Yahoo! Web Services for Developers

Just parking this here so I won't forget it -- geeky article on Yahho's new open API for accessing their data, which might be fun to mess with, and possibly even useful.

Church Sign Generator

Well, now, this could be fun.

Oscars

Heh.

I liked that Chris Rock said "I'm not gonna rag on Bush" and then spent three minutes doing just that.

Beyonce -- you're overcompensating. You don't have to prove to everyone that you can sing. You can't. But you look like Beyonce. And that's ok.

What's hotter than Salma Hayek? Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz. iAy Carramba!

Bummed that Scorcese didn't win, but glad that he didn't win for something like the Aviator. He should win for making a Martin Scorcese kinda film. If he has one more left in him....

Robin Williams: "Hello" is a salutaion, not a punchline.

If that Andrew Lloyd Webber travesty was the best song in Phantom, I've been fully justified in refusing to see it all these years.

Goodbye, Macintosh man

Jef Raskin, one of the prime movers behind the original Mac, has died at age 61. There's more about his interesting career at his official site.

Who Has the Most Kick-Ass Senator?

We do. Kudos to Boxer, Clinton, et al, and good luck getting voter reform law passed. It would be nice if we were better about practicing what we preach when it comes to this whole spreading-democracy thing.

Tragic

This is just one of the reasons why, even if W rains the manna and honey of capitalism and democracy all over the middle east (as, oddly, NPR seemed to be crediting him with yesterday), he will still be the biggest failure of a president in my lifetime, and possibly ever.

Trekkies take it to the streets!

They're mad as hell over the demise of "Star Trek: Enterprise" and are telling Paramount Studios that they aren't taking it anymore.

There's even an effort at raising money to keep the struggling series flying. Tally as of this posting: $52,755. Estimated cost of one episode: $1.6 million.

Ghost Town Will Eat Your Hat

We're playing in Santa Monica this coming Wednesday, March 2nd at celebrated watering hole, 14 Below. Yes, they've invited us back! We're the first of 4 bands, so we'll hit the stage promptly at 8pm. It's a 6 dollar cover, and an excellent place to get your drink on.

8:00 Ghost Town (temp URL)
9:00 Stoic Frame
10:00 Prognosis Negative
11:00 Evacuation Plan (reportedly a bunch of Cal Arts grads)

Need directions to the club?


Please come out and see the band, as it's a ridiculously talented
group of performers, dedicating themselves to some highly crafted, intelligent, and rocking pop songs. This group has put in so much work on my tunes, it's amazing, and if you don't think it's one of the best shows you've seen all year, I'll eat your hat.*

Line-up:
Ashley Caldwell, vocals
Ken Lasaine, guitar
Frank San Filippo, bass
Kevin Smith, organ & electric piano
Adam Steinberg, drums
Romy Suskin, vocals

*Offer contingent on your hat being composed entirely of tasty fruit and/or beef jerky.

In praise of Bjork!

.

Yeah, it's almost Oscar night, with the annual ritual of the red carpet. And yeah, somebody on E! will crack wise about Bjork's swan look some years ago. But the joke was on E!, Joan and the rest of the fashion establishment. Every time she's mentioned, it merely validates the fractured genius that is Bjork.

You're an Ashcroft!

Heh-heh.

A Huge Collection of Collections

Now there's a British guy who's gonna stay single for awhile.

Ice Walls

Perhaps the opposite of what Sheena Easton has on offer. There's apparently not a lot to do in Fairbanks, Alaska in the winter.

Hunter S. Thompson: Still Dead

To be shot out of fireworks cannon.

Spyware Maker Appointed to Department of Homeland Security's Privacy Advisory Board

This like appointing Ken Lay to head up a "Business Ethics" advisory board. I would say "Unvelievable," but with this administration, it's all too believable.

Dinner at Applebee's With White Supremacists

Great article from the SF Weekly about a (Jewish) reporter pretending to "rush" a hate group.

Don't Just Do Something; Sit There.

The principles of Jewish Buddhism.

More blogs about airlines and food

May I suggest listening to Eno's "Music for Airports" while visiting this site? How about "Waitress in the Sky"?

Airlinemeals.net includes images of not only what passengers are served, but what pilots get as well. Plus, you can see where the caterers of the skies put it all together.

Yum!

That's Just Wrong

Agassi and Federer playing tennis on the helipad of a skyscraper.

