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April 30, 2007
Amy Winehouse Will Death-Choke You During Sex
"I was under for several seconds. I couldn't breathe and started freaking out. Then she pulled my head up. I was gasping for breath but Amy (Winehouse) carried on as if it was perfectly normal behaviour. I thought, ‘Wow, you've got b***s'."We did it three more times that night and again in the morning all over her place. It was a sign of things to come..."
Say what you want about Ms Winehouse, but the woman has an insanely strong singing voice.
And hell, if she asked, I wouldn't be saying no.
I'd simply invest in scuba gear.
(via ontd and some trashy british tabloid)
Posted by Groonk at 07:20 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables, Sex
Bobby's got Big Dinosaur Brains
Damn, Jeremy Rowley. You're making me laugh.
I know.
(via knock, knock. who's there? youtube.)
Posted by Groonk at 04:53 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Just Freaking Neat, Video
April 28, 2007
Jeff Buckley. Hallelujah.
(via wonderful youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 02:55 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Music, People Who Died, Video
Mad Aerial Skills = Thrust Vectoring Technology
(via warren ellis and Sukhoi SU-30 youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 08:57 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology, Video, War
Nine Inch Nails Loves The Pirate Bay
Releasing Nine Inch Nail material online is an avenue the industrial rock band has been familiar with some time. Many tracks are readily available one the NIN.com website, downloadable via the traditional client/server method. However in a brief announcement made yesterday, a surprising element appeared. Not that new material was available for download, but that it was available via the BitTorrent protocol. Even more surprisingly, the torrents were uploaded to The Pirate Bay.[...]
Although it has earned the scorn of the US entertainment industry, it appears that not all entertainers feel hostile towards the Swedish BitTorrent site - particularly Trent Reznor. Three audio tracks are currently being indexed by The Pirate Bay, "Capital G", "My Violent Heart", and "Me, I'm Not." This is an interesting move by NIN, and one that lends a hand of legitimacy to The Pirate Bay - as it shows that entertainers realize the importance of reaching out to their target audience.
(via ontd and slyck news)
Posted by Groonk at 08:38 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Digital Share, Marketing, Music
Ice-Lashes are a Bit Freaky
(via reuters pictures)
Posted by Groonk at 05:55 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Photos2, Research, Science
Dracula gets an Approved Un-Dead Sequel
I don't know how I feel about this:
In this sequel set 25 years after the original Bram Stoker novel, it features all the surviving protagonists, including Jonathan and Mina Harker and Professor Van Helsing, along with Inspector Cotford, a character cut from the original manuscript. The Stoker family has officially recognized the screenplay, the first adaptation to receive such approval since the original 1931 film.
(via ontd and firstshowing.net)
Posted by Groonk at 05:50 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies
April 26, 2007
Burly-Man Hawking Experienced Zero Gravity via the Vomit Comet
Hawking did this in the interest to nudge private space ventures forward.
Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking floated free in zero gravity Thursday, becoming the first person with a disability to have the experience.The zero-gravity flight in a modified jet creates the experience of microgravity during 25-second plunges -- called parabolas -- over the Atlantic Ocean.
"It was amazing," Hawking, paralyzed by a progressive neurological disorder, said afterward through an electronic device.
"The zero-G part was wonderful and the full-G part was no problem. I could have gone on and on.
"Space, here I come."
[...]
"We consider ... having him weightless for 25 seconds is a successful mission," Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of Zero Gravity, said before the flight. "If we do more than one, fantastic."
Urged on by Hawking's smiles after the first parabola, they did seven more, Diamandis said afterward.
"He was doing gold-medalist gymnastics in zero G," Diamandis said.
Hawking has an ulterior motive for going on the flight other than the personal thrill of weightlessness -- he believes in the importance of private space ventures and the need to reduce the cost of space tourism so that it is accessible to more people.
[...]
"Professor Hawking reached for the sky and touched the heavens today."
Past news on the burly man that is Stephen Hawking
- Stephen Hawking has The Right Stuff
- Hawking wants the Human-Virus to Spread
- In Order to Save Humanity, Stephen Hawking Turns to Internet for Help
- The Pope told Stephen Hawking not to Study the Universes' Beginning
- Hawking revises black hole theory
(via ontd and cnn)
Posted by Groonk at 07:00 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Science
April 25, 2007
In the Bush an Ancient Evil Lurks
Last hit before a final.
(Stephen Crowley/ New York Times)
Titles that could have been:
"In a bush, watching a Bush, be a bush."
"Shubbery cannot mask hell's shadow."
"It lurks behind the sun in shade.
It writes the plays that will be played."
(via kung fu monkey)
Posted by Groonk at 12:48 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Photos2, Politics, USA, Weird
Caitlan Kiernan Opens Blog Entry with Style
"Not having managed to die in my sleep, I screw up my courage and face another goddamn day."
Dunc sent that along and said it had to be the "most interesting opening line to a blog entry ever."
I tend to agree.
(via Dunc and greygirlbeast Kiernan)
Posted by Groonk at 11:46 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Quotables
Alabama to Apologize for Being Bass Ackward
Oh my stars and garters.
Alabama is ready to apologize for slavery.Proponents of resolutions to make an apology said votes in both the Senate and the House prove just that.
The state House of Representatives and Senate passed separate resolutions Tuesday issuing a state apology for slavery.
The resolutions now go to opposite chambers. If either version passes both houses, it goes to Gov. Bob Riley, who has said he will sign such an apology into law.
[...]
Some senators were concerned that Sanders' resolution would make the state vulnerable to lawsuits, particularly lawsuits involving slavery reparations. The resolution he presented Tuesday added language that said it cannot be used in any litigation. Moore's resolution in the House included a similar provision.
