Probe Droid Report

Coasters I Rode at Busch Gardens Tampa

2011-11-29T20:16:00.005-05:00

Kwazi - Tiger
Wooden coaster was quite violent in the nest of tight curves after the opening hills. My mother complained, "It shook me up like a milkshake!"

SheiKra
This was terrifying. The long pauses and not having a floor or an enclosure made the terror intense.

Montu
This is a great coaster! Despite being a true danglefoot, Montu delivers the feeling of flight over a long, loping, looping ride. Fast!

Kumba
Another smooth and fast coaster that totally rocks - like riding on a rocket ship or a vehicle in a Star Wars movie.

Sand Serpent
Much scarier than it looks! The wheels are under the car, so each of those tight 180 curves it felt like we had flown the track and were headed for the parking lot.

Scorpion
Despite small coaster the ride is intense as the loop, the curves and the helix are all very tight.

BONUS:
Cheetah Hunt
This was brand new so the line was too long to ride. It looks amazing! Note the power launch and boosters along the way. I love the canyon and trench runs - just like being in an X-wing Fighter!

Mountain Biking on Myst Island

2011-11-29T20:06:00.002-05:00

Who new places like this existed? Amazing!

Triple Crazy Transport

2011-11-29T20:00:00.002-05:00

In Soviet Russia, Soda drinks you.

2011-11-29T19:56:00.000-05:00

Thanks Unique Daily!

"Steamy Hot Yoga"

2011-09-27T17:11:00.005-04:00

I thought this was an ironic/joke video. You know one that was also hot. Silly me! Its actually a company that produces totally non-ironic videos of women doing yoga in a steamy hot manner. Also interesting to note that apparently light FM jazzy jazz is the porn music of the 21st century.

Plenty more for sale at Steamy Hot Yoga!

Thanks Grimmbot!

Songified NASCAR Religious Endorsement

2011-09-09T22:25:00.004-04:00

This is amazing on many levels, not the least of which is the incredibly catchy chorus/hook. WARNING: You will continue to sing sheer nonsense after the video has ended!

Slug Rider

2011-09-01T19:04:00.003-04:00

Thanks UniqueDaily!

Portal + Oldboy = I want more!

2011-08-27T11:05:00.002-04:00

Very few short films leave me burning to know what happens next! Great opportunity for Hollywood if they can get their remake-making, sequel-spewing heads out of their a$$es.

Flipbook Mortal Kombat

2011-08-27T11:04:00.000-04:00

Thanks Grimmbot!

Interviewing Boutros Boutros Boutros Ghali

2011-08-17T23:40:00.000-04:00

Oh No!

2011-08-13T23:47:00.002-04:00

Thanks Cracked.com!

That bitch can RIDE!

2011-08-12T14:43:00.002-04:00

Thanks Grimbot!

Orphan Family

2011-07-26T11:32:00.003-04:00

All these little brothers and sisters are being cared for at a local wildlife park. So cute!!!

Portal Cake Recipe

2011-06-19T19:03:00.001-04:00

I always forget the adjustable aluminum head positioner, slaughter electric needle injector, cordless electric needle injector, injector needle driver, injector needle gun, cranial caps, and it contains proven preservatives deep-penetration agents and gas and odor control chemicals that will deodorize and preserve putrid tissue!

Atomic Essential Audiovisual Hypnosequence

2011-06-17T22:54:00.015-04:00

After my pal Andy showed me Half-Life for the first time, I spent a lot of time exploring the ruins of the Black Mesa Research Facility, a giant military research facility buried under the Nevada desert that is rocked apart when energy experiments rip a whole between the fabric of parallel dimensions.

You can see the original Half-Life trailer by Valve Software here, but the trailer that truly captures the whacked out brilliance of the original Half-Life game is this one, made by the equally brilliant James Benson. Check this out!

