This is from an awesome book that I found out about because Anna has a copy. It's out of print, but I ordered a used copy. It's called Legal Daisy Spacing: The Build-A-Planet Manual of Official World Improvements by Christopher Winn and it's full of stuff like this.
those pesky shrooms
light painting
I've been playing around taking long exposure pics of LEDs. The green one is my router and modem, the blue a light on the computer speakers, the red part of a case fan. Original large sizes and more over on Flickr.
goat cheese ♥
I've been really into goat cheese lately. This one is pretty tasty and I can usually find it at Safeway:
The three below Dillweed & Onion, Tomato, Basil & Garlic, and Basil Pesto were excellent. They come from New Mexico. Here is the website: http://www.coonridge.com
Worshiping Bigfoot?
What exactly is this "fringe"? How do we place areas of research along a spectrum of mainstream to controversial to fringe? How is the line drawn between fringe science and pseudoscience?
It even occurred to me that maybe the article was just thrown out there for the purpose of getting some hollaback letters to the editor next month. There haven't been enough crazy responses to articles lately. 
But, on to the topic at hand.. Bigfoot. Why is this "fringe"?
- We know species come in and out of the fossil record for example the Coelacanth.
- And we know species are often mistakingly declared extinct and then found again like the ivory-billed woodpecker.
- We also know that some species like crocodiles remain seemingly unchanged over a very long time (living fossils).
- Over 90% of living species are estimated to be currently unidentified
Here is a npr interview with Meldrum from last year.
a shadow biosphere & The Arrival
All life on earth that we know of is similar enough that we assume a single common point of origin. The idea explored in this article is there may be other forms of life here on earth (as yet undetected) that are so fundamentally different they do not share our same ancestral tree. If such life forms are found it would imply that life itself arose more than once, that there is more than one origin.
This alternate tree of life is referred to as a "shadow biosphere". These theoretical life forms are considered alien not because of their location of origin, which could be either on earth or extraterrestrial, but because of their biological differences.
Possible differences include:
- silicon instead of carbon
- mirrored handedness
- different amino acids (not the our standard 20)
- no ribosomes
- arsenic instead of phosphorus
- ethane or methane instead of water
The Golden Compass
Chris Weitz did a superb job of staying true to the book.
Dakota Blue Richards successfully portrayed Lyra's personality. Lyra's strength and complexity of character shone through in Dakota almost magically. I was also quite pleased with the rest of the casting. I hope that if they make The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass they will do as good a job at casting Will and the others as they did with the actors here.
The set design, art direction, visual effects, and costume design were brilliantly executed. Lyra's world really came to life and looked divine. The buildings and landscapes were even more magnificent than I had imagined them. The depiction of dust was a little different than how I would have done it. But, this didn't bother me too much as such an abstract concept is sure to be difficult to materialize.
I've already heard several critics and reviewers express confusion about the plot and characters. This is likely because they haven't read the book. It's hard for me to imagine watching the movie without having read the book. I suppose parts would seem a bit confusing. I therefore highly recommend reading the book if you haven't already before seeing the movie. Do it quickly so you can see this movie on the big screen.
Official movie site: http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/
Idiocracy: iz funny no really fo real
quotes from fall shows, or dulling the pain of veronica mars deprivation
From House:
House: We can try and pretend we're above it, we can try and intellectualize it away. But ultimately, shiny, pretty, perky things are good, and ugly, misshapen teenage boys are repulsive.
Darnell: The question was, do you resent Dr. Cuddy's interference in your practice?
House: Oh. Well, then I guess my answer wasn't very helpful, was it?
From Dirty Sexy Money:
Nick: All right listen, this has been a massive misunderstanding, and I can assure you my client is going to be found innocent of all charges brought against him, so theres no story here. Please excuse us.
Female Reporter: Is it true you won the Yacht in a poker game, Jeremy?
Male Reporter: Jeremy, how long have you been smuggling people into the country?
Jeremy: I don't know.
Nick: Don't answer that.
Female Reporter: Is it true you were planning to harvest their organs?
Nick: You know, that is just dumb. Why say things like that?!
From Reaper:
Russ: Wait a minute. What kind of a host do I think I am? We can't just watch the movie. We need to get high first. Who wants to rip some peyote?
Sam: Ya know Russ tonight's not a good peyote night.
Russ: Oh no no no. Peyote man it makes a great platform. And then we customize with a well chosen assortment of party enhancers. We've got angel tears, horse tranqs, jelly babies, muskies, happy flakes.
Sock: Happy flakes?
Russ: Poppers.
Ben: Thanks Russ, ya know Russ. I was gonna pass.
Sock: And ya know, I took a horse tranq on the way over here so I'm good.
Russ: You guys said you came over to party right?
Sam: Of course.
Russ: Well ok then. alright. I don't want to watch this movie until we're like rolling 4 deep ok?
From Pimp My Ride:
Xizibit: Being that we could not find out what the hell to do with those bones we found. We decided to do what everybody does when they find bones. Dip 'em in gold. So you can wear 'em around your neck. Ya know what I'm sayin? Ya know what I'm sayin? Gold plated bones. Ya know what I'm sayin?
From Pushing Daisies:
Ned: I asked you not to use the word "zombie." It's disrespectful. Stumbling around squawking for brains? It's not how they do. And "undead"? Nobody wants to be "un"-anything. Why begin a statement with a negative? It's like saying "I don't disagree." Just say you agree.
Emerson: Are you comfortable with "living dead"?
Ned: You're either living or your dead. When you're living, you're alive. When you're dead, that's what you are. But when you're dead and then you're not, you're alive again. Can't we say "alive again"?
Finished Old Man's War
I don't remember what the Rraey were supposed to look like... Did Scalzi describe their appearance? If so, I guess I was too tired for it to make an impression the way the other aliens' descriptions did.
Tachyons in Fiction
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