[...]
Rep. Jay Love, R-Montgomery, wanted to amend the resolution to replace the word "apologize" with "regret."
"What I have a problem with is apologizing for something I didn't do," said Love, who is white.
All the senators opposing the resolution were Republican, as were those who abstained.
Voting against the resolution were Scott Beason (R-Gardendale), Charles Bishop (R-Jasper), Larry Dixon (R-Montgomery), Hank Erwin (R-Pelham), Rusty Glover (R-Semmes), Harri Anne Smith (R-Slocomb), and Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills). Abstaining were Ben Brooks (R-Mobile), Bradley Byrne (R-Mobile), Del Marsh (R-Anniston), Steve French (R-Birmingham), Arthur Orr (R-Decatur).
Apologies are best if you rip them off fast like band aids or farts.
"Ididn'tknowitwasyoursister!"
"Ididn'tputyourfavoriteshoesinthedryeronhighheat."
"TherewereatleasttenbeersinthefridgewhenIgotmine."
No-Prizes to all who take the time to read those.
(via montgomery advertiser)
Posted by Groonk at 08:39 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Alabama, History, Politics
FOUND: Kryptonite in Serbia. Orphaned Babies Nowhere Closeby
Researchers from mining group Rio Tinto discovered the unusual mineral and enlisted the help of Dr Stanley when they could not match it with anything known previously to science.
Once the London expert had unravelled the mineral’s chemical make-up, he was shocked to discover this formula was already referenced in literature - albeit fictional literature.
“Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral’s chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film Superman Returns.
“The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the film) and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite.”
DC's PR team wasted no time in commenting:
“The universe is full of mysteries, and some have been foreshadowed by comics,” said Paul Levitz, DC Comics President and Publisher. “We look forward to scientists figuring this one out.”The real world version of “kryptonite” – which according to media reports will be officially named “jadarite,” after the place where it was discovered and because it does not contain the element krypton – is white, does not glow and is reportedly harmless to humans and/or natives of the planet Krypton.
Wait a tick...Goldilocks is orbiting a red dwarf(that's a tiny red sun to you and me). Then real life kryptonite is found in Serbia. Where is the Ubermensch? The Nietzschean ideal can't be far away. All the signs are there. Show yourself!
As long as you still "fight for truth, justice and the American way," that is.
Posted by Groonk at 12:40 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Marketing, Science
FOUND: Super Earth, 'Goldilocks,' is Better than Porridge
She has a possiblity of holding Earth-like atmosphere. Which means water and all those good things. And she has a red dwarf star to boot.
For the first time, astronomers have spotted a cosy alien planet that might be hospitable to life. The planet is not much bigger than the Earth, and it enjoys balmy temperatures of about 20° C (68° F) as well as spectacular scarlet sunsets."It's the smallest, lightest planet known at this time," says Stéphane Udry from the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland. "And it's just at the right distance from its star for liquid water to possibly exist on its surface."
[...]
"If you take an average value for the amount of starlight heating the planet, you get something like 20° C," Udry told New Scientist. That's similar to the average temperature in New York City, US, in June.
Astronomers have discovered "super-Earths" slightly larger than this one before. However, they are either too hot or too cold for liquid water to exist. The smallest world circling Gliese 581 is a "Goldilocks" planet with the conditions just right for potential life.
Whether DEADLY SPACE BEARS are present is not yet known.
(via new scientist)
(horrible SPACE BEAR movie via Sci Fi Channel)
Posted by Groonk at 12:35 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Science
April 24, 2007
Neil Gaiman's Reading Things and Answering Questions
I always find these things when I don't have the time to watch them. It's 2 hours long but I'm sure it's worth the time. If you have never heard Mr Gaiman read his works aloud, now's a damn good time to start.
The Open Tools feature on the embed does many wonderful things like provide a video chapter skip, a transcript and a way for you to embed the vid on your site if you so choose.
(via neilgaiman)
Posted by Groonk at 09:59 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books, Just Freaking Neat, Video
CNN Finally Talks About the Heroes of VA Tech
I had to wait a full week before the press did a proper write-up on this man. I suppose they were too busy tripping over themselves giving the VA Tech gunman a soapbox for his psychotic rantings.
In nearby Room 204 of Norris Hall, Liviu Librescu was doing a slide show for his engineering students when gunshots rang out a couple of classrooms away.Librescu's students say their 76-year-old professor moved quickly, blocking the door to give his class time to escape. Two were wounded, but all survived -- all except Professor Librescu.
Librescu's son, in Israel, said he is not surprised that his father, who survived the Holocaust, would act with such bravery.
"I knew that he ... he's going to take action ... he's going to do something not normal, definitely not something cowardice, something ... he wouldn't have taken cover, for sure," said Joe Librescu.
The man survived the Holocaust only to be brought down while teaching his class at University. That's just...that's just completely fucked.
(via cnn.com)
Posted by Groonk at 09:41 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of USA
Jake Gyllenhaal Sums Up ZODIAC with Cell Phones
"Well, I actually believe that this film [Zodiac] is - you're probably going to look at me like I'm a madman - but I think it's about the advent of the cellphone. It would be a 25-minute movie if there were cellphones in the 70s. Because all the things that go wrong, if there had been a means of communication on your person that had been as quick as text message or a phone call, I think they could've solved this. This movie is a lot about the lack of technology."
The strange thing is I had those exact thoughts while watching ZODIAC. The 70s cellphone. The apparent lack of technology in 70s crimefighting. Yeah, I thought my angle was crazy til he said the same thing.
(via ontd and the guardian)
Posted by Groonk at 07:57 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Interviews, Movies, Research, Technology
April 23, 2007
40 Songs I Can Never Use in Any of My Movies
AKA Rolling Stones list of "40 Songs that Changed the World."
