Groonk's Newsmine 2.0: June 2005 Archives

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June 30, 2005

What Grokster may have taught Us

The high court did a lot of things right in Grokster. But defending the rights of copyright holders in the face of disruptive new technologies does not demand protecting outmoded ways of selling products. It's time for the entertainment industry to accept the inevitable and stop trying to use the courts to put a leash on unpredictable new technologies.

In the end, the business model in the entertainment industry is going to change, and these companies can either find a way to insert themselves into the new order, or risk finding themselves frozen out forever.

(via wirednews)

Posted by Groonk at 01:09 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Digital Share

Harry Potter as...

...the Simpsons

Posted by Groonk at 02:15 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny

Kong IS King

Jack Black almost consumed by insects?

(Yay!)

T-rexes love the ladies?

(Tasty.)

One REALLY BIG ape?

(I'm talking giganta-normous here.)

Must be the King Kong trailer.

(via dunc!, cause I'm so behind on entertainment news that it ain't even funny. I mean, damn, I got future groonklets to feed.)

Posted by Groonk at 01:16 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Trailers

June 29, 2005

Communist propaganda posters collected

A pauper's graveyard full of vintage propaganda posters from Russia.

The gun to the back while viewing is optional.

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 05:57 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art

Google Earth

Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips.

As luck would have it, the sucker isn't working right now.

Google appreciates my patience though.

They don't know a damn thing about me, do they?

update 7/2/05: Ponzu sends a Major Geeks link that's still Google Earth active.

Time to play.

(via undrew)

Posted by Groonk at 05:47 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Apps, Google-fied

Can We Say, "Overcompensation"?

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.

The tower, to be a centerpiece of the rebuilding plan for the World Trade Center site, is to rise 1,776 feet -- a nod to the year the United States declared its independence. The height was originally proposed a year ago by architect Daniel Libeskind, since designated the site's master planner.

In addition, a broadcast antenna attached to the tower is to bring the structure's total height above 2,000 feet.

I knew you could.

(via ponzu)

Posted by Groonk at 05:38 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of USA

A Jedi Craves these things

Mr. Jamie Reed (Copeland) (Lab): I crave the indulgence of the House in interrupting such an important and enjoyable debate to deliver my maiden speech. Furthermore, as the first Jedi Member of this place, I look forward to the protection under the law that will be provided to me by the Bill. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mr. Malik) for his convincing and searing testimony in support of the proposed legislation. It will be a privilege to serve alongside him.

I don't know what Bill Parliament Member Jamie Reed is talking about. You have to ctrl+f to find the bit on the page about being a jedi.

(via ponzu)

Posted by Groonk at 05:17 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Politics, Religion

Particle Archimedes

BALTIMORE (AP) - A particle accelerator is being used to reveal the long-lost writings of the Greek mathematician Archimedes, work hidden for centuries after a Christian monk wrote over it in the Middle Ages.

Highly focused X-rays produced at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center were used last week to begin deciphering the parts of the 174-page text that have not yet been revealed. The X-rays cause iron in the hidden ink to glow.

"One of the delightful things is we don't know what it's going to say," said William Noel, head of the Archimedes Palimpsest project at the Walters Art Gallery.

Scholars believe the treatise was copied by a scribe in the 10th century from Archimedes' original Greek scrolls, written in the third century B.C.

It was erased about 200 years later by a monk who reused the parchment for a prayer book, creating a twice-used parchment book known as a "palimpsest." In the 12th century, parchment - scraped and dried animal skins - was rare and costly, and Archimedes' works were in less demand.

So priceless history and knowledge was (almost) destroyed by religious zeal.

Typical.

(via 7d)

Posted by Groonk at 05:03 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, Science

Dogs of the Dead

Ellis beat me to the 'Zombie Dogs' title.

SCIENTISTS have created eerie zombie dogs, reanimating the canines after several hours of clinical death in attempts to develop suspended animation for humans.

US scientists have succeeded in reviving the dogs after three hours of clinical death, paving the way for trials on humans within years.