It was in the height of my enthusiasm for Half-Life that I joined Essential Clan - a fighting team taking on all comers in the Half-Life deathmatch arenas running on servers around the world. These free, public slaygrounds existed to host the 15,000 or souls per week that were looking for a fight. The performance of all individual players was captured and charted by independent ratings systems, compiled, and published on an ongoing basis, with rankings posted weekly. My best-ever individual performance as Sgt.Rock was 93rd in the world for a week, and I consistently placed in the top 250 in any given week - in the top 2% of players in the world.

My player name was a nod to my real-life service as a Sergeant in the Marines, my years spent in the mining industry and my boyhood love for the WWII-based DC comic book hero of the same name. After I joined the clan, the [Essential] tag on my Half-Life character name allowed the statistics of all of the members of the clan to be compiled as a group and compared with the many other clans that fought together and separately in the deathmatch arenas. We also fought organized head-to -head deathmatches with other clans on dedicated, private servers.

Around this same time I had been turned on to Fatboy Slim by my badass in-law sis Laura and had been listening to his albums day and night for two years straight. Then my Clan Leader revealed how easy it was to play around with the sounds in the Half-Life audio library using programs like SoundForge and buddy, the game was on!

The best of the samples that came out of these projects was the mp3 Atomic Essential in March 2000. It had been lost for years until it reappeared on Wednesday, found lurking in an old laptop. To get it on YouTube I had to add a visual component, so what follows is the original Atomic Essential upgraded with the Audiovisual Hypnosequence.

It true, I can no longer remember any of the names of my fellow besweatpantsed intoxicants. And even the countless hours we fought side-by-side in bloody and thrilling combat are but hazy nightmares to me now. But I'll always remember how great it felt to be at the top of the charts on a regular basis in 2000, fighting with a team of contenders - always in the top 10 and was sometimes the #1 Half-Life deathmatch clan in the world.

The Atomic Essential Audiovisual Hypnosequence is my anthem to that distant glory, when I was one of the best in the world at something.

Long live Essential Clan!

The foundation for Atomic Essential is the brilliant Stan Kenton song, 23 Degrees North, 82 Degrees West from 1953's New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm. The rest is all from the Half-Life library of audio files that provide every sound heard in the game.

Googling revealed that to post it on YouTube I needed to process it into another format, which I could do with Microsoft's Movie Maker software - pre-installed with Windows 7 on my PC. Movie Maker required me to add at least one image to the audio file before processing and one thing quickly led to another.

I was really pleased with what I could accomplish with Movie Maker without ever reading any instructions. So easy! The entire Audiovisual Hypnosequence was built the very first time I tried the software - all in one sitting - then posted in the middle of the same night that I first found the mp3. Not bad, Microsoft!

All right reserved to elements of the Sequence. Images, audio and designs by Stan Kenton, Valve Software, and DC Comics, with boundless credit to Fatboy Slim for changing how I listen to the world. Thanks also to EpicBrew for the route to James Benson's amazing Half-Life trailer. All rights reserved and much love intended for all original owners of content!

Make Your Dinner a Weiner!

2011-06-15T03:08:00.001-04:00

Thanks Unique Daily!

Planking in 5 Seconds

2011-06-02T23:22:00.000-04:00

Thanks UniqueDaily!

Valerie's Summer Shave

2011-05-29T19:24:00.009-04:00

Most of the year Valerie looks like this:

Here she is with her summer shave!

I love her gogo boots! And the rest of her, for that matter. She's my precious princess!

peepeepeepeeepeepeep!

2011-05-24T13:19:00.002-04:00

Critic's Response!

Thanks UniqueDaily!

Seven Snaps from the Warrior Dash

2011-05-18T09:58:00.007-04:00

Awwwww....

2011-05-05T12:33:00.001-04:00

Very nice! Well done Eire247!

Statement from a Witness

2011-04-29T21:31:00.007-04:00

As always, click to embiggen.

...and so the witness said, "I don't know who those two people were, but the woman was sitting on top of Willie Nelson!"

Very amusing Ms. Rivenbark!

Thanks to the Chlupabot for sending this my way!

