts has many people wondering what's behind this flesh-munching wave of terror.
A zombie apocalypse, however, is not what we should be worried about, at least according to the federal government.
But recently, some have found truth stranger than fiction.
"Action must be taken now before an outbreak!" an anonymous reader told The Huffington Post. "Zombies may be subdued by destroying the brain or removing the head. It is now your responsibility to prevent the apocalypse."
A zombie apocalypse, however, is not what we should be worried about, at least according to the federal government.
Over the years the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a couple of tongue-in-cheek "zombie warnings," which really are just disaster-preparedness stunts. But on Thursday, the agency made it official: Zombies don't exist.
"CDC does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead (or one that would present zombie-like symptoms)," wrote agency spokesman David Daigle in an email to The Huffington Post.Nevertheless, recent incidents in which humans reportedly ate human flesh have the Internet in a firestorm, with "zombie apocalypse" being Google's third most popular search term by Friday morning.
The zombie craze seemed to start with an attack in Miami on Saturday, when Rudy Eugene, 31, was killed by cops while in the process of eating almost the entirety of a homeless man's face off. The victim, Ronald Poppo, miraculously survived, but doctors are having a hard time figuring out how to put his face back together.
ZOM-BIE: n. also ZOM-BIES pl. 1. An animated corpse that feeds on living human flesh. 2. A voodoo spell that raises the dead. 3. A Voodoo snake god. 4. One who moves or acts in a daze "like a zombie." [a word of West African origin] - Max Brooks, "The Zombie Survival Guide"
Then, on Tuesday, 21-year-old Alexander Kinyua of Maryland allegedly admitted to dismembering his roommate and then eating his heart and brain.
Cops in Canada are also searching for a low-budget porn actor who allegedly killed a young man with an ice pick, dismembered the body and then raped and ate flesh from the corpse. Luka Rocco Magnotta is being hunted after he allegedly mailed some of the body parts to Ottawa. He's also accused of killing cats on video and posting the footage online.
Gawker fingered a "mysterious rash" breakout at a high school in Hollywood and other parts of Florida -- which hazmat and disease control teams still can't explain -- as further proof that zombies are taking over.
Zombie-like characteristics have been confirmed in the animal kingdom, just not in humans. A newfound fungus in a Brazilian rain forest -- called Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani -- is known to infect an ant, take over its brain so as to move the body to a good location for growth, and then kill the insect.
Yet Daigle dismissed "fictional viruses" like Ataxic Neurodegenrative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome, noting that other triggers have been alleged to cause zombie-like symptoms.
"Films have included radiation as well as mutations of existing conditions such as prions, mad-cow disease, measles, and rabies," he said.But recently, some have found truth stranger than fiction.
"Action must be taken now before an outbreak!" an anonymous reader told The Huffington Post. "Zombies may be subdued by destroying the brain or removing the head. It is now your responsibility to prevent the apocalypse."
Jay Townsend, GOP Spokesman: 'Let's Hurl Some Acid At Those Female Democratic Senators'
A spokesman for Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) is facing criticism after advocating violence against female Democratic senators in a Facebook post.
Jay Townsend, the official campaign spokesman for the freshman representative, went on a vicious online rant on Saturday, which he began by taunting a constituent who voiced criticism about an earlier post on gas prices. "Listen to Tom. What a little bee he has in his bonnet. Buzz Buzz," Townsend wrote.
"My question today... when is Tommy boy going to weigh in on all the Lilly Ledbetter hypocrites who claim to be fighting the War on Women? Let’s hurl some acid at those female democratic Senators who won’t abide the mandates they want to impose on the private sector."
Another commenter: "Mr. Townsend, do you think we live in Afghanistan?"
Jay Townsend, the official campaign spokesman for the freshman representative, went on a vicious online rant on Saturday, which he began by taunting a constituent who voiced criticism about an earlier post on gas prices. "Listen to Tom. What a little bee he has in his bonnet. Buzz Buzz," Townsend wrote.
"My question today... when is Tommy boy going to weigh in on all the Lilly Ledbetter hypocrites who claim to be fighting the War on Women? Let’s hurl some acid at those female democratic Senators who won’t abide the mandates they want to impose on the private sector."
He attached a link to a Free Beacon article that claims female senators pay their male staffers more than their female staffers.
A moderator of the NY19 U.S. House of Representatives Civil Discussion Center page responded to Townsend, asking him to "please refrain from calling our members names." The unnamed moderator also asked if Hayworth knew about his comments or whether he had "gone rogue."
Comments from outraged constituents quickly followed. "'Hurl some acid' Jay Townsend? Do you realize what that means?" wrote one person. "Acid attacks are particularly brutal, aimed almost solely at women, with the intent to maim and disfigure. I couldn't imagine a worse piece of invective from someone who puts the Republican war on women in quotes." Another commenter: "Mr. Townsend, do you think we live in Afghanistan?"
In his defense the food at the grinder sucked.......
Alexander Kinyua Ate Kujoe Agyei-Kodie's Brain, Heart In Maryland, Cops Say
Alexander Kinyua allegedly admitted to killing his roommate, then eating his heart and portions of his brain.
In yet another horrifying incident of human flesh-eating this week, a student in Maryland allegedly admitted to devouring his roommate's brain and heart.
Officers searched the house and arrested Kinyua. The man allegedly confessed a shocking revelation: not only had he killed Agyei-Kodie by cutting him up with a knife and then dismembered him, he ingested parts of the victim's brain and all of his heart. He then allegedly dropped most of the remains in a Dumpster behind a church in Joppatowne.
It's yet unclear what Kinyua's motive may have been, but he was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday. In another incident on May 20, he was charged with first-degree assault when he allegedly beat a fellow student randomly with a baseball bat and then fled into the woods.
Alexander Kinyua, a 21-year-old Morgan State University student, admitted to murdering his roommate Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, who was reported missing last Friday, cops told the Baltimore Sun.
Kinyua's father called police late Tuesday night when Kinyua's brother reportedly found human remains -- a head and two hands -- in a metal tin in the basement. The brother and father left the room for a short time, but when they came back, the body parts had been moved and Kinyua was washing out the tin, the paper reported.Officers searched the house and arrested Kinyua. The man allegedly confessed a shocking revelation: not only had he killed Agyei-Kodie by cutting him up with a knife and then dismembered him, he ingested parts of the victim's brain and all of his heart. He then allegedly dropped most of the remains in a Dumpster behind a church in Joppatowne.
It's yet unclear what Kinyua's motive may have been, but he was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday. In another incident on May 20, he was charged with first-degree assault when he allegedly beat a fellow student randomly with a baseball bat and then fled into the woods.
The gruesome case comes on the heels of a similar attack in Miami on Saturday, in which Rudy Eugene, 31, was killed by cops while in the process of chewing off most of a homeless man's face.
Ronald Poppo, 65, is alive, but the bizarre flesh-eating attack left doctors with a literal puzzle in how to put his face back together.
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