Twelve boxes of heroism

You might not think that twelve simple, colored boxes would be able to convey much of an impression, but the twelve giant pixels over at 12 pixel heroes have done a great job of getting them to be pretty expressive.

Their follow up of 48 pixel heroines is more descriptive - as it should be with four times the information, but I think I like the original better.

In case you're vurious, I went 18 for 21 with the heroes and 19 for 21 with the heroines. Can anybody top either of those?

Because we just don't see enough ads

I know it's just a whole bunch of ads - something I would typically rail against since we already get way more than enough consumerism thrown down our gullets - but...

They are, as the title of the website says, Very Funny Ads.

Backyard railroads

Our local weekly paper - the Pulse Journal - recently had a story on a local group putting up what they hope will be the world's largest model railroad display. If they have their druthers, by the end of the calendar year we'll have the world's largest model railroad display in an old furnitue store 'bout five miles from my house. They're planning on having the display there permanently as a sort of museum/tourist attraction.

Now you may know - as I certainly know - that the overall tourism draw of the world's largest model railroad display (20,000+ square feet) is probably somewhere less than that of the largest ball of twine in Minnesota, but that doesn't seem to be slowing down the Greater Cincinnati Garden Railroad Society. Their website shows the phenomenal plans as well as opportunities for anybody to volunteer to help them out in getting things together.

Admittedly, if and when this layout ever comes into being in the fullest scale, I'll be right there waiting to get in - as will some other locals. This probably has something to do with the fact that one of my neighbors is a part of the Society. I've no clue what his name is nor much about him other than that his backyard has a model railroad tressle in it, and a couple of times a year his front yard has a sign in it telling people that his yard is open for one of the stops on the tour.

In all honesty, the site looks like they'd be a fun bunch of folks. It's a little like the physics club from The Breakfast Club.

The ingenuity of the young

Always good to remember that we're not exactly working at Fort Knox when we're at school, eh? Thanks to two young ladies at Trenton for reminding me of that.

Another export to the colonies

I know, I know...I may as well just scream that I'm pretty much hopelessly behind the times in terms of new music, but I thought I'd take a post and pimp for Lily Allen - Britain's newest pop/ska/dub/old skool export. Yeah, she's been all over the magical interweb and all, but she's still worth checking out. The sound is easy and pleasant, and the lyrics turn out to be really kinda snarky. Highly recommended.


- Lily Allen & The Rakes - "Let's Dance" (live)


- Lily Allen - "Littlest Things"


- Lily Allen - "LDN"


- Lily Allen - "LDN" (live)


- Lily Allen - "Alfie"


- Lily Allen on the internet


- Lily Allen - "Friday Night" (live)

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- Lily Allen - "Smile"


- Lily Allen - "Smile" (live)


- Lily Allen - "LDN" (alternate video)


- Lily Allen - "Smile" (live)


- Lily Allen - "LDN" (live)

A national treasure

Randy Newman is a treasure, and absolute national treasure. His songs are among the most well-crafted masterpieces of the past forty years. They flow across easy, soothing melodies while commenting in the most satirical means possible on all sort of topics: religion, politics, history, stereotypes. Rarely - if ever - has commentary come on so relaxing a bed.

Most people know Randy Newman from his movie music, for which he has won Oscars for Best Song. Here are two of his well-known movie songs, as an intro for today.


- "Good News"


- "You've Got a Friend in Me"

He has also done a number of songs based on historical tales, some of which shine a spotling on our less upstanding parts of history.


- "Louisiana (1927)"


- "Sail Away"


- "Christmas in Capetown"

His other songs aren't without comment, but they aren't exactly historical perspectives, either.


- "Political Science"


- "I Love LA"


- "Story of a Rock n Roll Band"


- "God's Song"


- "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"


- "I Love L.A."

His most well-known non-movie song really got him into trouble - as the subtitles on this video explain


- "Short People"

His highly casual style has lead us, however, to some parodies, most famously from Family Guy


- Family guy

If you're intrigued, go searching YouTube for "Rednecks", "Christmas in Capetown", and "My Life is Good" - all of which push the line of sattire and include a few words that I'm going to decline to link to here on my school blog.

