fun
Miscellany
This whole "Numa Numa" thing is out of control.
What swims at 20 miles per hour, can carve out hunks of human flesh, and will attack anything that moves? The Humboldt squid. Brace yourself for a dive with the eeriest beast in the ocean. A fascinating read.
Jeff has an outstanding parable of the recent Hezbollah attacks on Israel.
Quote of the Day
The Cheesecake Factory always looks like a mosque to me. Only, a mosque out of Willy Wonka or something. Sort of an Oompa-Loompa faith community. I have never really thought about it before, but now that she mentions it, the Cheesecake Factory does look like a Willy Wonka mosque! I guess I'll have to remember not to order bacon on my burger the next time I visit.
Chad Vader
"Life is hard when you're Darth Vader's less-talented, less-charismatic younger brother and you manage a grocery store." I love the Imperial March on acoustic guitar. [Via Eric via IM.]
More miscellany
Liechtenstein is 200. The total population of the nation is a little over half of that of my town.
In the market for a new mortgage? Be sure to check out the Mortgage Professor, who has a list of "Upfront Mortgage Brokers". These brokers promise the transparency of disclosing "the loan's wholesale price (the interest rate and points), plus the markup, in writing and in advance." [Via Newsweek, June 26, 2006.]
A thought on why Honda rocks: Last week, during swim lessons, I had a moron moment and forgot to take my Pilot's key and fob out of my swimsuit pocket. An hour later, after drying off the tyke (the lessons were for him, in case you were wondering), I went to change in to some dry clothes and had one of those Seinfeldian "Oooohhhhhh" moments. Just out of curiosity, I hit the lock button on the fob. Twice. I heard the Pilot's horn blast a single note. And I smiled. It's still working, with apparently no ill effects. So is the little keychain LED light my sister-in-law got as a stocking stuffer for me two Christmases ago.
Miscellany
The federal government is apparently looking at creating a national SMS alert system. [Via MobileTracker.]
Congratulations to Kyle MacDonald, who, one year and fourteen trades later, bartered a red paper clip for a house.
Making sure you tipped the right amount after the fact doesn't do your server much good, does it?
Happy Birthday, Lee!
I'm so glad that forever shall I be five months younger than mi amigo, who apparently is already feeling the effects of age, having to recycle his birthday blog post because he cannot muster the mental faculties to create something original. ;-)
Va l'Italia!
In recognition of the nation with the better food, better skiing, and better people winning the World Cup, I thought I would share my favorite French joke. (Blame FranX, as this came up in an IM conversation with him this evening.)
Q: Why are the streets of Paris lined with trees?
A: Because the Germans like to march in the shade.
Miscellany
John points to a 94x magnification of Velcro being pulled apart. Wicked cool. You can also see Scotch tape being ripped, more Velcro, still more Velcro, and Equisetum strobilus, all worth a look.
How much do I love Default Folder? Its functionality should be built in to OS X. (I was just using it quite a bit today, lots of saving in different locales, etc., and I thought a shout-out was in order.)
After months of waiting, I found it. Part of a pint was consumed this evening. It was yummy. Retrophisch™ Recommended!
Miscellany
Oh, if true, a tabbed Finder would rock. (Yes, I am aware Path Finder has this functionality already.)
You may have seen Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of LaGrande Jatte", not realizing what a masterpiece of impressionist painting it is. My first exposure to it, and I'm betting for lots of children of the '80s, was thanks to Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Now, the famous painting has been recreated by those crazy cheeseheads.
It kind of sucks that the 1.0b1 version of a piece of software has crashed more on me in two days of use than the alpha verisons have in the past year. Update: I guess I wasn't clear in my above disappointment. For those keeping score, I've "downgraded" to Adium X 0.89.1.
Mostly baseball miscellany
Sometimes, it seems like the Starbucks growth pattern really is this bad, doesn't it?
Texas Rangers All-Star Michael Young became the 10th-fastest MLB player to reach the 1,000-hit milestone, cranking off a single in the fifth inning yesterday. Last year's AL batting champ continues to impress, and remains one of our favorite Rangers.
I should also note that while my little phisch will see a game on the tube and remark, "Baseball!", he's not to the point where he knows players' names.
LSU athletics director Skip Bertman was inducted in to the College Baseball Hall of Fame. Topping Bertman's impressive accomplishments are the five NCAA championships he led the LSU Tigers to, making them the dominate team of the 1990s.
I can still remember where I was and what I was doing when the Tigers won the first championship in '91. I was at my hometown church, in the gymnasium, buffing the floors, while my bride-to-be was cleaning the kitchen. Starting in high school, I took on the janitorial duties there as a part-time job, and the once-a-month gym floor buffing happened to take place the weekend of the College World Series finals.
Congratulations, Coach, and Geaux Tigers!
Miscellany
I would pay good money to see "The Running of the Congressmen."
