Iraq and 911
An excellent post by Joe Maller provides a roundup of articles that hint at some sort of Iraqi involvement with the WTC attacks.
robotz!
Say hello to Robo Roach. They should really get in touch with the toy robots initiative, which asks the important questions like “can we turn plants into plant-silicon cyborgs?” They provide instructions on making a Palm Pilot Robot. They make prototypes of some sort of amped-up pogo stick, capable of 9-foot jumps. Wouldn’t you love to ride that thing to work? You should also view the insect telepresence videos.
In other robot news, the Aibo has come down in price, and is making me insanely covetous. It appears that the Aibo keeps a “photo journal” that you can access via PC. So the possibility of a robot dog’s photographic weblog has reared its majestic head. Aibos can also be networked via WiFi, and can be used as an interface for PC applications meaning you can get your dog to bark whenever you have email. Finally, the dog can be remote-controlled via computer: you get a camera feed and you can transmit audio via the aibo speaker. Thus I tilt my head back and fantasize about robot dog telepresence hunting parties humans around the globe gather at a location in robot dog form, exchange wisecracks and then set out to freak out some cats. Good times.
Good god, I sound like a Sony marketing shill. Apologies to my readers, and hey, Sony, just send me the fucking dog already.
MIT, pantslessness
Yet more evidence that MIT is the most bitchin’-est school: re:constructions.
An unrelated observation: It’s okay to wear pants and no shirt, but it’s not okay to wear a shirt and no pants. I can say no more about the matter.
jumpsuit hunt
As part of a half-assed quest for a jumpsuit (or should I say tracksuit?), I have uncovered some intriguing sites. Jumpsuit Guy’s Web Site holds the following testimony:
I am a twenty-nine year-old man living in California. I have been fascinated by jumpsuits since I was very young. I think that women wearing jumpsuits are very sexy. Sometimes I like to wear them myself.
I made this web site because jumpsuits deserve more appreciation!
He provides all-important links to “overlapping clothing fetish” websites and those devoted to “adult footed pyjamas.” I was particularily drawn to Fardo’s Overalls, makers of “colorful novelty jumpsuits for men,” who claim that “the overall is a powerful statement, a magical garment” and whose photos feature a man who I can only assume is the world’s premier novelty jumpsuit model. See him travel internationally with glum expression and colorful patches! Drunken night sorties in camo overalls! Relaxing at home in shiny purple jumpsuit! Deployed as part of the Swiss Emergency Clowning Team! I would have to agree with Jumpsuit Guy that “one of the most exciting applications of the internet is world-wide dissemination of information about jumpsuits.” Unfortunately, I haven’t found the type I’m looking for, which was less of a Euro shiny patch-oriented concept piece and more of an Adidas retro affair. The struggle continues.
Afghan campaign
Seems like there will be Hell up in Afghanistan soon. The CBC made a neat little Flash thing for learning about the region. This map is sort of handy as well. What both representations leave out is an identifying tag for one of Afghanistan’s neighbours: China. Do we all realizing we are planning a war in China’s back yard? It doesn’t seem that China would oppose military action in Afghanistan, but they will definitely be cautious and do not want to see an increased US military presence in the region.
Here’s another good article from before the tragedy. It’s written by Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, so it’s not from the typical Western point of view.
west/east
Another good opinion piece about the Middle East vs. the West. Author blames Richard the First for the current fiasco.
ex-spook interview
Fascinating interview with a former CIA man about bin Laden. More evidence that there is a culture clash between the US intelligence community and a decentralized terrorist network such as al Qaeda. Also, he takes issue with the idea that the attack was carried out by a sophisticated group, while at the same time hinting that bin Laden’s network may connect Iran, Afganistan, Lebanon, Algeria, and Egypt. He also calls bin Laden the “here’s Waldo” of terrorism.
nameless
post-tragedy
I hesitate to post again. What hasn’t already been said? I guess I can at least pass on some of the findings that resulted from a day of media binge, which seems the only way that many of us can deal: Michael Moore’s thoughts on the tragedy. Article on Bin Laden’s CIA training. Atlantic article about the CIA having trouble gathering intelligence in Afganistan. The problem with retaliation. Donate to the Red Cross via amazon or paypal.
accident
You were not responsive, lying on a bed of sheets covered with blood.
An accident journal. Amy Miller was an avid journal writer. She crashed her car while drunk and was airlifted to the hospital, where for weeks she lay unconscious in critical condition. Her family and friends felt they should continue her journal for her; they wrote in it and years later it was put on the web. An almost overpowering story, more intense than any fiction I’ve encountered recently.
the world needs more meat flavour.
f-bomb
Some months back, I learnt of a great word, f-bomb. No sooner did I learn of it than I began misusing it:
- I don’t give an f-bomb what you think.
- Why don’t you shut the f-bomb door?
Proper form, of course, dictates that the word be preceded by a form of “to drop”:
- I dropped the f-bomb in front of my priest, and he tore off part of my cheek.
