Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Law: Sexual Harassment

The "Friends" sexual harassment deposition. Prurient, badly written and laughable.

Saturday, April 24, 2004

Lookalikes: Zapatero

I wanted to show how much Spain's new Prime Minster, Senor Zapatero, looks like Mr. Bean, but someone beat me to it. (By the way, Google Images returns an unusual picture on the first page of results for Zapatero.) (According to Babel Fish, "Zapatera" means "Shoemaker's Wife".)

Internet: JPEG

Lawsuit threatens JPEG use - does this mean an end to pictures like this on the internet?

Friday, April 23, 2004

Internet: Gender Genie

The Gender Genie will analyze input text to predict if the author is male or female. It got Emily Bronte wrong but Tom Clancy right.

Poem: Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci
Was not in "Death To Smoochy".
Nor was she in "Gigli".
But she was in "Vita Coi Figli".

Thursday, April 22, 2004

It's okay to use "they" as a singular pronoun instead of "he" (Oooh! Sexist!) or "he/she" (Oooh! Politically Correct!).

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Sign up for the Small World Project at Columbia University.

Mathematics: 6 Degrees

Discussion of the "Six Degrees" theory with lots of interesting links. (Don't miss the part about Winnie from "The Wonder Years".)

Sunday, April 18, 2004

Jim adds, with reference to smoking ban in Ireland: "Lot of controversy now due to farts being more detectable without the cig smoke or matches." But that may just be a Gorey thing.
I was wondering how lighting a match can alleviate bathroom odours. This seems to be a contentious issue. Here's a scientific discussion of the topic. My personal opinion: the acrid smoke after the match is extinguished masks the smell.
Dougal recommends "Sentimental Journey" by Nils Landgren. Landgren also has a "Funk Unit" - try their version of "Riders On The Storm".
Dara recommends Essex group Keane. Don't think they're named after Roy.

Friday, April 16, 2004

Harry thinks this tyre-slasher looks like me, and I can't deny it. On the other hand, I don't have as many look-alikes as Harry.

Thursday, April 15, 2004

The Simpsons: Marge v Paris Hilton

April's issue of MAXIM offers two covers: a saucy Paris Hilton or a scrubbing (but still pretty hot) Marge Simpson.

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Rebecca Romijn
is single agijn.
She pissed off John Stamos
when she became more famos.

Monday, April 12, 2004

The Simpsons: Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkey

Discussion with Eric this evening - who coined the term "cheese-eating surrender monkey" ? To our eternal shame, neither of us knew it was from "The Simpsons". This page has an audio clip of Groundskeeper Willie saying it.


Eric wants to know who coined the phrase, "to coin a phrase" ? This site says it first appeared in print around 1940.
Puzzled by hip-hop slang? Look it up at UrbanDictionary.com. (There's a heated discussion of "milkshake".)

Sunday, April 11, 2004

Dakota Fanning
Was the result of poor family planning.

Saturday, April 10, 2004

Internet: Amazon

I'm very disappointed with Amazon's search engine. Try this query for song title "rodeo clowns". You'll have to go to the 5th page before you find the song "Rodeo Clowns" by G. Love & Special Sauce or by Jack Johnson. The first four pages have songs that include the words "rodeo" and "clown" (singular).

Thursday, April 08, 2004

Why is the Miller High Life voice-over guy doing commercials for CompUSA?

Music: "Morning Becomes Eclectic"

KCRW Music: Morning Becomes Eclectic - try the Thrills (currently at the bottom of the page).

Wednesday, April 07, 2004

TV: "Late Night With David Letterman"

If you're ever watching Letterman and he makes an in-joke for the studio audience's benefit, check out the Wahoo Gazette the following day.

Monday, April 05, 2004

Celebrities: David Beckham

The Daily Telegraph has an innocent explanation for Beckham's text messages.

Peeves: "Official" Products

I declare this blog open. Latest peeve: products that term themselves the "Official" product of something that couldn't possibly have an official product. Like "The official beer of Saturday night". Or "The official jeans of fat people". Or "The official blog of lemur trouser sandcastle".