Words for the wise from the mouth of a fool.
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The weblog of Seth Johnson -------------- INKSLINGER.ORG -------------- OD ARCHIVES -------------- FEEDS Posts:  Shared Items:
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Friday, August 30, 2002
Thanks to extensive HAM radio training, n'SYNC's Lance Bass is ready to go into space, but will he be able to keep up with a grueling schedule that has him doing experiments "every ten seconds"?
Kevin R-R bustin' loose with history from the Codex Blague on the Monkeylist (edifying links are mine):
"A little known fact is the in Rome, the Sethian Way, somewhat less well known than the Appian Way, was famous (infamous) for being inhabited almost entirely by mimes. Emperor Nero's innovative urban renewal project was undertaken almost exclusively to oust the mimes and send them packing to Gaul. Once burned, the street was not rebuilt, rather it became the base of yet another aqueduct and part of an extremely complex and as yet uncompleted sewer system. Roman rumor has it that these tunnels were used to imprison those mimes unwilling to be transported to Gaul. Even today, children and the weak of mind still report seeing eerie creatures with gaunt white faces coming out of the darkness, miming terrible acts of depravity and fading away into the sewers once more."
Gotta love these guys: "LOS DIABLOS GUAPOS... the world's finest no-holds-barred, full-contact, anything-goes bowling team!!" Their philosophy is simple, they moon the Telemundo masses, and they're big fans of drunken bowlers.
You can't tell the players without a
Thursday, August 29, 2002
Only two days left before I know if OD will suffer another month of declining readership. Refresh a lot over the next two days; I'd hate to have my delusions that this means anything crushed and have to start huffing airplane glue again.
You're not supposed to know about him until September, but you can read about him now: Dewie the Internet Safety Turtle.
I am not making this up.
Seen a couple weeks ago in a post office:
You probably can't make out the date in the top right of the photo, but old Mr. Zip's looking pretty good despite hanging in the window since March of 1963.
More followup on yesterday's Radix/MIT dustup story, courtesy of Newsarama. Reuters has picked up the story as well.
Crank the speakers on your computer (especially if you're at work) and prepare yourself for incredibly annoying page background sound, courtesy of The Monkees. Well, some of them. And Greg Brady.
In case you missed yesterday's hack of the RIAA web site (Where can I find information on giant monkeys?), here's Wired's story.
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
How long have I been telling my dad that the Navy would be happy to work some sort of OEM deal with game companies for shipboard use? Scoffed and snickered, he did. And now the ISDA has stolen what could have been our thunder.
So an MIT prof lifts a drawing from a comic book to sell the Pentagon on his plans for developing next gen combat armor. When the comic company finds out, they sue the MIT prof.
Not that I neccesarily disagree with the suit, but their press release on the suit has some real gems in it. My favorite paragraph:
“People who buy Radix buy a fantasy,” said Lai. “Now MIT says all future U.S. soldiers will look like Radix. They’re saying Radix is not fantasy, it’s reality. By doing that, MIT stole our ability to market Radix as escapist entertainment.”
Does anyone else remember a time when writers and artists of science fiction were actually attempting to predict the future? How much press time has Arthur C. Clarke gotten for predicting communications satellites? William Gibson and Bruce Sterling are proud to hold themselves up as futurists. Even Max Headroom is only "15 minutes in the future."
If they win the suit with that as part of its basis, I plan to embark on a new writing binge cranking out novels in a setting I will call "The Certain Future" and the sue the bejezus out of anyone who infringes upon my setting with their pesky reality.
That's all I need--more sites to keep up with on a regular basis.
Though I've been reading the comic for years, I only first checked out KODT Online a couple weeks ago after GenCon. I'm completely hooked. Like the print comic, you won't get the full value unless you're a paper gamer. But the writing of the KODT Team has really cranked up to a high pitch in the last couple years (and the art has even gotten better, in subtle ways.) Here's a link to the beginning of the most recent storyline.
And then there's Achewood. I can ignore one reccomendation. I can even ignore multiple reccomendations, if they come far enough apart. But when I read four reccomendations (I can't find the other two) in less than twenty-four hours, it's time to check it out. And it looks like it might be worth it.
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Ever since seeing Amelie, I've wondered who the electric guitar-playing gospel singer was who was featured in one of Amelie's videotapes. Now, thanks to the magic of the Internet, I have the answer: Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
I give less than a week before Cafe Press-produced parodies of these shirts start showing up at Easley High.
Monday, August 26, 2002
What's scarier than Diet Vanilla Coke? A drink made "especially for Thai drinkers".
