April 05, 2008
This Used to Be Your Horrifying and Life Scarring Playground
Goth kids should be in love. You'd have to go to Russia or China to find these curious children's playgrounds.
(via dark roasted blend, buzzfeed)
Posted by Groonk at 01:34 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
February 28, 2008
Geek Networking of the 1990s was Quaint, Televised, Canadian
Explore the origins of Sci Fi fandom. See how little Neil Gaiman has changed in 15 years. Recoil at the (usual) curtness of Harlan Ellison. Be amazed by the teenaged Garth Ennis.
Chuckle at 90s TV graphics. I could probably do a rather long essay on how internet graphics changed the visual design landscape of television. I'll save that for another obsession.
(via neil gaiman, Prisoners of gravity: Fans, a response to neil gaiman's sharing of the Fans You Tube by the creator of Fans)
Posted by Groonk at 03:17 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books, Comics, Culture, Documentary, History, Tee Vee
February 08, 2008
BLIND CLICK 23: Hello, Friday
(via digg)
Posted by Groonk at 02:09 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blind Click, Culture, Video, Weird
November 18, 2007
Tattoos of Science Love
A whole mess of them after this jump.
(via digg)
Posted by Groonk at 05:54 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Photos2, Research, Science
November 14, 2007
XKCD Influences People, Life, Ninjas
Wired finally figured out where the cool part of the web is and talked about the lovely comic, XKCD.
And then Munroe's fans read the installment in which a mysterious dream girl leaves the hero with a set of coordinates for a place and time in the near future.
In the comic, nothing happens. "It turns out that wanting something doesn't make it real," the comic's narrator says mournfully.
But in real life, those coordinates pointed to a real time and place: Sept. 23, 2:38 p.m., in Reverend Thomas J. Williams Park in North Cambridge, Massachusetts. On that day, nearly a thousand xkcd fans from as far away as England and Canada converged on the park, bearing tape measures and Rubik's cubes. At the assigned minute, Munroe emerged and spoke.
"Maybe wanting something does make it real," he said as his fans cheered and fought duels with foam swords. The comic that spurred the gathering was enlarged and hung from a fence, and fans took turns contributing to a new last panel, where dreams can come true.
You lost me with the foam sword duels. I'm not sayin' I'm too cool for school. I'm just sayin' I'm entirely too cynical.
Every sword I wield in public will have a razor's edge. Every battle I fight will be to the pain.
(via wired, xkcd meetup pool, xkcd, hober's flickr)
Posted by Groonk at 04:57 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Culture, Flickrlicious, USA
November 12, 2007
Captain America Returns! (sort of) for Veterans Day
Captain America may not be back from the dead, but he's back — sort of. After Marvel Comics unexpectedly killed off the champion of liberty and the American way earlier this year, he appears in a comic made exclusively for U.S. soldiers. He is seen on a videotape made before his death.[...]
Captain America is not being resurrected in "Spirit of America," said Bob Sabouni, Marvel's vice president of business development.
But when AAFES asked Marvel officials to include the hero in the latest military issue to be released before Veterans Day, they agreed because no other character better symbolizes the heroism and patriotism of the American soldier, Sabouni said.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 04:07 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Culture, USA, War
November 01, 2007
In Russia, Halloween is Underground
A day late but I have things to do some times.
Moscow schools have been ordered to ban students from celebrating Halloween despite the widespread popularity of the imported festival to Russia.Halloween is being forced underground because it "includes religious elements, the cult of death, the mockery of death," a spokesman for the city's education department Alexander Gavrilov said Wednesday.
Is it me or is Russia being a little weird lately? It's like Cold War mentality reaching up from the grave and grabbing hold of whomever's nearby.
(via reuters)
Posted by Groonk at 01:39 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Holiday
October 23, 2007
THE IT CROWD Creator Says "No" to Learning and/or Hugging
Apparently the USA version will not get to air. I can't say I'm sorry to hear that. I did not see The PTBs translating the british humor very well(see 1st season of THE OFFICE or that godawful American version of COUPLING).
British IT CROWD creator, Graham Linehan, thinks on what it'd take to make his creation work for an American audience.
As far as I can make out, even the oddest US mainstream sitcom–’Seinfeld’, say– is rooted in the real world. Mainstream American audiences aren’t used to characters who can cling to ceilings, or sit calmly playing computer games while a fire is raging beside them…all that crap that makes me laugh. I’m not saying they’re incapable of handling this kind of humour, I’m just saying that if you really intend to do this kind of nutty show, you can’t just grab the scripts and slap a few American actors on it. You need to rethink the whole thing, so that people who haven’t seen, say, ‘Blackadder’ about a thousand times, don’t get turned off by all the silly.Anyway, this brings me to my main reason for writing this post. It’s a long shot, but should anyone from NBC find the project lying around in a drawer before the option is up and decide to give it another go, I thought I’d do a quick checklist of things they might try in order to give any future version a snowball’s chance in hell of finding an audience.
His thoughts are worth the read.
