Friday Fun: Geek Alert

I haven't broken out any Red Dwarf episodes in quite some time (I've been on a bit of a Buffy kick - just finished season one!), but after Randall sent me this this morning (which always sends me into fits of giggles), I realize that must be rectified, very soonly. ;)



For Red Dwarf purists, yes, I realize this is a season with limited Rimmer action, and no, it's not my favourite (that would be season five, natch).

Robert Muraine, Redux

Seriously, I could watch him all day.

Love

Links for the Day

Channel 101 - "A living, autonomous, untelevised TV network, powered not by promise of reward to the artist, but by the artist's desire to reward the audience." Thanks for the link, Kim!

This is One Example of Why the Mainstream Media Sucks Ass - And a good reason not to tune into craptastic CNN.

CouchSurfing - "CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit."

Water Footprint - "People use lots of water for drinking, cooking and washing, but even more for producing things such as food, paper, cotton clothes, etc. The water footprint of an individual, business or nation is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual, business or nation."

Ta-da List - A "to-do list" tool; they claim it's easy to use, but I haven't tried it yet.

What?

The Buzzball, A Motorized Hampster Ball For Humans

Links for the Day

Math Doesn't Suck - Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper from the Wonder Years) totally rocks. I bought the book (I was terrible at math growing up), and although I haven't gotten through the whole thing, it's very readable, and I have actually learned quite a few concepts that I didn't understand in elementary/junior high school. Yes, I'm using free time to read a math book geared towards middle school students. Shut up.

How To Throw a Block Party - Awesome. I SO want to throw one.

In Egypt, "Prostitute" Is a Slippery Term - An interesting article looking at how the word "prostitute" has different connotations in Egypt.

Discover Camping - Campground Reservation Service - Never used this service before (I am definitely not a frequent camper - my parents always say that their version of roughing it would be having to share a bathroom), but it looks like it might be good!

Links fo rthe Day

Visible Body - 3D human anatomy.

Look at My Striped Shirt - Confessions of the people you love to hate: "Damn, my pencil-thin beard is perfect. And it's not gross at all."

Sadie Magazine - Haven't totally checked it out, but I did enjoy the article Opening Up the Conversation - I hope they offer more quality content.

NIN - Nine Inch Nails are offering their new album as a free download, but MORE interesting is the fact that they also offer a Google Earth file that represents downloads of the album according to geographic region. In other words? Pretty, pretty maps.

So Funny

The Horror of "The Deep V"

"It's, like, another three inches and that's a vest, motherfucker."

Links for the Day

Ricky Gervais... Obviously. - The Ricky Gervais Show, with Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington. Absolutely hilarious. An excerpt:

For the uninitiated, the shows take the form of a freeform discussion between the three. Favourite topics would be Karl's fascination with all things supernatural, persons of unusual appearance (or "freaks" as Karl would have it), Karl's various ill-considered theories and opinions about the planet and society in general. A regular feature of the shows, "Monkey News", gives Karl the opportunity to read up a some primate-related news and then present it to Ricky and Steve - who point out the inevitable flaws.

In episode 8 of the first series, Karl dicloses that he has been keeping a diary and promises to continue to do so. Readings from the diary become a popular regular feature of the show.

HT Naturals - A company owned by my parents' next door neighbours' kid Jason and his wife Larisa - I believe it started out as Hemptown, selling items made from hemp, but it looks like they now offer items made from a variety of materials that are developed and manufactured with minimal harm to the environment.

New Eco-Nightclub Where Dancers Generate Electricity - Cool!

Crazy

Sixth Foot Found in BC Leaves Everyone Baffled and at Loss for Explanation - Another foot? Nuts.

Links for the Day

Lindsay Lohan Shoots Ad For Her New Leggings Line - first of all, do leggings really need to be designed? Secondly, built-in kneepads? Really, Lindsay?

The Arrow of Time - from the site: "On June 17th, every year, the family goes through a private ritual: we photograph ourselves to stop, for a fleeting moment, the arrow of time passing by."