A challenge for you...

Here's my simple challenge for you. Try to watch this video calmly and with your hands at your sides.

That's all...

Nothing tough, nothing too strenuous...

But no bopping your head back and forth...

No singing along...

No fist pumping, no fist rolling, no punching at the camera at the appropriate times...

No putting your hands in the air to "save my soul"...

No running your hand through your hair doing you "best James Dean"...

No fluffing your fly-away, Farrah Fawcet hairstyle...


In case you're curious, it's almost impossible for me to meet my own challenge.

To annoy or not to annoy

I'm not really a fan of practical jokes, primarily because I don't take being the butt of them well, so I'm guessing that I shouldn't play them on anybody else. Sort of a bit of the golden rule, you know...

That doesn't mean that the Annoy-a-tron doesn't tempt me, though. There are a few people I know who might be excellent victims of the Annoy-a-tron, but I'm going to refrain. That wouldn't be fair...

And it'd be like fifty bucks to put enough of them around that person's classroom...

Return of the Random Ten

Okay, that last plot was evil (it was post #666 since I started this hubristic endeavour), so we'll go back to the standard random top ten...

Today's random ten from iTunes...

Fast Car by Tracy Chapman

One of the most beautiful, haunting songs of the 80's...gorgeous guitar over a heart-wrenching, amazingly effective story...the drums sound a bit high in the mix when they kick in, but it's still nearly perfect

Loch Lomond by Richard Thompson Band

From the six-disk boxed set RT...interesting cover of the classic Scottish tune...odd to hear with saxaphone but still enjoyable

Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World by U2

Another haunting tune...this from U2's Achtung Baby - the first part of which is wonderful...the last third - meh...

Kentucky Mandolin by Yonder Mountain String Band

Entertaining instrumental from one of the best bluegrass/jam bands playing today...if they'd start playing smoke-free venues (or at least ones with some ventelation), I'd be seeing them more often and enjoying their amazing live shows again

One by U2 with Brian Eno and Pavorati

From the bootleg Duets, this live track brings out more of the feeling than the album version did

Stay (Faraway, So Close!) by U2

Another from an unofficial U2 release - this from Jesus was a Cool Guy...the sounds's not great, so I'd stick with the album version this time

The Shining by Badly Drawn Boy

Excellent, dragging melody played on chello and french horn (I think) bringing in a wonderfully slow song that's in high rotation...love lost, one of the finest realms for any artist to plumb

A Man in Need by Richard Thompson

Not the finest live version he's done - I think I prefer his solo lives to his band concerts - Thompson here goes back into the catalog for a song that he did better with his wife...her voice is missed on this one

Colours by Donovan

Sap...pure, simple sap...pretty sap, though...Donovan was a decent artist but certainly not the next Bob Dylan as Dylan pointed out in Don't Look Back...Colours isn't his finest work, but it's good enough to not let him be forgotten

Happy Together by the Turtles

Ah, sunshiny 60's pop...goota love the Southern Cal music of this era...the Mamas, the Papas, the Airplane, the Dead...Happy Together sums the whole thing up for me...a lovely song

Again the the top twenty five...in blocks...

Favorite films of the Brat Pack actors

Favorite films with Molly Ringwald

1. The Breakfast Club
2. Sixteen Candles
3. Pretty in Pink
4. Betsy's Wedding
5. Wow, it gets pretty thin from there...sheesh

Favorite films with Emilio Estevez

1. The Breakfast Club
2. Young Guns II
3. St Elmo's Fire
4. Young Guns
5. Repo Man
Sorry, I've never actually seen The Outsiders

Favorite films with Judd Nelson

1. The Breakfast Club
2. Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
3. New Jack City
4. St Elmo's Fire
5. From the Hip

Favorite films with Anthony Michael Hall

1. The Breakfast Club
2. Vacation
3. Weird Science
4. Edward Scissorhands
5. Sixteen Candles

Favorite films with Ally Sheedy

1. The Breakfast Club
2. WarGames
3. St Elmo's Fire
4. Short Circuit
5. Maid to Order

And pretty much because none of those have even five good films - Anthony Michael Hall being the best of a very weak bunch...

