Top Secret! (The Movie)

The world was a beautiful place in 1984. I was learning how to drive, David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen were still friends, and Val Kilmer's first feature film was released. Read more trivia about my all-time favorite, funny movie "Top Secret" by following the link:

- The waiter who asks if Nick is ready to order, ostensibly in German, is actually using the Yiddish curse "go take a s**t in the ocean".

- In the restaurant scene, when Hillary places an order with the waiter in apparent German, she's actually speaking in Yiddish. A rough translation of her line is, "Go bash your head in."

- The scene where Hillary and Nick go into the Swedish bookstore was staged, shot and then run backwards to make the dialog sound "unique." If you record the scene and play it backwards, you will find all of the dialogue to be exactly what is shown in the subtitles except for the title of the book Hillary asks for. The title she actually asks for is "Europe On 5 Quaaludes A Day."

- The Swedish Bookstore scene has no cuts and lasts for 88 seconds. Amusingly, like the scene, 88 makes sense forwards AND backwards.

Link

Via TM

Previous Banner Quote

"I always cry at weddings, especially my own." - Humphrey Bogart

Fast Secretary (Slow day)

Fast Secratery - More bloopers are a click away

Love Hate NYC

This website by artist Rachel Fujita is a little difficult to figure out at first, but once you "enter" and view the (360 degree) panoramas of NYC you will be impressed:

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Bank Marketing

Humorous Japanese commercial featuring a parody of bumbling Ninjas and Kung Fu satire:

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Thanks Yawen

Buick Hates America

The Buick Corporation is introducing an environmentally-aware, hybrid car for 2008, but only in China:

Chris Gubbey, executive vice president of SGM, the joint venture that builds and markets Buicks, in China, says there's no plan to market the hybrid in the U.S.

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Tags: Suffering, from, oil, addiction, cool

Urban Planning

Click on the pic for full size.

But do they have health insurance?

These are the total campaign bank funds for the Presidential candidates through the first quarter of this year. I wonder how much of this money is their own?

Hillary Clinton: $26 million
Barack Obama: $25 million
Mitt Romney: $23 million
Rudy Giuliani: $15 million
John Edwards: $14 million
John McCain: $12.5 million
Bill Richardson: $6 million

These jackasses have managed to raise over $125 million (altogether), yet I am still paying off a $1,000.00 spider bite from last year...

Welcome to America, BRING MONEY!

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Photos of Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

To see more pics of China's "newest" city click the link below:

Shenzhen is a centre of foreign investment and since the late 1970s has been one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It is also the busiest port in China. In the past two decades, outsiders have invested more than $30 billion in Shenzhen for building factories and forming joint ventures.

For a complete overview and history of the city go here.

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Thanks Yawen

Magazine About Blogging

Okay, maybe this doesn't excite you as much as it excites me:

Printed on actual paper and delivered to your door by a guy (or gal) carrying a mail sack . But it's also available in electronic form: Blogger & Podcaster.

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Via J

Fish Fillet

UPDATE: This video received 35 hits (and two comments) the minute I put it up. People are complaining that it is cruel to the fish. We eat fish all the time, I don't understand why this would be upsetting?

The fish doesn't seem to be too bothered by the hunks of sushi missing from his flanks. Animal rights activists are going to have a field day with this one (caution-not for fish lovers):

Fish Fillet - Watch the best video clips here
Link to YouTube version

Thanks Yawen

100 Places To See Before You Die

Normally I disagree with subjective things, but this is a nice (reference) collection of architectural photos from around the world:

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Via Ursi

The Tallest Statues in the World

Eight pics of the highest statues on planet Earth. I like the sculpture, "Native Land-Mother," in Volgograd (#6) although I'm not sure if that is its real name?

Link

Via UD

10 Most Commonly Used Online Passwords

Are one of these passwords yours?

1. password
2. 123456
3. qwerty
4. abc123
5. letmein
6. monkey
7. myspace1
8. password1
9. blink182
10. (your first name)

Chicago Tribune

Via NM

Naked In Newcastle

Artist Spencer Tunick takes nude modelling to new extremes. This guy is an expert at getting large groups of people to disrobe in public so view at your own risk:

It was on July 17 last year that 1,700 Tynesiders rose at 3am, stripped naked and allowed themselves to be bossed around by an American artist with a megaphone. As a knife-sharp wind whipped round their unmentionables and a chilly dawn broke, Spencer Tunick cajoled, encouraged and jested with his hardy volunteers, persuading them to pose snakelike along the Tyne, then rivuleting through the Newcastle streets like a fleshy pink stream, then scattered on the slopes below Norman Foster's imposing Sage concert hall, across the river in Gateshead.