Google Transit - I hate taking the loser cruiser, but trust Google to make it easier.

Upcoming - for events you may not have heard about elsewhere. I always forget about this site and marvel over it when I re-"discover" it.

Dudes Who Walk Around the World

Goliath Expedition - "14 years, 36,000 miles, 4 continents, 25 countries, crossing a frozen sea, 6 deserts, 7 mountain ranges, one continuous journey..." An excerpt:

It is possible to journey by foot from the southern most point of South America back to England and leave behind you an unbroken trail of footprints!

This site will carry full detailed history of Karl Bushby's record breaking attempt to walk around the world.

It will take over fourteen years to complete, It will cover over 36,000 Miles. It will test one man's ability to go it alone and walk around the world, in one non-stop journey. It is under way now and will provide one of the most interesting and captivating stories to be told.

Karl Bushby, a 39-year-old ex-paratrooper, is chasing that very dream to become the first person to complete an unbroken round the world walk.

He set off on 1st November 1998, he has completed over 17000 miles. With over 19000 more miles to walk, maintaining his current speed, he should return home to Hull in 2012. All the adventures, trials, tribulations and magical moments are illustrated in his personal journals. Karl has already walked through South and Central America, North America and over the Bering Straits into Russia.

World Wide Walk - an excerpt:

On August 18th, 2000, at 9:00 am, Jean Béliveau left Montreal, Canada. His goal is to walk around the planet to promote "Peace and non-violence to the profit of the children of the world". He is travelling alone with a three wheeled stroller to carry a bit of food, his clothing, a First Aid kit, a small tent and a sleeping bag. Jean plans to walk across all the continents, from North America to South America, then across to South Africa, up to Europe, then the Middle East, South and Eastern Asia, Australia, New Zealand and finally back to Canada.

This journey will take 12 years to complete which is in accordance with the United Nations proclamation: 2001-2010 - International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World

Arthur Blessitt and the Crosswalk - holy crap; this guy drags a cross. I don't feel like I can leave him out just because I may think his religious beliefs are extreme. An excerpt:

Arthur Blessitt: A world traveler, world record holder, and a follower of Jesus Christ has accomplished the following with the help of God and the love he has for all the people of the world.

-Walked around the world since Christmas Day, December 25, 1969 carrying a 12 foot cross for Jesus.
-Now 37,910 miles (60,997 k.m.).
-313 countries, Island Groups and Territories.
-Walked on all seven Continents including Antarctica.
-Been through 52 countries at war.
-Arrested or jailed 24 times (Not for Crimes)
-Listed in the Guinness World Records for the 'World's longest walk'.
-Arthur says, "I Love God, I love people, I try to keep it simple".
-Of the journey he says, "Jesus did it, I give Him all the glory".
-He has traveled constantly with his wife, Denise, since their marriage in 1990.

Walkingman - an excerpt:

Lots of people ask me why I am walking around the world. I tell them I am doing it for fun, adventure, exercise, and a cheap way to see the world. Every day I get to see the sun rise and set, meet lots of nice people, get lots of good exercise, and something unusual happens to me everyday. You never know what’s going to happen, whom you will meet, or what the weather will be like. It always reminds me of reading books like "The Hobbit", or "Walk Across America". You never know what kind of adventure you are going to have. Always nice to lay down in my tent after a full day of walking, watch the moon and stars come out, and think about what happened over the course of the day.

From xkcd: "90's Flowchart"

Inevitably, when someone says "STOP!", I either want to respond with "hammertime" or "collaborate & listen". Yes, I am a sad individual. ;)

José Greco

Links for the Day

By Any Means - Diary - I am obsessed (I mean, freaking OBSESSED) with the shows Long Way Round and Long Way Down with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. Although there's no Ewan [insert sad face here], I'm looking forward to watching By Any Means when it comes out, anyway - and in the meantime, I'm enjoying Charley's diary of his trip.