All of these tunes have been done to death in any movie you watch. Sad thing is, I agree with 90% of the list only where is Jeff Buckley or Weezer?
Thank you Rolling Stone. It's nice to know where the movie cliche dangers lay.
1. Elvis Presley “That’s All Right”
2. Ray Charles “I Got AWoman”
3. Chuck Berry “Maybellene”
4. Bob Dylan “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”
5. The Kingsmen “Louie Louie”
6. The Ronettes “Be My Baby”
7. The Beatles “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”
8. Martha and the Vandellas “Dancing In The Street”
9. The Rolling Stones “(I Cant Get No) Satisfaction”
10. Bob Dylan “Like A Rolling Stone”
11. The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever”
12. The Velvet Underground “Herion”
13. Aretha Franklin “Respect”
14. Jimi Hendrix “Purple Haze”
15. Led Zeppelin “Whole Lotta Love”
16. James Brown “Get Up (I Feel Like being a) Sex Machine”
17. Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On”
18. John Lennon “Imagine”
19. David Bowie “Ziggy Stardust”
20. Bob Marley “I Shot The Sheriff”
21. Joni Mitchell “Help Me”
22. Bruce Springsteen “Born To Run”
23. Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody”
24. The Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop”
25. The Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the UK”
26. Donna Summer “I Feel Love”
27. The Sugarhill Gang “Rappers Delight”
28. Black Flag “TV Party”
29. Michael Jackson “Billie Jean”
30. Prince “When Doves Cry”
31. U2 “Pride (In The Name Of Love)”
32. Madonna “Like A Virgin”
33. Dun DMC and Aerosmith “Walk This Way”
34. The Cure “Just Like Heaven”
35. Guns N Roses “Sweet Child O Mine”
36. Public Enemy “Bring The Noise”
37. Dr. Dre “Nuthin’ But A G Thang”
38. Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
39. Britney Spears “…Baby One More Time”
40. The White Stripes “Fell In Love With A Girl”
(via ontd and rollingstoneextras)
Posted by Groonk at 04:54 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, Music, Research
The Vinyl Record Resurgence
NPR reports that there's a surge in vinyl records these days and that the usb turntable might be the cause of it.
"You hear people use adjectives like 'warmer' and 'more round.' And there are other things beside sound quality. People know what the song titles are. It's not like, 'I like track 5.' You put the needle on and let it play through -- not jump around. You have more of an intimate relationship with the music."
(via NPR and diesel sweeties)
Posted by Groonk at 12:39 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Digital Decompression, Music, Quotables
Those Damn Hobbit Hominids Still Baffling Scientists
If true, it would mean that H. sapiens, which has been around for around 150,000-200,000 years, would have shared the planet with rival humans far more recently than thought.And it implies that H. sapiens and H. floresiensis lived side by side on Flores for a while — and, who knows, may even have interbred, which could have left "hobbit" genes in our DNA heritage.
In a study that appears on Wednesday in the British journal Biology Letters, evolutionary zoologists at Imperial College London believe the hobbits may well have achieved their tininess naturally, through evolutionary pressure.
The principle under scrutiny here is called the "island rule."
It stipulates that because food on a small island is limited, smaller species do well and get bigger over time, sometimes becoming relatively gargantuan.
But larger species, facing fierce competition for a small amount of food, become smaller, because those members who eat less have an advantage.
- Hobbit Critter, Now a New Species. Everything Else, Debatable
- When is a Hobbit not a Hobbit?
- Hobbit Tools
- Halflings did Exist
(via discovery channel)
Posted by Groonk at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
April 22, 2007
BLIND CLICK 6: File Under more Amusing than it Should Be
(via dirt and ytmnd)
Posted by Groonk at 04:27 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Music
Cee Gee's Nazi War Mecha Completely Blows My Mind
If the greatest generation were going to fight WWII with giant warbots, I know it'd play out just like this.
(via medicmike and cee gee and emotional design)
Posted by Groonk at 05:00 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Movies, Robots, Video, WorldWarII
April 21, 2007
Simon Pegg Shared a Secret with Princess Leia
"I was at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2004, promoting Shaun of the Dead and got in line to meet Carrie Fisher," Pegg recalls. "I told her that I used to kiss her picture every night before I went to sleep. She asked me if confessing this made me feel better. I said it did."
Pegg also reflects on his love of pop culture and a Star Wars prequel movie idea that makes me positively beam.
(via ontd and starwars.com)
Posted by Groonk at 03:23 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Interviews, Quotables
April 19, 2007
Our Sun Likes to Rock-Out
But we can't hear it's song.
Astronomers have recorded heavenly music bellowed out by the Sun’s atmosphere.Snagging orchestra seats for this solar symphony would be fruitless, however, as the frequency of the sound waves is below the human hearing threshold. While humans can make out sounds between 20 and 20,000 hertz, the solar sound waves are on the order of milli-hertz—a thousandth of a hertz.
The study, presented this week at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Lancashire, England, reveals that the looping magnetic fields along the Sun’s outer regions, called the corona, carry magnetic sound waves in a similar manner to musical instruments such as guitars or pipe organs.
[...]
They found that explosive events at the Sun’s surface appear to trigger acoustic waves that bounce back and forth between both ends of the loops, a phenomenon known as a standing wave.
“These magnetic loops are analogous to a simple guitar string,” von Fay-Siebenburgen explained. “If you pluck a guitar string, you will hear the music.”
In the cosmic equivalent of a guitar pick, so-called microflares at the base of loops could be plucking the magnetic loops and setting the sound waves in motion, the researchers speculate.