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The Nation’s Largest 100 Landowners

A long list of greedy Americans and how much property they own:

1. Ted Turner: 2 million acres -
Why on earth would one man own 20 properties in 10 states, a swath of America so large that it not only dwarfs Rhode Island, but also exceeds both Rhode Island and Delaware combined? The answer is astonishingly simple. Because he’s Ted Turner.

23. Jeff Bezos: 290,000 acres -
Amazon.com founder Bezos, 43, is a regular on the Forbes 400. His $3.6 billion fortune (Forbes’s 2006 estimate) enables him to fund a space flight company called Blue Origin. The company tested its first developmental vehicle in November 2006. The launch site? One of several West Texas ranches Bezos has acquired for takeoff and landing.

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Via NM

Floors Made of Glass

Would you stand on the railing or on the glass pane?

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Via UD

Futuristic Architecture

Coolhunter has a great collection of the most amazing modern and futuristic buildings, bridges, and piers (with explanations):

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Via LAT

Universal Sign for Gasoline

Via B&P

Top Ten Green Buildings

More architecture that works in harmony with the environment. In honor of Earth Day:

The selected projects address significant environmental challenges with designs that thoughtfully weave architecture, technology, and natural systems. This year's COTE Top Ten include a model single-family home, sustainable master plan and library, two nonprofit headquarters, a school, and a water treatment facility that doubles as a park. In addition, public education of sustainable practices was a key component of most projects.

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Tags: architecture, home, efficient, designs, cool

Doctors Smoke Camels

Eight classic full-page advertisements for "Camel" cigarrettes back in the day when ciggies were cool:

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Via CR

Thin Buildings

Japan is known for its limited space. Enjoy these (six) pics of some really thin buildings:

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Via UD

Benny Hill's World of Sport

YouTube - Benny Hill - El Comisario (The Deputy ) Sheriff

YouTube - Benny Hill: The Life of Maurice Dribble

YouTube - Benny Hill - Joggers

YouTube - Benny Hill - Ladrones (Thieves)

YouTube - Benny Hill - Hospital

YouTube - Benny Hill - Disco Tonight

YouTube - Benny's World of Sport

YouTube - Benny Hill - Cookie Boy

Via LAT

Tags: because, laughter, is, good, cool

Japanese Zen Gardens

Relaxing photo gallery of Japanese Rock Gardens in Kyoto:

Flowers, an inherent component of western gardens, are considered distracting elements and are almost absent in Buddhist gardens - all because of their fugacious beauty. Like Japanese ink painters, who gave up colors to achieve monochromatic simplification, rock garden designers renounced varicolored flowerbeds in favor of stone. The exception proving the rule, however, is the flower of Buddhism - lotus.

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Via Eso

Universal Leonardo

Fun, interactive website about all things Leonardo Di Vinci:

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Via Ursi

Chinese National Stadium

This amazing collection of the stadium architecture for the 2008 Olympics is an example of urban planning at it's finest:

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Tags: architecture, Beijing, efficient, designs, cool

Previous Banner Quote

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over, and over, and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” - Michael Jordan

Going Somewhere?

Ten pics of "Hottie Flight Attendants" from around the world:

Link

Thanks Yawen

Tags: fly, the, friendly, skies, cool

America's Architecture

There are several Houston buildings on this (arguable) list of 150 famous architectural structures. Go to the link below and then click "Launch in This Window." Use the green bar at the top of the page to navigate to the right (It may take a few seconds to load but it's well worth it).

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Via NM

Aluminum and Glass

An ingenious way of adding on to existing spaces:

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Link to Japanese website with soothing music and pics.

Go Fly A Kite

A husband in his back yard is trying to fly a kite. He throws the kite up in the air, the wind catches it for a few seconds, then it comes crashing back down to earth. He tries this a few more times with no success.

All the while, his wife is watching from the kitchen window, muttering to herself how men need to be told how to do everything. She opens the window and yells to her husband, "You need a piece of tail."

The man turns with a confused look on his face and says, "Make up your mind. Last night you told me to go fly a kite."