Wait. Could this be one of our first hypno-words?
game OS 1.0 at J101
I have another thing up at joystick101, which isn’t getting the warmest reception, but what’s a fanboy like me gonna do? Also on the gaming tip, XYZZY news has transcripts and mp3s of a panel with Scott Adams on storytelling in games.
mentalfloss & poutine
Back. Long weekend, long week and I hear it’s still going. While I think of it, a shoutout to mentalfloss, whom I bumped into at Mel’s late friday night. Poutine was eaten. I explained that smoked meat poutine looks a lot like a plateful of puke. I did this right before everyone’s smoked meat poutines arrived, and later noticed that I was the only one who finished his/her smoked meat poutine. Oh well, their loss. But have a listen to the mentalfloss triphop mp3 stream, that’s the good stuff.
mmmm… poutine… (runs off to kitchen)
(returns with stale carrots)
sigh…
to better months
I had a near-Newton moment just now. There is a crab apple tree out front of my house. I was sitting under it on my stoop, and a little apple fell and missed my head by about an inch.
Does this augur a massive flash of insight? Fuck, I hope so. I have been desperately searching for meaning in everyday things these days. I was locked out of my apartment yesterday; when I stopped at a convenience store a woman was having backup keys made. Yes, I thought, I should have done that. Thank you, Gods of Irony.
The I Ching had this to say:
Mountains standing close together:
The image of Keeping Still.
Thus the superior man
Does not permit his thoughts
To go beyond his situation.
There have been better months. Here’s to the next.
school = jail
The failure of zero tolerance:
They cite instances where throwing snowballs and kicking in the playground have become “assault with a deadly weapon,” where flicking rubber bands during school assembly has been elevated to a “public disturbance,” and where betting on baseball games has become “extortion.” This situation has led many to observe that a parallel tracking system is in effect in our nation’s schools: one feeding mostly white, affluent and middle class students to college, the other feeding poor, minority kids to prison.
don't look at me like that, Destro
I guess I never realized how gay GI Joe really is. (via 3bruces)
death star
This is what it looks like when stars die.
blindma on trailervision
Also, trailervision is featuring skitfaced‘s Blindma 96 as their trailer of the week.
new poll
Allow me to draw your attention toward the new poll, located to the left and down from where you are staring now. Yeah, that’s it! Please help me accrue vital market data. I’ve become aware that contrary to what Mr. Bacharach would have you believe what the world needs now is new, exciting products, and you can help me figure out what they are.
The last poll was a runaway success: 60% of you thought that there should, in fact, be a poll on this site. Unfortunately, 26% of you called me an idiot, but rightly so, as I presented that as an option. Simultaneously, that same 26% observed that there was already a poll on this site! You clever people, of course there is.
There is also a darker issue that I need to bring up: low voter turnout. If democracy is to work, my friends, you need to vote. 23 brave souls voted this time around on the issue of poll presence their voice has been heard, and now there (still) is a poll! I know for a fact that the majority are not voting; my server logs tell me this much. So speak up, “silent majority” but please don’t elect Nixon again.
Iron Monkey
Miramax is giving Iron Monkey a North American release next month. For those of you who have never seen it, please go. It’s directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, who is now well known for having choreographed the fights in The Matrix. For what it’s worth, I would also lend my personal seal of approval to Wing Chun, another film he directed that has mad styles and a great performance by Michelle Yeoh. I wish he would get back in the fancy chair and “helm another picture”, as they say in Variety, as Iron Monkey is really a fantastic piece of action. I first saw it during the Fantasia Asian film fest in Montreal, and you could hear the minds being blown as the screening unfolded. Anyway, go watch the trailer.
By way of segue, the producer of Iron Monkey is Tsui Hark, a Hong Kong legend whose recent film <http://us.imdb.com/Details?0251433″>Time and Tide was watched, by me, last night, for the second time in as many months. The plot is almost unintelligible, yet the film somehow makes this seem a strength rather than a weakness. There’s a lot of hand-held camera, but not in the usual “hey, we’re shooting handheld, aren’t we realistic?” way he gets very close to approximating the movement of the human eye. Constant glancing, very rarely resting on anything for long. And it contains a scene in which it’s clear the cameraman jumped out of a window while filming. Quite a picture.
bug cam
In All Tomorrow’s Parties, one of William Gibson’s characters has a remote-controlled hover-camera rig. I thought it would be cool to imagine a version of this in miniature, the size of a bug. Celebrities would then attract swarms of them; the journo-bugs would buzz around them, jockeying for a good angle, their microphones barking out questions. The Sean Penn thing to do would be to swat them away. Or possibly spray them with something.
hypno-Ballmer
disinfo gets busy on the dancing, chanting Ballmer clips that have been circulating lately. The part I like best about the article is the claim that Ballmer is using “hypno-words”, and gives “come on” and “get up” as examples. Come on. This would mean that James Brown owns half my brain. Surely there are more effective hypno-words out there. Any suggestions? I’d like to master some for personal gain.
clown pirate fashion
Oh good Lord. Expect it, or maybe this, to hit the runways soon.
ga2so
Stuff on dogwelder’s site: the happy bear song. (It’s like prozac, except stronger.) Tom Waits sings Britney Spears. The world’s best Chris Walken picture. Samples from a Star Wars Read-Along book. There’s plenty more.
