Not a lot of text today. Unsure whether it's because it's been a slow week, or that I'm caught up in book editing, or other things. Regardless, here 'tis.
- Unpronounceable reader vcdechagn has a Lego find for us. Gizmodo saw "Lego cathedrals," where billions of bricks are sorted and stored. See here for the video and explanation.
- When you think about it, Tim Burton is probably the perfect person to remake Alice in Wonderland... if he doesn't "dark" it out of kids' reach. Here is the new trailer, just released.
- Tangentially I wonder how many of my young (i.e. 40 and under) readers know that there was an Alice in Wonderland made in 1933, with such big names (then and/or later) as Sterling Holloway, Richard Arlen, Edward Everett Horton, Charles Ruggles, Baby LeRoy, Cary Grant, Jack Oakie, W.C. Fields, Gary Cooper, and Billy Barty. The makeup and effects are really pretty good as well. Surprisingly, I don't think it's released on DVD.
- A friend once told me that the first thing that happens when you get drunk is that you become an instant expert on everything. Perhaps being drunk with power has the same effect. And perhaps that explains President Obama acting as lead investigator, prosecuting attorney, judge and jury on the actions of a police officer investigating a reported break-and-entry, said the officer acted "stupidly." Many intelligent responses have come out, including this one. However, Obama is doing what he characteristically does when he says or does something foolish: he is bull-headedly doubling down. Goodness. And they said W was stubborn.
- I love this next pic. I'm always puzzled at people who wear sunglasses indoors, and people who... well, look:
- Points but trying, but he's still a scary dentist:
- So of course we all know that liberals are all about ideology-free Science, while conservatives are knuckle-dragging cretin ideologues. So equally of-course, we'd expect our über-liberal President Obama to support the most clear-eyed, objective, sane and sober man as Science Czar. Mm-hmm? Ri-i-i-i-ight. You betcha.
- As an olive branch to my readers who got upset over a fiew critical comments about CCM, I mention a new iPhone app about Christian music releases.
- I Don't Know How Women Do It Dept. In the 70s, I had a pair of shoes with heels a couple of inches or so. They were big and square heels, yet took some managing. If I tried to walk in those things women wear, I'd be... well, I'd be more of a spectacle than I already am. And dead, too. particularly some of these, on one or both counts:
- Cool. The disappearing artist! Check it.
- Here's something similar, might interest my Josiah. Some camo clothes —called MultiCam — that really camo. The gallery has some shots where I don't see a model, period.
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28 comments:
Love the cats/dog spy picture.
Thanks, Carlo. The crickets were getting to me.
That dentist FAIL made my morning.
And I don't understand heels either. I try to avoid them.
I'm actually looking forward to Burton's Alice in Wonderland, I thought he did a great job with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the squirrel scene...)
~Squirrel
Gotta love failblog. The G-rated ones at least.
I love how Gibbs says Obama didn't call the officer stupid. No, he said he acted stupidly. See, adverb vs. adjective. Totally different.
As far as the shoes go, why? Just, why?
And thanks for the iphone app. I'm hoping to get an iphone in a few months so I'll have to check it out. I wonder if it has settings to filter out the banal and trivial.
Totally agree with The Squirrel about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I personally liked it much more than the original. Although, now squirrels kind of freak me and my kids out.
Mark, yes and yes on failblog.
Glad you're getting an iPhone. Still absolutely amazed by mine.
Agreed on Charlie. I have a low Gene Wilder tolerance level. He only has those two settings: the one where he yells, and the one where he doesn't.
Yeah, Gene Wilder is totally freaky in the original. To me the original is much darker than the Burton remake. Especially the tunnel sequence with the chicken head. Wilder makes Wonka just look totally deranged.
And I love the comments on those news reports about Obama's "stupid" comment (see the double usage there?). Stuff like, of course the police were acting stupid to arrest a guy in his own house. They obviously just lost their temper and acted stupidly.
Its only obvious if you have a preconception of police through which you interpret all the facts about a police story. And I love how his captain (who is black) is sticking by him. This should be interesting to see how it plays out.
Mark,
There is only one reason for shoes like that.
And Dan, scary scary dentist. Yikes.
FAIL blog can crack me up, too. But sometimes I am not sure why they label things as "FAIL."
A recent example was a place in rural Texas called "Baby Head Cemetery" and there was a picture of the cemetery sign with a big "FAIL" stamped on the bottom. First I chuckle at the name, but, when I went to search for the cemetery, I come to find out the name for the place has a rather unique history. There wasn't necessarily anything "FAIL" about it. So I am guessing a lot of these FAIL pictures, that at least make me go "Eh?", are taken by culturally out-of-touch postmodern 20 somethings.
I'm glad there are still people around who know who Everett Everett Horton is.