Via B&P

Fascist America, in 10 Easy Steps

If history repeats itself then this is the guide (pattern) that the current administration is following:

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2. Create a gulag
3. Develop a thug caste
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
5. Harass citizens’ groups
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7. Target key individuals
8. Control the press
9. Dissent equals treason
10. Suspend the rule of law

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Via DI

The Pad

The iPad is a building in Dubai that will be shaped as an iPod (whatever that is?):

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Prison Tattoos and Their Meanings

Cynical C posted an absurd list of the meaning of prison tattoos from Wikipedia. I couldn’t tell if it was serious or not so I invented a few of my own:

Eyes - Various meanings: If the eyes are tattooed in the lower groin/hip high area (thus creating a 'face' when his trousers are dropped - with the penis becoming the nose) someone with that tattoo is known as 'the funniest guy in Cell Block C' or 'a laugh riot'.

Panda Bears - These rare tattoos are usually worn by gang members who enjoy eating bamboo and sleeping in trees.

Stars - Stars commonly represent time served; a Jim Carrey tattoo means you will be forgotten very soon, whereas a Sylvester Stallone tattoo will symbolize your life imprisonment without parole.

Sailing Ship - This means that the wearer is willing come along with an escape plan. Anyone planning an escape will know to stay the fuck away from the guy with the ship because the guards are watching his ass!

Madonna - Wearer regrets getting impulsive tattoo from their early days.

Link to more funny, "Prison Tattoos and Their Meanings," at my other weblog...

Solar Sky Scraper

Yet another example that the world is focusing on the environment. Blokes in the UK clad this building with solar panels instead of replacing the glass panes. This is not the answer to all the global issues but at least it's a step in the right direction:

They're just as pretty as any facade, and produce hundreds of kilowatts of power for use in the building. In concert with 24 roof-mounted wind turbines, 10% of the CIS tower in Manchester will be powered by building-bound renewable energy. While that might not seem like much, it is a very big building.

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Tags: think, global, act, local, cool

The Secret - The Movie

Click the link below to find out everything you ever wanted to know about The Secret, The Laws of Attraction, and the power of positive thinking (scroll down to view the 1hr and 38min movie about, "The Secret"):

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Via Eso

Tags: do, you, believe, now, cool

Beijing Olympic Tower

An example of modern Chinese Architecture where the athletes will be housed for the 2008 Olympics:

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Eternally Under Water

This might be a thoughtful way for loved ones to pay tribute to a friend or relative:

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Via 12

Coffee Art

"A cup of Joe" never looked so appealing:

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Via DIGG

Previous Banner Quote

“I was the kid next door’s imaginary friend.” - Emo Philips

Ring Illusion

The Impossible Ring By HOAX - The top video clips of the week are here

The Day Before

Four compelling photos the day before their world changed:

There are four executions. This one in reference to 9/11, another (beautifully shot) for Hiroshima 1945, the JFK assassination, and the '76 Soweto riots.

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Via TDI

Funny Mantis

His name is Ned and he's the happiest insect in the world (pic):

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Via Digg

Guerilla Marketing

Scroll down to see all the pics. Don't forget about the additional pages:

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Yummy Artwork

Cake makes a tasty interpretation of Van Gogh's Starry Night:

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Via GAB

Danger Baby

Via UD

Tags: danger, is, middle, name, cool

Funny but True

There will only be 49 contestants in the Miss Black America contest this year.

No one wants to wear the sash that says, “IDAHO”.

Via BP

Tags: we'll, miss, Don, Imus, cool

Google Doodles

Cool artwork from the guy that designs the Google logo:

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Via NM

Dubai Pics and Propaganda

More great pictures of Dubai and the (soon to be) tallest building in the world. The first part is a bit like propaganda but if you keep scrolling down the pics get better. And don't forget the second page:

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Giant Screw Approved

The city of Chicago approved construction of Santiago Calitrava's screw-shaped building. What a perfect symbol for a fitting city (I lived there for almost two years). The project will be designed by an Italian company and developed by a Dublin company. I guess American's are too busy investing in Dubai:

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Interesting Tips for Increasing Gas Mileage

Double Your Gas Mileage 2X - The best home videos are here
Via UD

A Long Drawn-out Image

Scroll to the right to see the whole damn image:

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Via Ursi

Weird Fetish

I don't know if this is real or not but it is slightly disturbing (so if you have a weak stomach don't look). This chick loves her Mac, but she needs psychological help:

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The Dancing Buildings of Dubai

My friend here in Houston is originally from Qatar (Saudi Arabia) and he says we should move to Dubai because the jobs are plentiful. My friend doesn't know that I'm allergic to work (it makes me depressed):

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The Amazing Cuckoo

Crack Map

Definitely not what you think it is. An absolutely hideous, yet oddly compelling, survey of the location of cracks on the facade of the Guggenheim Museum in NYC:

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Via K

Sidewalk Soliloquy

These warm and colorful paintings by J. Ivcevich look very similar to my collection of Newsstand photographs:

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Link to my Colorful Newsstands.

About the French

I always liked "Terrible Ted" because he wasn't afraid to speak his mind:

Rock star and avid bow hunter, Ted Nugent, was being interviewed by a French journalist, and when the discussion touched on deer hunting the journalist asked, "What do you think is the last thought in the head of a deer before you shoot him? Is it, 'Are you my friend?' or is it, 'Are you the one who killed my brother?''"

Nugent paused for a moment and then replied, "Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they care about is, 'What am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away?'"

"They are very much like the French," He concluded.

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Via TM

New Mexico: Taking Care of You

Tongue-in-cheek advertising spot about New Mexico:

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Make Your Own Vino

This is the most excellent idea for wine enthusiasts or people who want to make their own label:

Crushpad provides grapes from California's top vineyards, an industry-acclaimed winemaking team and a state-of-the-art winery 100% focused on small lots. You choose your level of involvement and we do the rest. No matter where you live, you can now create your own "cult" wine.

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Via K

Green Building: The ACROS Fukuoka

While the New America is concerned with war and death, other countries are focusing on renewable resources and environmentally friendly roofs:

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Tags: new, america, fascist, playground, cool

Armed America

A beautiful photo collection of citizens bearing their Second Amendment rights:

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Via K

Painted Bodies by Kim Joon

Amazing pics of painted, nude models:

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Via UD

Strangest Music Videos Of All Time

You will like this (reference) collection of the oddest YouTube music videos:

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Via GAB

Previous Banner Quote

"Who are you going to believe me–or your lying eyes?" - Richard Pryor

Travel Tokyo and Japan in Pictures

Another amazingly organized collection of pics from Japan:

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Via Ursi

So Many Frustrations

I just have to get this off my chest:

When did America become a nation of frightened wimps?

Allowing Partisan Politics To Define America

Bush asks Congress to loosen surveillance rules

The death of habeas corpus

White House proposes retroactive war crimes protection

Wolfowitz’s Apology: Don’t Hate Me Because I Helped Launch The Iraq War

Corporate Media Focuses On Wolfowitz’s Girlfriend, Not his World-Class War Crimes

President's Radio Address

Bush Calls for 'Culture of Life'

Bush Fear-Mongering Reaches Fevered Pitch In Iraq Speech

Bush rejects any Iraq pull-out deadline

Bolton: We have no interest in Iraq’s well-being

The nightmare Bush dreads most

Kurt Vonnegut’s life:FOX NEWS Style

Thank you for letting me vent. Your comments or emails will be most appreciated.

Tags: it's, called, political, science, cool

Thanks to J-Walk & Digg

How To Create PDF Files

Tutorial - Howto: !! Using PDF Creator! - The funniest videos clips are here

A Collection of Bridges

Pictures of the most beautiful bridges in the world:

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Via Digg

Process of Japanese Makeup

Six easy steps to becoming a Geisha:

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Via MF

Funny Documentary About Chinese Stereotype

Via C

Hubble Telescope - 15 Years of Discovery (2005)

Via Ursi

Food Costumes

I'm putting this link here so that if I ever get a job I can come back and buy a giant hot-dog costume:

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Via UD

Rules for Writing

I am the only Blogger in the world that did not report the passing of Kurt Vonegut. To be honest I was never influenced by him or his works while he was alive. The only exposure I had to KV growing up was his cameo appearance on that Rodney Dangerfield movie "Easy Money."

These are his nine tips for writing short stories:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.*

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

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Via Boing

Nudist Colony

A man moves into a nudist colony. He receives a letter from his grandmother asking him to send her a current photo of himself in his new location. Too embarrassed to let her know that he lives in a nudist colony, he cuts a photo in half and mails it.