Why those bastards didn't include a sample of the "music" I'll never know.
Posted by Groonk at 05:45 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Music, Science
China May Start an English Hotline
They're readying for the 2008 Olympics and don't want any embarassments.
Liu said a language hotline may be set up for the games to encourage the public to report nonsense English. China's diplomatic missions abroad are assisting, Liu said, "and our people working in foreign companies are helping with correct usage."
If only there was a hotline for the USA.
(via cnn news)
Posted by Groonk at 05:41 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Grammar
Today is White Guys on the Internet Comedy Day...
...I have decided. So it shall be.
I can't decide if Stuckey and Murray's "Taking a Dump at Work is brilliant or retarded.
Barats an Bereta lip synch and air guitar(with yard stick) to Barenaked Ladies "Sound of Your Voice."
And yes, I've seen Will Ferrell's video The Landlord. That has to be the funniest thing I've seen him do in years.
(via b and b Youtube and stuckey and murray poop)
Posted by Groonk at 05:08 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Just Freaking Neat, Music, Video
A List of Books Some Authors Wished We'd Forget
Barring the gigs that helped to pay the rent, this noise must really be embarrassing.
Thanks to the Web, literary fiascos may never again slip softly into the safety of oblivion. "Out of print" no longer means not available. And though you might be able buy up all the copies for sale on Amazon, good luck purging your dud from all those used book stores, not to mention excerpts posted on vicious blogs. Bill O'Reilly, the "novelist," learned this lesson the hard way. And years before The DiVinci Code, Dan Brown wrote a hacky dating advice book—under the name "Danielle" Brown.
A publisher re-released Brown's dating book complete with his real name emblazoned on the cover. Words fail to describe my amusement.
(via radar online)
Posted by Groonk at 07:56 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books
Not Even War Stops the 20 Sided Dice
When President Bush ordered troops to Iraq, he probably never imagined that he would be ultimately be responsible for what very well could be the very first D&D convention/game day ever held in a war zone. Ziggurat Con, being held June 9 from 1200 to 2100 hours at Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase, is open to all allied military personnel and civilian contractors in Iraq.
(via warrenellis and some strange LJ blog)
Posted by Groonk at 07:50 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of War
VT Student Survived Columbine and VT Shootings
Holy damn.
[Regina]Rohde knows. Eight years ago, she was a freshman at Columbine High School in Colorado when two classmates, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, came in armed to the teeth and bent on murder.She was in the cafeteria, the epicenter of the attack, but was one of the lucky ones who managed to escape the building even before the first calls went out to police. Twelve students died in that assault.
It took a long time, she said, to stop wondering whether every person she saw was going to attack her. But she finally got to the stage where "you can go about your daily life not constantly looking around you. It’s taken years to get to that point. [But] you never get back to that complete sense of security."
And now, on Monday morning, it was happening again. Rohde wasn’t in the direct line of fire, but she knew that a gunman was on the prowl, and she found herself experiencing the same emotions as she had in 1999.
"It was a lot of the same reactions. ‘What’s going on? Who’s hurt? Where do we go?’ — the same kind of questions that we asked ourselves" at Columbine, she said.
(via Dirt and msnbc)
Posted by Groonk at 07:43 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of USA
April 18, 2007
More on the Virginia Tech Shootings
NYTimes Puts Faces to the victims' names
Students account of what happened in Room 207
http://www.virginiatechtragedy.com/: A space to reflect on the Virginia Tech tragedy.
update:
VA Tech: Jamie Bishop, son of sf writer Michael Bishop, among victims
Posted by Groonk at 08:29 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of USA
Gillian Anderson Curses Up an Insightful Interview
Gillian Anderson, oh how I've missed thee. IN the following, she talks a bit about her new film Straightheads.
Anderson sits and regards me, a shade suspiciously, through unblinking cornflower-blue eyes. 'I think it is a very poignant comment on the dilemma women find themselves in,' she says. 'And not just women. It's as though people increasingly feel that the only way they can vent their anger and frustration at their powerlessness to do anything about what's going on is through violence.'
'But isn't it just saying that revenge is not only desirable, but even necessary?'
'No!' says Anderson. 'It's not saying that at all. My character is completely f—ed by the end. Emotionally, I mean. She's not redeemed in any way by what she does.'
By now Anderson, who's famously combustible, is already starting to smoulder round the edges. 'I don't understand why you're asking me this. I mean, in the film Man on Fire why didn't anyone ask Denzel Washington what it was like to stick a bomb up someone's arse and then explode it?'
'I have no idea,' I say truthfully.
The rest of the interview is just as boss. Although I find it suspect when an actor bad-mouths television. Especially when television was the means to their success.
(via ontd, stella magazine)
Posted by Groonk at 06:06 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Interviews, Movies, Quotables
They're Sharing the Plays of the Virginia Tech Gunman
AOL employee Ian McFarlane was a former classmate:
When I first heard about the multiple shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday, my first thought was about my friends, and my second thought was "I bet it was Seung Cho."Cho was in my playwriting class last fall, and nobody seemed to think much of him at first. He would sit by himself whenever possible, and didn't like talking to anyone. I don't think I've ever actually heard his voice before. He was just so quiet and kept to himself. Looking back, he fit the exact stereotype of what one would typically think of as a "school shooter" – a loner, obsessed with violence, and serious personal problems. Some of us in class tried to talk to him to be nice and get him out of his shell, but he refused talking to anyone. It was like he didn't want to be friends with anybody. One friend of mine tried to offer him some Halloween candy that she still had, but he slowly shook his head, refusing it. He just came to class every day and submitted his work on time, as I understand it.
[...]
