Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Donations: Network for Good
Thanks to Jeff Hoffman for sending us this "clearing house" site for victims of Hurricane Katrina. It's called The Network for Good.
What Bush Did During Long Vacation
The President Bush action figure shows you how to do about a dozen yoga positions. From Bush Yoga.
Thanks Christine Texiera!
Exploding Dog
All right. This, along with Found Photos, are my two favorite sites on the Net. So much so that I'll be featuring both of them once a week on the pick.
Exploding Dog takes your requests for illustrations -- the above request is called "I Must Kill All of the Robots -- and then draws them. A great idea, a great site.
Ebert's Most Hated
Roger Ebert lists his Most Hated Movies. 99% of the list is right on, but I can't believe Flashdance is on this list! C'mon Roger.
via Backwards City.
"Flashdance" is like a movie that won a free 90-minute shopping spree in the Hollywood supermarket. The director (Adrian Lynn, of the much better "Foxes") and his collaborators race crazily down the aisles, grabbing a piece of "Saturday Night Fever," a slice of "Urban Cowboy," a quart of "Marty" and a 2-pound box of "Archie Bunker's Place." The result is great sound and flashdance, signifying nothing.
Photoblog: MUTE
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Donate to the Red Cross. It's Needed.
If you're like me, you got up this morning and heard that thing weren't too bad in New Orleans and surrounding areas. Well, the levee has broken since then, 80% of the city is under water, there are fires everywhere, and Mississippi and other states might even have it worse. More from CNN.com.
If you can spare $25 dollars or more, and c'mon, you can, you can donate it to the Red Cross. They need it and will continue to need it. Thanks.
President Bush Returns
Thanks for coming back two days early from your vacation President Bush. We hope 29 days was long enough.
Shout Out to Brazil
Well, we've got more Brazilian readers today than American readers. Thanks out to Rosana Hermann and many other surfers who've left such kind notes on The Pick's blog this week. I've heard, through the grapevine, that Brazil plays some serious football, but I should've known more than that, and what I know now can be found at Wikipedia, the Brazil Virtual Tour (this site uses Java, and may take a half minute to load), and the excellent Maria-Brazil. Other recommended sites are welcomed in the comments area. Thanks again to all who have visited.
Who Needs a Beating?
Phat Phree believes that Kenneth Lay (of Enron fame) needs a beating. He/she also thinks that Jay Leno, Joe Namath, the clerk at blockbuster, James Lipton, Oprah, and people who watch The Bachelor or the Bacherlorette also need a beating. That's only a few of the 50 named and profiled. Lots of profanity here, so if that's a problem, keep on surfing.
Thanks Grow a Brain.
Hurricane Katrina
Above, the projected path of Tropical Storm Katrina. Below, photo of a previous typhoon.
Cynical-C is in the hall of fame of internet bloggers (IMHO). He points our way to the Wikipedia entry on Hurricane Katrina, and also to the Hurricane Hunters, a site with great photos of previous ocean-based storms.
Finally, here's a CNN weatherman, early yesterday, who loses his cool when pestered by the anchorwoman. You kind of get the feeling that these two dated once and ended badly.
Chihuahua vs. Grizzly
Well, we've had Squid vs. Shark and Hummingbird vs. Preying Mantis, and I think we've actually had another animal vs. animal matchup. But I know we haven't had Chihuahua vs. Grizzly yet, though the Weekly World News (not the most accurate of news sources as you know) does.
Thanks Jaf Project.
Daily Pick in Brazil. Daily Pick on NPR.
We've had a lot of Internet traffic on the Daily Pick the last couple days. One big source was Querido Leitor, a Brazilian Weblink website, and the other biggie was a word-of-mouth begun when our "George Bush Breaks Vacation Record" was featured around the web, and also on NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.
(Thanks to Adam Johnson and Tom McNeely for making us aware of the NPR cite.)