The next day he discovers that he had accidentally sent the bottom half of the photo. He's really worried but then remembers how bad his grandmother's eyesight is & hopes she won't notice.

A few weeks later, he receives a letter from his Grandmother. It says:"Thank you for the picture. Change your hairstyle. . .. it makes your nose look too short."

Love, Grandma

Travel Pics of Japan

Chris Wilson's photography and writings from all over the nation and it's surrounding islands:

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Via Ursi

Lee Iacocca for President!

Lee Iacocca saved the Chrysler Corporation and it's about time to do the same thing to the U.S. This article about his new book exposes a lame president and discusses what it takes to be a leader. Will someone please purchase a copy of this book and let me borrow it? I can't afford it because I'm still paying off a $1,000.00 spider bite from last year (and I went to the cheap doctor):

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?

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Tags: please, save, this, country, cool

Grow Your Own Salad

Attention cubicle dwellers:

Get Earthy in your office! Bring the great outdoors in with this zen-like Miniature Garden. Sprout the seeds of this easy-to-grow garden in just three days.

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Via AT

"Uh, Houston we've had a problem..."

The famous (chillingly calm) words spoken by Flight Commander Jim Lovell thirty-seven years ago today. The recording sounds remarkably clear:

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Via NM

Behind Every Good Man...

I had heard about this somewhere before but didn't know if it was true:

Famous works attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach were not penned by the great composer but by his second wife, researchers believe. A study by an academic who has spent more than 30 years looking at Bach's work claims that Anna Magdalena Bach, traditionally believed to be Bach's musical copyist, actually wrote some of his best-loved works, including his Six Cello Suites.

Prof Jarvis believes that Anna Magdalena also had a hand in composing the aria from the Goldberg Variations, and said it was highly likely that she composed the first prelude of the Well-tempered Klavier Book I.

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Yoga Marketing

I don't think this is real, but if it is, it's a pretty good idea...

This would also work for Chiropractors!

Via BFB

Air Sex

Only the Japanese could come up with "Air Sex." It's much funnier than what you think it is:

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Michael’s Museum

The amazing museum of cool and unusual things:

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Via

Who Killed JFK?

Proof that true conspiracy theories never die:

E. Howard Hunt, the country's most notorious spook who later served time for his role as one of the plumbers in the bungled burglary that later toppled Richard Nixon, gave a near-deathbed confession to his long-estranged son, naming then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and a handful of CIA spooks as the cabal behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy, according to a story in Rolling Stone.

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Via Digg

Clubhouse in the Sky

I liked the pics in this arrogant New York Times article about how treehouses are not just for kids anymore (I'd like to slap the shit out of Mr. Nelson):

“It’s accepted now that adults can have treehouses,” said Mr. Nelson, “Of course we can have treehouses; we’re baby boomers, and we can have whatever we want, and we can have it now, and we have a lot of money.”

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$99,000.00 House

Using shipping containers, Adam Kalkin creates the guts of his tall, square, open and very utilitarian dwelling -- the $99,000 house.

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Homemade Sailboats

It's almost summer time again, time to start dreaming about making a boat and sailing away:

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Via MC

Ouch!

Read this article (with gruesome pics) at your own peril:

The male crocodile severed Chang Po-yu's forearm at the Shaoshan Zoo in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung.

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Via UD

Google is Everywhere

Amazing and concise article about the presence of Google:

We are not talking about a better search engine; we are looking instead for a better, less costly and more efficient business model. At the moment, it is difficult to imagine what could possibly beat billions of links meeting millions of eyeballs daily.

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Via C

KT Tunstall

Via UD

Previous Banner Quote

"What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare." - from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies

Torres del Paine, Patagonia

Stunning time-lapse photography of the Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia:

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Via Ursi

Mugs-a-Plenty

I don't know who Tom McMahon is but I know he's, "Too crazy for Boy's Town, and too much of a boy for Crazy Town." Tom is pimping our "Four Faces of Casey" coffee mug and it looks damn good! Go check it out if you get a chance:

Link (and then scroll down just a bit)

Here is a link to my store at CafePress...

Grilling Salmon Heads

Article complete with recipe and pics. I hope it tasted better than it looked:

The results were so delicious that I only have before pictures. The meat was flavorful and incredibly tender. We used forks to pull out the tasty bits and smeared it on bread like butter (it was that tender) and topped it with various cheeses.