By Any Means will see Charley Boorman, star of Long Way Down, travel from Wicklow, Ireland, to Sydney, Australia. Ditching his bike, this time Charley will be using any method of transport he can get his hands on.

Wikitravel: Mongolia - Speaking of Long Way Round, I am also obsessed with Mongolia, at the moment. I really, really want to spend a month trekking around the country and then take the Trans-Mongolian railway up to Russia and then the Trans-Siberian railway through Siberia... Who am I kidding? I just want to go everywhere!


Ranting Around the World - I'm on a travel kick. I came across this blog while randomly surfing for travel information. She's been all over the place and her writing is quite entertaining!

Glacier Air Mountain Flying Adventures - Oh, I am SO doing this.

And now for something that's NOT related to travel (where is my head these days?)...

Blue Fly - "The Ultimate Hook-up for the Fashion Obsessed" - linked from Sharolyn's blog. I am now obsessed with this site.

Flying Screaming SlingShot Monkey

Well, obviously this will need to be purchased at some point: Flying Screaming SlingShot Monkey:

My Future?

I Hate Everything

Within the past two months, I have:

-purchased a pair of sandals, which created a HOLE in the bottom of my foot
-purchased a pair of cute runners, which shredded the backs of my heels
-purchased a pair of flip flops, which have proved IMPOSSIBLE to walk in and VERY uncomfortable
-purchased SEVEN different bras (with a fitting for each and every bra), ALL of which proved NOT to fit after the second wear
-purchased one bra from Diane's Lingerie (supposedly the best lingerie store in town), which the sales person referred to as "a close fit, but not quite" until she couldn't find one that fit better and just said, "well, may as well go with this one"

Seriously, I have wasted five to six hundred dollars on shoes and bras that don't fit.

This is fucking stupid. My feet are normal - usually an eight or nine, regular width, usually super easy to find comfortable shoes. And while I'm admittedly a little on the more "voluptuous" side (read: slightly chubby), my breasts aren't abnormally large, and there are enough bras and bra fitters in town that it shouldn't take eight different purchases before I find something that's "a close fit, but not quite" (especially for a bra that costs $95).

I am at the point where I don't even want to go outside. I am uncomfortable ALL the time. None of my bras fit and the only pair of shoes that don't leave me in pain are an old pair of Converse, which - let's face it - aren't necessarily appropriate to wear every single fucking day.

This shouldn't be so difficult!

Killer Vagina

Well, this looks like a must-see: Teeth.

In the Spirit of Buffy Night

From Creampuff's blog, a Buffy meme:

The Buffy episode that first got you hooked was: Graduation Day, Part Two - the mayor becomes a 60-foot snake demon and the all the students come together to defeat him? Awesome. It's this episode that won me over and got me excited to see season four.

Favourite season: Season 4 was the first I'd seen in its entirety, and contains most of my favourite episodes: Fear, Itself (Gachnar, anyone?), Beer Bad (shut up - I like it), Something Blue (spells going awry, resulting in Spuffy moments), and of course, my all-time favourite, Hush (Best! Episode! Ever!).

Least favourite season: I have to go with season one. There aren't many stand-out episodes for me (although I do like Out of Mind, Out of Sight), so I'd have to say it's definitely my least favourite.

Favourite episode(s): Season two: Halloween, season three: The Wish and Earshot, season four: Hush, season five: The Body, season six: Tabula Rasa and Villains.

Moment(s) when you said "Really? Must we?": Giles leaving (frankly, any episode without Giles is typically sub-par, in my opinion), Tara getting killed, Anya getting killed with barely a freaking reaction from ANYONE, the "potentials" arc in season seven, and anything to do with Buffy being a freaking school counselor.

When you saw the ending of Season 5 for the first time, you: thought, "can't wait to see how they bring her back!".

Best guest villain: Drusilla, hands down. Funny, sexy, and completely nuts - can you really ask for anything more?

Worst guest villain: Adam was a 'tard. Seriously lame.

Favourite song from the musical episode, Once More, With Feeling: Either Spike's Rest In Peace or Giles's Standing In the Way.