Pittsburgh's Safar Centre for Resuscitation Research has developed a technique in which subject's veins are drained of blood and filled with an ice-cold salt solution.

The animals are considered scientifically dead, as they stop breathing and have no heartbeat or brain activity.

But three hours later, their blood is replaced and the zombie dogs are brought back to life with an electric shock.

How exactly do they know the dogs are normal once brought back from the briney deep? It's not like we can ask them.

Wyld Stalyns technology has yet to be achieved.

(via warrenellis)

Posted by Groonk at 04:13 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Research, Science

June 28, 2005

Slashdot Interviews: Blogosphere's Wil Wheaton

Wheaton shares thoughts on the industry and other things in this Slashdot e-interview:

Of course, you must have some inherent talent to create good work, but your question implies that you've already got that part of it worked out. I'm trying to show you how you can take your talent, use it to create something, and then take your creation to an audience.

* You want to publish a book? It's easier than ever to create an e-book with free software like Scribus and OpenOffice.org, and use a service like PayPalDownloads to deliver it.

* You want to release your music? Garageband will host your files and connect you with people who want to hear you.

* You have a great idea for a play? There are 99 seat Equity-waiver theaters in every big city in America.

* Don't want to shop your brilliant short film to myopic studio buyers who are just going to steal your idea anyway? Produce it yourself! Film it on digital video, edit it on your Mac, and create your own DVDs.

* When you've got a physical product to sell, PayPal will process payments for you and create shipping labels you can print, or you can use a service like Yahoo Shopping to do your fulfillment.

If you've got passion, you believe in yourself, and you're willing to take financial risks, you don't need anyone's permission to release your work. Your success or failure won't be left in the hands of anyone else. You are in charge, and you'll sink or swim based upon your efforts. I'll repeat, as the voice of experience: You do not need the so-called traditional channels of distribution to get your work to an audience, and you'll probably be happier and more successful by not going through those channels.

I must keep these thoughts in mind.

(via slashdot)

Posted by Groonk at 06:54 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books, Interviews, Quotables

Four Word Film Review

Watch. Rate. Share. Drink.

The fwfr is a film review site like no other- an ever expanding collection of extremely brief film reviews and summaries. Submissions are welcomed from anyone- the only condition being no more than four words may be used.

(via AJ)

Posted by Groonk at 05:28 PM | Comments (1) | Ministry of Movies

Animals in Trouble

This guy has a small fortunte in photos of pregnant animals.

The photo comments are strange and downright creepy. Labeling this pregnant husky pic as "wonderful" is not the sign of a man in this world.

Probably it looks bizarre, but I very much like to see pregnant animals. I very much love to look at their huge, distended bellys. I have female dog named Marta, and each year she becomes pregnant, and I very like to observe her and touch her inflated belly. It's great!

Whatever you say, "Skunky".

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 04:32 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals

Art of Science

color coded critters

Tons of eye pleasing images taken from all fields in the science community now featured in the 1st Annual Art of Scince contest.

Shown above, ants color marked for lab study.

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 04:10 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art

Knew I was on a list Somewhere

WASHINGTON (AP) - Bloggers who built their Internet followings with anti-establishment prose are now lobbying the establishment to protect their livelihoods from federal regulations.

Some are even working with lawyers, public-relations consultants and a political action committee to do it.

"I like to think of myself as just a guy with a blog, but it's clear that 'just a guy with a blog' is different today than it was when I started three years ago," said Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of the Web log . "One sign of having arrived is when government regulators start wanting to poke their fingers into what you do."www.DailyKos.com

(via mywaynews)

Posted by Groonk at 04:01 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged

Comparing Pottery

Ever noticed how American bookcovers are lame, tame and otherwise uninteresting?

I mean, honestly, which one of these looks like the more interesting read?

US Cover

UK Cover

Seriously, which one? Uncle Fluffy stirring up some pea soup or Grandpa Fire getting ready to burn your ass with the bootleg he made in his footy tub.

