A hypnotizing diversion: The Enchanted Maze Garden, which asks you to “[h]elp Business, Design, and Technology converge on each of their goals simultaneously.”
(Via Fark.)
Monthly Archives: October 2004
And yet I can’t remember how “schadenfreude” came into the conversation
Did we have a swell time at yesterday’s Pittsburgh BlogFest? Indeed we did!
I’m your other mother
Three Italian film students have, as a class project, created a “trailer” for Neil Gaiman‘s wonderful book Coraline. You can view it online.
Sk
Students: Do you believe in working hard but also playing hard? Norway is your kind of place.
“One out of five students at the University of Oslo has developed health ailments related to their study conditions.” Coincidentally, “[r]oughly half of [the pre-university students in Oslo who were] surveyed feel that they are not sufficiently challenged by their schoolwork, and even those having trouble feel the same.”
“One in three male Oslo university students drink dangerously high levels and eight percent drink enough to cause immediate damage.” An expert there on youth and intoxicant use thinks it’s fine as long as they drink less once they graduate. Oh, and also, “By
Reverse the curse
Are we done with baseball finally? It seems to stick around longer with each passing year. But now that one curse has been broken, we can set our sights on another: the trend of the Washington Redskins home game predicting the winner of the presidential election.
Since the Redskins became the Redskins in 1933, the result of the team’s final home game before the presidential election has correctly predicted the White House winner. If the Redskins win, the incumbent party wins. If they lose, the incumbent party is ousted.
The statistical anomaly puts some of the players in a quandary, including Washington cornerback Fred Smoot:
“We’ve got to win this game no doubt, but I’m hoping John Kerry can kind of reverse the curse,” Smoot said. “I’m wishing him luck, man. This is the millennium for all trends to be broken.”
Side note: You gotta like a guy named “Smoot.”
UPDATE: Oh hey, and while we’re record-breaking, let’s put an end to this New England Patriots’ winning streak, shall we? It would be for the best for everyone: With the Red Sox winning the World Series, New England fans can’t handle too much more joy.
You like long walks on the beach too?
Another one of my entrepreneurial ideas has been taken: PersonalsTrainer offers to fix your personal ad so you sound more like you than you can manage yourself.
However, the lead example offered on the home page is less than reassuring. The “before” is definitely all kinds of wrong (“I have a nice personality. I have 2 cats & I like to go to restaurants.”). But the “after” also leaves much to be desired (“I’m a mix between Mother Teresa & Britney Spears….”). Even assuming they mean the pre-2004, non-redneck Britney, would any right-thinking male want a combination of very-holy-but-wizened, chastity-vowed aid-giver and bleached, over-makeupped and under-dressed lip-syncher?
Actually, if you averaged out their wardrobes and hemlines, you might have a nice knee-length pencil skirt in an attractive shade of plum.
The big improvement is in the example photograph. Which, come to think of it, is the only part of the ad most men will look at. So maybe PersonalsTrainer.com is on to something after all.
(Link via Gawker.)
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I’ve had to remove this entry. Sorry.
Gripping stories that happen to be true
An event you won’t want to miss: 412: The Pittsburgh Creative Nonfiction Literary Festival.
I’ll be part of a panel discussion Sunday morning, talking about online publications. Both Inkburns and Fat Plum will have items available in the Media Fair over the weekend, so stop in and see us!
From the webpage:
412: The Pittsburgh Creative Nonfiction Literary Festival
For Readers, Writers & Publishers
Featuring John Edgar Wideman, Richard Nash, the 412 Media Fair and More
November 12-14, 2004WHAT IS 412?
The First Annual Pittsburgh Creative Nonfiction Literary Festival412 is a week of readings, lectures, parties and workshops featuring literary Pittsburgh, from colleges and universities to city magazines and newspapers to indie and online publications.
412 expands the local audience and introduces new publishing projects that represent the future of Pittsburgh and creative nonfiction.
412 showcases Pittsburgh’s great writers, independent publishers and venues.
412 encourages locals to support local literary initiatives by volunteering, attending events and submitting their work.
412 is the place where students, teachers, authors and readers converge in an atmosphere of creativity, optimism and celebration of Pittsburgh’s unique place in the literary world.
Creative nonfiction is shorthand for an exciting genre that encompasses the hard-hitting honesty of journalism and the dramatic techniques of fiction. Creative nonfiction is no oxymoron; it
Wheels within wheels
If for some reason you choose not to attend the Pittsburgh BlogFest, you can instead see Jonathan Lethem read American Shorts Reading Series.
According to the website, “Although Lethem
Let’s get small
Of the Google searches by which people find this site, the one that pleases me most is “electric dog polisher.” We have thus far mentioned such a thing only once and yet we’re currently in the top 10 sites using it — score!
The phrase, or at least our use of it, is of course from Steve Martin’s very funny album Let’s Get Small. Here’s the bit in which it features:
I’m into bread. I love money, I love everything about money, I love to eat it. Money.
They say you can’t take it with you? I’m taking it with me.
I’m into bread. I love bread.
I bought some pretty good stuff. Got me a $300 pair of socks. I got a fur sink. Oh, let’s see…. Electric dog polisher, that was a good one. Gasoline-powered turtleneck sweater.
And of course I’ve bought some dumb stuff too.
While it’s funny on paper, his delivery improves it immensely. If you haven’t heard this album, or haven’t listened to it in years, do check it out. The album is available via iTunes, but most unfortunately “Let’s Get Small” is the only track omitted. Hunt down the CD or, better yet, find someone with the original LP and a working record player. You may even find some leftover traces of … let’s call them “enhancing substances” in the seams and cracks of the album cover. A true relic of the 80s!
An interesting tidbit: On January 9, 1979, well before Wal-Mart became the powerhouse retailer/censor on the block, K-Mart pulled Steve Martin’s “Let’s Get Small” from the shelves for being in “bad taste.”