What's scarier than a drink made especially for Thai drinkers? Choglit.
Choglit?
For all these horrors and more, check out Coke's Upcoming Drinks page. And if you think it's strange that Coke is making drinks you've never heard of, check out their complete brand list and prepare to be surprised.
For more than a year I've been saying that car companies should start releasing soundtracks of music featured in their commercials in order to draw in the youth audience. I'd go test drive a Toyota if I could get a disc of music featured in their commericals (Mr. Scruff? Eric Kupper and the Wiseguys? I'm sold.)
Now Volkswagen has finally done it. Good tunage on the disc, too.
(edit to correct typoS; thanks Karla)
I've gotten pretty tired of hearing about crazy Tolkien fans lately, so it's refreshing to get a dose of Asimov-induced insanity--even if the fans in question are a bunch of murderous kooks.
UPDATE: Be sure to read the comment thread for some good reader follow-up and debunking of this story.
While I'm glad to see the E.T. is coming out on DVD, I'm disappointed at the eight-week sales window--it will be released October 22 and go off-sale December 31. Disney has been pulling these shenanigans for years, and it's disappointing to see them spread to another studio.
Okay, now I'm irked; I know I had a copy of the Tron score on my hard drive somewhere--and now it's gone. That was hard to find, darn it.
UPDATE: While looking for a track list I stumbled across the web page of the composer of the score, Wendy Carlos--and it turns out the score has been re-released by Disney! Hurray! I can actually purchase it!
Sunday, August 25, 2002
Courtesy of robotwisdom, an MIT prof's story about his experience defending video games on a recent episode of Phil Donahue's new show. I won't be able to have a truly informed opinion until I get to watch a few episodes, but from the article and the transcript it sounds as though Donahue has left behind the more relaxed feel of his old show for soundbite cable journalism. Sad--almost as sad as how much the transcript sounds like callers to Lazlow on Chatterbox.
You may have already seen it on MeFi, but in case you didn't or passed it over, be sure to check out Smokey's Vault--full of great Smokey Bear (not, as I learned singing the Smokey anthem in kindergarten, "Smokey the Bear") facts and fun. I particularly like the posters section:
- Death Rides the Forest: No Smokey, but still a great poster.
- Little bears mourning at the grave of a fellow woodland creature
- If I ever was looking for an alternative religion, I might consider Smokey--after all, he's only got four commandments. Unless, of course, you follow the Smokey Sutra.
- Who knew? Smokey looks snazzy in a suit. Wait a minute--those aren't bear paws! Begone, foul pseudo-Smokey beast!
- Smokey has some words for Major League Baseball too.
Oh, and don't miss the interviews. I particularly like Smokey's interview with Walter Brennan--"Smokey Bear's got no reason to visit me!"
The cynical and media-savvy will enjoy checking out the Smokey Bear Style and Usage Guide (PDF file). And the pyromaniac thrillseeker should check out the Wildfire Casebook for a bit of how-to. Of course, I find it a little sad that the real Smokey Bear spent most of his days far from any kind of forest.
Going a bit further afield with Google, I was sad to discover that the Smokey Bear for Adults page doesn't live up to the tawdry promise of its name. But those who did want to sully the good bear's name (and shame on you for even thinking of it) could probably do so at the Smokey Bear Motel. Dressed as Smokey, even (though you might also want the cooling systen.)
Okay, one last link before I go. Bcause I have to know--exactly how big a market is there for a Smokey Bear robot? Of course, if I were megarich it would be one of the things I'd buy. With the squirter package. Which I'd fill with lighter fluid. Just for the irony, y'know?
Back to work.
Well, the word is out, the jig is up, they've finally found me.
The Blues Festival was awesome, as expected. Good friends, good music, good food--I don't understand why you weren't all there. Personal highlights were probably Pinetop Perkins, Buddy Guy, Maceo Parker, and Lyle Lovett; good shows all.
The Little Richard Award for Style Over Substance goes to Bobby Rush (Superstar!)--Rush must have mentioned his name at least three hundred times in his seventy minute set (a feat which required squeezing his name into the lyrics of every song he sang and having a guy come on stage whose only musical role was to say "Bobby Rush!" over and over. Still a good artist and an entertaining show--just different from the rest of the festival. And reading the article linked above does realign my opinions a bit, I have to admit.
At the Festival, Andy spotted down in the crowd the man upon whom I now bestow the official OD moniker "Mullet King", and I moved in for the photo kill. You will enjoy the results tomorrow. Honest injun.
More to say--there always is, isn't there?--but I need to get some work done if I want to have a hope of making my Sunday game.
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