another bleedin' blog…

Typewriter

2008-06-18T20:28:27Z

test #2

2008-06-18T19:31:15Z

tester

sdfgsdfgds

2008-06-18T19:29:01Z

sdfgsdgdfg

How much time do you to have to kill?

2007-05-10T01:46:20Z

Cool Flash game. Link

Guy catches glasses with face

2007-05-10T01:39:56Z

Link to YouTube

Pull my finger. Classic.

2007-05-09T04:52:18Z

Go ahead, Pull it

— Strange Sisters —

2007-05-09T04:29:46Z

Archive of Lesbian paperback artwork from the 50's and 60's. Pretty cool stuff, note the typo in image showing. Link

Blundering Bush winks at Queen

2007-05-08T20:43:08Z

Link to article]]> That's what happened yesterday after George Bush mangled his greeting to the Queen on her state visit to the US, reports The Daily Mail. Stumbling over his words, he came perilously close to suggesting that the monarch had toured the States in 1776. And although the President's following wink was initially rewarded with a regal glare, the Queen did at least seem to see the funny side of the blunder. After the blunder the President paused and turned to the Queen to acknowledge his gaffe, joking that she "gave me a look that only a mother could give a child." Ripples of laughter echoed around those gathered at the event and the President laughed off the mistake and continued his speech. The President is not the only international leader to have overstepped the royal mark, with then Aussie prime minister Paul Keating putting his hand on the back of the Queen during her visit to Australia in 1992, sparking outrage from monarchists. The monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh flew into the American capital for a two-day stay - the finale of their East Coast trip the other side of the Atlantic. They were officially welcomed by Mr Bush and his wife Laura on the lawn of the White House in front of 7,000 guests, from members of Congress to Oval Office staff. The Queen will deliver a keynote speech before heading to a garden party at the British ambassador's residence with Hollywood A-listers expected to be among the 750 guests. In the evening, Mr Bush will don his white tie and tails for the state dinner as he and the First Lady pull out all the stops to entertain the royals. It is the first white-tie affair of the Bush administration. But The New York Times has been pondering: "How does George W Bush, a towel-snapping Texan who puts his feet on the coffee table, drinks water straight from the bottle and was once caught on tape talking with food in his mouth, prepare for a state dinner with the Queen? "With tips from an etiquette guide, of course - and a little gentle prodding from his wife." Mr Bush is the leader who once greeted Prime Minister Tony Blair with: "Yo, Blair. How are you doing?" It is hoped that gaffe-prone President Bush will manage to host the state visit without any hiccups. He hasn't been so successful in the past, however. He once admitted to the Queen he was the black sheep of his family and then turned to her and asked "Who's yours?" The encounter came at the White House in 1991 when his father was in power. The Queen, wisely, did not reply. Barbara Bush stepped in and warned the monarch: "Don't answer that." President Bush is known for his Texan drawl and informal approach and the Queen's visit to Washington is the ultimate test of his manners and grasp of royal etiquette. USA Today remarked today: "The Yanks will endeavour to impress the Brits, the true sultans of ceremony." The paper added: "Bush is famous for his opposition to formality and staying up late, but he is nevertheless going all out for the Queen." White House aides have apparently described the dinner in the Queen's honour as the social event of the entire Bush presidency. George Bush's father, George Bush Snr, branded it "the hottest ticket in town." The Times remarked: "It will be closely watched by the social elite for its collision of cultures - Texas swagger meets British prim. "Dinner attire is white tie and tails, the first and, perhaps, only white-tie affair of the Bush administration. " The president was said to be none too keen on that, but bowed to a higher power, his wife." Mr Bush apparently likes to be in bed by 10pm, but the entertainment will stretch well into the evening. The Bushes have hosted four other state dinners - for Mexico, Poland, the Philippines and Kenya - but never opted for the white-tie dress code before. The star entertainment is being kept under wraps. During the Reagan years, Frank Sinatra sang for the Queen in 1983 on her trip to California. The Queen danced with President Ford in 1976, but it is not known whether she will take to the floor with Mr Bush. Vice President Dick Cheney, secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, defence secretary Robert Gates and General Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, will be among the select 134 guests. Mrs Bush will be wearing an Oscar da La Renta gown and her staff have co-ordinated with the Queen's dresser to make sure their outfits do not clash, the Washington Post reports. Mrs Bush knows the importance of pre-planning her wardrobe. Last year, three women showed up at a reception she was at in the same red de la Renta dress she was wearing, forcing her to rush off to change. At the banquet, Mr Bush will sit next to the Queen at Table 12, while Mrs Bush will join Philip at Table 11. The monarch's dislike of spicy foods has been taken into consideration for the menu, personally selected by Mrs Bush. The royal visit to DC is likely to be something of a distraction amid controversy over Mr Bush's veto of Congress's war funding bill which set a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from the Gulf. Washington has also been dealing with the fallout of the "DC Madam" sex scandal which brought the resignation of a top US State Department official who confirmed he had been a client of a woman accused of running a high-class prostitution ring. The Queen's last visit to the White House was in 1991 in the wake of the first Gulf War when George Bush Snr was in power. Whether the Queen will mention Iraq in her speech remains to be seen. The White House lawn was the site of "Podiumgate" 16 years ago. As the Queen gave an address all that could be seen of her above the podium and microphones was her hat. Someone forgot to put the small raised platform in place ready for the royal VIP. The next day the Queen quipped as she made another speech: "I do hope you can see me today." Mickey Rooney kisses the Queen's hand This time, she will stand on a custom-made step. The Queen praised Mr Bush Snr in 1991 for his "outstanding leadership" in the Gulf conflict and gave reassurances about post-war problems, saying: "great enterprises seldom end with a tidy and satisfactory flourish". She also presented him with the Churchill award. It is not known if the current President Bush will get an award this time. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman refused to comment.