When we read Cho's plays, it was like something out of a nightmare. The plays had really twisted, macabre violence that used weapons I wouldn't have even thought of. Before Cho got to class that day, we students were talking to each other with serious worry about whether he could be a school shooter. I was even thinking of scenarios of what I would do in case he did come in with a gun, I was that freaked out about him. When the students gave reviews of his play in class, we were very careful with our words in case he decided to snap. Even the professor didn't pressure him to give closing comments.
There are links to the plays and the rest of McFarlane's post.
(via aol news, boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 05:47 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of USA
25 Year Old Backstreet Boy Fanatic Lives the Dream
I can't even make a joke and say, "His mama must be real proud of him." Cause fuck if she's not right there next to him. Dad, too.
This laugh was much needed.
(via ontd and BB manic YouTube)
Posted by Groonk at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Video, Weird
April 14, 2007
Drinking Just Got a Lot Geekier
Would love to know if this is real or not.
(via geekologie)
Posted by Groonk at 06:46 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Marketing
Researchers Want to Kill Internet Start Over from Scratch
The Internet "works well in many situations but was designed for completely different assumptions," said Dipankar Raychaudhuri, a Rutgers University professor overseeing three clean-slate projects. "It's sort of a miracle that it continues to work well today."No longer constrained by slow connections and computer processors and high costs for storage, researchers say the time has come to rethink the Internet's underlying architecture, a move that could mean replacing networking equipment and rewriting software on computers to better channel future traffic over the existing pipes.
Even Vinton Cerf, one of the Internet's founding fathers as co-developer of the key communications techniques, said the exercise was "generally healthy" because the current technology "does not satisfy all needs."
There's no evidence they are meddling yet, but once any research looks promising, "a number of people (will) want to be in the drawing room," said Jonathan Zittrain, a law professor affiliated with Oxford and Harvard universities. "They'll be wearing coats and ties and spilling out of the venue."
(via yahoo news and digg.com)
Posted by Groonk at 06:38 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology
"Knock, Knock" Makes Laughing (Un)Comfortable
I like my comedy dark and uncompromising.
(via just telling a joke YouTube, peteandbrian.com)
Posted by Groonk at 02:36 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Just Freaking Neat, Video
April 13, 2007
Stuckey and Murray Know About Jersey Girls
While admiring Heavy.com's video embed, I listend to "Garden State of Love."
(via stuckey and murray)
Posted by Groonk at 07:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Music, Video
Michael Dougherty Sends "Season's Greetings"
A neat little short via Michael Dougherty's(co-writer of X2: X-Men United and Superman Returns) MySpace.
And a teaser one sheet for TRICK OR TREAT:
(via ontd)
Posted by Groonk at 06:42 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, One Sheets, Video
'Stray Shopping Carts' Won for Being Weird
"The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification" was named winner of the Bookseller/Diagram Prize for oddest book title.The book, written by Buffalo, N.Y.-based artist Julian Montague and published by Harry N. Abrams, beat "How Green Were the Nazis?" a study of the environmental policies of the Third Reich.
I'd own them both, for ten american dollars.
(via 7d, myway news)
Posted by Groonk at 06:13 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books, Weird
I Think I Chatted-Up Halle Berry
"I have gone online before in search of anonymity and an attempt to leave celebrity out of it and just have a normal chat," the actress told the BBC.
"I just never disclosed that I was Halle Berry." But people she chatted with did not believe her when she revealed her true identity, she said.
[...]
"They were like: 'Right, sure, get out of here.' They didn't really believe me at that point. So chatting hasn't gone that well for me."
Posted by Groonk at 05:53 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables
US Governement to Fight Global Warming with Futurama Plot
Life has become "Crimes of the Hot."
The US government wants the world's scientists to develop technology to block sunlight as a last-ditch way to halt global warming, the Guardian has learned. It says research into techniques such as giant mirrors in space or reflective dust pumped into the atmosphere would be "important insurance" against rising emissions, and has lobbied for such a strategy to be recommended by a major UN report on climate change, the first part of which will be published on Friday.
Yes, I know it was also a Simpsons episode. I like Futurama better.
(via guardian unlimited)
Posted by Groonk at 05:22 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
CosmosCode Equals Opensource NASA
NASA scientists plan to announce a new open-source project this month called CosmosCode -- it's aimed at recruiting volunteers to write code for live space missions, Wired News has learned.The program was launched quietly last year under NASA's CoLab entrepreneur outreach program, created by Robert Schingler, 28, and Jessy Cowan-Sharp, 25, of NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Members of the CosmosCode group have been meeting in Second Life and will open the program to the public in the coming weeks, organizers said.
"CosmosCode is ... allowing NASA scientists to begin a software project in the public domain, leveraging the true value of open-source software by creating an active community of volunteers," said Cowan-Sharp, a NASA contractor.
CosmosCode is indicative of a larger shift at NASA toward openness and transparency -- things for which complex and bureaucratic government labs are not known.
(via wired)
Posted by Groonk at 04:43 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
Show Me Portland
I asked Ponzu to show me Portland, OR.
Wonderful.
hello, neighbor's uncut grass
(via ponzu)
Posted by Groonk at 12:29 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Photos2
T. Rexes turned into Chickens
But not giant chickens.
Tiny bits of protein extracted from a 68-million-year-old dinosaur bone have given scientists the first genetic proof that the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex is a distant cousin to the modern chicken."It's the first molecular evidence of this link between birds and dinosaurs," said John Asara, a Harvard Medical School researcher, whose results were published in Friday's edition of the journal Science.
Scientists have long suspected that birds evolved from dinosaurs based on a study of dinosaur bones, but until recently, no soft tissue had survived to confirm the link.