(via the beat, Graham Linehan's blog)
Posted by Groonk at 05:34 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged, Culture, Tee Vee
October 18, 2007
Now We Can See and Hear the Edwardians
(via warren ellis and google video, guba)
Posted by Groonk at 01:02 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Digital Share, Documentary, Grammar, Just Freaking Neat, Video
The Nomadic Aborigine Myth Debunked
Dwellings were constructed in various styles, depending on the climate. Most common were dome-like structures made of cane reeds with roofs thatched with palm leaves.Some of the houses were interconnected, allowing native people to interact during long periods spent indoors during the wet season.
The findings, by the anthropologist and architect Dr Paul Memmot, of the University of Queensland, discredits a commonly held view in Australia that Aborigines were completely nomadic before the arrival of Europeans 200 years ago.
The belief was part of the argument used by white settlers to claim that Australia was terra nullius - the Latin term for land that belonged to nobody.
Dr Memmott said the myth that indigenous Australians were constantly on the move had come about because early explorers made their observations in good weather, when indigenous people were more mobile than at other times.
(via warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 12:55 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, History, Myth, Research, Science
September 25, 2007
Body Modification: Suspension Edition
Body modification has returned to my thoughts.
(via modblog)
Posted by Groonk at 02:38 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Research, Weird
September 14, 2007
Southwest Fascist Patrol: Women Deemed too Hot to Fly
I get that a company can draw the line at who it wants to serve. What I don't get is why they get to lecture their bullshit afterwards.
BTW Southwest, suffrage happened for many reasons in the USA 1920. And one of those reasons was not so you can preach "family values" on your flying tin cans.
Setara Qassim says it was not her idea that 100 degree day she flew back from Las Vegas on Southwest Airlines.
Ebbert, a Mesa College student and Hooters waitress, was allowed to stay on the plane, but only after she put up a fight and, she says, was lectured on how to dress properly.[...]
(via diesel sweeties and other news places)
Posted by Groonk at 02:14 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, USA
September 10, 2007
Dragon Con: In the News and with a History
The parade is one of the highlights of the four-day DragonCon event, billed as the country's largest annual convention for fans of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, comics, art, games and computers. It features more than 600 hours of panels, workshops demonstrations and discussions with authors, editors, artists, game designers and media personalities.
DragonCon is named for its beginnings in the Dragon Alliance of Gamers and Role-Players, a local science fiction and gaming group. The first convention was in 1987 and had about 1,400 attendees. By 1989, author Anne McCaffrey was lured as the convention's guest of honor, and by 1990, suspense writer Tom Clancy joined the fun.
[...]
Od's blood. You tell me that's not a Geek Homecoming.
(via ap news and 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 11:58 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
August 24, 2007
Neopagan Group Worships Death. Wants Recognition
Curiously, their deity of choice has a remarkable resemblence to Death of the Endless. A small fact not missed by Death's creator.
A small religious group that worships the grim reaper and is fighting for government recognition unveiled a softer image of their Death Saint today: a woman with a porcelain face, brown, shoulder-length hair and long thin fingers.
Hundreds of worshippers filed into the Santa Muerte sanctuary in central Mexico City to see the statue in a flowing golden dress and veil, clutching a rose. She offers another option to followers who have traditionally prayed to figures of a skeleton dressed in a black cloak and carrying a scythe, or in a long flowing white gown.
David Romo, the Traditional Mex-USA Church's archbishop, said the new incarnation of the saint appeared to a woman in a dream in December and told her to ask Romo to commission a statue so devotees could see her new look.
He denied the change is a publicity stunt to win government recognition and shed the group's image as a cult dabbling in black magic.
Death came to him in a Dream, eh? Gaiman should sue for trademark infringement.
(via neil gaiman and brisbane times)
Posted by Groonk at 12:26 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Religion
August 02, 2007
Today I learned about "Vegansexuals"
No, really. VEGANSEXUALS.
But seriously, get the fuck out my face with that shit.
(via applegeeks lite and buzzfeed)
Posted by Groonk at 03:33 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Culture, Sex
July 30, 2007
Nerd Prom 07: It's Long Past Over
Did you find anything interesting?
Did you?!?
If not you didn't look hard enough.
Stormtrooper Elvis sure as hell does get around.
(all photos courtesy of: SDCC 2007: San Diego Comic Con International)
Posted by Groonk at 06:34 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Flickrlicious
July 15, 2007
Man Turns Down $5b to Keep His Land
That's very brave and noble of him, but I can't say that I would do the same.
"This is my country. Look, it's beautiful and I fear somebody will disturb it," he says, waving his arm across a view of rocky land surrounded by Kakadu National Park, where the French energy giant Areva wants to extract 14,000 tonnes of uranium worth more than $5 billion."There are sacred sites, there are burial sites and there are other special places out there which are my responsibility to look after," Mr Lee told the Herald.
[...]
Mr Lee, who works as a ranger in Kakadu, said incorporating Koongarra into the park would allow him to see that the land was protected.
"Being part of the park will ensure that the traditional laws, customs, sites, bush tucker, trees, plants and water stay the same as when they were passed on to me by my father and great-grandfather," he said.
As the sole surviving member of the Djok clan Mr Lee does not have any children to pass the land on to.