I'm not sure why we ended up on Querido Leitor, but we appreciate it, and we appreciate the comments left by surfers. I don't know any Portuguese, so I had to use the Google Language Tools to figure out what was said. A few of the translations were very funny, and I've included them below. Their humor is reflective, obviously, of the translation, and not of the Portuguese language.
It pulls life, really is all guilt of the Bush. Today I beat with the foot in the bed and I ached very! There, as all Brazilian conscientious I cried out: "Bush %$#@*&! Is all guilt its!!!
We go to speak on furacao Katrina that frightens New Orleans and the outskirts at this accurate moment. This type of problem in Brazil is one gifts not terms here. 1 million of people ja had left the city, who loucura!!!Tambem the Bush naõa want to contribute, signing the treat o treat to Kioto and does not give nature to it and the proprio man suffers consequencias!!!Que God has misericordia...
Interesting... I liked it "Flying Spaghetti Monster"
Monday, August 29, 2005
Human Cannonball, take two
As luck would have it, on the day that we feature human cannonballs, Boing Boing features this guy, cannonballing over the U.S./Mexican border.
Human Cannonballs
New Orleans
Best Hikes in Marin County
If you live in the Bay Area, get off your lazy duff this weekend and go check out one of the Top 7 Hikes in Marin County.
Happy Palace (and Corncam revisit)
You've always got to check in on Happy Palace to see if he's behaving himself. Which, he's not, but that's what we like about him.
That second photo reminds me of the Corn Cam, and if you visit you'll see that, yep, it's still growing.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Slushpile.net
I like SlushPile.net. It's a literary blog with interviews, reviews, book news, webnews, rants, agent information, and writing tips. Check it out.
Come from the Korean Creativity
Wow, what a great site. It's called simply "Come from the Korean Creativity." Everyday items changed to cartoon characters.
via Drawn!
Snap City
Since 1995 Emilie has been photoblogging the city of San Francisco. Seems like Snap City has been on vacation for awhile. Like, a long while.
I don't care though. I love these photographs. Click on "Archives" when you get there, and choose from old San Francisco, new San Francisco, and New York City. Rock on Emilie, wherever you are.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Photoblog: Light Tight
Ryan Flynn of Atlanta has an interesting photoblog called LightTight. Lots of photos of skaters in action, but some of my favorite photgraphs are of a trip he took to Ghana. Check it out.
Google Party
Google Headquarters in Mountain View, CA, recently hosted a party for Internet Entrepreneurs. Did Google give away its search engine secrets. Read on.
"That's where the cunning Internet entrepreneurs who constantly try to manipulate Google's search engine results for a competitive edge were trying to make the most of a rare opportunity to match wits face-to-face with the company's top engineers."
Friday, August 26, 2005
My Favorite Site
This is my favorite site on the Net. Found Photos. No, it's not Found Magazine. It's over 1000 photos that people have found and sent in. Great portraits here by anonymous photographers.
Check it out.
Bloggers Throughout History
Thursday, August 25, 2005
The Flying Spaghetti Monster
This is going to get complicated, so remember that the link is here.
Dr. Kent Hovind is so sure that Intelligent Design (the 'science' that disputes the theory of evolution, claims that God designed just about everything, and is now being taught in the Kansas Public Schools and elsewhere) is true, that he's offered $250,000 for anyone who can produce empirical evidence that the theory of evolution is true.
Enter an open letter to the Kansas School Board, that asks why the theory of creation according to the Flying Spaghetti Monster is not taught in schools. You know, right, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, or, his Pasta Holiness.
And now, enter Boing Boing, which is also offering a $250,000 award to anyone who can produce empirical evidence that Jesus is not the son of The Flying Spaghetti Monster.
No joke.
There is also a Wikipedia entry about "Pastafarians," who are followers of the Big FSM.
From the Archives...