If you only had one episode to convince your Buffy-ignorant friend to fall in love with the show, you'd show them: Hush.

The question you wish I'd included in this quiz: Favourite relationship? Favourite line? Worst outfit? It's all up to you! Hmmm, how about, "How lame was Riley?" The answer: So lame, he almost made Adam look cool.

Go on. Answer the questions. ;)

Links for the Day

Black Cab Sessions - Here's a quote that sums it up nicely: "These folk send musicians adrift in an iconic London paradigm: the London black cab. The results are fleeting and beautiful and surprisingly romantic. I'm totally hooked." - Aaron - The National

JaK'ed - Kim's blog. A fun read for those interested in fitness/training - and instead of doing any exercise yourself, you can live vicariously through her pain. Plus, she's a friend, so... go read it! :)

Free Presale Passwords - Looks like an excellent resource if you want to see a concert, but don't want to bother joining the fan club to get the presale password.

Good Magazine - "Media for people who give a damn". I found it through a posting referring to this: Plants, for Your Health (a chart showing three commonly found toxins, and the plant species that mollify their effects). I haven't looked through the site in detail yet, but it looks really, really interesting.

Links for the Day

Net Pay Calculator - Handy for us Canadians, to find out what you're going to make if you're starting a new job (or getting a salary change).

Repairing the Damage, Before Roe - A sobering look at why being pro-choice is so important. An excerpt:

It is important to remember that Roe v. Wade did not mean that abortions could be performed. They have always been done, dating from ancient Greek days.

What Roe said was that ending a pregnancy could be carried out by medical personnel, in a medically accepted setting, thus conferring on women, finally, the full rights of first-class citizens — and freeing their doctors to treat them as such.

Surface Collective - Vinyl tattoos for your walls. Yeah, they SOUND tacky, but they look super cool on the website:


trendpedia - From their About page:

Search blogs — discover who’s discussing what, where, when and how. Trendpedia finds trends in social media. You choose the topics, enter the keywords, and click “Search Trend”.

Trendpedia finds the articles online that talk about your topics. Trendpedia organizes the articles in a trendline that shows the popularity of the topic over time — you can track a topic’s trendline from three months ago up to today.

Trendpedia collects posts about your topic per day. Click on the trendlines to find the articles about your topic posted on the date of choice. Watch the articles appear in the tabs below, organised according to topic and date.

Linkjockey - They call themselves "The Best Site for Cool Daily Links". I'm happy to report that I'm no cheater - I come by my "daily" links organically. And plus, who do they think they are - boingboing? Still, they DO have some cool ass links.

Stupid Crook of the Month

Usually I don't go for "stupid criminal" stories, but this really cracked me up:

Links for the Day

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading - From the About page:

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. More than 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week.

A Review of the FBI's Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq - Apparently the FBI isn't too pleased with US torture tactics. And they made it public with this report on U.S. complicity in torture, issued last week by the Justice Department's inspector general.

Knickers: A Lingerie Weblog - From their About page:

"Knickers is a fashion weblog dedicated to all things lingerie: it features new collections, coupons, designers, and of course, points out beautiful lingerie for women every day. Our aim is to find something to suit every women, from the virgin to the vixen and everyone in between."

I like them because they cater to a variety of sizes (including those in possession of a "rack of doom"), they have honest reviews, great advice, and the women who run the site seem quite cool. Also, check out their Top Five Bra-Sizing Myths (where they managed to include the highly technical term, "quadraboob effect").

Indexed - Witty index cards by Jessica Hagy. Here's one:

I Can't Wait for Saturday

Farruco: Bulerías

Awesome, awesome, awesome.


Farruco al baile, Martín Revuelo al cante, Luis Habichuela a la guitarra y Chocolate a las palmas

From Wikipedia (because copy/pasting is easier than writing):

Bulería (interchangeable with the plural, bulerías) is a fast flamenco rhythm in 12 beats with emphasis in two general forms as follows:

1 2 [3] 4 5 [6] 7 [8] 9 [10] 11 [12]
or
1 2 [3] 4 5 6 [7] [8] 9 [10] 11 [12]

When performed, the bulería usually starts on beat twelve of the compas, so the accented beat is heard first.