I've also got chapter pics from other Hary Potter books and book covers from other countries.

I'm gearing up for The Half-Blood Prince. Can you tell?

Posted by Groonk at 03:39 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books

Real World Houses

I guess if you feel nostalgic about 7 whiny-ass bastards drinking to overflow every night and banging every hole in sight who then wonder why people think they're tramps afterwards; you could visit their ex-houses.

Posted by Groonk at 03:28 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture

June 27, 2005

NJ Junior found 1888 Whitman Interview

According to the article in the February 1888 edition of the paper, two young men visit Whitman at his Mickle Street house in Camden, where the elderly writer discusses the education of a writer.

He tells them to practice their craft and to break conventional models instead of writing traditional "poetry."

"First, don't write poetry; second ditto; third ditto," Whitman says. "You may be surprised to hear me say so, but there is no particular need of poetic expression. We are utilitarian, and the current cannot be stopped."

Whitman advised them to carry a pencil and piece of paper to jot down daily events. He even suggested they get their hands dirty in the mechanics of printing.

"Whack away at everything pertaining to literary life - mechanical part as well as the rest. Learn to set type, learn to work at the 'case,' learn to be a practical printer, and whatever you do learn condensation," Whitman said.

Kukawski said she combed through the newspapers' dusty pages to try to learn about what students at the time thought about education and the famous writer, but she didn't expect to find actual words from Whitman there. Then she saw the interview.

[...]

Folsom was not surprised that The Signal interview includes the advice to avoid poetry, saying Whitman equated accepted poetry with conventional form and style. But he said the call to learn printing was especially interesting.

"If you're going to write some unconventional stuff that's going to challenge people's thinking, you may damn well need to publish the things yourself," he said.

(link via 7d)

Posted by Groonk at 06:46 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Interviews

Ninja Mind Control

"monkey steals the peach"

A book on how to put The Claw on some guy's balls.

(via flickr)

Posted by Groonk at 06:31 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books, Martial Arts

The Ego Machine

Playing off the self-esteem theme, digital artist David Sullivan's contribution to the show is the Ego Machine, a project that uses Google to project Sullivan's soul into the future and puts the fun back into funeral.

"The vanity of death memorials parallels in some ways the use of the internet as a vanity mirror, as shown by the practice of Googling your own name, or accumulating links to your website," said Sullivan. "And a lot of geeky interests, like robots, artificial intelligence, and DNA replication or cloning all speak to the urge for immortality that drives so much of technology."

Sullivan said he wanted to create an urn that was visually interesting, allowed some user interactivity and referenced the physical body. He decided that his remains will be integrated into a computer processor. A virtual agent running on the computer that contains his ashes will scour the web for mentions of his name. As the mentions increase, an on-screen image of Sullivan will morph into an image of his younger self. But if the mentions decline, Sullivan's image will age, deteriorate and eventually fade away.

(via wired)

Posted by Groonk at 06:10 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture

No Disassemble!

This idiocy happened during the groonk.net blackout.

"It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of -- and the allegations -- by people who were held in detention, people who hate America, people that had been trained in some instances to disassemble -- that means not tell the truth."
--President George W. Bush

Disassemble means 'to take apart'. 'Dissemble' means 'to disguise or conceal behind a false appearance'.

You got that, Johnny 5?

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 06:10 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Grammar, Politics, Quotables

Soda Can Stove

A beverage can stove is a homemade, ultra-light backpacking stove. The simple design is made entirely from cans (typically soft drink or beer cans) and burns denatured alcohol. Countless variations on the basic design exist. Pepsi cans are often used because they have a bottom shape that lends itself to securing the stove's inner wall, and because of this the stoves are sometimes called Pepsi can stoves. The stove weighs 0.4 oz (10 g) and will boil two cups of water in five minutes with two tablespoons of fuel.

Of course, junkies already know about this.

(via wikipedia)

Posted by Groonk at 05:43 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Research

"tom cruise shot oprah with a scientology beam"

Honestly, this makes more sense to me than the un-altered clip.