Favorite films with Demi Moore

1. A Few Good Men
2. Indecent Proposal
3. The Seventh Sign
4. St Elmo's Fire
5. About Last Night
Weird, the only one not in The Breakfast Club, easily my favorite Brat Pack film, has the best overall career.

Leave nothing but small footprints

We need to buy less.

We need to buy locally.

We need to use public transportation.

We need to stop flying all over the place.

We need to reinsulate our homes.

We need to replace washers and dryers with high-efficiency models.

We need to use grey water to keep the plants alive.

We need to plant appropriate to our climate.

We need to reduce our footprint.

Why I don't buy comic books...

There are loads and loads of reasons why I don't buy comic books but rather grab the trade paperbacks at the local library or book store (not that I buy them from the books stores - I just read them while sitting in the provided comfy chairs).

• Comics are pricey.
• Individual issues are too poorly made to store well.
• Storylines drag on and on.
• Reading first-runs are too much of a crapshoot in terms of quality.
• I'm cheap.

But this column does a much better job of explaining why the floppies should die.

Happy snowday, everybody

Have fun today - either catching up with work you should've been doing or just messing around in the five or so inches of white powder that came down yesterday...

Comics in a Whole-Lot-of-Context

Because I know you'll need something to read on Wednesday (fingers are so totally crossed, let me mention)...

Within the past decade or two, the world of graphic novels - or, if you prefer, comic books - has begun to move from the fringes of the literary world into - or at least closer to - the mainstream.

Libraries are recognizing the power of drawing in young readers through offerings of manga and graphic novels. Bookstores certainly are willing to sell comics in single issues or in trade paperback forms. And, thankfully, some scholars have come to recognize that graphic novels can certainly qualify as literature of the highest regard.

In the past, I have pointed out this latter development through links to Jeff Tepper's excellentSequential History thesis regarding the development of comic books and comic culture in the US, Watchmen's presence on Time's 100 greatest English-language novels list, the work of Scott McCloud, and the number of comic-themed movies that are being made by mainstream movie studios.

This week, I offer you another highly literate source of comics info: Comics in Context.

Comics in Context is an ongoing column written by Peter Sanderson, comic book historian and lecturer at NYU. According to his Wikipedia entry, Sanderson was "first hired by DC in the early 1980s, where he was given the task of reading every comic book published by DC since 1935". He "then went to work for Marvel as their first (and only) archivist, and contributed as a researcher on the various Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe series in the 1980s and early 1990s." As such, I'm thinking that he's uniquely qualified to write a "series of critical essays on comics, cartoon art, and related subjects", and his qualifications show as every one of his column entries runs for a thousand words or more.

The column is currently on issue #162 and can be found in two places. The first 132 columns can be found on IGN's website, and the rest of them on the new Quick Stop Entertainment site.

I'll admit to having only read a dozen or so of the columns - largely cherry-picking based on the summaries found on the two sites, but I'll be working back through most of the archives.

Icky yet attractive

1408 looks interesting. Good first two leads in Jackson and Cusack. Interesting premise. Stephen King story.

Looks like there'll be a new horror flick on the dockett for July.

Forde Yard Dash gets it right

Pat Forde's ESPN column - the Forde Yard Dash - this week went through his thoughts on the appearance of various basketball center court logos. His thoughts ranged from the use of drastically oversized animals and letters to huge state outlines and ridiculously prolific logos.

Thankfully, he does mention that all-time classic of center court logos: Indiana's and stays in the Hoosier state to compliment the tastefully sized Butler bulldog.

Forder annoyed the crap out of me when he was a columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal, but he's gotten this column right at least.

Dad's Gonna Kill Me

Oh, wow...