"I'll have to see what I can do about that," he said.
(via ponzu and the sidney morning herald)
Posted by Groonk at 02:18 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
July 05, 2007
Man Changes Name to Megatron
Please. Stop.
Posted by Groonk at 04:22 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Flickrlicious
June 02, 2007
Comedian Steven Wright is on Twitter
And he's blessing us with short bits of comedy without a price for admission.
http://twitter.com/stevenwright
I'm not sure I can handle actually liking Twitter. Someone give me a rationalization, quick!
(via twitter)
Posted by Groonk at 08:53 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Digital Share, Funny, Just Freaking Neat
Dutch TV Lies About Kidney Competition for Attention
That's either brilliant or a completely dickish thing to do.
A Dutch TV contest which purported to show a dying woman choose a patient to receive her kidneys was a hoax.The three knew that The Big Donor Show, which aired on Friday, was not real. The producers say it was made to highlight the shortage of Dutch donors.
(via twitter bbc)
Posted by Groonk at 03:17 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
May 11, 2007
In Belarus, They Hand-Paint Hollywood Movies to Winful Effect
Also: For reasons unknown, SHALLOW HAL is called EVIL LOVE in Russia.
More movies after the hop.
(via ontd and englishrussia.com)
Posted by Groonk at 04:10 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art, Culture, Movies, One Sheets
April 23, 2007
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
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 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
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
March 28, 2007
More Celebrity Shenanigans
"I was a little bit drunk myself but felt something brush my breast. I thought it couldn’t be the future king... "
Michael Jackson is in discussions about creating a 50-foot robotic replica of himself to roam the Las Vegas desert...
[...]
It has now been claimed that his plans include an elaborate show in Vegas, which would feature the giant Jacko striding around the desert, firing laser beams.
If built, the metal monster would apparently be visible to aircraft as they come in to land in the casino capital.
It is the centre-piece of an elaborate Jackson-inspired show in Vegas, according to Andre Van Pier, the robot's designer.
[...]
(silliness found here, here, and here)
Posted by Groonk at 12:08 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Quotables, Weird
March 23, 2007
Bill Gates Finally gets a Harvard Degree
It's the little things, yes?
...the world's richest college dropout is finally getting his degree.It's hard to guess if Gates, the wealthiest person in the world and co-founder of a company that brought in US$44 billion in revenue last year, cares. But the programming whiz who once dropped out of Harvard will likely feel some sense of satisfaction.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 04:23 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
March 22, 2007
Robotics Students Know How to Keep their Fuel Cells Charged
In other news, Carnegie Mellon robotics students Phil and Marek(the Keepon robot guy) have a side project of brewing beers. Robot themed beers, of course.
(via dirtyrobotbrews)
Posted by Groonk at 09:43 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Robots
March 09, 2007
Disney's FROG PRINCESS to Break a Few Barriers
Actually one barrier. After 60 fucking years, give or take, they're starting work on their first animated black princess fairy tale. Set in New Orleans, the story will be based on THE FROG PRINCESS.
A musical set in the legendary birthplace of jazz – New Orleans -- "The Frog Princess" will introduce the newest Disney princess, Maddy, a young African-American girl living amid the charming elegance and grandeur of the fabled French Quarter. From the heart of Louisiana's mystical bayous and the banks of the mighty Mississippi comes an unforgettable tale of love, enchantment and discovery with a soulful singing crocodile, voodoo spells and Cajun charm at every turn."The Frog Princess" is based on an original story written by Disney's acclaimed filmmaking duo John Musker & Ron Clements ("The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin," "Hercules"), who will also direct.
Stealing other people's stories, however, has been going on since day one.
(link via 7d, animated news, disney press release)
Posted by Groonk at 01:16 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, USA
February 22, 2007
Al Gore will Rock Your Face Green
I'm not knocking the goodness of his intentions but I hope the irony of big, smelly, car-driving-to concerts for global warming is not lost on people.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Al Gore announced on Thursday a series of worldwide concerts to focus on the threat of climate change, with a powerhouse lineup from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Snoop Dogg to Bon Jovi.The 24-hour event on July 7 is part of a campaign, Save Our Selves _ The Campaign for a Climate in Crisis, that promoters hope will trigger a broad movement to address what the former vice president calls a global climate crisis.
"In order to solve the climate crisis, we have to reach billions of people," the environmental activist, filmmaker and 2000 Democratic presidential nominee said in a statement. "The climate crisis will only be stopped by an unprecedented and sustained global movement."
In other news, Al Gore has inspired Tiffany Randol to throw a "Global Warming Bikini Beach Party."
Check out the cool ass poster for it:
(via ontd, The Alliance for Climate Protection, ONTD2)
Posted by Groonk at 03:33 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Music, Science, USA, World
February 15, 2007
Conservative DAILY SHOW Fails to Amuse (Me, Anyway) Anybody
In November 2006, I learned there was to be a DAILY SHOW for conservatives.
Just now, I watched a clip from it.
That was severly unfunny.
They're like that college comedy troupe that works so hard to be funny, but it's just not in the cards for them. And no one has the heart to tell them they suck.
