Cat Architecture

In Monty Python's far off days there was an episode where the team were cat entertainers. The Japanese have designed buildings around our feline friends. Here are some images of Japanese cat habitats.

Canadian War Photography

Here is a site of Canadian War Photography. The Image above almost seems like an image from Froissart or some other medieval chronicle.

Be Your Own Gunman

The man to protect you is you. Not the state, not the agent of the state, and not your hired hand—YOU!

Jeff Copper in a short article, Cooper VS. Terrorism, reprinted from Guns & Ammo annual 1975, advocating everyone become their own bodyguard. That one should be armed and trained for close combat, and not depend on anyone else. It is mildly alarming prospect. In the bio of the author, Jeff Cooper, we learn that he was innovator of Modern Technique of the Pistol, practices and principals to maximize combat effectiveness.

For some more alarming thoughts here is poem that Jeff Cooper posted in his armory about shotguns. He also worked better ways of killing with shotguns along with rifle and pistol.

"The Colonel loves his twelve gauge
It hits so very hard
"That when he shoots his enemies
It tears them all apart

It blows off chunks of tissue
And leaves their clothing red
It leaves them ripped and shattered
And almost always dead

It vaporizes muscle
It pulverizes bone
Yet shotguns are the weapons
The even yuppies own

They claim they only use them
For shooting ducks and skeet
But when you're stuck, a load of buck
Turns predators to meat

Bill O'Connor

Cool Art Project and the Heartless Corporation That Ripped it Off

This short film gives you context and scale to imagine yourself on a trip to space. I first saw the copy of this film. Toshiba has a new ad out that replicates this with a higher budget and better electronics. Here is more detail on Escape Vehicle No. 6 from Simon Faithfull, the artist who created the project.

Toshiba and its ad agency is trying very hard to be like marketing department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. In Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe they were described in current and far future editions as; "a bunch of mindless jerks [who'll be / who were] the first against the wall when the revolution comes."

American Political Disengagement

Josh Fruhlinger the Comics Curmudgeon has an explanation for political disengagement and apathy by the average American on one his past columns of editorial cartoons, History’s Most Important Election In An Odd-Numbered Year, In Cartoon Form.

Generally speaking, most Americans can barely be bothered to vote during important elections — you know, the ones with years divisible by four! It’s even harder getting them off of their Dorito-stained couches to cast their ballots when it’s a year that’s an even number that isn’t divisible by four, and when we’re talking odd-numbered years, well, you can just totally forget about that. I realize that all this math is way, way beyond what most Americans can handle, and yet through some instinct, they can distinguish; my theory is that they can tell how important an election is by the volume of the shouting from the glowing picture-box in the living room.

Batman is All Alignments

Characters with many different writers and incantations can be radically different. Batman is just such a flexible character since he is a masked vigilante like the Lone Ranger or the KKK.

Double click on image to enlarge.

Wiki explainer on the D&D Alignment System.

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

Life Without a Computer

Recently my computer was down and powerless. I felt powerless too, I had to regress technologically and do many in unusually and ancient ways.

I was forced to:

• get time from a clock
• read the newspaper on newsprint
• listen to radio on a radio
• watch TV on a TV
• play solitaire with cards

It was terrible.

North American Rules Football as Life

Anti Polar Bear Ad

I have always thought that Stephen Colbert's hatred and fear of BEARS was some sort of humorous quirk. He was clever to to have a case of Ursaphobia which fits with his persona of a right-wing nut bar pundit. Who knew that bears were such a "bugbear" for the American right.

This ad is mildly funny but is serious in its intent to discredit "global warming" This video is from a ant-science political group with the bland name of National Center for Public Policy Research. In reality it is akin to alchemists, flat earthers and creationists. There is a difference with those "science belief systems" and the anti-global warming crowd. Nobody is spending time and money to promote alchemy or maps of the flat earth. This group and other cold earthers are in some ways the opposite of the creationists. The Creationist spend money to push their "science belief system", ie religion. The National Center for Public Policy Research is pushing their "science belief system", junk science, to save money.

Has Apple made a Pact with the Devil

The latest Apple ad has the "PC" flashing back and being hopeful and positive of earlier and earlier windows versions. The "PC" becomes younger and casualer as the years roll back. However "MAC" remains exactly the same. Is there some portrait in closet in Cupertino of "MAC" looking old and decrepit? Maybe "MAC" is a vampire living on the coolness of his fans? Whatever he is he is a evil thing that must be destroyed.

