Rocket Jones

August 11, 2006

To be (stupid), or not to be (stupid)

The original article is titled "101 ways to massacre Shakespeare".

The Edinburgh Fringe richly deserves its reputation for artistic anarchy and every year The Bard is the target of bizarre adaptations at the world's largest arts festival.

The festival director's all-time favorite? A Midsummer's Night Disco. The bard done on roller skates. Boy howdy.

As The Fringe celebrates its 60th birthday, the prize for zaniest 2006 production goes to Hamlet set in a bouncy castle.

To see the Prince of Denmark in laddered tights bounding around declaiming "To Be or Not To Be" is a truly surreal experience.

Surreal is one word to describe it, but not the first that comes to mind.

One never knows where inspiration will come:

Seward had his eureka moment when attending a children's birthday party in Argentina. "I saw the children playing on a bouncy castle and that is when the idea came to me.

One never knows when the meds wear off.

Other interpretations seen over the years include:

"Macbeth -- That Old Black Magic" boasts a Frank Sinatra soundtrack and you can see "The Tempest" with acrobats, puppets and circus tricks.

In "Corleone: The Godfather," the American High School Theater Festival troupe asks "What if Shakespeare had written the Godfather?"

Alas, poor yorick, I must go make sick. I'd still love to go.

Posted by: Ted at 11:27 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Bottom Line

The good guys defeated the terrorists yesterday.

A lot of people who would've died are going to live.

Posted by: Ted at 05:18 AM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

August 10, 2006

"Truly orgasmic", right up until the part about the teeth

I love this stuff:

Paleontologists have created detailed three-dimensional images of evolution's first multicellular creatures in their embryonic stages, some so detailed that they reveal more about the development of long-extinct creatures than scientists know about their modern counterparts

Using x-rays and computers, they're looking back through time to the beginning of complex life on Earth.

Some of the embryos exhibit hitherto unknown mechanisms of embryonic development that have since gone extinct. Others have combinations of traits that put them near the lowest branches of the animal kingdom's evolutionary tree.

"The results are truly orgasmic," said Philip C. Donoghue, a paleontologist at Bristol University in England who led the team that created the images.

Ok, he's a paleontologist, so I guess that this would float his boat.

Using the new technique, he and his colleagues have been able to create cutaways, cross-sections and, by stringing together images of embryos at different stages of development, virtual time-lapse sequences of the animals' metamorphosis.

Cartoons for the uber-brainiac.

The images show that one fossil embryo known by the scientific name Markuelia must be most closely related to a modern group of marine invertebrates known as the penis worms, based on the number of teeth it has and the way they are arranged.

Whoa. What was that again?!?!?!

...a modern group of marine invertebrates known as the penis worms, based on the number of teeth...

I've heard of snapping... uh, never mind.

Another image shows that a segmented creature known as Pseudooides had a very unusual means of assembling itself. Modern segmented animals either develop all of their segments early and then simply get bigger, or they grow by adding segments to their hind ends.

But Pseudooides added its segments in the middle, "which is really totally bizarre," Donoghue said.

And that's saying something, considering he can talk about penis worms with teeth like it's no big thang.

Posted by: Ted at 04:40 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Happy Birthday

The Smithsonian is 160 years old today.

Posted by: Ted at 05:06 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

August 09, 2006

Twofer

A disturbing, albeit very funny video, courtesy of Curmudgeonly and Skeptical.

I may have to send these to several blog buddies as Christmas presents (anonymously of course).

Thanks to Minister Buckethead for the link to "those".

Posted by: Ted at 05:51 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Threefer

I stumbled across this while looking for something else (not safe for work).

Mookie sent this link since it reminded her of the infamous Barbies in Bondage post.

From Dick's Rocket Dungeon, a link to a week's worth of pictures from the National Association of Rocketry's Annual Meet (NARAM).

Wow. Zombies, bondage, and rockets all in one post. If Rocket Jones had a nutrition pyramid this would be like a balanced meal.

Posted by: Ted at 05:29 AM | Comments (47) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

August 08, 2006

Synergy again

The Dixie Chicks cancelled 14 shows on their US tour due to poor ticket sales.

The Dixie Chicks don't like President Bush.

Cindy Sheehan just bought property near the President's ranch.

She could hold an anti-Bush concert there featuring the Dixie Chicks! It's what, 5 acres? That's probably big enough to hold all the fans, including parking.

Posted by: Ted at 06:12 AM | Comments (3316) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Physician, Heal Thyself

Whatever the editorial equivalent of that is, it really needs doing.

