Enthusiastically Ambiverted Hopepunk
For any of you RSS/newsreader junkies out there: you can now create customized RSS feeds from the iTunes Music Store. New releases, just added, top sellers, just the categories and information you want. Quite nifty.
iTunes: “Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa” by Commitments, The from the album Commitments, The Vol. 2 (1992, 2:52).
I’ve mentioned the band Lizette& before (here and here). When I got up this morning, I found a comment from their drummer, Alex, letting me know that their album is (finally) now available for order through their website! I’ve been waiting for this one for a while.
iTunes: “Must I” by Lizette& from the album & So… (2001, 3:27).
The more I watch of Buffy, I’m starting to notice one definite similarity between my enjoyment of that show and my enjoyment of the X-Files. Nothing terribly earth-shattering, it’s just that both series have two basic types of episode: the “plot” episode and the “monster of the week” episode. In each case, while they’re both enjoyable, it’s really the “plot” episodes that I enjoy the most.
Like I said, nothing terribly earth shattering.
iTunes: “John the Fisherman” by Primus from the album Frizzle Fry (1990, 3:37).
Well…in 1984, that is. The Mercury News has re-printed an article from 1984 heralding the release of Apple’s then-unknown new Macintosh computer.
After two years of secrecy, brainstorming and sometimes zany company maneuvering, Apple Computer Inc. will unveil a new personal computer Jan. 24 that is the size of a stack of paper and, for about the same price, contains more power than the basic IBM PC.
Known as the Macintosh and considered by analysts to be critical the the future of the company, the machine already is winning rave reviews from the dealers, software developers and industry analysts for its compactness and ease of use.
The machine, which sources way will sell for \$2,495, is designed to catch the fancy of the college students, small businessmen and the American consumer who wants to have ``fun” with a computer. It is priced between the less expensive Apple IIe and the more expensive Lisa.
(via MacRumors)
Jordan’s boobs ‘may explode’ in jungle
Medics have warned that Jordan’s breasts could explode if leeches get to suck them in the jungle.
(via Ben Hammersley)
If you’ve got an hour to kill and a broadband connection, the NOVA program “Mars Dead or Alive” is freely available on the web! I’ve just spent the past hour watching it, and it’s fascinating, going from the construction of the two rovers and the problems encountered during their assembly and testing, through both launches, and right up to Spirit’s successful landing on Mars.
To watch the program, just go to the ‘Watch the program‘ section of the site, choose your connection type, and kick back.
Tip for QuckTime Pro users: Rather than watching the program in the small pop-up window that their site provides, just open up QuickTime Player, choose File: Open URL in New Player…, and paste in this URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mars/media2/mars.mov. Once you’ve done that, you can then choose Movie: Present movie… and watch the entire program full-screen.
(via IPFreely)
Also available in the site is ‘From Launch to Landing‘, a stunning nine-minute long computer animation of Spirit’s journey from liftoff to its first moments trekking across the Martian landscape.
Very cool webpage automatically collecting and displaying the newest images from Mars.
This web page contains imagery from the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars. It is gathered from the raw imagery on the JPL site.
Technical data (filter, instrument type, acquisition time) is captured from the image filename and available. Also, stereo anaglyphs are automatically made from images that were taken in stereo at regular intervals. When appropriate filters were used, color images and thumbnails are created as well.
And even better, it comes with an RSS feed for newsreader users.
(via /.)
This is really early (my birthday isn’t until May 3rd), but I’m starting to put together a birthday wishlist. Admittedly, just about everything I’ve come up with so far is definitely on the “wish” side (as in, triple-digit prices), but I can dream, right? ;)
That’s it for the moment. As I’ve said, they’re all kind of high-ticket items, but that’s the point of a wish list. There’s a few months to save up before the big day rolls around, anyway. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. :)
iTunes: “Decypher” by Velvet Acid Christ from the album Fun With Knives (1999, 4:47).