Hopefully, I'll be over this Cruise-bashing thing by tomorrow.

(title and clip via ponzu)

Posted by Groonk at 12:33 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny

Beware Monkey Defecation!

According to an Adult Swim bump before a recently censored Robot Chicken(Operation Rich in Spirit) you can show a monkey and you can show poo; but you can't show a monkey making poo.

Censors are crazy.

Watch this space for the original promo.

(inspired by the fine folks at [Adult Swim])

Posted by Groonk at 02:58 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Marketing

June 26, 2005

MONSTER LIST: On Beard Care

Galleries. Grooming. Success Stories. Featured Beards. Videos. Styles.

Any fucking thing you could ever want to know or find out about beards.

(I'm just jealous cause it still takes me days to grow stubble.)

Strangely, Katie Holmes could not be found anywhere on the site.

(via b55seddel)

Posted by Groonk at 11:14 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture

Your Window to the World of Bearded Babies

So, your baby has a beard. Don't worry - you are not alone.
Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of babies with beards are born each year. The history of shame and secrets has come to an end. Hold your baby up to the light of the sun and let the beards flow freely! We are entering a new era of social maturity and tolerance...

What world do they live in?

Anywho, a slightly weird, definitely off-center, site about hairy little children.

Babies with beards was brought to you by http://www.secretlair.com/. I honestly don't know why.

(via b55seddel)

Posted by Groonk at 11:03 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Weird

June 25, 2005

Why Don't we Help Them Too?

Robert Mugabe has been a busy little dictator of Zimbawe.

Below includes a before and after sat pic of the destruction of a 200,000-person shantytown on the outskirts of Harare:

There are reports the bulldozers don't even hesitate to maim children. And now Robert Mugabe, the "statesman" has prohibited the growing of food in backyards in a country that encounters severe famine for years already. For more information visit websites like AllAfrica.com, ZimDaily.com, ZWNews.com and especially The Zimbabwe Situation, which compiles all other media reports on the deterioration of the former food-box of Southern Africa.

and:

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe said on Friday that the removal of illegal homes and market stalls was part of a bid to fight crime and clean up cities.

But the opposition says the demolitions - codenamed Operation Restore Order - are meant to punish urban residents, who rejected him in recent elections.

At least three children have been crushed to death during the operation.

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 08:09 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of World

$4500K to Clear Negative Energy

...the E-Meter, the "religious artifact" used by the "Church" of Scientology to detect and clear "engrams" -- negative energy left behind by unhappy events in this life or lives gone past.

I won't be bothered to post a pic of the thing.

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 08:05 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Myth

Wakey Wakey, Smells like Bakey

Boingboing says:

The Wake n' Bacon is a prototype for an alarm clock that wakes you to the smell of cooking bacon. It accomplishes this by means of a computer-controlled homemade EasyBake lightbulb oven, into which you load a slice of bacon in a pan every night before bed. Twenty minutes before your alarm goes off, the oven begins slow-cooking the pork-product.

They also mention that it's probably not the best idea toleave pork out overnight.

Duh!

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 08:01 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology

Fight those Werewolves

Noting that casting one's own ammo is becoming a dying art, and that this might mean the extinction of silver bullets, this article describes the process required for casting your own werewolf-slayers

I bet they still kill up humans something fierce too.

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 07:56 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture

There's no Soy Ooze in "Soyuz"

I was looking for a Young Frankenstein wav.

In the delightful film "Young Frankenstein", Marty Feldman ("Igor") insists to Gene Wilder ("Dr. Frankenstein") that his name be pronounced the way he wants, to sound like "Eye-Gore". But anyone who knows their Tolstoy realizes that real Russians pronounce it "Ee-Gore". And in the final analysis, the people who own the names should determine how they are pronounced.

[...]

But "Soyuz" is a problem. The "y" is deceptive. In the standard orthography for transliteration from cyrillic into latin latters, the "yu" stands for a specific Russian letter, so it can't be split. This makes the syllables So-Yuz, not Soy-Uz.