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Via FOTW

The Price of Oil

This is the retail price of processed dinosaur bones in my neighborhood. I wish I wasn't addicted to oil.

This is the price of gas last month (19 days ago).

Fun Bigwheel Race

Via Boing

Pearls Before Breakfast

I feel smarter after having read this interesting (albeit long) Washington Post article about the psychology of classical music and the interaction of people too busy to appreciate it. There are some nifty embedded videos included but they are more about the foot traffic than they are about the music:

No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made. In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?

The final video at the bottom of the article shows that he does finally draw an audience:

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This is a link to Joshua Bell's website with samples of his music including Schubert's, "Ave Maria." He is coming to the states in May and, of course, will be spending three days in Houston.

Via J

Previous Banner Quote

"If I was a phenomenon once, then I will be again." - Andrew Dice Clay

Architect Rocio Romero

Factory built homes:

The LV series is a modern line of homes designed and manufactured by Rocio Romero. The LV series has been thoughtfully designed to enhance a modern lifestyle that is connected to nature.

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Duo of Vivaldi, "Summer"

I was just listening to Vivaldi's, "Four Seasons," this morning so this short YouTube movement with guitar and violin is definitely impressive and refreshing:

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You Know You're From Houston When...

All of these are incredibly funny (and incredibly true), unfortunately you have to have had lived in Houston for over thirty-years in order to laugh:

The "farm-to-market" roads have seven lanes.

If you want to be a snob about your grocery shopping, you can go to a Randall's Flagship, a Kroger Signature, a Rice Epicurean, or soon, an HEB Central Market to buy bread and milk (but you have to dress up!).

You wander into a section of town where you can't read the street signs because they're written in Asian characters instead of English, but you don't care because you can get great prices on fake designer merchandise there.

You go to an art festival on Westheimer and you're almost run down by two cross-dressers on roller blades, holding hands.

You can leave your house, head out of town, and an hour later you still haven't left the city limits. (During rush hour, you haven't left your neighborhood.)

You've never seen I-45 in any condition other than under-construction -- and you've lived here for 20-30 years.

If the humidity is below 90 percent, it's a good hair day.

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Spinning Into Oblivion

This sad, but informative, New York Times article tells the story of the destruction of the music industry from the eyes of the small music store owner (and manages to do it in only two pages):

The major labels wanted to kill the single. Instead they killed the album. The association wanted to kill Napster. Instead it killed the compact disc. And today it’s not just record stores that are in trouble, but the labels themselves, now belatedly embracing the Internet revolution without having quite figured out how to make it pay.

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Via Digg

Starving Artist

Make sure to check out my store on CafePress. I put my Casey Serin artwork up for sale on T-shirts, Coffee Mugs, and BBQ Aprons:

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Tags: casey, serin, deserves, prison, cool

Convertible Couch

Thanks Yawen

World's Most Chinese Dragon

"As the 21-kilometer-long cement dragon was ceased to be built, this craft dragon measuring 5,056 metres long is deemed world's longest. It was built for a grand dragon dance performance on the April 10 Luoyang Peony Festival (洛阳牡丹花节) opening ceremony."

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You know you're in Texas when...

You know you're in Texas when the local watering-hole is shaped like the Alamo and has a giant, mirror-covered, longhorned, armadillo on the patio. To see a couple more pics from my bike ride the other day click below:

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Banksy

I found this three-minute YouTube over at Pranks.com:

Check out the work of artist Banksy and this video from London’s Channel 4 News bout his efforts on the West Bank wall separating Israel from Palestine:

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Happy Easter!

Beautiful and tragic charcoal figure drawings depicting the Stations of The Cross from El Salvador:

These stations serve as a reminder that many people walk the way of the cross every day, denied justice and dignity as Christ was, by powerful political forces. (For other mediations on the Stations go here or here.)

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Via Eso

Beijing Gallery

Artist Xia Xiaowan draws on 30 glass planes to convey depth in these realistic masterpieces:

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Via K

The Time Traveller

You need to watch this short YouTube and tell me if it is true. This dude claims to have met his-own "future" self while repairing a leak under the sink. I do not believe his claim but he DOES have an eerie video of someone very similar:

And the strange thing is that he knew everything about me. Where I hid my secret stuff when I was in first grade, and what the score was in the soccer match against Växjö Norra in the summer of -88. He knew it all.

