Things I'm Digging Right Now (Proof of My Immaturity and My Age Pt. 1)

Love it that we still live in a world where, in California of all places, a "lost" waterfall can be found.
National Geographic

The childish robot obsession continues. (Thanks, T)
What's Your Robot Name?

As well as my endless obsession with zombies. (Thanks to Y-vonne)
De-animator

Movies, always movies.
The Aristocrats: I love doody. And skull fuckery.
Wedding Crashers: Vince Vaughn is my hero. I know Miss Tanya disagrees about this film, but she is just wrong. Especially about Elf.

Why forget music?
Josef wrote about his top 5 rock records list. Don't take this as a critique of his list because J-Ro has some great, if sometimes snooty, taste. Here are 5 rock records I love, with the boring, cowardly, de rigeur caveat that the list is subject to change at any moment:
The Pretenders - The Pretenders
Flaming Lips - Clouds Taste Metallic
My Bloody Valentine - "You Made Me Realise" EP -or- Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands
Husker Du - Flip Your Wig
Replacements - Let It Be

But don't you like any new shit?
Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Brendan Benson - The Alternative to Love
The Ponys - Celebration Castle
Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness

Final thing that makes me happy right now:
I got hitched!

Danger Danger

I have to say that I wasn't really sure about DJ Dangermouse. The Grey Album didn't really get me worked up beyond an amazing yet obvious concept. But the last Gorillaz album actually won me over. The beats were nerdalicious and quirky, a reaction to the racket that comes from the hip hop money machine clanking away. I'm really not the one to offer an in-depth analysis on this, but y'know.

Even with his success on Demon Days I was really nervous to hear that Dangermouse was teaming up with my hero MF Doom. After listening to a few tracks from here and here, however, I am officially a fan. While I'm not too sure about Brak rapping at the end of "The Mask," I am salivating waiting for The Mouse & the Mask to come out in October. And Ghostface the Iron Man teamed up with the Metal Faced Villain all wrapped up in an Adult Swim and Epitaph shell? I couldn't be happier.

Bush is a Douchebag

This phrase was on a bumpersticker seen yesterday. Forget being clever or subtle, just say it like it is. Artful putdowns are lost on the masses.

Is anyone else f-ing tired of how our president carefully crafts what he says so that he is never held accountable for anything? (c.f. "Mission Accomplished," Abu Grahib, compassionate conservatism, the "imminent threat" of Saddam Hussein, and so on and so on...) Bush was vague when the Plame leak first came out and now he has clarified his stance so that no one (important) will take the blame for the scandal. My favorite part of this article is the headline, since he's only partially reiterating anything. He is really revising so that he will have a semantic leg to stand on when he does absolutely nothing.

Exerpt:
President Bush said Monday that if anyone in his administration committed a crime in connection with the public leak of the identity of an undercover CIA operative, that person will "no longer work in my administration." At the same time, Bush again sidestepped a question on the role of his top political adviser, Karl Rove, in the matter.

Link:
Bush Reiterates Firing Pledge on Leak Case

Animals Redux

Strangely, I am totally in favor of humiliating cats by forcing them to wear Japanese-made costumes.

CATPRIN: Tailor for Cats

Those Amazing Animals

I'm on the fence about dressing your dog in little t-shirts, but I'm definitely not in favor of these perversions perpetrated on defenseless wild animals.

For the Aged Britpop Fans Out There...

Which Creation Band Are You?

Exactly what I was hoping for...though My Bloody Valentine would have been appropriate as well.

You Are... The Jesus And Mary Chain. You are moody and unpredictable. You are the underdog who refuses to sink to the bottom. You have more talent than you ever really let anyone know. It almost seems as if you try and sabotage whatever good things may be going on in your life, and you often feel like you may be giving people a bit too much of yourself. Being in the spotlight is something you find to be rather uncomfortable though you secretly yearn to be loved by everyone. You lean toward things of a darker nature and are prone to self destructive tendencies. You struggle with happiness for the simple fact that you seem to be in love with your misery. You are a realist.

Progress is Not an Illusion, it Happens, But it is Slow and Invariably Disappointing

When people talk about progress there is often an underlying assumption that it is a natural thing and that we are ever plowing forward. Please enjoy these point-counter point arguments provided by Yahoo! News. They were one on top of the other in the Most Popular section. Enjoy.

Tiny Nation Aims to be 1st "Cyber-Island"
This tropical island off the east coast of Africa is best-known for its white-sand beaches, its designer clothing outlets and its spicy curries. But tiny Mauritius is about to stake a new claim to fame. By year's end, or soon afterward, it is expected to become the world's first nation with coast-to-coast wireless Internet coverage, the first country to become one big "hot spot."

Romanian Priest Unrepentant After Crucifixion of Nun
A Romanian Orthodox priest, facing charges for ordering the crucifixion of a young nun because she was "possessed by the devil," was unrepentant as he celebrated a funeral ceremony for his alleged victim.

And I throw this one in just because I love puppies:
Six-Legged Puppy Found in Malaysia
A puppy with six legs and two penises was found sleeping outside a Chinese temple in a Malaysian town, and devotees are treating the freak find as a good omen, a news report said Sunday.

Sick of Robots Yet?

This 'bot is one to make JF Sebastian proud.

Which One Is the Robot?

I wonder if she's a pleasure model.

