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July 31, 2005

Comics without Comment

Here's a link to a comic from the 1980s that I could have gotten quite a bit of mileage from during my 80s party back in '99.

Posted by Dean at 1:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 25, 2005

Note to South Carolina Department of Corrections

Give up. You're not going to find this guy. When he was first arrested, Strom Thurmond had just finished his run for president. When he escaped from jail, the Korean War was in full swing.

My advice-- offer amnesty and hope the guy turns up and explains how he avoided the long arm of the South Carolina law for so long.

Posted by Dean at 2:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 23, 2005

Traffic Joke

Via BOPNews, I encountered this joke about keeping your temper:

An honest man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman hit the roof and the horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do?' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday-School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk.

"Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."

Actually, this applies to just about any bumper sticker you have. I have read more than one essay that points out the humor of going 'for a drive around Reno some Saturday afternoon, and count[ing] the number of tricked-out, gaz-guzzling SUVs you see sporting a "Keep Tahoe Blue" bumper sticker.' Plus, when you cut someone off in traffic, odds are that someone is going to look at the political candidate of choice you have emblazoned on your bumper and start to wonder if all of that candidate's supporters are as boorish as you are. So chill out when driving around town. Better yet, ride your bicycle more often.

Posted by Dean at 5:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 22, 2005

Giant Space Invaders

Via Record Robot (now featured on the blogroll), I found an interesting exhibition of Rubikcubism. In this case, it's using the aesthetic of a Rubik's Cube to represent pixelated video game characters.

Also, Record Robot has inspired me to start featuring some of the random LPs and 45s I have lying around my apartment here on the weblog in the near future.

Posted by Dean at 4:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 21, 2005

Patent Humor: The First Patent Case

An old weblog post I found while poking around Google looking for some references on patent issues gives us this:

"In the case of Thor vs. Ug, wherein Thor, holder of patent 0000000001 for Method and Apparatus to Kill Large Beasts for Purposes of Eating, as implemented by Heavy Rock on End of Stick, contends that Ug has contravened the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by disassembling Heavy Rock on Stick to make Pointed Rock on Stick, and that method of Poking Beasts Until Dead is essentially a foreseen variation of Hitting Beasts Until Dead, the Appeals court has ruled in Thor's benefit.

Punitive damages assessed in the amount of 1 (One) Beast from each family descended from Ug are due to the family descendants of Thor."

Posted by Dean at 12:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 20, 2005

You cannot change the laws of physics

or, for that matter, mortality. James Doohan dies at 85, whom most of us know as Star Trek's "Scotty." Along with having participated in D-Day, it is apparently a little known fact that he was a linguist who helped devise the Klingon and Vulcan language.

Posted by Dean at 1:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 9, 2005

Online Historical Atlas

This historical atlas, specializing in Roman maps is something I've had a lot of fun with over the past year.

Along with showing Europe and the Middle East's states in various eras, from 1 AD to 1000 AD and 1000 AD to 2000 AD, what makes it interesting is that it picks up on the obscure statelets you haven't necessarily heard about, like the ones you can see in this map from 1000 AD. Vaspourakan? Tayk and Kaisik? The Principality of Tmutarakan?

(crossposted to metafilter)

Posted by Dean at 12:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 5, 2005

Tom Cruisiana

It turns out that Tom Cruise is nuts. Tom Cruise on Katie Holmes:

"I will forever with this woman be jumping on couches, dancing on tables and hanging from chandeliers."
Now he tells us. That's exactly what everyone was hoping to see him do with Nicole Kidman 5 years ago in Eyes Wide Shut.

Posted by Dean at 2:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 4, 2005

Happy July 4th

I was mostly cooped up at home today, but late at night, I walked up to my landlords' balcony and watched the tail end of the fireworks from my apartment in Cambridge. I was glad that I got a chance to mark another July 4th, something I couldn't really make time for today. Boston always has one of the best fireworks displays with the Boston Pops playing live on the Esplanade, which I listened to over the radio.

This also marks the birthday of an old high school friend of mine. Happy Birthday-- hope you're well.

Posted by Dean at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)

July 3, 2005

Because still comic art is fungible

Apropos Comics. This one is my favorite.

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