Posted by Groonk at 02:46 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Grammar

It's in Virginia and California

Once customers have filled an initial prescription with the pharmacist, they can register to retrieve and pay for their refills at a vending machine inside the store--even when the pharmacy counter isn't open. Consumers order their refills in the usual way, either online or by phone. A pharmacist then fills the script and places packaged medicines in the machine. To pick up the order, consumers log on with a user name and password and swipe a credit or debit card. Their pre-wrapped package drops into the bin.

(via teknesia)

Posted by Groonk at 02:23 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of USA

June 24, 2005

Classic

I would stay away from any news about Tom Cruise but this shit made me laugh so hard.

"I would have mentioned that Cruise failed in high school because he was diagnosed as being dyslexic, but since there"s clearly no such thing, that pretty much leaves "he's a moron." Do whatever you have to to never have a heart attack around Tom Cruise, cause he would just use his medical expertise to put some duct tape on your chest and give you some gumdrops. And then he would convince you that the defibrillator and paramedics who later saved your life really didn't save your life. Just like people who improve on meds like Stratera and Ritalin haven"t really improved on meds like Stratera and Ritalin."
--The Superficial

Honestly, Cruise, just "come out" and party Rupert Everett style. Maybe that'll keep you quiet cause there's enough crazy in this world without you adding to it.

The crazier bits of the Lauer/Cruise interview transcript can be found on Drudge's site. It's worth it just to read that Matt Lauer said, "googley-gook".

(via thesuperficial)

Posted by Groonk at 07:56 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables

June 23, 2005

History of the Batmobile

This site covers all visions of Batman's ride. Every last one. Even concepts that never made the page or saw screen time.

That's one obssessive geek.

H R Giger's Bat-vision

The site also points out the hidden bat design in the Batman Begins movie.

crouching bat

All hail obssessive geeks of geekonia.

(link via mattfraction)

Posted by Groonk at 05:25 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture

June 22, 2005

" No one, however, had scrutinized as many brains as Witelson."

She began by studying the corpus callosum, the cable of nerves that channels all communication and cooperation between the brain's two hemispheres.

Examining tissue samples through a microscope, she discovered that the more left-handed a person was, the bigger the corpus callosum.

To her surprise, however, she found that this held true only for men. Among women there was no difference between right-handers and left-handers.

"Once you find this one difference," she remembered thinking, "it implies that there will be a cascade of differences."

As she systematically analyzed the brains in her refrigerator, she discovered that other neural structures seemed larger or smaller among men, depending on whether the man had been right-handed or left-handed.

And it all started with Albert Einstein's brain. A crazy, long, and interesting talk on human brains and how male ones differ from female ones. You will not leave that article without going, 'huh,' at least once.

Scientists get to have all the fun with chilled brains.

(via b55seddel)

Posted by Groonk at 06:43 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science

Style Unmatched

Galleries of websites done in CSS with aspirations of being pretty to the eye.

(via digg)

Posted by Groonk at 12:09 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of CSS, Web Design

June 21, 2005

A Nagasaki Report

American George Weller was the first foreign reporter to enter Nagasaki following the U.S. atomic attack on the city on Aug. 9, 1945. Weller wrote a series of stories about what he saw in the city, but censors at the Occupation's General Headquarters refused to allow the material to be printed. Weller's stories, written in September 1945, can be found [here]

(via warrenellis)

Posted by Groonk at 11:54 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of WorldWarII

Census Hack of Google Maps

I'm unofficially keeping up with all things google.

This time a fellow combined 2000 census data with google maps.

The result is that you can now see how many people live in any area in the United States. You can even see how many people live on a single city block."

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 11:43 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Apps, Google-fied

He Pledged his Allegiance to the Federation of Planets

Hell if I had the balls back in the day, I would have too.

So she told me what he did. And as she told me, I started to laugh. I didn't laugh a little, either, but I belly-laughed and grabbed my stomach. My son stood with his class this morning, put small right hand over heart, faced the American flag, and recited his own personal pledge of allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Federation of Planets, and to the galaxy for which it stands, one universe, under everybody, with liberty and justice for all species.