"Hey guys? You suck."
I'm full of heart.
(via ONTD and where's the funny, YouTube?)
Also, they're talking about it on The Engine. Best quote from there: "It's sad that they feel the need to compete. Sadder still that they can't tell the difference between satire & smarm."
EDIT: I'm sorry *this* is the best quote, "Holy god. That's sadder than watching a puppy try to lick a dead kitten back to life. And the puppy has cancer. "
Posted by Groonk at 03:43 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Video
February 05, 2007
Sunita Williams Sets Women's Spacewalking Record
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams has now spent more time spacewalking than any other woman, setting the record on Sunday as she and a crew mate upgraded the international space station's cooling system.Williams broke the previous female spacewalking record of more than 21 hours when she and Michael Lopez-Alegria completed the second of what could be a precedent-setting three spacewalks in nine days. The new record is 22 hours and 27 minutes.
Next, the moon.
For everybody.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 12:22 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Science
January 24, 2007
Andy Griffith is More Patriotic Than You
And by "you" I mean the Patriot Act.
(via patriotic youtube, boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 01:42 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, USA, Video
January 15, 2007
Kung Fu Monkey Learns You about the TV Biz
John Rogers of the Kung Fu Monkey blog, and directing the most famous none aired pilot ever(Global Frequency), talks a bit about the business of TV, the troubles with the 22 episode season, why some of your shows get cancelled and supposition on where TV may go in the future.
This is actually a good moment to break down how television actually works, as Dan's completely understandable misconception is quite common. Networks don't make shows. Networks buy shows. And they don't even buy the whole goddam thing. Studios make shows. They usually, as I've noted before, deficit finance a show, where they pay the bulk of the production costs and the network pays a fraction of the per-episode expense. It is a symbiotic relationship -- the studio retains ownership, and so can reap the benefits of a popular show through (not so much now) syndication and (the only thing keeping Hollywood alive) DVD sales. The network got the advertising revenue, and could jack up those prices if a show was popular.[...]
When your nominal buyer becomes your employee, things gets weird. We've already seen situations where a network's continued a doomed show up through 13 episodes so that the box set will recoup some expenses for the studio. Whedon's Angel very much died because the WB realized they were just advertising for 20th Century Fox's box sets. Although the network in theory has final say on what shows they pick up, there are stories in recent years about one network where the network execs weren't even allowed in the room while the studio suits did the fall schedule.
(read full article: "Nobody gets Rich, Everybody Gets Paid ")
Posted by Groonk at 11:36 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Tutorials, USA
January 12, 2007
First Female Beefeater at the Tower of London
Obvious jokes aside, congrats to you Moira Cameron.
LONDON (AFP) - The first female beefeater at the Tower of London, whose appointment overturned more than 500 years of tradition, smiled broadly as she met her new colleagues.Moira Cameron, 42, beat five men to the prestigious position and became the first female ever appointed to the famous ceremonial guard.
Yeomen warders, or beefeaters, are a familiar sight to tourists in their red and gold uniforms. They guard the landmark tower and the British crown jewels within, but also act as tour guides and are an attraction in their own right.
[...]
The beefeater nickname is thought to date back to the days when the yeoman warders were given a daily ration of meat.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 05:24 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
January 10, 2007
Second Life Enjoys the Attention of Writers
Warren Ellis will be writing a weekly column on SL for Reuters.
“Second Life is not only the biggest digital art installation in the world, but potentially the most radical shift yet in the way communities are formed online, and possibly also the germ of the next great operating system,” Ellis said. “It’s not only a place where people get as strange as they can, but an incubator for the future.”“As a writer who deals with both the strangeness of people and the state of the future, Second Life is like a lab for me,” he added.
That shot through the internet back in Dec 2006. Ellis' first column is up and waiting to be read.
Another Second Life column by Joel Stein talks about meeting people and getting a free penis. I suppose that makes more sense to Second Lifers. But it is weird no matter how you think on it.
(via second life, bad signal, and time online)
Posted by Groonk at 08:24 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Digital Decompression, Quotables
People Love to Hide Stuff
A sidenote to the Hidden Passageways site mentioned earlier.
TV Coverups hides your plasma screen from looky loos while, simultaneously, making you look super cool and ultra pretensious.
(via tv coverups)
Posted by Groonk at 08:12 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Research, Technology
January 08, 2007
The Stranger Makes Hilarious Mistakes
The Stranger is an entertainment rag(see: magazine) local to Seattle. I read it off and on when I had glancing contact with Portland radio's Daria O'Neil, Gustav and Bill Prescott's Morning Radio Shows. We're talking late 90s early 00s, kids.
Unfortunatley I forgot about The Stranger and its strangeness. That is until I caught up on my Regret the Error. As they explain it, no one does corrections like The Stranger.
For example, when its theatre editor confused two playwrights, the paper made him complete a quiz. That earned praise from us in our round-up of the year in media errors and corrections. Now the paper has published its own round-up of corrections.