As the resident Richard Thompson geek at this blog, I am terrifically excited about the fact that Richard Thompson released this track with no fanfare on his website. No clue whether this is going to show up on his next album or whether it'll be another of his toss off topical songs that never sees the light of day, but I've got a copy of it now at least.

Admittedly, I preferred his solo version of it that he played at the Southgate House last year when I saw him there, but it's still intersting to see that he's releasing mp3s on his website now. Here's to hoping that this is just the start of a pattern for him, 'cause I so want a copy of "Hots for the Smarts".

By the way, if you listen to the mp3, you may want to know in advance that 'Dad is short for Baghdad.

I want a new job

Clearly, I am doing something wrong at my job. In order for me to get paid, my employers expect me to show up to work and do my job.

I want a job like this woman had where I can avoid that whole going to work and doing my job thing but still get paid.

Anybody know about one of those?

More star-spanglered science

Every year, at least once, I get asked why helium makes your voice higher. It's been something that I probably should have explored and done some research on, but I never got around to it. Luckily I stumbled upon the above video that not only does a great job explaining things but also takes the marvelous extra step of having an assistant suck down a little sulfur hexafluoride to show off the opposite effect.

The main guy in the video is Steve Spangler whose blog reads like an excellent primer on, most prominantly, the Mentos & Diet Coke eruptions. The blog also has lots of interesting entries detailing Spangler's clear skills in and love for showing the coolness of science.

You can also see Spangler demonstrating insta-snow. Both of these videos come to us thanks to Snacks4TheBrain, yet another cool science blog.

Still no luck, though, in hunting down that video for the iodine clock demo timed out to the 1812 overture. If anybody can help me out there, I'd be much obliged.

Must See TV...return to glory (working)

Ah, another week nearly complete and me still without a snow day. What's with that, by the way?

At least it's a quality Thursday with a goodly amount of TV to zone out to tonight. Really, though, it's not about the amount of television to be watched but rather about the sheer quality of television to be watched.

From My Name is Earl to The Office followed by Scrubs, this may be my perfect threesome of sit-coms. And 30 Rock isn't a bad closer, in all honesty.

It would be the absolute rebirth of Must See TV if only NBC would call it that. But, no...they go with "Comedy Night, Done Right" instead, ruining their one chance at rebuilding the awesome power of the Must See TV brand, a brand that ruled television for a dozen years through the early 80's and into the 90's of my college years.

Ah, but let us take a moment to remember the glory that was Must See TV...

The core of NBC's Thursday night line-up was, to me at least, The Cosby Show. The ultimate white-safe black family - a doctor, a lawyer, an upscale house, dozens of aunts and uncles from the jazz and movie crowd of the past decades, and those classic sweaters - made for a run of sit-com dominance that defined the 80's. The Cosby Show opened the Thursday night lineup from fall of 1984 through spring of 1992 giving us classic moments like this.

Following The Cosby Show on the purest Thursday night lineup of my childhood were Family Ties, Cheers, and Night Court. That lineup lasted three years until Family Ties was traded out for the Cosby spin-off A Different World. Then came Dear John, a passable entry but not one quite up to the high quality level that NBC had set for itself. In 1990, NBC saw it's first failed Thursday entry in a decade, Grand, quickly replaced by Wings and another failure - this time a two-year experiment - Final Appeal.

Four years of Friends and Seinfeld brought most of the glory back to the Thursday lineup, but until Will & Grace came along, there wasn't a consistent pairing of shows with Friends and Seinfeld, and NBC screwed everything up with the placement of The Apprentice - the first non half-hour sit-com to be between 8 and 10 on Thursdays in nearly twenty years.

And then this year came along. Finally, a new perfect lineup has returned for NBC's Thursday night: My Name is Earl, The Office, Scrubs, and 30 Rock. All are excellent shows - the first last one growing on me of late, particularly last night's episode with Paul Reubens as a guest star.

It's good to have Must See TV back - even if NBC isn't using the slogan any more.

So don't expect me to accomplish much on Thursday night.