My fear reasonable caution of heights is so bad finely tuned that I get uncomfortable just looking at this.

I, For One...

...Welcome our mechanical overlords.

Don't Say Jesus Never Did Nothin' For Ya

Korn guitarist finds God, leaves band.

Mike Mills Not so Shiny nor Happy

Apparently just an ear infection (which is, of course, bass player slang for "coke binge").

Warren Ellis on Hunter S. Thompson

Couldn't agree more with Ellis's take on the selfish way Thompson went out. The boy should have left a note, but Spalding Gray at least didn't leave anyone with a (recognizable) body to find. That seems like the more responsible way to go....

Mmmmm....

Hairmuffs.

Waiter Blogs

Oddly compelling.

Yeah, That'll End Well

Entry # 527

"Full Spectrum Warrior" - WTF?

Why are my tax dollars going to fund an Xbox war game? Especially when I can't get a decent poker game for the PS2?

Crackback on Christo!

A Massachusetts artist does his own Gates with a little help from his cat.

A critic weighs in: "At last an artist for our times who spans not only space time continuums but the archaic human animal divide and presents a postmodern perspective interrogated by the feline."

Hunter S. Thompson Kills Himself

Bummer.

Egyptian Girl Loses Head

Luckily, has spare.

How To...

...Order a pizza.

Talk about a bad breakup

A wax museum recognizes the Jennifer-Brad split -- by sawing their oddly rendered figures apart. Ouch.

Naked lunch in NYC!

Nudists eat out in the buff, and one proclaims: "Wearing clothes and going to church does not protect you from moral evil."

Smoke on the water ... fire in the SUV!

An inconsiderate smoker (yeah, maybe that's redundant) gets his comeuppance on the Bay Bridge.

Things I Didn't Know Until Today

• Air America has returned to LA.


• Cubs fans are insane.


• Opossums have opposable thumbs on their hind legs.


• People like to get jiggy with the hotel room remote.

Meet Beatallica

Check out Beatallica.org before Sony takes it down.

Top Ten Vestigal Organs

I won't keep you in suspense. The human appendix took home the top honors.

Stressed Out Soldiers to be Dosed

The Army is testing X on soldiers with post-traumatic stress.

That's gonna end well.

Stressed Out Soldiers to be Dosed

The Army is testing X on soldiers with post-traumatic stress.

That's gonna end well.

Thesp Alan Cumming has a New Fragrance

He was, uh, flogging it on last night's Daily Show.

There Is Life on Mars

And it has gas.

I, for one, welcome our flatulent overlords.

Now That...

...is how you write a headline, my friend.

Frank Rich on the Guckert Scandal

Best summary of the story I've seen, as well as a general round up of the perils of fake news (and no, not the good kind of fake news that Jon Stewart does).

There's Art...

...and then there's what Barney Fife calls a compellshun.

New Job Opening for Jody

Not sure what the beni package is.

Faux Reporter Scandal

The right are making lots of noises about how the left is unfairly digging into "Jeff Gannon's" past as an alleged male prostitute, as if suddenly now a public figure's sex life is rather beyond the bounds of good taste to bring up (yes, despite the fact that any services Monica may have performed for Bill were presumably gratis and therefore prefectly legal....) Check this lengthy-but-worth-it blog post for background on why the fact that Gannon/Guckert was a male prostitute may be extraordinarily relevant.

The link is to the blog of Jeff Wells, who describes himself as "cautiously pessimistic," but who I'd describe as a slightly more paranoid conspiracy theorist than Richard Belzer on a coke binge, but I also think he raises some really good points.

For Your Loved and Not So Loved Ones

Dang. Why do I have to find this after the "holliday?"

Abe Vigoda Status

If you browse the internets with Firefox, you can now get real-time updates on when Abe Vigoda suffles off this mortal coil.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Awwwww.

Grammys

It was actually a pretty entertaining one this year, if you have TiVo. But man, some of the awards.... Maroon 5 is the best new artist? They won't have a record contract three years from now. And John Meyer's 'Daughters' was the best example of Western songwriting in 2004? I've never been quite so in agreement with Robert Hilburn. (It was good to see Loretta Lynn and Jack White pick up the country statue.)

Two more things: I believe, by now, we have gotten it sufficiently started in here. Please don't make me hear that song ever again. Also, why the hell was Peter Gabriel doing a tribute to Janis Joplin?