Lane and Tina have both posted their impressions of the caucus session for their corner of Iowa, on Eat Your Vegetables and Kickass Sociology, respectively. Some interesting comments, especially as I’m planning on hitting the local precinct caucus for my area of Seattle in early February. Apparently it was all a lot more chaotic and a lot less inspiring than either of them had hoped for.
From Lane:
Overall, i’m not a fan of the caucus system. First problem is that it is so open to corruption and influence. Note the count totals. There were 533 people eligible to vote but the first round had just 519 votes cast. The second round, mysteriously had 535 votes. Likely just bad counting, but it’s also two more people than were eligible to vote and i saw at least 10 people head home after the first round.
[…]
I’m glad we got to experience it. After hearing so much about the Iowa caucuses, it was great to be part of one, registering people, observing, and shaking my head at this weird brand of Iowa democracy – a democracy of those who are the most organized and aggressive.
And from Tina:
The opportunity for corruption in this process is enormous. Nobody could hear what was going on, the campaign leaders are striking deals with each other, but no one knows what the deals are. The campaign leaders are in charge of counting their own constituents. The rest of the people are sitting or standing around like sheep while all of this goes on around them. If they move, perhaps to talk with someone over from another campaign, they might not get counted. It was nowhere near the robust, townhall meeting exchange of views that I was hoping for. And it took forever – over 4 hours (not counting the platform stuff that makes up the 2nd half of the caucus). I was exhausted by the end of it.
In sum, Iowa Caucus = Political Circus. I didn’t witness any advantage over a ballot-based primary, and saw lots of disadvantages. How disappointing.
Hopefully things here in Washington will be a little more organized and less exasperating than what they went through. Never having done the caucus thing before (Alaska either doesn’t have caucuses, or I wasn’t interested enough to know about them when I lived there), it’ll be an entirely new thing for me. I’ll see what I think of it all come Feb. 7th.
iTunes: “MTV Grind Vol. 1 (full mix)” by Various Artists from the album MTV Grind Vol. 1 (full mix) (1997, 55:19).
Some nights you just find the most bizarre stuff floating around on the ‘net.
Neil Gaiman had a song bouncing through his head the other day, and mentioned it on his weblog. Several people then wrote in to let him know of the location of an .mp3 of the song. After getting permission from the author, Mr. Alan Moore, Neil has quite kindly made the .mp3 officially available: The Sinister Ducks’ “March of the Sinister Ducks“.
Everyone thinks they’re such sweet little things.
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
Soft downy feathers and nice little wings.
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
But there’s a poison I’d like to administer;
You think they’re cuddly, but I think they’re sinister!
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
I’d never heard of the Sinister Ducks before, so after grabbing the song for myself (and being quite amused by it, I did a little Googling to see what I could find.
What are they doing at night in the park?
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
Think of them waddling about in the dark!
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
Sneering and whispering and stealing your cars,
Reading pornography, smoking cigars!
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
According to this English/Portuguese interview with Alan Moore, it turns out that this was a small side project of Alan, Alex Green, and David J. (of both Bauhaus and Love and Rockets) in the early 1980s, roundabout 1983.
Nasty and small: undeserving of life.
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
They’ll sneer at your hairstyle and sleep with your wife.
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
Dressed in plaid jackets and horrible shoes,
Getting divorces and turning to booze!
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
I’m now going to have this song bouncing around in my head for the indeterminate future. I urge you to download it and listen to it yourself — both for the amusement factor in the song itself, and so I’ll be happy in the knowledge that I’ve inflicted this upon other poor souls. ;)
Forcing old ladies to throw them some bread.
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
Who could deny, they’d be better off dead?
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
Look closely and you will recoil in surprise
At web-footed fascists with mad little eyes!
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
Ducks. Ducks. Quack-quack. Quack-quack.
iTunes: “March of the Sinister Ducks” by Sinister Ducks from the album Old Gangsters Never Die (1983, 2:34).