You know the Oprahfication of America is out of control when Cookie Monster is reduced to introspection. McSweeney's:
Me love cookies. Me tend to get out of control when me see cookies. Me know it not natural to react so strongly to cookies, but me have weakness. Me know me do wrong. Me know it isn't normal. Me see disapproving looks. Me see stares. Me hurt inside.
You, too, can help Cory Doctorow remove his Apple tattoo. I join Gus in snickering.
Miscellany
Photojojo has a review of the Lensbaby 2.0, a $149 retro novelty lens for digital SLRs.
From the "Things That Make You Go 'Huh?'" Department, Tom gives us Mr. Martin Heidegger. After reading Heidegger's quote, I have the mental equivalent of wanting to get a bad taste out of my mouth...
In line with my smart-aleck nature, there are more good t-shirts I want, but I would need to perform a serious shirt purge first.
Miscellany
It's not a full-scale semi truck, or even a VW Beetle, but it is a real-life Transformer. [Via Firewheel Design.]
Brent informs us that Mississippi is very dog-friendly at its rest stops.
As Lee said when he pinged me via IM, "What a waste of a Countach."
For some reason, I can't believe John blogged iStache.
World Cup wussies?
So I'm sitting here watching Spain play Saudi Arabia in the World Cup, and we're having more and more of the pathetic overacting by the players when they get tackled/kicked/knocked down. Can we stop this sad display, manly football men of the world? Look, I know it hurts like hell when you get kicked in the shin, but I thought that was the point of wearing those pads inside the socks that pull up to your jock strap. Yet these guys get tapped on the shin, they go down like a load of bricks, and writhe around as if their opponent just sliced off their lower leg with a sword. Razor's right; enough already. I've watched the team of thirteen year-olds my friend Gary's stepson plays on, and they whack at one another more than these "top players in the world", with less faked agony. If you want soccer to catch on more in the U.S., show us you all can act like men and take your licks. This goes double for the eliminated U.S. team.
Miscellany
I must have a Gnome-be-Gone. Must. [Via Uncrate.]
Why is it I'm learning about Pete's Famous from Brent, rather than my parents, who have lived in the Birmingham metroplex for a decade? (I can actually answer this one; my parents bring their lunch to work, and don't go out.) I wonder how far Gus's place is from their respective offices?
Of course, I could see this eating into the PowerMate’s market. I mean, who needs a flashing knob to notify you of email when you can have a flashing keyboard? One reason I turned off that particular functionality of my PowerMate was the distraction of the blinking light...
Presenting the iCarta. iDon't think so. [Via Firewheel Design.]
Happy Father's Day
So, fellow dads, how's your day going? A pretty quiet one for us here at the Phisch Bowl. It was nice to sleep in a little, then off to church, and Mi Cocina for lunch (Sunset Fajitas!). Both the little phisch and the missus crashed for a nap, and in addition to doing some online reading, I've enjoyed one of my Father's Day gifts: the fifth season DVD set of Seinfeld. Season five is notable because it includes my favorite Seinfeld episode, "The Marine Biologist", which I watched, along with the episode's extras, a few minutes ago. A pair of homemade gifts from the little phisch: a framed handprint he made at school, and a pocket-protector card he colored in Sunday School this morning. As usual, these will take prominent spots on the refrigerator and study whiteboard. I'm usually the one who gets our little guy down for his naps, and today was no exception. As he drifted off, and I looked at his peaceful face, it was one of those Hallmark moments where your heart feels like it's about to burst. Since becoming a father, I have learned more about how much my own dad loves me than I ever thought I knew. Likewise, having had those thoughts parents have, since becoming a dad my relationship with God has deepened, as I understand more how wrenching it was for Him to give up His only Son for the world. My fellow dads, I hope you all have a great day. Dad, I love you. Thanks for always being there, and setting the example you did.
Miscellany
You know, I find it quite amusing, given Al Gore's connection to Steve Jobs (Gore serves on Apple's board of directors, in case you didn't know), that at the same time An Inconvenient Truth is released, so is Cars.
Since Textpander has become TextExpander, and now comes with a thirty-dollar price tag, all of its little quirks may send me back to TypeIt4Me, of which I am a registered user already. The biggest quirk? If I misstype an abbreviation with Textpander, but backspace and fix the abbreviation's spelling, it won't trigger the full text. TypeIt4Me does. With Textpander, I have to delete whatever part of the abbreviation I've typed, and start over.
I really like the FIFA World Cup smiley-faced logo. It's just so cheery. When you see "Fédération Internationale de Football Association", does Monty Python and the "Department of Redundancy Department" come to mind, or is it just me?
Miscellany
If you ever see me wearing the Beer Holster, you have permission to slap me silly.
Headline of the Day: "Jon Lovitz Says Income From Subway Commercials Allows Him A Certain Creative Freedom"
Ratatouille looks hysterical. "You know, if you can sort of muscle your way past the gag reflex, all kind of food possibilities open up." Now I can't wait until next year, and it's just now opening weekend for this year's Pixar release...