Photos from Northern Iraq -- http://thedailypick.blogspot.com/2005/04/photos-from-northern-iraq.html
Fork in Stomach -- http://thedailypick.blogspot.com/2005/04/fork-in-stomach.html
Ask 8 year old Doctor Michael -- http://thedailypick.blogspot.com/2005/04/ask-8-year-old-doctor-michael.html
The Barista Code of Conduct
CoffeeGeek.com has a take on the Barista Code of Conduct.
Rule 2: The world is not your espresso bar. Respect others' spaces.
We've all experienced it. You walk into a coffeebar somewhere, in the hopes of finding at the most, someone knowledgeable to talk coffee with... at the least, a decent shot of espresso. You look behind the cashier at the espresso machine, and to your horror, you see a nice three-group, with all of the portafilters sitting cold (*gasp!*) on the drip tray, the dosing chamber on the grinder full of espresso grounds, and no tamper in sight... other than the one attached to the aforementioned dosing chamber. You see a bag of espresso on the counter. "Hmmm, I know that roaster, and they roast a pretty nice espresso!"
(Thanks Presurfer)
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Potrero Hill, Walk-In Movies, Laughing Squid
This is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory shown against the side of a building in the San Francisco Neighborhood of Potrero Hill. It's all part of Walk-In Movies, and it's one of many cool things to do in the neighborhood. More here.
And this comes to us by a new (to me) favorite site, Laughing Squid.
Well-Kept Automotive Secrets
Cars.com is looking out for you: Top Ten "Well-Kept" Secrets about automobile driving, purchasing, and safety.
The check engine light seldom reveals a critical condition. The mysterious check engine light on a vehicle's instrument panel is part of the On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) system, the main job of which is to monitor the car's pollution controls. A light that stays on only briefly can probably be ignored. A constant check engine light, in the absence of any other clear symptom, could be an emissions failure — anything from a loose gas cap (check before you go to a mechanic) to a bad oxygen sensor. Get it checked out to ensure clean, efficient motoring, but pulling over is probably unnecessary. However, if the light flashes, the problem is major and could result in damage. In this case, pull over and shut it down.
(Via The Surfer Who Goes First.)
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Splitting Tips
Per Se, one of the fanciest restaurants in New York City is tired of the financial differences between the front of the house (waiters, hosts) and the back of the house (chefs, dishwashers). So now, there will be a 20% gratuity charge on all bills, there will be no tipping, and the gratuity will be more evenly distributed among employees. The article asks if this is the wave of the future.
The former waiter in me says "This sucks!"
The former dishwasher in me says "Kick ass!"
From Jerhad!com: Bin Laden and Zarqawi Hold Worldwide Candlelight Vigil for Cindy Sheehan
From Jerhad!com, which seems to be a right-wing version of The Onion:
"Bin Laden and Zarqawi Hold Worldwide Candlelight Vigil for Cindy Sheehan"
Great. Maybe the Bush Administration could finally catch these guys. We're coming up on the four year anniversary of September 11th.
Answering Questions about Antarctica
75 Degrees South is the website for a the British Antarctical Survey. Simon Coggins and others answered questions for students in Queensland, Australia. This is one of my favorite sites.
Sheena asks: How do you wash and dry your clothes?
We have washing machines and tumble dryers just like back home. One difference is that we have to make sure that the machines are always full so we don't waste water. Our only source of water is to shovel snow into a tank which is melted to make water. It takes four people 15 minutes every day to shovel enough snow for the day so we are always trying to find ways to save water!
Illustration yes, Blog Link no
I saved this illustration, intending to link to its blog source, but I forgot to bookmark the page. Here it is anyway. I like it. My apologies to the artist, whoever he/she may be.
Monday, August 22, 2005
MFA Creative Writing Programs
I've got a new site up about MFA Creative Writing Programs. It's basically a blog that addresses issues about researching, applying to, and making the most of a creative writing graduate degree. We'll also be answering questions from the mailbag each Monday.
This is all in anticipation of the publication of The Creative Writing MFA Handbook from Continuum Publishing in early 2006.