"Mrs. Jaworski. This isn't humorous. The Pledge is an extremely important and patriotic moment each morning in the classroom. I am ashamed of your son's behavior, and I hope you are, too."

I wanted to say, Hey Lady, it's a big universe. Why should we pledge allegiance to a mixed-up country? Why shouldn't my son embrace the potential of stardust? But I stood, extended my hand, apologized for my laughter, slung my purse over my shoulder, opened her door to find my son, 8, red-eyed sitting on the wooden bench bordering the World Map wall.

I'm sitting here, working on computer things, and Mr. 8 sits in the living room. He has to write the "real" pledge of allegiance fifty times before he can return to school. But first he's watching Star Trek. Damn straight.

Damn straight , indeed!

Reading through the comments I discovered that Birdie(the kid's mom) went to the school admin and he soon got off with a warning. And it turns out a parent ratted on him....wtf? How farking "grown" is that?

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 11:22 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, USA

Candy for the Righteous

There's a gallery of religiously themed candies and treats on Flickr.

but are they salty?

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 11:12 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Religion

Instant Community of Sadness

You've got to be pretty damn lonely to type in "Iam lonely" into a google search to see what pops up. I think that re-defines lonely.

Thank you, lonely people. I no longer feel pathetic about my noise.

Randomly, the top Google result for "I am lonely" is a message board on a site for video codecs. People who typed "I am lonely" into Google have taken over the board and formed an ad-hoc community. ~~Seven~~ Sixty-seven pages of posts!

(via boingboing)

Posted by Groonk at 11:07 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture

not right

don't look.

Unless you like seeing strange male celebrity rituals involving Tobey Macguire, David Blaine and Leonardo DiCaprio sitting around in kimonos with all their bits exposed to the world.

I know I don't. I stabbed out my eyes after seeing it. I'm typing completely by feel.

The Superficial must die for exposing me to this.

(via the superficial)

Posted by Groonk at 10:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Weird

June 20, 2005

Does Lois like it a little rough?

YEAH!

Posted by Groonk at 04:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny

Nike Ads

Nike always has stirring little ads meant to bring about hope...and sell shoes.

94-year-old swimmers.
89-year-old weightlifters.
99-year-old marathoners.
The back of SI is full of them.
People who forgot to retire.
And never got old.
People who realized:
It's easier to keep going
If you never stop.
JUST DO IT.
Get up. Get out.
Build up the muscle.
Get rid of the flab.
Go back to school.
Sell the TV.
JUST DO IT.
Master the curveball.
Pound the bag.
Rebuild an engine.
Jump-start a career.
JUST DO IT.
Bench press four big plates.
Dig for fossils.
Bicycle across Canada.
Save an endangered species - yourself.
JUST DO IT.
The only one who can tell you you can't, is you.
And you don't have to listen.

(via medicmike)

Posted by Groonk at 04:37 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Marketing

Tom gets Squirted

A video and report about Tom Cruise getting squirted with a gag microphone on the red carpet.

I hate to say it but his reaction was all class.

I would have been mad as snakes and cursed up a storm on the spot.

Too bad it wasn't Russell Crowe and a mic full of urine.

(via eggradioAJ)

Posted by Groonk at 03:56 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Video

Download Bo and Trey

Bo Bice was at Bonnarroo. He sang with Trey Anastasio.

You can download the music with no fear of reprisal from the PTB's.

(listen via ponzu)

Posted by Groonk at 02:46 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Digital Share

Aqualung

Aqualung was at City Stages yesterday.

He's sort of a laid back, resting on an abnormally soft carpet kind of sound.

Good music stylings for gatherings or that touching scene in Movie A.

(listen)

Posted by Groonk at 02:24 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Artist, Digital Share

Geek Tech: Fat Wallet

For stuff on the cheap. Good stuff. Ponzu suggested Fat Wallet.

I need a fucking notebook something awful.

