[via the file-trading site I’m not allowed to talk about] Hey, Muhammad
Ali was great and all, but really, this fight should last all of one
second, and that’s with Supes taking it reeeeally easy.
I think the writers of Space Jam stole their ideas from this comic.
Chanukah started last night at sundown, so happy Chanukah to all my Jewish homies and a double-happy Chanukah to Wendy! (I’m having Chanukah brunch at her parents’ place on Sunday.)
Don’t know what Chanukah is? Read this comic, Is It the Jewish Christmas? complete with special appearance by Judah Maccabee, the original Hebrew Hammer!
In case you missed ’em, you can download Adam Sandler’s Chanukah Song (parts 1 and 2) from this entry.
I like Philip Greenspun’s pronounciation of the holiday best: “chuh-NOO-kah”.
In celebration, may I direct you to this Chanukah-ized remix of Outkast’s Hey Ya? My favourite bit: the “shake it” break, which they turned into:
-schiewitz
-schiewitz
-schiewitz
-schiewitz
-schiewitz
…and a kosherized pickle!
“Politics,” as the blogger who goes by the name Stavros the Wonder Chicken writes, “chafe my scrote.” I hear ya, brother, I hear ya. In spite of this, a fella like me likes to keep his hand in the game, however so slightly.
Ah, talk radio. Click the illustration to hear the MP3 of the show.
I’ve just finished listening to the MP3 [13.8 MB MP3, podcast-friendly enclosure] of Kathy “Relapsed Catholic” Shaidle’s (American wanna-be) debating Osgoode Hall professor Michael Mandel (Sixties damage) on KMSR-AM 990 Texas Talk Radio’s David Gold show.
(The phrase “Texas talk radio” should be your first warning sign.)
Mandel won the obnoxiousness trophy, exhibiting the worst traits of the Left — a toxic melange of social maladroitsm and unresolved adolescent rebellion — to near-parodic levels. Any good point he had was eclipsed by that tiresome lefty shrillness. Kathy did a better job being civil, although she practiced her own trademarked brand of “I’m a grown-up and you’re not” red-state condescension; in moments she even out-Church-Ladied Dana Carvey. The bit in which she says Canada’s priorities are mixed up because we recognize sexual orientation rights but not property rights (Homesteads before homos!) is funny, but in the way she intended.
My verdict: it’s just two diametrically-opposed people scoring debating points off each other. At best, it follows the dictum that writers for the Seinfeld TV series follow: “Nobody hugs, nobody learns”. However, if you’re like me and like catching the late-night racoon fights that take place in my yard, you might enjoy it. Make sure you’re doing something useful while listening so that you won’t feel robbed of an hour of your time (in my case, the initial work on a revised reseller code library for Blogware).
Good conference, lame name. Might as well have called it “Voting Voting Voting” and set it to the tune of Badger Badger Badger.
The second first red-stater/blue-stater debate that I’ll hear this week will take place at Harvard, at the Internet + Society 2004 Conference: “Votes, Bits and Bytes”.
The conference will open with a debate between Michael Turk, eCampaign Director for the Bush/Cheney campaign and Joe Trippi, former campaign manager for Howard Dean. The topic of discussion: the effect of the Internet on politics and the way Democrats and Republicans used the web in 2004. The moderator: Kathleen Matthews (news anchor, Harvard fellow, wife of Hardball host Chris Matthews). I’ll take notes and post them here.
Friday night will feature a number of “Food for Thought” dinners, in which a prominent person will lead a dinner discussion at a nearby restaurant on a socio-political topic of his or her choice. I was invited to lead a dinner, but for the life of me couldn’t come up with a topic that I felt was worthy (my thanks to Erica George at the Center for consdering me; maybe next year I’ll think of something). I gave some thought to sitting in on the dinner that Hossein “Hoder” Derakhshan was hosting, but I can catch up with him any time here in Accordion City. I also gave some thought to Brian Reich’s talk about how changes in technological mobility, information transparency, and access to broadband will affect the next election, but that’s the sort of stuff I always discuss with my peers in the industry. I opted to attend the dinner hosted by Lolita Jackson of the Metropolitan Republican Club, where the topic will be “How are shifting minority voting patterns reshaping politics on the ground?”
Ms. Jackson, it should be noted, has luck that far outshines my own — she survived both the 1993 and 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
I’ll post my notes from the dinner.
Saturday looks like it’ll be the most intense for me, as there are a number of discussions of interest to me and Tucows; this is where I go into full geek ambassador mode. Saturday night will feature a party at the Hong Kong Club, and the accordion’s presence has already been requested. I’ll be groovin’ like Batman.
If you want to know more about the conference, here’s its “about” page. If you want to know what’s happening, check out the conference schedule.
As always, feel free to comment! The standard rules of decorum apply.
It’s a busy day at work, so I’ll leave it to another fine comic book to entertain you.
Long before Law and Order, CSI and their various spin-offs liberally took inspiration for their plotlines from news headlines, another methodical investigator’s stories were written the same way: Batman.
If you’re too young to have heard of the “Paul is Dead” hoax surrounding the Beatles, here’s the quick version: in late 1969, a rumour began to circulate that Paul McCartney had died in a traffic accident and that a look-alike had taken his place. For fans with an investigative bent, the Beatles are purported to have left clues all over their albums — in their lyrics, in the album art and even in backwards-masked vocals.
A few months later, this Batman comic book hit the stands:
Doesn’t the “World’s Greatest Detective” have better mysteries to solve?
In the comic book, the Beatles are now the Oliver Twists, whose singles include a number called Pink Submarine (which, to the modern reader — or someone like me, who’s watched waaaay too much Beavis and Butt-Head — seems disturbingly phallic, especially in light of the fact that we think Robin’s more than just Bruce Wayne’s ward). Paul McCartney’s fictional doppelganger is Saul Cartwright, who dressed as if he’s raided Magneto’s closet:
I think Marilyn Manson has that cape too.
Saul always carries his “mini recorder” in case musical inspiration strikes. Ah, the clunky flair of 1970’s technology!
Speaking of seventies clunkiness, check out this poor attempt at making Robin (who’s in college at this point) sound hip:
I groove crappy dialogue when I see it.
Batman doesn’t groove, Robin, he deduces
Want to see what happens? Is Saul really dead? Did successful businessmen wear orange shirts with black oxford stripes paired with blue ties in the 1970’s? Why do Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson “dress for dinner”? And why in the same room? And what’s up with this…?
My bum clenched involuntarily after I read this panel.
Download the comic [4.1 MB .zip file]. If you have one of those programs that can read .cbz files (like CDisplay for Windows or FFView for Mac OS X), change the filename extension of the file from .zip to .cbz.
The webcomic Achewood is still cranking out gems. Here’s a panel from today’s comic:
Doug, Riri and I have added our photos to the photo album of the GTABlogger party that took place on Friday. Check ’em out, in album or slideshow format!
I’m sure that most of the drivers on the streets of Accordion City
have driven in winter before. Hence my loss to explain why the first
snowfall of the year causes a number of them to drive like a drunk
rookie. This morning, in the short distance which I bike to work, I saw two cars go into power skids and one spin out.
Be careful out there!