Link

Via Eso

Buy this Blog!

Get out your checkbook if you want to purchase this weblog. I visited the website that puts a value on things like these and they said ATC was worth almost $4K:

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Blogging is tough work and these figures prove it. Below is the monetary figure of each of my favorite weblogs. Who knew?

Look at This: $105,568.98.

Grow-A-Brain: $249,526.68.

Bits & Pieces: $88,068.24.

Misscellania: $237,671.34.

Boing-Boing: $11,516,616.00.

Beaumont Newhall: The History of Photography

Via Ursi

Audrey Hepburn Screen Test

The young Audrey Hepburn is very hip now. This too short YouTube gives a glimpse into her youth. Links to many more AH YouTube clips included:

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Thanks Yawen

Noodle Folding

If you live in China, or have visited one time, this YouTube is nothing unusual to you. "Chef Mark Pi making noodles to demonstrate the principle of halving.":

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Via K

Huge Bike Jump

I laughed at this hilarious video of kids riding down a hill and jumping bikes into a pond (with cool music):

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Euro-Pools

Brilliant New Yorker article about chlorine-free pools that use natural vegetation as a filter system. Enjoy the very snappy pics:

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Shipwreck!

The captain of the Grimaldi must have been extremely drunk to capsize at dock:

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Via UD

Look Closely

Via B&P

Baby What?

Try not to fall asleep by watching this baby sloth:

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"Europe and Italy"

This lighthearted Flash program explains the difference between Italy and the rest of the world (may take a few seconds to load):

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Thanks Yawen

Universcale

Amazingly interactive scale of the bigness and smallness of things:

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Via J

Little Humping Drive

Does anyone know where I can get one of these?

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Thanks Yawen

You love me how deep?

Amazing Glass Harp Player_1 - The funniest videos clips are here

The Illuminati 2

I watched this entire (almost) two-hour Google Video documentary about the secret societies that the President and John Kerry are a part of. This is part 2 of a three part documentary (I couldn't find parts 1 or 3):

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Great Pics of the Great Wall

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More Speed Painting

Another (six minute) YouTube of time-lapse speed-painting in Photoshop. The artwork is incredible but I want to see his "layers" pallet:

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Photography with Jayleen

Whenever I save enough money to get a full version of Photoshop I will go back and check out this nicely done "watercolor-effect" tutorial:

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Odd Couple

I can't decide if this (five-minute Discovery Channel video) is cute or sad?

A leopard killed a baboon for nourishment, but after dragging it to its place, it noticed that it just gave birth to a baby baboon. The leopard did not eat the mother, and instead started taking care of the baby baboon.

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Via UD

Gifts for Teacher

On the first day of school, the children brought gifts for their teacher. The florist's son brought the teacher a bouquet of flowers. The candy-store owner's daughter gave the teacher a pretty box of candy. Then the liquor-store owner's son brought up a big, heavy box. The teacher lifted it up and noticed that it was leaking a little bit. She touched a drop of the liquid with her finger and tasted it.

"Is it wine?", she guessed.

"No," the boy replied.

She tasted another drop and asked, "Champagne?

"No," said the little boy..."It's a puppy!"

Via B&P

Microsoft Masterpiece

Microsoft Paint is a powerful graphics program but only if you know how to use it. The NewMexiken has a link to a time-lapse YouTube of someone using it to paint the Mona Lisa:

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Remember the Alamo!

My good friend Hanan at Grow-A-Brain picked up my links about the Texas Revolution and included them in his profile of American History. Go check it out and make sure to read Flags of the Texas Revolution at the Battle of San Jacinto:

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It's About That Time

Jack was helping me do my taxes until he got a headache trying to figure out how I survive.

Tags: cat, hates, income, tax, cool

Simpson's Do Glenngarry

Of course, no YouTube adventure would be complete without a parody. Alec Baldwind's character is even funnier on the Simpsons:

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Coffee's For Closers

YouTube has an eight minute clip of Alec Baldwin's scene from James Foley's "Glengarry Glen Ross:"

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Previous Banner Quote

"Art is the elimination of the unnecessary." - Pablo Picasso

Rare Shuttle Pics

The Space Shuttle may be a waste of taxpayer money but it sure makes for some great photography:

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