Anyway, surf on over to the new site if you've got either questions or answers. All the comments sections are open, and your opinions about MFA, M.A. or Ph.D. Creative Writing Programs are welcome.
-- Tom Kealey
20 Examples of Almost Destroying the World
Nuclear Files.org has a list of 20 times when the U.S. or the USSR almost destroyed the world.
via Backwards City.
Also, see a previous blog entitled The Man Who Didn't Destroy the World
Ranking the Senators
In August of this year, Survey USA asked 600 adults in each of the 50 states to rank their senators on an approve/disapprove scale.
Congratulations are in order to Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) who came in 1st of the 100 senators with a 77% approval rating. Rock on, Olympia.
Other Notables:
Barack Obama (D-IL) came in third, John McCain (R-AZ) was tied for 4th, and Jospeh Lieberman (D-CT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) made the top ten. Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) were among those tied for 24th, Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Trent Lott (R-MS) were tied for 36th, and Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) tied for 56th.
John Kerry (D-MA) hung right on the approve/disapprove line at 52% at number 73. Among those receiving less than 50% approval were Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Bill Frist (R-TN).
And the absolute worst senator, according to the survey? Rick Santorum (R-PA).
Post Secrets
PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Ghost Hunting Tips
Ghost Hunting tips via Grave Addiction.
Here are some guidelines for capturing ghosts on film!
- Don’t take photos during rain or snow storms - rain drops or snowflakes may get on the camera lens and look like orbs!
- Make sure your camera lens is clean - fingerprints or dust may also look like orbs.
If the same ghostly image shows up in the same spot on all of your photos, chances are it is dust on the lens rather than a ghost. - Keep your fingers away from the camera lens when taking photos, a finger in the corner of a photo often looks like a ghost!
- Tie back hair, a loose hair in front of the lens is often mistaken for a ghost too.
- Don’t smoke on investigations. Smoke may also show up in the photos and discredit any ghostly images. Also, smoking can be a fire hazard in cemeteries or old buildings.
Cynical-C helped us find this.
Burning Man Photos
Definitions of Burning Man:
From the Idealist:
"An Annual Festival of Free Expression, Mutual Respect, and a Collaboration of Art, Music, Crafts, Engineering, and Environmentalism."
From the Cynic:
"It's a Bunch of Naked Hippies Dancing High Off Their Asses Around a Giant Totem Out in the Middle of the Freakin' Nowhere Desert."
Whether your opinion is the first, second, or somewhere in between, if you want to see some photos of past events, click here. Warning: NSFW (Not Safe for Work). (Question: Why Not? Answer: Naked-High-Hippies/Festival-of-Free-Expression.)
It's possible, by the way, that I have the cynic/idealist definitions backwards. If you'd like to leave your own definition, it's welcome. You know where the comments section is. Thanks in advance.
Office Guns
According to Office Guns, you only need a few of these office items to create a gun that shoots pencils really fast. Fast enough to hurt or perhaps kill someone in your office. So, like, be careful okay?
Thanks Eric Morrison
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Happy Robot
My friend Rich Buchanan has a wonderful site called Happy Robot.
Features this week include Hello From Iraq, Love Stinks: Being Dumped, Photo of Fun, Art Colony, Token Book Review, and much more. Visit.
Things You Should Do
Grow a Brain strikes again with yet another great blog. This time? Things You Should Do. They include links to...
Things You Should Do Before You Die
Things You Should Do While Ordering a Pizza
Things You Should Do Instead of Drinking
Things You Should Do More Often Than You Think
Many more...
Simply Fired
The Donald Trump action figure, firing somebody, is above.
Meanwhile, Simply Fired is a wonderful site where people tell their stories of being fired from various companies and organizations. Some story titles on the day that I visited were:
"Fired for Being Kicked in the Balls"
"Fired for Locking Up Cuckoo Customer"
and
"Fired Over Slice of Cold Pizza"
via Laughing Squid