I Moved to New York

Citizens,

Steph, Maggie, Molly & I have made it to New York safe and sound. Our stuff won't arrive until June 10, and I'll like be more-or-less offline (Hurray for neighbors with unprotected wireless!) until then -- so I won't be posting much for the next two weeks.

In the meantime, I just learned that the North Korean People are All out to Build Great Prosperous Powerful Nation. What great news.

Cheers,
Andy

Palo Alto, California: 1 Police Officer per 673 Residents

It's been quite a week for the Palo Alto Police.

The 92 officers of Palo Alto's finest started off the week handing out We're Bored tickets to cyclicts for riding while talking on cell phones (an activity which, as you guessed, turns out to be legal). The cops ended the week befuddled by an anarchist rally downtown.



(I'd heard before that Palo Alto had more police per capita than any comparable US city. Although I haven't found a good online resource to back up this factoid, here's a point of reference: With slightly over 9,600 police officers and a population of 9,871,506, Los Angeles has 1 police officer per 1,028 residents.)

Is It Something That Surrounds Us & Binds Us?

Nobody does absurd, entertaining web promotions like Burger King. Following on the heels of Subservient Chicken, it's 20 questions with Darth Vader.


Source: sithsense.com

After Two Jail Terms, Society Blesses the Letourneau/Fualaau Union

Mary Kay Letourneau, 43, recently wed her former student Vili Fualaau, 22.

Ms Letourneau did a couple turns in the slammer for conducting a sexual relationship with Mr Faulaau when she was a 34-year-old married mother of four and Fualaau was a 12-year-old elementary school student.

...and yet gay marriage is illegal in the US — since allowing gay marriage would somehow harm the sanctity & dignity of our holy matrimonial bonds.

Someone at Google Finally Caved In

Google takes a page from Yahoo's playbook, and consolidates all its services into a Google personal homepage.


Source: Google

This may seem like a minor change, but resisting the temptation to put cluttered -- busy -- full -- feature-rich pages online has been a big part of Google's design aesthetic over the years. I'll be interested to see if this homepage makes its way out of the labs and onto Google's main page.

Senator, Chancellor, Emperor

Whether or not you've already seen the new Star Wars movie, you'll appreciate what Max Baucus (D - MT) had to say in the US Senate yesterday.



In passing, if you haven't seen the new Star Wars movie yet, you should.

Finally, Lucas makes a prequel movie where he doesn't devote half the movie to explaining the inner workings of his world. Lucas still can't write dialogue, but the pacing of the movie is fantastic. Oh, and Jar-Jar only appears once.

A Bug in Big Brother

Just as I suspected. People who like my band also like to read Dostoyevsky and to rapidly learn Italian.


Source: iTunes

Please buy our album (iTunes link) and help change these Listeners also bought stats!

Dr. Phil: Greatest American Ever?

AOL & The Discovery Channel are producing a TV show entitled Greatest American. As with so much domestic television, the show is a knock-off of a BBC program, Great Britons.



The above photo includes the 100 nominees for this title, and the usual suspects are all present: Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln.

Amazingly, AOL/Discovery Channel decided to surround the obvious short list with an otherwise forgettable set of names:

• Tom Cruise


• Ellen DeGeneres


• Dr. Phil McGraw


• Oprah Winfrey


• Laura Bush


• Barbara Bush


• Rush Limbaugh


• Michael Moore


• Bret Favre


• Billy Graham


• Mel Gibson


• Michael Jackson


• Martha Stewart


• Arnold Schwarzenegger


• Condeleezza Rice


• Donald Trump


• Barack Obama


• Tom Hanks

At what point did US patriotism completely lose historical perspective? Lance Armstrong is great, but I wouldn't include him over Louis Armstrong.

Because Radical Cleric James Dobson Doesn't Stand For What You Believe

Get ready for the Religious Left.

Billboard in Sioux Falls, South Dakota:

Way to go, Grassroots Democrats, South Dakota!

Public Persona, Private Time

I have a theory: Most of the people who are famous are famous as a result of their work. As a result of this job-fame, they are strongly encouraged to A) Work quite a bit and B) Maintain precious little division between their work and home lives. As a result, success's unique ability to ruin lives has been well-documented since antiquity.

Therefore, I'm conflicted when a celebrity decides to hang up the spikes or abandon their creation. On one hand, since I suspect that 99% of these people are extremely overworked, I feel that I should be happy if they develop a life in which they walk at a more leisurely pace. On the other hand — especially if I'm a fan of their work — I hate to see them go. I'm particularly conflicted when someone like Garrison Keillor (who, to me, symbolizes a relaxed pace of life) has open heart surgery and then promptly returns to work.

With this as a backdrop, I want to tell you that Dave Chapelle has fled the country. He has taken leave of his show and his responsibilities and gone to South Africa. I'm not kidding.

I want him back.



Dave, when you're ready, please come back and make me laugh until I need to use an inhaler. We miss you. If you get the chance, please visit Lesotho while you're there. I've always wanted to visit a country that is completely contained within another country (...though I've been to Vatican City, I don't think that really counts).

Men of Renown, Made for Cable

On Saturday, May 14, the SciFi channel appears to be doing a mummy movie about the Nephilim, the fallen giants of Genesis 6 who are easily the most overlooked characters in the Bible.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also later. The sons of God had come to the daughters of man and had fathered them. The Nephilim were the mightiest ones who ever existed, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4

DeLitany of DeLay

Think Progress has assembled a list of Tom DeLay's 13 most corrupt acts during his tenure as Republican majority leader.


Source: Think Progress

Found On The Internets: The Blog That Dare Not Speak Its Name

http://if***edanncoulterinthe***hard.blogspot.com
(The easily offended should probably not click this.)



Thanks, Scott!

'Cause I'm Leaving on a Jetplane

Steph and I are moving to New York City in a few weeks, and I just bought one way tickets for the first time in my life.

Why is it that I'm Moving doesn't feel as final as I'm Buying a One Way Ticket?

Sometimes, it's like having Mr. Bean as President

Please repeat, Echo Leader. Did not copy your last transmission...


Source: Reuters

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Japan seems to universally strike outsiders as a haven of politeness and courtesy; therefore, I always find it a little jarring when confronted by the hyper-sexual side of Japanese culture.

2,201 women reported being groped on the über-crowded Tokyo subways during 2004. Subway authorities have responded by specifically designating certain subway cars as For Women Only.


Source: Engrish.com

Awfully Jacked for A Mostly-Homeless Wanderer

If you buy only one absurd picture of Jesus Christ this year, let it be this absurd picture of Jesus Christ.

BORIS VALLEJO Jesus Christ oil on masonite 1969!!!!! (eBay)