Some examples follow:
- Bradley Steinbacher, the managing editor of The Stranger, regrets sharing an office with Dan Savage, editor of The Stranger, especially since Mr. Savage often changes clothes in said office, during which Mr. Savage routinely threatens to place his scrotal sack on the back of Mr. Steinbacher's neck. Sometimes this threat is sung to the tune of Frère Jacques. Both the threat and the state of Savage's scrotal sack are regrettable.
- Stranger news writer Sarah Mirk regrets not double-checking the visiting hours for Yakima County Jail on November 5, resulting in a very, very disappointing end to a six-hour drive through a blinding rainstorm
- Stranger associate editor David Schmader regrets not buying more of that mushroom fudge from that lovely woman at Hempfest.
- Christopher Frizzelle, the arts editor of The Stranger, regrets being so stoned the month of August that he let associate editor Charles Mudede write a review of a book that was published 140 years ago.
- With regard to Ms. Mirk, Stranger news editor Josh Feit regrets not getting the young, impressionable Ms. Mirk hooked on crack and/or knocked up, which might have compelled her to drop out of college and stay on The Stranger's staff.
Damn. The Stranger makes me laugh.
(via regret the error)
Posted by Groonk at 08:12 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Linkable, eMag
January 06, 2007
James Gunn Rules over the Dead
This is not really Myth and not exactly Grammar. I'm just covering my bases so I'm sure to run into it in later searches. Ever since my History of English Language class my fascination with the etymology of names shot up 200%:
1.Is your last name really Gunn? Cuz that's freakin' cool. 2. Were you buds with Rooker prior to Slither? – MikeYes, that's really my last name. My original family name (in Ireland) was MacGilGunn. My relatives there now are all named GilGunn. My grandparents shortened it to Gunn when they came over, to avoid anti-Irish bias (there was such a thing back then).
But even cooler is the origin of the name. MacGilGunn means Sons to the Servants of the God of the Dead. Gunn means "God of the Dead." I shit you not.
And, no, I wasn't friends with Rooker prior to SLiTHER, but I was a big, big fan.
That comes from James Gunn's first blog of the year 007. He did SLiTHER and DAWN OF THE DEAD and SCOOBY DOO and lots of other things. ANGEL fans make a note. The character of Charles Gunn was named after James and Sean Gunn(brothers ya know.
There are lots of other writing and screenwriting questions answered in this particular blog, too.
(via james gunn and possibly james gunn's god)
Posted by Groonk at 04:28 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Grammar, Myth, Tutorials
December 29, 2006
Odd Things are happening at the Apollo
They're viewing James Brown's body en masse.
That's seriously freaking my shit.
UPDATE: Michael Jackson out weirded everything by showing up to Mr Brown's funeral and speaking some sort of jibberish. Now that takes a special kind of weird.
(photo cred via WENN heads up via ontd)
Posted by Groonk at 02:13 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
Godfather of Soul James Brown 1933 - 2006
I forgot to mention, James Brown is Dead.
This is becoming upsetting. I feel like I'm turning into a death blog. Even more upsetting. The old regime is dying out leaving a new one that is not up to snuff.
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.
Copsidas said Brown's family was being notified of his death and that the cause was still uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said.
Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him.
His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others. Songs such as David Bowie's "Fame," Prince's "Kiss," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style.
The man had a troubled soul but he was a major influence on the world at large. I think he deserves his own Graceland.
(via cnn and flashback youtube and ireland)
Posted by Groonk at 01:52 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Music, People Who Died
December 28, 2006
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Guaranteed "Clone Free"
WASHINGTON - Meat and milk from cloned animals may not appear in supermarkets for years despite being deemed by the government as safe to eat. But don't be surprised if "clone-free" labels appear sooner. Ben & Jerry's, for one, wants consumers to know that its ice cream comes from regular cows and not clones. The Ben & Jerry's label already says its farmers don't use bovine growth hormone."We want to make sure people are confident with what's in our pints," company spokesman Rob Michalak said. "We haven't yet landed on exactly how we want to express that publicly."
For food that does come from clones, the
Food and Drug Administration is unlikely to require labels, officials said.The FDA gave preliminary approval Thursday to meat and milk from cloned animals or their offspring. Federal scientists found virtually no difference between food from clones and food from conventional livestock.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 03:46 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Cloning, Culture
Former US President Gerald Ford 1913 - 2006
Just a few days ago, Gerald Ford died and the news media coudln't wait to run their various profiles on the man's accomplishments and faults.
I acknowledge his accomplishments but I can't help but recall that time he guested on The Simpsons.
PALM DESERT, California (CNN) -- Preparations were under way Thursday for ceremonies to say farewell to former President Gerald R. Ford in California, Michigan and the nation's capital.Ford, 93, "died peacefully" Tuesday evening at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, his widow, Betty Ford, said in a statement. An official cause of death was not announced.
"His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country," she said.
[...]
In Ford's honor, Bush ordered U.S. flags at all federal government buildings to fly at half-staff for 30 days.
Former President Carter, who defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential race, said Ford "frequently rose above politics by emphasizing the need for bipartisanship and seeking common ground on issues critical to our nation."
For more Ford video that borders on the surreal watch an old SNL skit from 10 years ago via Cynical C Blog.