(link via ponzu)

Posted by Groonk at 02:14 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Linkable

Geek Tech: Japanese Shirts

Think Geek has an inspired collection of japanese shirts for sale.

Who knew?

Posted by Groonk at 02:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Marketing

Porcupine Tree

I heard a cut from Porcupine Tree the other day and liked it.

I listened to the samples on their site and I'm nolonger impressed.

Was I drunk the other day? It is quite possible.

I'll try them again on a dry day.

Posted by Groonk at 01:53 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Artist

Amazon Theatre

Amazon is running a short film contest. $50K is the prize.

I watched Misfortune Cookie and was greatly amused. Though it kinda meandered a bit towards the end.

Posted by Groonk at 01:31 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies

Hum

The song that caught my ear is called "Stars".

The radio I heard it on was obvious.

Hum rocks hard so you don't have to.

Listen and believe it.

Posted by Groonk at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Artist, Digital Share

MONSTER LIST: Free Music

Tons, I say, tons of music that's free for use in whatever video/audio project thing you're working on.

(link via ponzu)

Posted by Groonk at 01:12 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Digital Share

June 19, 2005

Pie is always nice, always

You know that Real Gilligan's Island commercial where "Ginger" and "Mary Ann" get into a cat fight over a picnic tables and get voered in pie and then have a wash-off under a gentle shower of water....together....on a beach setting?

TBS released an uncut version of that video on their site.

creamy filling

Merciful Zeus, that damn commercial almost made me tune in to the show. Talk about your strong marketing skills.

There are wallpapers too.

(via bestweekever)

Posted by Groonk at 01:12 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Marketing, Sex, Video

the accountant

Does your wife have a beauty mark on her left titty that looks like a second nipple?
--the accountant

I swear to god, this short film looks funny and worth paying 20 bucks to see.

There are video clips to help you decide.

(via ponzu)

Posted by Groonk at 12:45 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, Trailers

"The king's ears are really... donkey's ears!"

Anime can teach you things:

Everyone knows the story of King Midas and his golden touch. However, there's another, lesser-known story about King Midas that this quote references: Midas was asked to judge a music contest between the gods Pan and Apollo. When Midas chose Pan as the winner, Apollo got mad and cursed Midas to have the ears of a donkey, which Midas hid under a turban and revealed only to his barber. Unable to keep the secret to himself, the barber whispered it into a hole in the ground, but reeds grew over where the secret was "buried", and from that day forward the winds whispered the secret when they blew through the reeds.

(via tvtome)

Posted by Groonk at 12:32 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Myth

Rachel Yamagata

She's a little bit like Norah Jones, but with a more popish sensibility.

She's young. She's hot. She on the Momentum Telecom Stage at 7:00 PM in Birmingham, AL today.

She's worth checking out. Rachel has a substantial amount of tunes available on her site for listening.

(thanks to matthew for her link and the ad-hoc mini-review)

Posted by Groonk at 10:16 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Artist

We've Hit the Motherload

Oodles and smoodles of World War II Propaganda, Cartoons, Film, Music, & Art

Also bunches of trivia are solved.

Kilroy was a 46-year old shipyard worker from Halifax, Massachusetts and, during the war, he worked as a checker at the Fore River Shipyard in nearby Quincy. His job was to go around and check on the number of rivets completed. Riveters were on piece-work and got paid by the rivet. Kilroy would count a block of rivets and put a check mark in chalk, so the rivets wouldn't be counted twice. When he went off duty, the riveters would erase the mark. Later on, an off-shift inspector would come through and count the rivets a second time, resulting in double pay for the riveters.
One day Kilroy's boss called him into his office . The foreman was upset about all the wages being paid to riveters, and asked him to investigate. It was then that he realized what had been going on.

The tight spaces he had to crawl in to check the rivets didn't lend themselves to lugging around a paint can and brush, so Kilroy decided to stick with chalk. He continued to put his check mark on each job he inspected, but he added "Kilroy Was Here" in king-size letters next to the check. Once he did that , the riveters stopped wiping away his marks.

