09.30.07
Posted in entertainment, technology at 4:07 pm by kevin
Two (obviously related) comments:
1) The new[-ish] Spoon album is awesome. In particular You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb and The Underdog have been on pretty much constant repeat on my playlist the past two days.
2) The Amazon MP3 store is awesome as well. As a few folks have pointed out, it might be a short-lived experiment, as either labels might balk or prices might rapidly rise. That said, while it lasts, it’s absolutely the right model - the selection is surprisingly good, the prices are reasonable, the interface is well done, and - key, to a control freak like me - no obnoxious DRM. So, follow the links above and buy the Spoon tracks - they’re worth it, and the Amazon store doesn’t insult you by locking your purchases down.
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09.21.07
Posted in politics at 10:44 pm by kevin
Mandela still alive after embarrassing Bush remark
Despite the fabulous headline, I have to - shockingly - defend El Presidente here. What he said, specifically was:
I heard somebody say, Where’s Mandela?’ Well, Mandela’s dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas,
It’s fairly obvious that Bush was referring to an archetypal figure, and not Nelson Mandela literally. He was making the - reasonably defensible - claim that Iraq doesn’t have a Mandela-like unifying figure because Saddam killed most or all of the potential aspirants. I’m not sure how the quote could be seriously interpreted as Bush claiming that Saddam actually killed Nelson Mandela. I mean, would it be clearer if Bush had said - complete with “air quotes”:
Well, “Mandela” [motion air quotes] is dead…
Or, for the hard-of-analogy:
Well, all the potential inspirational and unifying figures resembling South Africa’s still very much alive Nelson Mandela are dead…
Really, this guy says plenty of stupid shit - this is the best you could do?
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Posted in religion, entertainment, politics at 12:17 am by kevin
‘God’ responds to legislator’s lawsuit
Well played, God. But how will you handle discovery?
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09.13.07
Posted in education, entertainment, technology at 12:06 pm by kevin
6 Exciting Job Ideas for the Adventurous
This little snippet of wisdom, featured on the Yahoo front page today, is full of delicious ridiculousness. For example, did you know that “with language skills and a criminal justice degree, you can qualify for agency training that can lead to a job paying $53,000 per year”? Isn’t that awesome? Sign me up for some advanced spy training!
The list:
1. Police Detective
2. Undercover Operative
3. International Business and Trade
4. Adventure Resort Chef
5. Private Investigator
6. Emergency Medical Technician
Other highlights include the selling points for #6 (”A combination of on-the-job learning and medical training can help you earn $25,000 or more per year in this heart-pounding profession”) and #4 (”Want to wield a sharp knife under duress?”) Personally, I think the latter would be a much better lead-in for #2, but I guess that kind of thing is on the decline after the latest round of CIA reforms.
Of course, the whole thing is just a shill for craptastic “online training”, mainly emphasizing the “criminal justice” degree (note that three of the six professions are conveniently related to the field of kicking ass and - optionally - taking names). It was slightly surprising that this drivel was featured in the top spot on the front page, but I guess it shouldn’t be - after all, Yahoo sold out a long time ago.
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09.12.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:08 pm by kevin
In Surprise Move, Putin Names New Prime Minister
Russian politics is so entertaining.
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09.04.07
Posted in entertainment at 8:25 am by kevin
Rock stars more likely to die prematurely
I wonder, though, whether this holds true today - or, more interestingly, whether the risk factors are different (Tupac and Hendrix both died early, but from rather different causes).
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