I've been following with some interest the Reuters photography story (lots of links here). If you're unfamiliar with it, read the box.

The Reuters news agency has fired freelance photographer Adnan Hajj for photoshopping photographs. The first conclusive example had dark smoke added to a scene overlooking Beirut. At this point Reuters suspended Hajj. When a second photograph was discovered of an aircraft with additional "missiles" and bombs copy-and-pasted in, they fired him and pulled from their database almost 1,000 pictures that he'd provided them over the course of ten years. Since then, additional photographs have been discovered where he would submit the same scene, shot from different perspectives, as evidence of overnight airstrike damage dated weeks apart. Some of these photos feature the exact same people in them.

The reason I felt it necessary to summarize the story is because it's not being reported. When I mentioned it to co-workers, they hadn't heard a word about it. A search of the local news radio website makes no mention of it, although I did find a story titled News Agencies Stand By Lebanon Photos.

From the story:

"It's hard to imagine how someone sitting in an air-conditioned office or broadcast studio many thousands of miles from the scene can decide what occurred on the ground with any degree of accuracy," said Kathleen Carroll, AP's senior vice president and executive editor.

Which is exactly the criticism that many people have with the news coverage in the middle east. The reporters sit safely inside their "Green Zone" hotels and have paid local stringers bring them the news. They're not covering the stories, they merely collate what is delivered to them before passing it along as fact.

Yet when the public makes this argument, it's disregarded by the media because they're "professionals". There have been a lot of arrogant bastards over the years working to turn journalism into a cult, and if you're not in the cult then you cannot criticize. The sad thing is, they've largely succeeded.

Senior editor Carroll then goes on with this:

Photographers are experienced in recognizing when someone is trying to stage something for their benefit, she said.

So, in other words, they see it often enough to know it when it happens. And maybe, like in Hajj's case, they're ok with staging the scene because it fits their agenda. Good thing the news agencies have layers of professional editorial staffing to keep this from happening... but, aren't all the editors "sitting in an air-conditioned office or broadcast studio many thousands of miles from the scene"? I thought that made it difficult or impossible to "decide what occurred on the ground with any degree of accuracy".

Then we get this "professional" opinion:

"Do you really think these people would risk their lives under Israeli shelling to set up a digging ceremony for dead Lebanese kids?" asked Patrick Baz, Mideast photo director for AFP.

Hmmmm... I just did a quick check, and not one source ever indicated that there was shelling going on during the rescue operation. So where did this statement this come from?

More and more, I believe that the weather forecast is the most accurate part of any news program.

Posted by: Ted at 06:07 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Round room. Pee in the corner. You've heard it before.

Ever notice how when a new housing development is going up, if it's Something Estates then it's ritzy and pricey, and if it's Whatever Heights then it's always "affordable" housing. If I had the money, I'd do a development called Estates Heights just to see what would happen.

Posted by: Ted at 05:55 AM | Comments (3799) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Silent Thunder

The company that is acting as general contractor for our kitchen remodeling project is also doing this memorial.

Posted by: Ted at 05:27 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

August 07, 2006

Mark Tuesday, September 19th on your calendaaars

That be Talk Like A Pirate Day, me hearties.

And for those blogging that day, there be this.

Posted by: Ted at 07:23 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Found those 3D glasses yet?

Quite some time ago (we're talking years here), someone posted a whole bunch of 3D photos to the vintage newsgroup that I subscribed to. I created a subfolder for them, downloaded 'em all, and promptly forgot them.

A few months ago, I purchased one of my beloved crappy movie collections and discovered that you could watch each film in either regular 2D or 3D versions. Cool! I mentioned to my wife that I needed some red and blue acetate to make a pair of glasses, and then forgot about it.

Last week (isn't this exciting?) my wife was travelling and found a pair of 3D glasses. Did I want them? You bet.

Alas, the movies are filmed in some "new" 3D technology and require special electronic glasses that are rather expensive for the amount of use I'd get out of them. The company is putting out some new collections for their 3D, but I have better things to spend my money on.

Then I remembered those old 3D photos I'd saved... somewhere. I found them, and now I get to share some of them with you.

Here are the first few. Each photo will appear in a popup window. Make original size for best effect. The naughty ones are labeled as such, so don't go blaming me if you open them up at work (although why you'd be looking at 3D pictures at work is beyond me, you look like a dork in those glasses).

Enjoy, and remember, most of these are vintage.

Miscella Misclean Miscillanious Various.

Insert your own family reunion joke

Sports photos.

Baseball, St. Louis Cardinals, too much work to positively identify

So real you can almost smell the armpits

Bikini alert!

Ole!

