The Daily Show Salutes the Blogging Left

If you're excited about what good blogs are doing to the mainstream media, you must check out Jon Stewart's (and Ted Hitler's) salute to bloggers from last night. The video is at Crooks and Liars.

Source: Comedy Central

Of course, Stewart's plaudits aside, remember that Obi Wan's description of Mos Eisley also applies equally well to those bloggers willing to distort the truth in the name of partisan rancor.

Note to Self: Still Illegal to Punch Strip Club DJs @ 3 a.m.

Kid Rock, looking and feeling his very best, I'm sure.

Source: CNN.com

Now, that's good jail hair... but it's not Nick Nolte good jail hair.

Your Honor, I Call Wayne Newton To The Witness Stand

Okay, so Michael Jackson got the flu. Naturally, being as fragile as a porcelain mouse, he was rushed to the emergency room.

In reading about this little episode, I saw the character witnesses that Jackson's attorneys intend to put on the stand. Moreover, the article listed the assemblage of celebrities prosecutors are gathering to cast aspersions on Jackson. Oh. My. Gawd.

Best.
Unordered.
List.
Ever.

(Names taken directly from the article)

• Elizabeth Taylor


• Jay Leno


• Quincy Jones


• Kobe Bryant


• Stevie Wonder


• Diana Ross


• Chris Tucker


• Former child actor Corey Feldman


• Backstreet Boy Nick Carter


• ...and younger brother Aaron


• CBS correspondent Ed Bradley


• CNN's Larry King


• Fox broadcaster Rita Cosby


• New Age guru Deepak Chopra


• Illusionist Uri Geller


• Illusionist David Blaine


• Las Vegas tycoon Steve Wynn


• ...and relatives of the late Marlon Brando

Not that this list needs a single bit of qualification, but I'm excited that there will be two -- count 'em, TWO -- magic acts.

If you need me, I'll be clearing out space on the TiVo.

The Mouth of the North Korean State

As the North Korean crisis deepens, it helps to be reminded of what the DPRK's leadership means when it says single minded unity.

The Kim family's stranglehood on their state is so profound, that I often wonder how North Koreans could possibly adapt to a Korean union on the terms similar to the East/West German reunion. I suspect that the collapse of the basic worldview instilled in them since the 1950's would simply be too much to bear for most.

Korean News is the North Korean government's official news website, which they run out of their Japanese embassy. As you'd expect, the DPRK's official government take on the events of the world is truly bone chilling.

Customer Disservice or I Feel Like We Really Connected

Normally, I wouldn't audiopost, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

I got ahold of Amazon's hidden customer service number and tried to get a human. (Google Amazon phone number. You'll find it.) After trying three times to find out why a supposedly delivered item was nowhere to be found, I figured I'd blog about my experience.

Just to let you know, this attempt was the only time that Amazon didn't automatically hang up on me after about 2 minutes.

What Do You Mean When You Say Up?

When Bill Clinton was reduced to redefining terms, it was to shield his nasty bedroom behavior from public view.

When the Bush Administration redefines terms, journalist, for example, it's because they're as crooked as the day is long.

The quick backstory is at the NY Times. (Registration may be req.)

The whole backstory is at Talking Points Memo.

Blog As Community Obituary

Last week, I commented how Andrew Sullivan's semi-retirement highlights the ways in which the role of the professional blogger is still a work-in-progress.

As more and more people start (and stop) blogging, they discover new applications for this limited medium. A particularly poignant use that I stumbled upon (by clicking Next Blog in the top right) for the first time is blog as community obituary.

Try Emma, Axel, Roger, River, Brittany & Sunshine

I work for a company that makes information visualization software, so it's not surprising that I would get all worked up about a graph, but...

...Ignoring that for a moment, YOU SIMPLY MUST check out The Name Voyager at babynamewizard.com. This graph requires java, and it dynamically shows you the ebbs and flows in popularity for the 5,000 of the most popular names in the United States over the last century.

The graph below is for Grace, a name that is as popular today as it was during the turn of the century, after a long period of dormancy.

Source: babynamewizard.com

Thanks, Silbakor!

I Like the Panic-enducing Telemetry Lines in the Upper Left Corner

North Korea says it has nuclear weapons.

CNN.com responds by producing the most panicky graphic that it can create on short notice.

Source: CNN.com

It's Turtles All the Way Down

Go to the freshly launched Google Maps and peruse its super-coolness.

Source: Google

Just as I suspected, there is an infinite, featureless ocean north of Canada. The North Pole? A conspiracy.

A Waste of a Perfectly Good Internet

How do you know when you have a fetish? Well, one clue is that you're taking pictures of your airline food and posting them to Airline Meals.net.

Thanks, Matt!

You Want The Truth?

Just like Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men, Lt. Gen. James Mattis of the USMC has opened his mouth only to insert a combat boot.

Americans are dovish hawks. No number of Apocalypse Now-esque films, no youthful John Kerry before the Senate in 1971 will convince them that warriors -- even when those warriors are their friends, sons, and neighbors -- will use all the psychological tools at their disposal.

At times, it seems to me as if you could place each one of us in our own private Stanford prison experiment and we'd forget the results the very next day.



I don't know the context in which Mattis spoke, and I certainly don't condone the sentiment... but shame on Ma and Pa America for being shocked.

The State Our Union Is In

Yeah. I guess that caption is the best way of describing it.

Source: CNN.com

Update on Tidy Ghost?

I'm suddenly struck with curiosity. Does anybody out there know if there were any further developments on the story of this seemingly tangible Hampton Court Palace ghost? (I'm just feeling too lazy to conduct a SuperGoogle.)


Source: Hampton Court Palace

No Bitterness Here

I understand that most of people who read The Onion are bitter about work, but... Damn. That squarish ad is harsh.

Source: The Onion

Professional Blogger Hangs Up the Ol' Mouse

Blogging is an entertaining occasional hobby, but it seems to me that the role of Professional Blogger is still very much a work in progress. Long term, will topical writers professionalize this funny medium?

Andrew Sullivan, whom I consider one of the more insightful professional bloggers, announced his retirement from daily blogging yesterday, after more than 4 1/2 years at the keyboard. Rest well, Andrew.

I feel like I blog at a sustainable pace. I wonder how many bloggers out there feel like they're blogging at an unsustainable pace?

Good Luck With 4INFO, Mr. Snake

Garth's new (ad)venture, 4INFO, has launched. Now for me to bog down their servers with requests for Tubgirl 94301.