Led Zep lands Grammy

The people who once honored Jethro Tull as the best metal act in the land have now given Led Zeppelin a lifetime achievement award in an attempt to rebalance the scales.

Jimmy Page, looking unusually healthy, and John Paul Jones were at the L.A. ceremony. Robert Plant was preparing for a tour and did not attend. Neither did John Bonham.

Christo opens the "Gates"

The New York Times has a good set of articles and slide shows on the Central Park installation as well as the artist's previous works.

Who Will Watch 'Watchmen'?

It's on -- they've built a preliminary website for the 'Watchmen' movie. I'm tired of being pessimistic, so I'll just say I have high hopes that at least they won't cast Halle Berry in this one.

From the "Who the Hell Asked for This" Department

George Hamilton working on sequel to "Love at First Bite."

Saturn's Blue

And I'm not feeling so good myself.

More on Phony Reporting Scandal

As posted earlier, I find this whole Jeff Gannon/James Guckert scandal an outrageous betrayal of the public trust on the part of the White House. If this, along with all the pundit pay-offs had happened in the 90s, don't you think the So-Called Liberal Media would be calling for Clinton's head?

The thing is, it wouldn't have happened under Clinton -- and while the fact that the Democratic party tries to play by the rules more often than the Republicans may mean that they end up losing more than their share of elections, if the alternative is to endorse such blatantly anti-American tactics as fascistically trying to control the news media for political ends -- well, I'm just glad that we have an alternative.

I used to think the two parties were essentially similar, but the Republican party as represented by the current administration is an unforgivable stain on the fabric of a country whose professed ideals, while rarely attained, were once noble and just. "Whatever it takes to get ahead" should not be an American value.

Torture, propoganda, rule of might -- these aren't the American ideals taught in my 9th-grade civics class. I want the America they promised me as a kid, goddamit!

Meet Smoosh

Indie-pop princesses, surprisingly listenable. The combined age of the band is 22. Usually at this age, I think musical prodigies are just aping the style and mannerisms of their teachers and recordings. But, then again, that's what most pop musicians do their whole lives, so that doesn't really deligitimize Smoosh in the least....

What's Better than a Monkey?

A brand-new titi monkey. The Wildlife Conservation Society is auctioning off the chance to name a new species of monkey.

Boy howdy, if I still had all them internet millions, I know a certain president who'd be getting the legacy he deserves....

Google Maps - Brilliant A.I.

It can help you find anything, like say...miserable failure in washington, dc

via Atrios's message boards.

Fox Orders Fewer Episodes of 'Arrested Development'

Eediots. It's one of the best shows on television. If there's still a 'Trio' network in five years, this will be near the top of their "Brilliant but Cancelled" list.

"The Next Steps Are In The Offing"

And so it begins.

The Most Horrible Thing I've Written...

...but man, if she doesn't make it, John Edwards is a shoo-in for '08....

Neil Bush: My opponent has the spottiest attendance record in the Senate.

John Edwards: Yeah, you're right -- sometimes it's tough to make it into work WHEN YOUR WIFE IS DYING OF CANCER!

NB: The Republicans are the party that is for the American family-

JE: Family? Yeah, I had one of those once, BEFORE MY WIFE DIED OF CANCER!!

NB: My opponent was a trial lawyer.

JE: Yeah, and I wish I could SUE THE GOD THAT TOOK MY WIFE FROM ME BY GIVING HER CANCER!!!

I'm going to hell.

My Little Golden Book About Zogg

The Cuddly Menace

Why Napster will Flop

Why would you pay $15/month to rent your music?

Google Maps - Beta

Needs a bit of spit and polish, but this could be hell of good. (Plus and minus are your zoom in & out controls; click and drag on the map to pan.)

The Waiter You Stiffed Has Not Forgotten

"It's amazing that more waiters don't kill people."

Women, Stop Wasting Paper Products!

With the Keeper^®. (note that DISTRIBUTORSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE!)

via the oddly involving dooce.

Sam Phillips at Carnegie Hall on NPR

Great voice, great songs.

Lesko lets loose!

Ever wanted to start your own coffeehouse? Get a GED? A Ph.D.? You can, and you can get the government to pay for it!

The well-tailored pitchman Matthew Lesko has started a blog, mostly to answer statements from a board in New York state that his ilk are charging people for information that can get for free.

Looking for Portraits of Indian Actresses Done Entirely in ASCII Characters?