Well, half a bikini

At the beach

Like ViewMaster for Adults! (Rated R - not safe for work)

This one is my favorite


Grandma was a kinky wench! Apparently yours was too.

Warming oneself at the stove

Hot date tonight

Spectacular view, and the mountains are nice too

There are plenty left, so if you're interested in me posting more of these, let me know in the comments or by email.

Posted by: Ted at 04:18 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

August 06, 2006

Potential Disappointment

I know some of you have been eagerly looking forward to the movie Snakes On A Plane, but my lawyer tells me that we'll probably be granted our injunction to prevent the release because the studio stole my original idea for Snakes on a Blog without due compensation.

I will admit though, that including Samuel L. Jackson is an improvement over my original idea of inviting Michael Jackson, Jackson Browne, Reggie Jackson and Jackson Pollock to be my co-bloggers.

On advice of my lawyer, I admit nothing.

Posted by: Ted at 07:43 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sounds dirty, but it ain't

MyKnobs.com.

I've been spending some time at that site. One of the things that's been taking up major chunks of life lately is that we're having our kitchen, dining room and adjacent bathroom remodelled. Final plans are due next week and then I'll have a few weeks to get "our" portion of tasks done before construction begins. Yes, construction. There will be walls removed and things rearranged. We've been planning this for years in our mind, and now we've finally taken the plunge.

I told everyone we've sat down with the same thing: We're not doing this to sell the place, because if we were then I'd go cheap. The budget's not unlimited, but we're not going bottom-of-the-line either, because this is for *us*.

We've already picked flooring and carpet. Cabinets and countertops have been selected. All new appliances have been chosen and are being held until needed, and we sat down last night and picked the exact colors for paint (we've collected literally hundreds of paint cards and chips).

This is going to be a huge mess. The end result is going to be beautiful.

Posted by: Ted at 07:27 AM | Comments (31) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

August 05, 2006

You can find anything on the internet

As if that's news to anyone with more imagination than an amoeba.

For instance, The Steely Dan Dictionary.

The creative genii behind Steely Dan (Walter Becker and Donald Fagen) have long been fond of peppering their lyrics with arcane literary and cultural references, the meaning of which can be murky at best (given the duo's legendary reticence). After searching in vain for an explanatory lexicon, I decided to create my own.

I found that via a link from Tuning, which is infrequently updated but always interesting.

And the link for that came from Owlish, who is no longer posting. I miss him. who (holy crap!) just started posting again. Yay!

I would've known that if trackbacks were working, but Mu.Nu has shut them off for good until we migrate to Minx. Lousy spammers. Which makes me wonder how everyone is doing in TTLB's ecosystem. I haven't looked at it in months, but one of the measurements is trackbacks, so I wonder what kind of hit Munuvians are taking.

Posted by: Ted at 09:46 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Short Rocket Video

I have one of these motors, and 3 reload kits to fit.

*grinning like an idiot*

Note: The audio part of that clip, using the limited microphone of the video camera, doesn't come close to capturing the deep, bone-rattling roar of that beast when it ignites.

Posted by: Ted at 07:56 AM | Comments (29) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

August 04, 2006

Forget, Hell

I'm a linking fool. I share all kinds of odd stuff found in the dusty corners of the internet. Once in a while though, I do offer up something more substantial, such as this:

2996 is a project organized by D.C. Roe, to have 2996 bloggers (!) all posting a tribute to a 9/11 victim (names are assigned) on September 11, 2006–the five-year anniversary. Right now there are 1187 blogs signed up, and there’s just over a month to go.

If you can, please sign up and help.

Posted by: Ted at 08:18 PM | Comments (22) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Bumper Sticker

Today while sitting in oh-sooooo-slow Friday traffic, I saw a bumper sticker on a pickup truck:

Weaponeer.net

More Weapons = More Fun

If you follow that link, you'll find gems like this:
Our next shoot in Minong Wisconsin will be Aug 19th, at the Minong Range.
Machine guns, semi-autos, assault rifles, pistols, shotguns, mortars, and cannons.
Tannerite is allowed... Tracer and Incind. ammunition will depend on the weather.

Gotta love folks who play this hard.

Posted by: Ted at 08:07 PM | Comments (32) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Bunny blogging, of a sort

Vorpal?

Posted by: Ted at 11:37 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

August 03, 2006

Bless their twisted little souls

I've written about Sims torture before, but I didn't know that there was a LiveJournal community devoted to it (I'd link to it, but LiveJournal is screwy about handling community links).

Google is your friend accomplice.

Posted by: Ted at 11:54 AM | Comments (20) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

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