(via cnn.com)
Posted by Groonk at 10:01 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
April 12, 2007
Roscoe Lee Browne (1925 - 2007)
Actor Roscoe Lee Browne, whose rich voice and dignified bearing brought him an Emmy Award and a Tony nomination, has died. He was 81.
[...]
In 1992, Browne returned to Broadway in "Two Trains Running," one of August Wilson's acclaimed series of plays on the black experience. It won the Tony for best play and brought Browne a Tony nomination for best featured (supporting) actor.
The New York Times said he portrayed "the wry perspective of one who believes that human folly knows few bounds and certainly no racial bounds. The performance is wise and slyly life-affirming."
Posted by Groonk at 06:58 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of People Who Died, Video
I Might Never have Liked Her
"I drink moderately, I've tried drugs. I do like weed. I have a different outlook on marijuana than America does."
-- Kirsten Dunst
What a fucking silly thing to say. And exactly something you expect to hear from a pothead.
(via popbitch.com)
Posted by Groonk at 07:33 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables
VSI Creates HMDS: The F-35's Precision Hi-Tech Fright Mask
The HMDS provides critical flight information to the pilot throughout the entire mission. In addition to standard HMD capabilities, such as extreme off-axis targeting and cueing offered on VSI's other HMDs, Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) and Display & Sight Helmet (DASH), this system fully utilizes the advanced avionics architecture of the F-35.
The HMDS provides the pilot video with imagery in day or night conditions combined with precision symbology to give the pilot unprecedented situational awareness and tactical capability. Also, by virtue of precise head tracking capability and low latency graphics processing, it provides the pilot with a virtual heads-up display (HUD). As a result, the F-35 is the first tactical fighter jet in 50 years to fly without a HUD.
"Since the F-35 has no HUD, providing virtual HUD capability has become a mandatory requirement, entailing precise head tracking and display operation near zero latency. We are proud to be a key partner to the F-35 industrial and government team," said VSI President Drew Brugal.
(via medicmike and rockwell collins press release)
Posted by Groonk at 05:32 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology, War
More Unfortunate Comic Panels
Aunt May takes up a new profession
This has become habit forming.
(more @ YesButNoButYes; via geekologie)
Posted by Groonk at 05:11 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, History
iPod Indicator and Congo Critter
The true story of this bullet-ridden iPod is the soldier was shot, the armor protected him, and he didn't realize he was shot until he pulled out his iPod in the safety of his bunk.
This Congo river critter turns out to be a tiger fish or Hydrocinus goliath. I would have called it Terrifying River Monster but again, not a scientist.
(via fishy geekologie and battle damage geekologie)
Posted by Groonk at 04:54 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, War
Kurt Vonnegut (1922 - 2007)
Kurt Vonnegut, the satirical novelist who captured the absurdity of war and questioned the advances of science in darkly humorous works such as "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle," died Wednesday. He was 84.
Vonnegut, who often marveled that he had lived so long despite his lifelong smoking habit, had suffered brain injuries after a fall at his Manhattan home weeks ago, said his wife, photographer Jill Krementz.
The author of at least 19 novels, many of them best-sellers, as well as dozens of short stories, essays and plays, Vonnegut relished the role of a social critic. He lectured regularly, exhorting audiences to think for themselves and delighting in barbed commentary against the institutions he felt were dehumanizing people.
"I will say anything to be funny, often in the most horrible situations," Vonnegut, whose watery, heavy-lidded eyes and unruly hair made him seem to be in existential pain, once told a gathering of psychiatrists.
[...]
His mother had succeeded in killing herself just before he left for Germany during World War II, where he was quickly taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge. He was being held in Dresden when Allied bombs created a firestorm that killed an estimated 135,000 people in the city.
"The firebombing of Dresden explains absolutely nothing about why I write what I write and am what I am," Vonnegut wrote in "Fates Worse Than Death," his 1991 autobiography of sorts.
[...]
"When Hemingway killed himself he put a period at the end of his life; old age is more like a semicolon," Vonnegut told The Associated Press in 2005.
"My father, like Hemingway, was a gun nut and was very unhappy late in life. But he was proud of not committing suicide. And I'll do the same, so as not to set a bad example for my children."
(via cnn and 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 04:17 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of People Who Died
April 11, 2007
Always Remember, Comics were Often Stupid
Also, back then, they were exclusively for kids.
Matt Fraction assembled some tragic and unfortunate panels from old DOOM PATROL's.
(via mattfraction)
Posted by Groonk at 07:12 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Funny, History, Weird
Andy Hurley'd Rather Read Comics than Party
"You really believe Alan Moore's casting spell on you when you read what he writes."
--Andy Hurley, Fall Out Boy drummer
(via warrenellis.com)
Posted by Groonk at 07:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Flickrlicious, Quotables
April 10, 2007
The Grindhouse Keeps On a Churnin'
Goddamn you, Tarantino and Rodriguez.
Look at what you've fucking done.
Hope you bastards are happy.
I am.
(via i want more of it YouTube; that above embed is a real Grindhouse trailer btw. all other links are current fan-made ones.)
Posted by Groonk at 04:43 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, Trailers
April 09, 2007
WEB TRAILER: Drawn By Pain
Drawn By Pain is a web series that involves live action and anime-like drawings. From what I can tell, a real life girl has the ability to bring her drawings to life. Of course, the little girl has been damaged all to hell.
The trailer's better than most web made shows I've seen. It's too late to view any of the series but view it I shall. As soon as I'm awake at a "decent" hour.
Also, the brightcove feature looks like a handy bit of code. The auto-start is a bit annoying. I might drop the code below the jump in a day or so.
UPDATE: It happened. The trailer's under the cut.