It originated in Jerez during the 19th century, originally as a fast, upbeat ending to soleares or alegrias (which share the same rhythm and are still often ended this way) . It is among the most popular and dramatic of the flamenco forms and often ends any flamenco gathering.

The name bulerías comes from the Spanish word burlar, meaning "to mock" or bullería, "racket, shouting, din". It is the style which permits the greatest freedom for improvisation, the metre playing a crucial role in this. Speed and agility are required and total control of rhythm as well as strength in the feet which are used in intricate tapping with toe, heel and the ball of the foot.

Links for the Day

10 Clever Architectural Creations Using Cargo Containers: Shipping Container Homes and Offices - I always like seeing different concepts like this. Apparently, Odessa, Ukraine has the largest mall in Europe, which was created using stacked containers to form alleys. Pretty neat.

How To Call Abroad - For dummies like me. :)

Top Ten Angry On-Camera Meltdowns - I do enjoy watching people lose it.

Compassion Club Job Posting - Wanna sell weed for a living, semi-legally?

Scientific American - I particularly like their Mind and Brain section - there are some absolutely fascinating articles.

Joaquín Cortés

We'll start with one of his standard, amazing performances, and then move to what I like to refer to as, "holy motherfucking fuck".

U-Min

Too cool.

Links for the Day

Writing Frump - "Frumping, commiserating, swapping war stories and other writerly pursuits" - an enjoyable read, especially if you're a freelancer. Her writing is engaging, funny, and tells stories of the sorts of clients many of us have had the misfortune to experience.

Give Meaning - From their About page:

GiveMeaning.com hosts fundraising pages on behalf of charities, non-profits and grassroots projects. Founded in 2004, GiveMeaning has provided free online fundraising pages to over 1200 different initiatives around the world.

From grass-roots international development projects to online fundraising pages for walks, swims and rides, you can create your own fundraising page at GiveMeaning.com to fundraise for most any benevolent purpose.

Ten Weird Outfits for Babies - According to the site, "babies are precious, treasured angels that should be treated with the utmost care, love, and respect." I disagree, for I enjoy seeing small tots dressed as random food items:


Plus, Poop Head Baby cracks my shit up:


Delicious Monster - "From your shelf to your screen" - I can't wait to try this!

Wait, I just hold a CD or DVD or video game or book or whatever up to my webcam, and it magically reads the UPC and downloads that item’s cover and all pertinent information about it, and displays all my stuff on photorealistic shelves?

Little Girls Gone Wild - A very interesting interview with Gigi Durham, who wrote The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It. It's quite an interesting interview; here's an excerpt:

Then, there's this insistence that younger and younger girls are sexual. There's this huge emphasis on linking youth with sexuality. People mature sexually throughout their lives, and there is a lot of scientific evidence that women who are past menopause really enjoy sex. Children who are 12, 13 years old are not in a position to understand or cope with their sexuality very well. Linking sex to youthfulness is really dangerous.

Girls are always supposed to be changing their bodies and dressing up in order to attract male attention. There is not much emphasis on girls enjoying their own bodies, or even any reciprocity where boys might be thinking about what they could do to please girls. It's not very mutual.

Yeah, I'm on a YouTube Kick

Gorgeous:



I like to support Nelly since she's from Victoria and I had a few classes with her in junior high. I think she's really developed her voice and music over the years.

And K'naan? So, so talented - what a lyricist. I can't stop listening to his first album, The Dusty Food Philosopher (I know, I know, it was released like, three years ago - I'm so out of the loop).

John McCain on Ellen

Ellen was so honest and eloquent - great job.

Robert Muraine

Awesome.

I Don't Care if You Mock Me

I can't wait for new 90210. :P



Although, can it really compare to "DONNA MARTIN GRADUATES!"?

