FBiPod?

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Who knew the government was this in tune with today’s marketplace?

The government funded research in microdrive storage, electrochemistry and signal compression. They did so for one reason: It turned out that those were the key ingredients for the development of the iPod.

— Pres. George W. Bush, during a speech at Tuskegee University

(via The Cult of Mac and Engadget)

Birthday Wishes

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I’ll be turning 33 in just a couple of weeks, on May 3rd. This year I only really had one thing on my birthday wish list, and that’s already arrived, thanks to my wonderful girl (doubly wonderful, as she’d already spoiled me once!). I’ve even received another early birthday present from Royce, in the form of another year’s membership to Flickr (keeping me at the ‘pro’ level until November of ’07)!

I am incredibly spoiled.

However, I have had the occasional “so, what do you want for your birthday?” inquiry. At this point, I’m pretty much set, so kind wishes will do me just fine. But…if someone’s determined to spend a little money on me (okay, not terribly likely, but you never know), books and music are always appreciated. I’ve got a bunch of each saved in my Amazon Wish List, but there are three CDs that I’d like to call special attention to.

Back in March of 2003, I stumbled across a series of discs from Sony called the ‘Soundtrack for a Century‘, celebrating 100 years of music recordings and releases from the Sony family of record labels. Over time I’ve collected eight out of the eleven pieces of the series, and any (or all) of these last three would be greatly appreciated:

Other than that…(shrug)…as I said, I’m not too greedy. Well-wishes and kind words will work just fine.

iTunes “Atom Bomb” by Fluke from the album Risotto (1997, 5:45).

50 Best Book-to-Film Adaptations

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Another “X greatest Y” list has appeared. This, of course, means it’s meme-time!

Working from the Guardian’s list of the 50 best book-to-film adaptations (discussion as to what films should or should not be on this list is in progress over at kottke.org), I’m tagging each line with a B if I’ve read the book, and an M if I’ve seen the movie.

And with that, we’re off…

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Me and My Shadow: The story of Jason Mewes

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I’ve been watching the pieces of this show up bit by bit (kindly assisted by watching Mike’s del.icio.us feed), and since the last section went live today, here’s a list of links to all the pieces so I can read straight through, beginning to end.

Since the gossip sites have seen fit to print only the portion of the Jason Mewes story I told at UPenn (that portion being what said sites seem to feel is the only interesting aspect of Mewes’ life), I figured why not put the whole tale of Jason’s battle with drug addiction into print here, where folks can get a better idea of who Jason truly is and maybe why he fell victim to heroin abuse in the first place.

[..] At the least, it’s a more comprehensive profile at a guy who’s accomplished a lot more than celebrity bathroom sex; at the most, it’s an ode to a very unlikely hero of mine and a man I love (in a decidedly hetero way).

  1. Me and My Shadow, Pt. 1
  2. Me and My Shadow, Pt. 2
  3. Me and My Shadow, Pt. 3
  4. Me and My Shadow, Pt. 4
  5. Me and My Shadow, Pt. 5
  6. Me and My Shadow, Pt. 6
  7. Me and My Shadow, Pt. 7
  8. Me and My Shadow, Pt. 8
  9. Me and My Shadow, Pt. 9

iTunes “Rise Up (Future)” by Commodores, The from the album In to the Mix Vol. IV: The Classics Remixed (2000, 3:50).

Back in 1973…

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This is fun: THE movie timeline.

So here’s the pitch: The Movie Timeline is the history of everything, taken from one simple premise: that everything you see in the movies is true – the real mixes with the fictitious, so long as it’s reported in a movie somewhere…

In 1973, the year I was born:

  • January 1: 12:01am – The Poseidon, a luxury liner on its last voyage from Athens to New York, is struck by a 90ft tidal wave and capsizes (The Poseidon Adventure, 1972)
  • Bobby Darin dies (Beyond The Sea)
  • New York – William Miller and Penny Lane go on tour with Stillwater (Almost Famous)
  • Las Vegas – Sam “Ace” Rothstein begins running a casino (Casino)
  • The Ice Storm
  • The Long Goodbye
  • Astronauts travel 3000 years into the future and bring back talking apes, who are killed by the police and the investigation files sealed (Planet of the Apes)
  • March 15: George McFly wins a writing award, or is killed, depending on the timeline (Back To The Future Part II)
  • June: Mossad debriefs a killer it may or may not have hired (Munich)

And in 1976, the year both Prairie and my brother Kevin were born:

  • January 4: Rocky Balboa shocks the boxing world by lasting 15 rounds with heavyweight champ Apollo Creed – though Creed wins (Rocky)
  • King Kong is again discovered on Skull Island and let loose – again – on New York City (King Kong, 1976)
  • Atlanta, Georgia – Bo “Bandit” Darvill and Cledus “Snowman” Snow bring 400 cases of Coors beer 1800 miles from Texarkana to Atlanta in less than 28 hours, winning $80,000 (Smokey and the Bandit)
  • Israeli officer Avner is debriefed by Mossad (Munich)
  • Rocky Balboa marries Adrian and they have s son, Robert “Rocky” Jr (Rocky II)
  • Summer – Dazed and Confused
  • July 4: Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation, Idaho – Arnold Joseph saves infant Thomas Builds-The-Fire from a burning house (Smoke Signals)
  • July 8: Hannibal Lecter savages a nurse during a medical examination (Red Dragon)
  • September 8: Howard The Duck arrives on Earth (Howard The Duck)
  • November 25: Philadelphia – Rocky Balboa knocks out Apollo Creed in the 15th round in their rematch (Rocky II)
  • November 26: The Band perform their last concert together (The Last Waltz)

Who knew things were so eventful back then?

iTunes “Stay” by Shakespear’s Sister from the album Hormonally Yours (1991, 3:48).