You bet! I can picture him in a flash. Classic voice.
Re: Obama's statement after the fact: "I unfortunately... gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge police department or Sergeant Crowley specifically."
You don't say. I can't imagine how anyone would have gotten that impression. Typical Po-Mo. The fault is not in what I said, but in the impression you got from what I said.
This seems so Clintonesque as well. I'm just waiting for Obama to say, "It depends on what your definition of stupidly is."
Obsessed stalkertroll OSO asked me to tell you how disgusting it is that Obama and all liberals so glibly indulge the instinct to go straight for the race card, as Obama did. He's also sick to death of mealy-mouthed, PoMo non-apologies, and wishes for once a pol would say "What I said was inexcusable, and sets the worst example of excusing bad behavior due to skin-color. Also, I unfairly maligned all police officers by implication, for which there is no excuse. I sit behind layers of protection, and they are> our protection. So I apologize, I was wrong, period."
So you see, OSO has no patience with people who can't just deal with reality.
Like being banned, and forcing oneself on the unwilling, like a cyber-rapist.
Edward Everett Horton--the narrator of those classic "Fractured Fairy Tales" on the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show." Great voice.
1. Yippie! I'm a young 'un according to you, Dan! (Am nowhere near even 1/4 of your H&T today, but just wanted to shout that out first.) You don't know how long and drawn out today has been....
2. BTW, are you sure it's not Stanley Holloway? I know of a Stanley Holloway who played Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady, both in the musical (with Julie Andrews) and onscreen (with Audrey Hepburn)....
Sorry, my bad. Dan's right--it's Sterling Holloway, although the interesting thing is that Stanley Hollway actually narrated Alice In Wonderland the audiobook.
(Will come back to read the rest of H&T after dinner....)
I had a wonderful post written up, comparing the likelihood of getting an apology from the President in different circumstances.
Brutal dictator who's murdered legions, oppressed millions, and openly declare your intent to destroy America? Certainly getting an apology, particularly for stuff we did that wasn't wrong.
Cop who did his job properly, then was slandered by the President in self-admitted ignorance? Zero chance.
Or so I thought. Then I caught the news that Obama's puppeteers apparently had seen enough polling data and convinced him to apologize, and was upset that my slow-typing sausage thumbs had prevented me from getting my Presidential Apology Quiz posted in time.
Then I actually saw the so-called "apology". Yeah. Yeah.
Couldn't resist posting some of these other heels:
1. Dorothy-the-Ballerina;
2. The Hot Rod;
3. The Assassin;
...and my personal favorite:
4. "Look, Ma...no heels!!"
I have to admit that I probably am on the opposite side of Obama in this regard. In my full-time broadcast meteorology days, we had to talk ad-lib for 3 minutes. I never used a teleprompter, and no on-camera meteorologist uses one, ever, that I know of...except for outcues, such as the ones the Weather Channel do ("coming up in a few minutes, your local forecast, followed by Storm Stories").
Every now and then I wish someone would hack into Obama's TelePrompTer computer and type:
"As you know, the number one concern we have right now is health care. But I think we can do better. By reading the Bible daily, repenting of my sins that I have done since I took office, and by reading TeamPyro and Biblical Christianity, the world would be a much better place. I'd be happy to take any questions for the next 2 hours."
Yeah, It's late and I must be dreaming.
(And I just went back to look at those photos again--and realized that those are RAT slippers!! How horrific!! Can't imagine slipping those on anytime soon....)
Wow, Susan, those are amazing.
Gil, dreams are great things, aren't they? But seriously, let's not forget to pray for the president: protection, repentance, conversion, and until then complete failure in every harmful intent he has for America and the world.
Absolutely love my iPhone. How did I live this long without it. I used my phone as a boarding pass the other day. And now that I'm on my way overseas, I'm loving the various travel apps
Oh yikes, but I read about a guy who went (I think) to Mexico with his iPhone, didn't clear it with ATT, and came back to find he had something like $60,000 in dept.
Make sure you're covered, have the right plan, or whatever!
(Being you, you probably have. But better to err on the side of caution.)
I don't have an international plan. When I took my phone off airplane mode I was connected to a phone network which texted me and said it was 19.95 per mb. I just put the phone back into airplane mode and manually activated the wifi. I don't know if I incurred any charges for the 1 minute or so I was connected (I'm hoping I didn't push any data in that timeframe.) but if so it shouldn't be much. If I do use my phone I'll have to make sure it I'd set to pish/fetch manually.
Of course the wifi is 14.95 per 24 hours, but the government will be picking up that tab. I'm not sure if st Vincent has wifi since the hotels are local ones. I may not be posting for a few days though.
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/popups/international-iphone-tips.jsp
just found this
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