Then break out your dot-matrix printers, because this is "Possibly the largest original collection of Bollywood actresses rendered in ASCII on the internet."

All things must pass

More sad demises:

Eric Griffiths, a Quarryman and former chum of John Lennon, has died. Pete Best cannot be reached for comment.

The NYC recording studio known as The Hit Factory is closing its doors. It's where Lennon spent the final hours of his life in 1980.

Image Puzzle

Interesting puzzle. The first two pages are as simple as they look. For the third, it's important to lose focus. I'm stuck on the fourth.

Rumsfeld Has Clear Concience

Unbelievable.

What was going on in the midnight shift in Abu Ghraib prison halfway across the world is something that clearly someone in Washington DC can't manage or deal with. And so I have no regrets."

MP3.com Founder Back with New Music Venture

Launching a new DRM-free MP3 service.

WDIZ goes Spanish

Former Floridians visiting here may remember what was once classic rock station WDIZ. Well, if you went back to Orlando today, it might sound a little different.

One listener reacts: "I'm really upset what they've done with my radio station. I'm French. I don't expect to hear French songs on the radio. I mean everything Hispanic, Hispanic, you know. What happens to the people that are born in this country?"

Look, pal. I still have that Zeta 7 plate on my car, OK? So deal with it.

Dean Wormer's final semester

John Vernon, who portrayed the leader of mythical Farber College in the 1978 laff riot "Animal House," has died. He was 72.

I wonder if they have "double secret probation" in the afterworld.

Hang the DJ!

The 110-hour DJ marathon at Rollins College wasn't a record after all. That's according to Guinness, which says a Sri Lankan DJ was recently certified for a 120-hour stint in June 2003.

Mmmm. Guinness.

Marine General Punished

Commanding general of training at Quantico tells crowd, "It's fun to shoot some people." It's ok, though; he got a stern talking-to for his remarks.

Liz Phair, Gloriously NSFW

If only she'd make another great record. Note that the page is titled "mom-youre-embarrassing-me.html".

Pinot up, merlot down

"Sideways!" is inspiring those who drink.

This blog accepts and appreciates all recs for good wine and beer, by the way.

Lame, lame, lame

I know, posting about an entry on another blog is pretty lame. And considering this is the first thing I've posted in months and all I manage is a link, I'm even lamer. But for some reason, this just cracked me up.

White House Using Phony Journalist Plant?

This is so not a good time to be an American. How did we go from Clinton to this in four years? And red-staters think of Clinton as the dishonest one?

I don't speak for anyone else who posts on this blog, some of whom may wish to remain impartial in their views of the most morally bankrupt administration in US History (and, oh yes, that includes Mr. Warren G. "Teapot Dome" Harding). But I am embarrased and fearful of where this country is headed.

The only thing left to do is to pray for a scandal so large that the media finally have to act outraged -- but given everything this administration has gotten away with so far (we're torturing military prisoners, fer Christ's crabcakes!) I can't imagine what it would take. I think our only hope is if Cheney starts eating live babies on TV. I don't think they could put a positive spin on that one....

Happy birthday, Farrah!

The former Angel and "Logan's Run" star turns 58 today. I wonder if Lee Majors or Ryan O'Neal sent her an e-mail greeting.

Random IMDB trivia: Farrah was offered the Goldie Hawn role in the 1978 comic caper "Foul Play."

There is No Social Security Crisis

Just as there was no imminent WMD threat coming from Iraq, despite the dishonest packaging of issues by BushCo. As Mark Evanier points out, there's no way us mere mortals can do the math on this thing by ourselves, and where you stand on the issue is probably going to boil down to who you trust to be telling the truth on this matter. Mark leaves that question open-ended in his rant, but I'm inclined not to believe a thing that comes out of the mouth of that lying blackguard at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Just Say 'No' to Torture

Here is a list of senator's phone numbers if you would like to call yours and urge a 'no' vote on confirming Alberto Gonzales as our head torturer attorney general.

When Kraken Attack!

OK, these photos are of a little tiny squid eating a prawn. But imagine it's a 30-foot river kraken, and you're the prawn -- now that's scary!

Two Bottles of Sherry

Not to be taken in suppository form.

PostSecret

People mail in their deep dark secrets on a postcard, and PostSecret scans them in.

DeNiro's Manager Screws Up

Misses opportunity to help Bob further soil his legacy.