New York Times double standards

2007-05-08T20:32:13Z

Having Won a Pulitzer for Exposing Data Mining, Times Now Eager to Do Its Own Data Mining. Barely a year after their reporters won a Pulitzer prize for exposing data mining of ordinary citizens by a government spy agency, New York Times officials had some exciting news for stockholders last week: The Times company plans to do its own data mining of ordinary citizens, in the name of online profits. The news didn't make everyone all googly-eyed. In fact, some people at the paper's annual stockholders meeting in the New Amsterdam Theatre exchanged confused looks when Janet Robinson, the company's president and CEO, uttered the phrase "data mining." Wasn't that the nefarious, 21st-century sort of snooping that the National Security Agency was doing without warrants on American citizens? Wasn't that the whole subject of the prizewinning work in December 2005 by Times reporters Eric Lichtblau and James Risen? And hadn't the company's chairman and publisher, Pinch Sulzberger, already trotted out Pulitzers earlier in the program? Yes, yes, and yes. But Robinson was talking about money this time. Data mining, she told the crowd, would be used "to determine hidden patterns of uses to our website." This was just one of the many futuristic projects in the works by the newspaper company's research and development department. Heck, she added, the R&D department, when it was founded several years back, was "a concept unique in the industry." These days, of course, all media outlets—not just the Times—are trying to bulk up their online presence, and many are desperately attempting to learn more about their readers' habits and then target ads to them. The old-line newspaper companies in particular are under immense pressure to figure out how to make double-digit leaps in profits annually—something they didn't have to worry about doing before websites spirited away huge chunks of newspapers' classified advertisers. Not that anyone would confuse an old-line media company like the Times with a modern data expert like Google, but Sulzberger himself made kind of a comparison earlier in the stockholders' meeting. Morgan Stanley and other investors have ragged on the Times for having a two-tiered stock structure that protects the powerful voting shares from falling into the "wrong" hands. Sulzberger reminded the crowd that Google stock, that most coveted of Wall Street delicacies, also comes in two tiers. But that's business. Do readers really want data-mining behavior from their newspapers—not just the Times but every other big media outlet? Do they want newspaper databases to store reading histories, minute by minute, until one day the government shows up to examine ordinary citizens' shopping and viewing and chatting habits in detail? If you think it can't happen, ask the librarians who've been told to hand over readers' checkout records under the Patriot Act. Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, agrees that the prospect of a media-compiled reader-habit database is worrisome. "My concern is, what happens when the government comes in and subpoenas it?" he says. "It's bad news to keep long, deep storehouses of information about how people use the Internet." Harper notes that the Justice Department has been pushing since last spring for a "data retention" law that would require Internet service providers to warehouse their customers' online activity for the convenience of government investigators. Ancient Times man Arthur Gelb made this hardly surprising observation to the Observer the other day: "Some day we'll all be reading our papers electronically." But the problem with reading papers electronically is that they can also read you.

The strangest version of 'Take 5' I ever heard.

2007-05-07T21:04:41Z

Roll over Dave Brubeck — 12 Girls Band Link

Irish Pub culture is dying...

2007-05-07T04:57:51Z

As a much-loved institution, it's been imitated around the world, from San Francisco to Sydney, and plenty of places in between. The Irish pub is alive and well. In Ireland itself, once you have left the cities and headed into the green landscapes and small communities where agriculture is key, it is a different picture. Link

3M's Sticky Bear is VERY Pleased to See You

2007-05-07T04:28:06Z

Unintentionally hilarious product design or subversive moral commentary? 3M is selling these cute self-adhesive hooks in Asia. Just take a look at 3M's colorful, friendly animal pals with their handy hooks to hang your stuff on. Link

We has trouble...

2007-05-07T00:43:47Z

LOLCats entire episode of Star Trek "The trouble with Tribbles". Link

Fabio's awesome Coachella '07 Flickr set(s).

2007-05-07T00:26:31Z

A nice collection of photos from Coachella '07. Rage against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers + more. Link

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2007-04-11T23:36:18Z

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