Posted by Groonk at 03:46 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, People Who Died, USA, Video
Joseph Barbera 1911 - 2006
While I was readying to leave the city last week, Joe Barbera died and the world cried a little inside.
Joe Barbera, half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that produced such beloved cartoon characters as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and the Flintstones, died Monday, a Warner Bros. spokesman said. He was 95. Barbera died of natural causes at his home with his wife Sheila at his side, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said.With his longtime partner, Bill Hanna, Barbera first found success creating the highly successful Tom and Jerry cartoons. The antics of the battling cat and mouse went on to win seven Academy Awards, more than any other series with the same characters.
The partners, who had first teamed up while working at MGM in the 1930s, then went on to a whole new realm of success in the 1950s with a witty series of animated TV comedies, including "The Flintstones," "The Jetsons," "Yogi Bear," "Scooby-Doo" and "Huckleberry Hound and Friends."
Their strengths melded perfectly, critic Leonard Maltin wrote in his book "Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons." Barbera brought the comic gags and skilled drawing, while Hanna brought warmth and a keen sense of timing.
Hanna died in 2001.
(via everywhere including ONTD and povonline)
Posted by Groonk at 03:34 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, People Who Died, Video
December 09, 2006
Buy a Bit of a Celebrity's Soul to Help Fight Breast Cancer
Project Teddy Bears, that is. There's an auction to support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer wherein famous lads and lasses take pictures with little bears and the kind folks at the charity sell said pics and autographs in an auction.
Some of the photos are dreadfully amusing. While one of them(I'm looking at you Rue McClanahan) scares the crap out of me. I put a very small sampling of photos in the below graphic.
If you want to own a bit of a famous person's soul, go to the auction and bid away breast cancer.
(via neil gaiman)
Posted by Groonk at 07:52 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged, Culture, USA
December 07, 2006
James Kim 1971 - 2006
I've been so wrapped up in my own stuff, I just didn't know about this. I watched his segments on Tech TV when Tech TV was good.
Again, I didn't know him personally. And again, I am saddened by the tragedy.
James Kim was a respected expert on cutting-edge digital devices, an owner of a trendy clothing store and a lover of the futuristic-sounding music known as electronica.
The body of the 35-year-old Kim was discovered Wednesday in a rugged wilderness area in southern Oregon. He had set out across snow and ice with only tennis shoes to protect his feet. He had eaten little in the seven days since his car got stuck.
"Anyone that knows James will tell you that he would do anything to protect his family," said Jason Zemlicka, a friend of 10 years and former co-worker. "I know him, and he must have believed he was going to get somewhere."
The path James Kim took has been mapped on Google Earth.
(via ponzu and cnet's tribute site)
Posted by Groonk at 09:01 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, People Who Died, Technology, USA
November 17, 2006
In a 14 Hour Geek Orgy a Star Wars Virgin Breaks his Cherry
The gods were with him during movies I - III for sure. Seeing that he survived that dreck and all. It's sad those had to be the first ones he saw.
The Challenge was simple: Lose my virginity. More specifically, my Star Wars virginity. This was something I had held for so long that I had developed a sort of pride about it. It made me unique in this vast world of passionate and eccentric fans. Was now the time? Would I even be ready?Late last week I was challenged by EW.com to watch Cinamax's complete Star Wars Marathon — George Lucas' complete saga in the order in which he originally intended (Episodes I-VI). I would have to watch 14 straight hours of Star Wars all night Friday into early Saturday. With my social calendar predictably empty, I decided now would be the time to give up what so many people already have over the last 30 years. However, with my roommate not being up for the challenge, I would be being doing it alone.
HBO did this on November 10th. I was gonna make a big deal but was having a difficult time giving a fuck.
Obviously my mental state has changed slightly.
(via pentacleus and ew.com)
Posted by Groonk at 05:07 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
November 16, 2006
The Fuckin Red Hat Nation LIVES
Like most things, this started small. James Gunn wore an "ugly fuckin paddington bear looking" red hat during the production of SLiTHER. He shared with fans via his blog. They shared their photoshop revenge.
Befriend his hat: http://www.myspace.com/jgredhat
Befriend his group: http://groups.myspace.com/tjgas
Make this girl your bitch and get her to make you a red hat too: http://www.myspace.com/hockey_bauer (But be nice about it.)
(via red hat nation and a fuckin red hat)
Posted by Groonk at 06:20 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged, Culture
November 02, 2006
Halloween: Now in Japan
The Beat noticed The Brunei Times report on Halloween becoming popular in Japan. I went looking for the full article and I'll be damned if it isn't gone already. With not a search box in sight on Brunei, I'll have to take The Beat's word as truth.
GHOSTIES and ghoulies, princesses and pumpkins took to the streets of Tokyo this weekend as Japan celebrated one of its newest festivals Halloween.Little known two decades ago, Halloween has spread in cities such as Tokyo, where autumn now sees florists selling pumpkins, shopping arcades festooned with paper Jack o’lanterns and even black-and-orange costumes for dogs on offer at pet shops.