Put on Your Robo Suit, We're Going Dancin'

I have nothing clever to say other than me want to go dancing with that beautiful pink ballroom robot while wearing a robot suit. The future will be one big electric boogaloo for everyone.

Robot Suit

Dancing Robot

Doin' It For the Children

So ICANN came up with this brilliant plan: create a .xxx domain for all the porn sites. OK, makes it easier to get that shiteatingmidgetcumsluts.xxx address I've been pining for for all these years and finally make some cash in this internet game.

The only catch is they expect the digital smut peddlers to voluntarily move to this "internet red light district," as some idiots are calling it, but to also fork over $60 per year for the priviledge. Yeah, that's gonna work.

CNN: Stage set for '.xxx' Internet addresses

WWJD?

Hang out in someone's uterus, of course!

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/5305-jesusultrasound.html#

Like to see the crowds that will flock to this sighting.

Stream the New White Stripes

Update: It's baaaaaack. Now go get your Satan on.

White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan

I guess you have to respect Jack and Meg for "making it" on their last release and then totally taking a u-turn on this album. Satellite radio has been playing the first track, "Blue Orchid," to death, and I really love it. Have to listen to the rest of the album a few more times, but I'm kinda digging the eclectic sounds. Don't worry, diehards, there are a few classic Stripes thrash-blues tracks ("Instinct Blues," for example) for those hipsters who like the old sound and haven't cast them aside for being sellouts. Oh, and Meg sings again, which is always nice.

Thanks to Scenestars for the hook up!

British Museum Gets Punk'd, Likes It

Banksy is an "art terrorist" who pulls cultural pranks by secreting his work into museums and performing stealth installations. The pieces don't get noticed for weeks at a time and then everyone has a big laugh. Love the play on the credibility that museums give art and artists.

Back in the '80s Jeffrey Vallance was an instructor at Otis-Parsons in LA, who I had met briefly, and he did a similar thing where he painted electrical outlet covers and installed them at LACMA. He then sent out invitations to his "opening" at the museum. It's all documented in that RE/Search book Pranks!.

Anyway, Banksy just put another piece in the British Museum, a fake artifact with a man pushing a shopping cart that is characterized as "early man venturing towards the out-of-town hunting grounds." I love it, the Beeb loves it, and the British Museum loves it. What's not to love?

Cave art hoax hits British Museum

Props to Carbongeek for finding it first.

Ever Feel Like You've Been Cheated?

I don't want to tell America "I told you so," but this memo that is still mostly absent from the U.S. media kind of reinforces the point that we are a bunch of gullible idiots.



Read the full memo here: The Sunday Times - Britain: The Secret Downing Street Memo

Hasta la Vista, Menses

Scarborough Country gets scammed into believing that Arnold Schwarzenegger actually said, "If we get rid of the moon, women, those menstrual cycles are governed by the moon, will not get (pre-menstrual syndrome). They will stop bitching and whining." Thanks to Howard Stern we once again have proof that cable news networks are lazy asses who don't bother to check their facts.

Best outraged quote: "Hey, governor, way to make 50 percent of California's voting population turn frigid toward you."

Schwarzenegger Not Mad at the Moon

Number of the Beast Revised

What the hell is Iron Maiden going to do? My favorite part about this story is that the number of the beast has been "devalued" according to this religious site. As if it were a currency or perhaps a stock traded on the market. Either way, the beast doesn't pull as much clout as it used to.

Number of the Beast Devalued to 616

Buy Crispin Glover's Fecal Matter

When I put "cultural detritus" in my profile I had no idea how gleefully right on it would be. And then I found Celebrity Skin. You can buy Mike Tyson's fecal matter, Conor Oberst's skin cells, and "bacteria" (what the hell?) from Vince Neil and DON RICKLES!!! Oh, and don't forget Norman Mailor's urine is only $15. Now you know what to get me for Xmas. Even though it's surely a joke (since the cart function doesn't work) it is my new favorite e-comm site.

http://www.blackpitchpress.com/celebrityskin/film.htm

Hardcore Ants

Trap-building ants torture prey

A fierce species of Amazonian ant has been seen building elaborate traps on which hapless prey are stretched like medieval torture victims, before being slowly hacked to pieces.

Lesson: Do not fuck with ants in the Amazon.

Babelfish for the Eyes

I saw a link to this site from Gizmodo. Using Flickr.com--a site where you upload photos and provide a little basic metadata so that they can be searched--as a basis, some guy(s) calling themselves Flickr Hack had the idea that you could access the image database using your phone and use the search function to call up images for common words. That way when you are in Paris or Bangkok or wherever with your world phone you would have your own handy universal translator if you get into a bind. Want some dog food? Search dog food and you get pictures of dogs eating their food. Nice!

The obvious limitation lies in the metadata--because it is user generated--not really matching with the content. Searching "mango" gives you pictures of some cheesy looking club. But don't let me pointing out the limitations fool you, I think these guys are on to something...

Flickr Hacks' Visual Dictionary/Universal Translator

Get Ready to End up on the Planet of the Apes

Mice put in 'suspended animation'

Mice have been placed in a state of near suspended animation, raising the possibility that hibernation could one day be induced in humans.

If so, it might be possible to put astronauts into hibernation-like states for long-haul space flights - as often depicted in science fiction films.

In this case, suspended animation means the reversible cessation of all visible life processes in an organism.

Read the whole article here.