(via shey.net, drawnbypain.com)
Posted by Groonk at 03:41 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Anime, Apps, Trailers, Web Design
April 08, 2007
Enhance Your Mind with Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva
"That's fucking trippy!" I reply.
"Yeah."
We're men of few words.
Sometimes.
(via 7d, 1000 hand YouTube)
Posted by Groonk at 09:06 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Video
HOWTO: Catch a MacBook Thief
A person's Black Apple MacBook was stolen recently. The thieves played around with the MacBook's Photobooth. The thieves don't know that their faces were automatically sent to Flickr.
UPDATE: Possibly a hoax. Possibly not. -> boingboing
(via ponzu, digg, The Wanted Set)
Posted by Groonk at 07:38 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Flickrlicious, Technology
PBS Under Fire over World War II Documentary
Hispanic groups unhappy with an upcoming Ken Burns documentary on World War II are stepping up pressure on PBS because they say the series omits mention of the role Latinos played in the war.The American GI Forum is appealing to Hispanic veterans and other Latino groups to write members of Congress and their local PBS affiliates about the documentary, "The War," which has been six years in the making.
(via military.com)
Posted by Groonk at 03:47 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Movies, WorldWarII
DEFENDERS OF STAN has Comedy Inside
Usually geekfest shortfilm comedy falls tragically short of it's goal of "laugh with me" and falls snugly into the category of "laugh at me." Maybe it's the drugs I forgot to take but this bit of comedy fell into the "laugh with me" slot:
episode 4
WATCH: all the DoS episodes on Channel 102.
(via dannyhearn21 and stole it from Superman YouTube)
Posted by Groonk at 02:09 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Just Freaking Neat, Movies, Video
The Typography of PULP FICTION
Bloody marvelous this is:
HI RES version here.
(via texted YouTube and jarrat moody )
Posted by Groonk at 12:08 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art, Movies, Quotables, Video
April 07, 2007
Twitterdildonics Adds Sex to Twitter-verse
It was only a matter of time.
While at SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas, Roving RoboReporter Violet Blue caught up with a unique hacker by the name of Kyle Machulis. Kyle isn't your ordinary teledildonic hardware hacker. No, Kyle created the ultimate real-time sex device mashup by linking public Twitter updates to a Rez Trance Vibrator allowing users to FEEL Twitter messages.
I still don't *get* Twitter. Maybe if more people lived the life of a superstar adventure stuntman writer there'd be use for instant overshares. At the very least maybe the overshares would be interesting.
UPDATE: ahhh, Woot finally makes a solid case for Twitter's existance.
(via slashdong)
Posted by Groonk at 03:35 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Sex, Video
Happy Birthday, Internet!
Who knew that in a mere 30 plus years you would amass such a resovoir of porn and knowledge and porn?
April 7 is often cited as a symbolic birth date of the net because the RFC memoranda contain research, proposals and methodologies applicable to internet technology. RFC documents provide a way for engineers and others to kick around new ideas in a public forum; sometimes, these ideas are adopted as new standards by the Internet Engineering Task Force.[...]
When it comes to the birth of the net, Jan. 1, 1983, also has its supporters. On that date, the National Science Foundation’s university network backbone, a precursor to the World Wide Web, became operational.
(via wired)
Posted by Groonk at 03:24 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Holiday
April 06, 2007
WATCH: Tyger
Tyger is a beautiful blend of puppetry, animation and visual effects.
Higher Res version on Guilherme's site.
(also via neil gaiman. people send him such lovely things. and burning bright youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 01:50 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Movies, Video
The Last of the World War I Veterans
Washington D.C. -- Charlotte Louise Berry Winters, the last known Navy Yeoman (F) and female veteran of World War I, was laid to rest March 30 in Frederick, Md. Winters died at the age of 109 on March 27.[...]
After enlisting in 1917, Winters served at the Washington Navy Yard in Building 57, current home of the Naval Historical Center. One of the last Yeoman (F)s to be discharged in 1919, she was immediately hired by the Navy as a civilian to fill her active-duty job.
"Ms. Winters was a trailblazer, one of a relatively small group of women to serve in our Navy during World War I. She did so honorably and nobly, helping through that service to bring freedom to millions of people all across Europe and hope to thousands of young women all across America,"
CHARLOTTE HALL, Maryland - Lloyd Brown, the last known U.S. Navy veteran to fight in World War I, has died. He was 105.
Brown died Thursday at the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in Maryland, according to family and the U.S. Naval District in Washington.His death comes days after the death of the last known surviving American female World War I veteran, Charlotte L. Winters, 109. Their deaths leave three known survivors who served in the Army, and a fourth who lives in Washington state but served in the Canadian army, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Posted by Groonk at 01:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of People Who Died
The Celebrated Miracles of Patron Saint Neil Gaiman
One of the better April Fool's of 2007 that I've seen thus far.
"First, we have a report of a signing at DreamHaven Books, where by mistake his publisher had only shipped one 20 book carton of Anansi Boys, but into which the Venerable Gaiman had reached his hand again and again to pull out book after book, until all 500 patrons had received their copies, all of which were first printings and entirely free of shipping damage."Bertoli noted that the second miracle involved a girl in Los Angeles who had been cured of her terminal cancer after a copy of Volume 9 of The Collected Sandman (The Kindly Ones) had been laid against her brow. Finally, Bertoli said he had documented proof that Gaiman had single-handedly fed all of Paraguay in 1987.
"Truly the Holy Ghost works though the Venerable Gaiman's hands."
(via neil gaiman, locus online)
Posted by Groonk at 01:29 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Holiday, Just Freaking Neat
HOWTO: Create Your Own Google Map
You may now "Create personalized, annotated, customized maps using Google Maps."
Creating a map is easy. Here are the basic steps:1. Go to Google Maps.