(via medicmike)

Posted by Groonk at 03:36 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of WorldWarII

A Piece of History was Destroyed

And no one knows why:

Yet, just a few weeks after being re-elected, Mayor Daley ordered an illegal midnight bulldozing of Meigs' runways, failing to give proper notice and even stranding over a dozen aircraft on the ground at the airport. As of this writing, the mayor and the City of Chicago are under federal investigation for misuse of federal aviation funds for the demolition.

(via medicmike)

Posted by Groonk at 03:32 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of USA

A Wall Full of Models

Airplane models that is:

war art

(via medicmike)

Posted by Groonk at 03:23 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of WorldWarII

June 18, 2005

Something Corporate

As I have a new idea in mind for my Music section, I've decided to drop any and all music news of interest into this section. It actually makes hella more sense when I think about it.

Anyway.

Something Corporate was introduced to me by Egg Radio(of course). Go to SC's site and give thema listen via their jukebox link.

They're relatively new and it is said their sound is similar to Ben Folds. If that's true it's a harder rocking Ben Folds which is ok by me.

No offense, Ben.

Posted by Groonk at 06:45 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Artist

June 17, 2005

The truth about Macs

Dunc! told me:

Oh my. I've hurt myself laughing.
Go to:

http://www.hatrack.com/

And download the Mac-Rant.mpg video. It's in the center under the caption 'MACS RULE?'

I've got to clean the soda off my monitor.

Can't find it? copy and paste this link:
http://www.hatrack.com/Mac-rant.mpg

I've turned a new leaf about linking straight to videos.

Yeah, I'm old.

Posted by Groonk at 03:10 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Video

Pi to one MILLION!

All you math geeks feel the love.

I'm not gonna steal this site's thunder so I'll only post a tiny piece of Pi.

3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197...

Follow the link to see the rest.

And check out their URL:
http://3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592.com/

I love sites with a purpose.

(via ponzu)

Posted by Groonk at 02:57 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science

June 16, 2005

The Real Ministry in Space

British astronomers are seeking your views on the merits of sending humans to visit the Moon or Mars.
The Royal Astronomical Society has set up a commission to investigate whether the UK should break with tradition by funding human spaceflight.

(via bbcnews)

Posted by Groonk at 11:51 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science

Paranoia Agents Thwarted

The House voted by 238-187 to pass an amendment to the USA Patriot Act, despite threats from the White House to veto changes to the anti-terror law.
Backers of the amendment said elements of the act were unconstitutional.

The US Senate, which needs to approve any bill for it to become law, has not yet voted on the measure.

"We can fight terrorism without undermining basic constitutional rights," said Bernie Sanders, an independent representative from the north-eastern state of Vermont, who proposed the measure.

"Parents want to know that just because their kid is researching the life of Osama bin Laden, or researching terrorism, that that fact should not place the student on a government list," he added.

(via bbcnews)

Posted by Groonk at 11:46 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Politics

Boys 'used for human sacrifice'

Children are being trafficked into the UK from Africa and used for human sacrifices, a confidential report for the Metropolitan Police suggests.
Children are being beaten and even murdered after being labelled as witches by pastors, the report leaked to BBC Radio 4's Today programme said.

Police face a "wall of silence" in investigations because of fear and mistrust among the groups involved.

It follows the case of a girl tortured by her guardians for being a witch.

Three people, including the girl's aunt, were convicted of trying to "beat the devil out of" the un-named 10-year-old - originally from Angola.

Posted by Groonk at 11:43 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Weird

More War Propaganda

Notice that it is a very female hat. I find this strange since soldiers gossip more than a neighborhood bridge club.

(link via MedciMike)

Posted by Groonk at 11:03 AM | Comments (1) | Ministry of Art, WorldWarII

The Dream Project

Neil Gaiman had a strange and wonderful dream. Someone saw fit to animate it.

But he's not the only one who gets dream animation interpretation.

I should send in some of my dreams.

Posted by Groonk at 10:44 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art