(via The Beat and Brunei Times, I guess)
Posted by Groonk at 10:04 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Holiday, Only in Japan
October 18, 2006
Celebrities Make Awesome Role Models
Fell the sarcasm. Feel it in your brain:
Wesely Snipes is a Cheat
An arrest warrant for the actor has been issued, officials said, adding that his whereabouts are unknown.
(via dunc!)
Mike Tyson Likes to Fight Women
But the 40-year-old former heavyweight champ promised an entertaining show Friday night when he launches the "Mike Tyson's World Tour" in Youngstown.
Wolfe, from Waco, Texas, is 21-1 with 15 knockouts.
I have a hope that she puts an ungodly hurt on his lame ass.
I also hope he gets in the ring with Chyna and she finishes what's left.
Posted by Groonk at 09:08 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, USA
October 15, 2006
CBGB Dies. A Little Bit of History Goes with It
December 1973? Huh. It was as old as I am.
Blondie singer Deborah Harry performed at CBGB on Saturday, part of a weeklong send-off for the club.
With a capacity of barely 300, CBGB was founded as a place of freedom for different musical acts. Its letters stand for the music Kristal originally planned to present there — country, bluegrass and blues — but it quickly came to represent the physical epicenter of early punk and the storied downtown scene of 1970s New York.
(via yahoo news)
UPDATE: ONTD posts a retrospective while FreeIndie.com shares an essay
Posted by Groonk at 07:05 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Music
October 10, 2006
The All Blacks Haka on Ice
I would be one fearful mofo if I saw the opposing team perform the haka in hockey skates.
Other haka instances on GNET:
» Return of the Haka
» Haka
(via All Blacks and 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 03:58 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Video
September 19, 2006
Today is the Day to be Touched by His Noodley Appendage
Why today? You're just not paying attention are you?
Posted by Groonk at 05:14 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Funny, Religion
September 13, 2006
Steve Irwin Fans Possibly Lose their Shit, Cut Off Stingray Tails
Mr Irwin, a TV personality known as the "Crocodile Hunter", was killed while diving in Queensland when a stingray's barb stabbed him in the chest.
Since then, 10 stingrays have been found mutilated on Queensland beaches.
Government officials said they were investigating the deaths and there could be prosecutions.
Two stingrays were found at a beach north of Brisbane with their tails cut off, while eight were found on another beach on Monday, The Australian reported.
Wayne Sumpton of the state fisheries department said it was not clear if the incidents were connected to Mr Irwin's death.
He said fishermen who inadvertently caught stingrays sometimes cut off their tails to avoid being stung, but such a practice was uncommon.
Ok, people, that's counterproductive to the whole idea of conservation and being a naturalist. If it's true and all that.
(via warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 02:09 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Culture, Weird
September 12, 2006
Dragon*Con TV was Clever
The fine folks who ran this year's Dragon*Con found clever ways to entertain the literate freaks and geeks in attendance.
They payed homage to Adult Swim's bumps and did a funny job of it. Funny haha.
fandom feast (my favorite)
http://dragoncontv.com/videos/123/
sf vs not sf
http://dragoncontv.com/videos/141/
please don't sue
http://dragoncontv.com/videos/138/
no one cares(another favorite)
http://dragoncontv.com/videos/134/
(via dunc)
Posted by Groonk at 02:48 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged, Culture, Just Freaking Neat, Marketing
September 05, 2006
Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin (1962 - 2006)
You know how you're sure that something tragic will happen to a person(because of their chosen profession) and then it happens and then you're insanely weirded out by your apparent omniscience and sort of sad even though you don't really know that person?
Well, that's how I feel about Stever Irwin's passing.
BEERWAH, Australia - Steve Irwin pulled a poisonous stingray barb from his chest in his dying moments, his longtime manager said Tuesday, after watching videotape of the attack that killed the popular "Crocodile Hunter."
Irwin's body was returned home to Beerwah, a hamlet in southeastern Queensland on the fringe of the Outback where he lived with his wife and two young children. Irwin turned a modest reptile park opened by his parents into Australia Zoo, a wildlife reserve that has become an international tourist attraction.
The Animal Planet website has a rememberance page up that's worth a look.
(via the superficial twice, iwatchstuff, and 7d)
He wrestled the raw power of nature and got away with it for longer than most of us would have.
RIP, guy.
Posted by Groonk at 11:53 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, People Who Died, Video
August 31, 2006
When Assured Mutual Destruction is Just not Enough
Accelerated Future's Michael Anissimov, has created an article named "Six Places to Nuke When You're Serious."
Nice to see the kids considering all the options.
In this scenario, it does not really matter who is dropping the bomb. The point is to create as much mayhem as possible. This analysis leans towards detonation targets that do damage to the United States in particular, both because the US has many enemies, and because many countries are economically and politically dependent on a smoothly-functioning US. The attack might be a set-up for a larger operation, occur in the context of a war, or simply be an isolated event. Potential orchestrators of the attack include rogue states like North Korea or Iran, criminal organizations, jihadi organizations, or more sophisticated groups like circles of well-educated and wealthy Americans exploiting abrupt technological transitions to gain power.
