Category: Digital Culture

Re: Nov 29th and 30th

WTF?

I didn’t even have an entry those two days.

Over on Slashdot, they’re hosting Gabe and Tycho’s Christmas episode of Penny Arcade.

I’ll just say that the subject matter is near and dear to my heart.

I’ll have to put in a small plug here for Penny Arcade. I owe them a TON of hits on this blog…even now, one of the most searched for terms to get to my blog via Google is “Strawberry Shortcake Penny Arcade” from this blog entry.

After looking over a few comment spam options, I decided to give Spam Karma a try. So it’s active now…if anyone has any problems leaving a comment, please let me know!

Here’s an interesting ‘net phenomenon that I hadn’t picked up on yet: Woot!

Evidently, it’s a sort of niche commercial site. The kick is that they sell one thing, every day, starting at Midnight, at really good prices. When they sell out, they’re done for the day, that’s it, no more stuff. One day, an MP3 player. The next day, a remote control car. But just the one thing, and just for 24 hours (or until they sell out). Sometimes they have 50 of something, sometimes 1000.

This is the sort of commercial enterprise that could ONLY exist on the ‘net. I think it’s a brilliant counter-point to the we-sell-everything superstores like Amazon.

I’m in the New York Times!

Ok, so it’s just my name, and it’s in like 10 point font, and in an ad. But it’s still cool….especially since it’s for Firefox. Anyone else listed? If so, you might wanna snap up a poster.

How many famous names can we spot in the ad? I’ve already noticed Cory Doctorow‘s name in there…anyone else that you see?

…one huge fscking leap backwards for Alabama, that most maligned of the Southern States (well, ok…Mississippi certainly counts as well).

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A judge refused to delay a trial Tuesday when an attorney objected to his wearing a judicial robe with the Ten Commandments embroidered on the front in gold.

Yes, you read that right. Ten Commandments. On. His. Robe.

*sigh*

Clearly we have real issue with this whole “seperation separation of church and state” in AL. One more time for those in the back row:

“As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion…” – George Washington, Treaty of Tripoli, 4 November, 1796

I knew about this tradition, but hadn’t seen pics in awhile.

A ‘Krampuss’ holding a torch parades through Munich’s inner city, December 12, 2004. Young single men will wear the traditional attires known as ‘krampusse’, consisting of animal skins and masks, with large cow-bells to make loud and frightening noises, and parade through the city. They follow ‘Saint Nicholas’ from house to house in December each year to bring luck to the good and punish the idle. REUTERS/Alexandra Winkler

Jean pointed this out on her blog, and I felt so strongly about it that I decided to add it here just for good measure. Spend the money where it will make some difference. I’m even more pleased with my Costco membership now that I know this.

The teaser trailer for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is up, and I’m not quite sure what I think about it. The sets and such look spot on, but there’s something….just not sinister enough about the take on it. The couple of times where Wonka talks during the trailer just aren’t filled with the same darkness that Wilder put into the role. Wonka was a scary, scary man in the original film, and I’m not sure I get that from the teaser.

Then again, perhaps this is just the happy get-the-kids-in-the-movie trailer. But I hope that Burton and Depp haven’t gone too silly with it, because that would ruin the balance of the story.

I had no idea.

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