Links for the Day

Simple Stitch-It: A DIY Shoe - Ugly as sin, but they look fun to make. I effing love the old school sneaker - I've gone through a couple of pairs and they're consistently the best sneakers I've ever tried, in terms of sturdiness, low-key style, and comfort.

Beyond Masculinity: Essays by Queer Men on Gender and Politics - I actually downloaded the essays into iTunes, and I haven't quite made it through half yet, but I'm looking forward to hearing the rest. There are some great points made about gender stereotyping, there's some really funny and witty writing, and although the odd essay is a little heavy-handed, they are definitely worth going through. A very worthwhile anthology.

(Not) Keeping Up with Our Parents: Just Being Middle Class Is Becoming out of Reach - An interesting article talking about how we're now relying on two incomes to support a lifestyle that used to require one.

Why Zappos Pays New Employees to Quit—And You Should Too - A fun piece that employers should definitely pay attention to!

Operation Clambake - I don't know if I've posted this before or not... I am fascinated with the cult of $cientology. This site holds a fricking plethora of information. Most of the shit they do is downright scary. I can easily spend hours on this site.

Target: Women

Why am I holding all this yogurt? Because I'm a woman! And yogurt is the official food of women.

Links for the Day

Ball Pit - I want one. Seriously. Perhaps the stoner room could be revamped into a ball room? ;) Although that wouldn't give anyone a lot of room. And there's always a distinct possibility of touching "something gross" in those ball rooms.

If I Didn't See It With My Own Eyes... - Crissy Thompson may be the queen of coupons. It's seriously amazing how much you can save when you play the game. An excerpt:

We get to the check out. Crissy does five transactions. She places a few items on the counter and says "This is my first transaction."

This is perfectly okay by the way.

We not only talked to the manager of the store about it, we talked to corporate headquarters in Rhode Island.

Her first total is $1.05. "It would have been $14. I paid $1.05 and I just got money back, Extra Care Bucks."

Then she places the next items on the counter and this time uses the extra care bucks to pay. "It would have been about $25. I just paid $1.61."

This is the way it goes for five transactions. At the end, Crissy has a bag full of household items ranging from toothbrushes to Tums. Her total would have been $140.00. I ask "How much did you pay?" Her answer, "Under five dollars."

The Cool-List - Cooool stuff. I particularly love the Notebook Portable Grill:



The Rise of Body Snarking - An interesting article based a resolution aimed at changing the way young women talk about one another. An excerpt:

Jezebel's Ms. Holmes, who has worked at InStyle, says that 10 years ago people would have looked at you weird if you used such now-common and harshly descriptive words and phrases as "pooch," "muffin top," "fugly," "cankles" (fat ankles and calves that lack definition) and "whale tail." Also, she notes: "In the '90s, magazines weren't really publishing unflattering photos. Today we have been trained to look for the potentially mockable thing, whether it's of a celebrity or of someone we know."

Puzzle Alarm Clock - I'm pretty sure I need this:

Insanity

Links for the Day

Alternet - My favourite news source and a nice change from, as they put it, the "right-wing media machine". From their About page: "AlterNet's aim is to inspire citizen action and advocacy on the environment, human rights and civil liberties, social justice, media, and health care issues."

Urban Mixer - Events in Vancouver (I believe this site also caters to Calgary). I've actually been having some issues connecting to it, but it does seem very comprehensive when it comes to littler-known events, which could be quite beneficial. Plus, their About section includes the line, "Tired of sitting at home, scratching your pits and watching your old Buffy tapes?" You really can't go wrong with a Buffy reference.

Savage Love - Although I don't always agree with Dan Savage, I adore his column. Blunt and funny, it usually entertains.

Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture - Always an interesting and intelligent read. Again, I don't always agree with everything on the site, but at the very least, a lot of the material is thought-provoking.

Stop C-51 - I don't even want to get into this. Just read it and join me in my rage. ;)

David Sedaris

Love him. Saw him at a reading back in 2006. So awesome.



For more, from NPR (audio): LINK