2. Knock off a chunk of Cumbre Viejo at La Palma in the Canary Islands.
Explosions on mountaintop, rocks into ocean, waves into coast. Walls of water into cities. You get the idea. The wave goes around the globe three full times before it dissipates. Not sure if this one is worse than blowing up Manhattan.
Number 1 will dumbfound you. Is right out of an ill conceived Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer plot.
(via accelerating future)
Posted by Groonk at 01:15 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged, Culture, USA, World
August 25, 2006
Britain's Top Model Aspires to Gothness
What is it with this love of that Top Model show? I just don't get it.
When I want to see pretty models, I look in the Victoria's Secret catalog. When I want to see pretty models in motion, I go to porn.
corpse bride lives!
In the meantime, the brits have embraced the goth movement.
(via ontd)
Posted by Groonk at 03:53 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
Nerdgasm Command and Control
(via ponzu)
Posted by Groonk at 11:11 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Research, Technology
August 19, 2006
"The 5 Most Obviously Drug-Fuelled TV Appearances EVER"
Some things I share with close friends via email. Sometimes those things get such a reaction that, well hell, it'd be a crime not to post it on this less than humble experiment.
Let's start with number 1: Richard Pryor in a Televised Interview on the Set of 'Stir Crazy'.
When I see this and the Crispin Glover roundhouse kicking David Letterman in 1987(which I remember seeing the night it aired), I'm reminded of the wisdom of The Superfreak(Rick James).
"Cocaine is a hell of a drug."
(the rest are linked via ONTD)
Posted by Groonk at 12:17 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Funny, USA, Video
August 11, 2006
New Scientist says 'Fear Nothing but Fear Itself'
They are scientists because they are smart...most days.
Alarm and distress over flying may be the main casualties of Thursday’s alleged terror plot to blow up more than 10 passenger planes, experts say.
Despite terrible fatalities in the London and Madrid train attacks, which between them killed almost 250 people, fear of airline terrorism strikes deepest, say psychologists. And one of the reasons is the indelible memory of the attacks which demolished New York’s World Trade Center on 11 September 2001.
“It’s not only that the planes were hijacked, but that the passenger planes themselves were used as weapons, something people had never thought of before,” says Elie Godsi, a clinical psychologist based in Nottingham, UK.
So even though the alleged UK plot to down airliners appears to have been foiled, it still represents a victory of sorts for terrorism because of the resulting fear and mayhem.
“Whenever people fly now in the post-9/11 world, it’s obvious that anything suspicious to do with airline travel will be disproportionately stressful,” says Godsi.
[...]
...says Perman-Kerr, the current alert could be counted a success in terrorist terms, even though any plot appears to have been thwarted. “Nothing has to happen, because the fear in people changes their behaviour and their activities, hitting the economy at the same time.”
Godsi agrees. “One of the worst things you can do to people is impose uncertainty, and uncertainty with an intangible threat is worse still,” he says.
Yet ironically, terrorism accounts for a tiny number of deaths compared with other causes such as road accidents, deaths from drug abuse or heart attacks and strokes. “It’s disproportionate in its impact because no one knows when it will strike, and typically it happens when people are going about their daily business.”
As to the stress experienced by the thousands of travellers who have had their journeys disrupted, Godsi says they are likely to cope with it and accept it provided they are given adequate explanations for the measures introduced. “If people understand the reasons, they’re usually happier, even if they suffer inconvenience as a result,” she says.
(via lovable, huggable newscientist in their pretty lab coats and ze frank, the talking head that could)
Posted by Groonk at 04:12 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Science, World
August 03, 2006
Global Warming Brews Up Ice-Cap Beer
My God. I must have some of this. I love the taste of impending doom.
The brewers claim that the water is at least 2,000 years old and free of minerals and pollutants.
The first 66,000 litres of the new dark and pale
ales are on their way to the Danish market. The beer from Greenland - a semi-autonomous Danish territory - costs 37 kroner (?3.40; five euros) per half-litre bottle.
It is the first ever Inuit microbrewery - located in Narsaq, a hamlet 625km (390 miles) south of the Arctic Circle…
Beerme.com states there are only 2 breweries in Greenland. And one of those is planned as of 3/14/06.
I wonder...
(via warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 02:01 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, World
Iraqis Podcast About their Lives
Instead of solely relying on the oft times half-assedness of CNN or the complete idiocy of Fox News, get a better idea about life in Iraq from actual Iraqis.
Alive in Baghdad founder Brian Conley explains it all in this Rocketboom mach II clip
(via rocketboom mach II)
Posted by Groonk at 11:29 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Podcast, World
August 01, 2006
The Internet Answers Your Most Silliest, Darkest, Serious Questions
Michael Gaiman has created a wonderful internet social interaction space.
I've been on it a while. I'm seriously addicted.
"which would you rather have: the power of flight or invisbility?"
"who would win if a flying shark and a flying crocodile got in a fight?"
(dearinter.net: consensus life coaching)
Ah, Internet. So many questions. Can you truly answer them all?
(via neil gaiman)
Posted by Groonk at 01:10 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Apps, Culture, Just Freaking Neat