Afghan War as shot by David Guttenfelder

Afghan anti-Taliban fighters advance tanks to the front line along the White Mountains of Tora Bora in northeastern Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 10, 2001. With U.S. fighter jets streaking overhead, anti-Taliban forces firing tanks and anti-aircraft guns Monday seized a key ridge near one of Osama bin Laden's hideouts in the majestic mountains near Pakistan. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Afghanistan as shot by AP photographer David Guttenfelder, from the Denver Post. David Guttenfelder's personal site.

Nina Simone - Sinnerman

This song has been sampled numerous times. A cellular ad uses a "composition" that consists of a riff of this song with drum machine added.

Sunday in the Park with Godzilla

Found at Black & WTF from Hasting Graham's photostream.

The best comment is from Paxsimius:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Godzilla Fan Society, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

The Creepiest Christmas Themed Ad Ever

I am glad I am not the only one who finds this ad a little too strange. The "father" takes his estranged "daughter" to Swiss Chalet. He makes reference to some childhood incident, daughter laughs nervously.

parnac123 asks

Why is this child molester bothering his victim again - and to take her back to Swiss Chalet, scene of the crime? I am not sure I can go back there with my kids...

lrlpalmer screams (types in all caps)

I DON'T GET THE NEW SWISS CHALET COMMERCIAL! Did the dad just escape from jail or something????

Armed Baby and the Police

Ancient Computer Graphics in Star Wars

slashdot has a link to an an old film explaining the computer graphics in the Star Wars briefing scene, 1977 Star Wars Computer Graphics. The Topless Robot found this gem and has this wonderful comment from Nonish on the terrible and declining taste of one George Lucas.

"Stick around. I'm sure Lucas is close to unveiling plans to refilm the classic trilogy.

Now with poop jokes and Jar Jar Binks™"

No. NO! Don't even go there. I've been scared pretty much shitless over this ever since this let's-refilm-and-gangrape-classics fad caught on at Hollywood.

Stupidity in Real Life and Online

In a slashdot article complaining about tech support, Easing the Job of Family Tech Support? Chapter80 gives this analogy for how easily people forget basic streetwise survival skills when online.

My usual approach is in the form of an analogy.

"You're driving down the road, and you stop at a traffic light. A man, dressed like a mechanic, approaches your car and says 'I think your car has a problem. Please pop the hood, and let me do a free analysis." Do you let him?"

"You get a package in the mail. You don't recognize the return address. You open it, and inside is a device with a note that says 'want a good laugh? press this button'. Do you press it?"

"A stranger walks up to you on the bus, and says 'My name is Rev. Kwame. I want a reliable person who could assist us to transfer the sum of Twenty Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars ( $20,500,000 ) into his / her account.This fund resulted by way of gratification from a contract awarded by us under the budget allocation to my Ministry and this bill has been approved for payment by the concerned Ministries.' Do you give them your bank account number?"

Etc.

Plug for Plugs

slashdot has a good discussion of electrical plugs and why there are so many varying plug standards. There is also a link to gizmodo article about plug standards, where the above map is from, Giz Explains: Why Every Country Has a Different F#$%ing Plug.

Karzai Wins by Default

To which Homer Simpson has said in [1F13] Deep Space Homer.

Default? Woo hoo! The two sweetest words in the English language: de-fault! De-fault! De-fault!

I blame the electoral mess in Afghanistan on a blotched constitution that the Americans Foisted on the Afghanis. The biggest problem is the presidential system. Americans, because of their own history consider the president to be a "democratic" office. They forget that constitutional stability of their republic, and the Swiss, is actually quite rare. Often republics descend into mere tyrannies. Mugabe promotion of himself from prime minster to president is typica.l

There was a small window for constitutional change in Afghanistan after the Northern Alliance won. Mohammed Zahir Shah, the former King of Afghanistan was still alive when then, 2002, see wiki on his non-restoratrion. Unfortunately the Americans wanted their man (creature) as El Presindente. They seem to think that "president" is a title of democrats.

Fly Sky Writers

(from Adfeak)

From the comments adfreak Jonathan pointed out.

...is there any better way to play into the whole "advertising as irritating intrusion"