2. Click My Maps > Create new map.
3. Add a title and description for your map. You can make your map public or unlisted. Learn more.
4. Use the icons in the the top right corner of the map.
(via the engine)
Posted by Groonk at 01:23 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Google-fied, Tutorials
Kelly Sue DeConnick Talks 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, Swooping and Banging, and Manga
DeConnick has interesting words on translating manga to english. I've always had an interest in that business. She talks aboout 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, mainly, but I'm not as familiar with that work. She also talks about the birth of two terms I use quite a bit.
NRAMA: And finally…you’re credited with being the first to call San Diego Comic-Con "Nerd Prom." How’s it feel to see that term become so widespread?KSD: Heh. Funny you should ask that. There's been a mix-up somewhere. Fraction actually coined "nerd prom." (In fact, I thought it was Han Q. Duong's, but apparently it was Fraction's.) I think I was the first one to use it with Ellis, and thus the legend was born. I came up with "futurephone," and somehow Fraction got credited with that, so I suppose it all comes out in the wash.
(via matt fraction, newsarama)
Posted by Groonk at 01:14 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Grammar, Interviews
Rabbit
What a disturbing little film.
Fuck me. I like it.
(via neil gaiman, idol youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 12:21 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Video, Weird
April 05, 2007
LISTEN: NIN Year Zero Album
You can either dance for the monkey to get it(register an email and such)
Or cheat the bastards and click the image below.
Either way, I'm liking what I'm hearing.
(Found @ The Engine, warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 12:47 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Digital Share, Music
Bob Clark 1941 - 2007
Bob Clark, whose film "A Christmas Story" became a seasonal fixture for its bittersweet cataloguing of holiday dreams and disappointments, was killed with his son in a car crash. He was 67.
Clark and Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were traveling on the Pacific Coast Highway in the Pacific Palisades when they were killed Wednesday, said Lyne Leavy, Clark's personal assistant.
Their car was struck head-on by an SUV that a drunken driver steered into the wrong lane, police said.
[...]
Clark had a prolific movie and TV directing career. He specialized in horror movies and thrillers early on, directing such 1970s movies as "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things," "Murder by Decree," "Breaking Point" and "Black Christmas," which was remade last year.
His breakout success came with 1981's sex farce "Porky's," a coming-of-age romp that he followed two years later with "Porky's II: The Next Day."
(via ONTD, iwatchstuff, yahoo)
Posted by Groonk at 11:29 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of People Who Died
BLIND CLICK: Let's Take 5
(those of you in the dark should catch up)
Posted by Groonk at 02:07 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Just Freaking Neat, Video
April 04, 2007
NIN Re-Dabbling in Strange Marketing Practices
Actually, it's all part of the elaborate (and somewhat terrifying) concept behind Nine Inch Nails' upcoming Year Zero album (due April 17), details of which are currently being disseminated through a series of increasingly spooky — and downright odd — Web sites.Strangely enough, the story actually began on the back of a T-shirt sold on NIN's current European tour. Dates and cities are listed, with certain letters highlighted. When those letters were arranged, they spelled out the phrase "I am trying to believe," which most saw as just another statement of shattered hope from NIN mastermind Trent Reznor ... that was, until one particularly, uh, "enterprising" individual decided to Google the phrase.
What was revealed was a rather unsettling site (IAmTryingToBelieve.com) dedicated to information on "Parepin," a drug allegedly added to the water supply by the federal government at some unknown date to protect citizens from bioterror attacks. While all appears to be normal, the author of the site — who is not identified — paints a different picture, referring to Parepin as "bioterrorism" being waged on U.S. citizens without their knowledge, designed to placate them.
The concept album Year Zero comes out April 17th and takes place 15 years in the future.
(via The Engine and VH1)
Posted by Groonk at 12:54 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Marketing, Music, Web Design
Chocolate Jesus and Peanut Butter Evolution
Those are two things I never figured on typing in my lifetime.
(You thought I would make that joke didn't you? Fooled ya!)
Artist Cosimo Cavallaro's 200 pound, milk chocolate sculpture of Christ was to be exhibited next week at Manhattan's Lab Gallery but the Roger Smith Hotel that houses the exhibition space cancelled the show
(via boingboing)
The video explains that evolutionists claim that energy plus matter sometimes results in the creation of life. But since no one has ever found spontaneously-generated life in a jar of peanut butter, that means that matter plus energy from the sun couldn't have caused life on Earth.
(via boingboing)
Correct me if I'm wrong but that's what we in The Biz call a fallacy. Also, your stupidity is mighty and I fear being quashed by the sheer size of it.
(via boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 12:34 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art, Religion, Video, Weird
BLIND CLICK: Wine and Resonance
(via university of salford)
Posted by Groonk at 12:24 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Science, Video
Apple's iTunes and EMI Nixes DRM for the Right Price
And when I say "for the right price" I'm being only partly snarky. About 32% to be exact. This wonderful news has trickled down from 7d and various other sources. I chose Suicide Girls to be my link harbor.
Apple today announced that EMI Music's entire digital catalog of music will be available for purchase DRM-free (without digital rights management) from the iTunes Store worldwide in May.DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just $1.29 per song. In addition, iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 30 cents a song
I may be proven wrong in the future, but in the right now a 30 cent increase for better quality non Big Brothered music seems a fair deal.
(via suicide girls geek, boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 12:14 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Digital Share, Just Freaking Neat, Music
Louis Theroux Chats with the most Hateful Family in America
This family pickets funerals of soldiers that have died in the current Iraq War. They picket the mourners and say that all the bad things that are happening is because it is God's revenge on the US for tolerating homosexuality.
...
If I ever find them pi