Meet Me in the Diabetes Ward

2011-04-19T22:38:00.003-04:00

Learn the recipe for Cadbury Cream Egg Brownies at Gingerbread Bagels.

Badass MoFo WTF

2011-04-19T22:33:00.001-04:00

Thanks Unique Daily!

Do Not Want!

2011-04-19T22:23:00.009-04:00

Thanks Knuckles United!

Hilarious Snake vs Tail

2011-04-08T01:04:00.001-04:00

Cat Tail Fights Snake - watch more funny videos

Underwater Sculpture/Fish Habitat

2011-04-08T00:19:00.002-04:00

See more at Wired

Superjail

2011-03-22T02:15:00.003-04:00

If you've never seen Adult Swim's Superjail!, you are in the for the craziest 8 minutes of your life.

Beatles Cartoons

2011-03-22T01:40:00.004-04:00

I hadn't seen any of these since I was a kid. They are hilarious - random and surreal thanks to the shameless recycling.

I Am the Walrus

Strawberry Fields

Day Tripper

Many more at YouTube.

Wile E. Coyote in 127 Hours

2011-03-19T11:11:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the AV Club!

Log Annihilator

2011-03-12T15:34:00.003-05:00

The cool thing is this seems to be an optional accessory for use with a regular skid-steer loader. Sure beats splitting them by hand!

12 Pics from Vegas

2011-03-08T00:19:00.014-05:00

Jeep Teardown

2011-03-07T00:35:00.002-05:00

A team of soldiers tear down and then reassemble a jeep in under four minutes.

Thanks to Chlupabot!

Hottie Body Hump Club

2011-03-02T01:43:00.001-05:00

She was a disgusting hippopotamus before Ho Bo!

Hilarious!

Five Funny Fotos

2011-02-28T23:01:00.005-05:00

Thanks to the Funny Pic Dumps at PleatedJeans.com

Great Moment in Sports History

2011-02-28T22:33:00.002-05:00

Me So Horny!

2011-02-28T21:51:00.001-05:00

Thanks UniqueDaily!

Funny Signs from Asia

2011-02-06T12:14:00.004-05:00

Oh Asia, you crack me up!

Thanks to Weird Asia News!

Adorable Porcupine!

2011-02-03T16:53:00.002-05:00

Must be seen to be believed. Click here to check it out!

She's a precious princess!

2011-01-28T23:08:00.007-05:00

USMC vs Swedish Recruitment Ads

2011-01-28T22:50:00.003-05:00

An amazing contrast and testament to the power of Hollywood. All the better to devour our children, our pretties! Shred their bodies and scramble their brains with bombs and bullets - the jaws of the insatiable global military industrial profit machine. At least the Swedes are more honest about what they are getting themselves into.

Only such a small step to Paul Verhoeven's classic I'm Doing My Part campaign.

Thanks Grimmbot!

Onion Statshot: What Are We Day Dreaming About?

2011-01-28T22:48:00.003-05:00

The Onion!

Marc Maron's WTF podcast!

2011-01-28T21:13:00.009-05:00

Recently the NY Times did a fascinating piece on Marc Maron - a seasoned comic whose career is interwoven with a huge pool of today's great comics and creative talent, the folks that deliver a big part of the popular culture.

He knows seemingly everyone through the incredibly braided work histories of the comedy, television and movie worlds, so he sits down with a fascinating mix of people, exploring their careers and talking about their projects and their coworkers. He's one of them, so the conversations slip seamlessly between providing an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the nuts and bolts of how our entertainment is made to the sharing of hilarious and revelatory anecdotes about themselves, the projects, the other artists and the industry.

Maron is willing to steer these discussions into bracingly frank and personal explorations of each others lives. Whether he's known the guest for decades or is meeting them for the first time, he manages to achieve a level of comfort and revelation that is sometimes riveting, with seemingly nothing off limits.

The biggest surprise for me has been hearing all the practical strategies for dealing with the stress and craziness of life. What it takes to be a good friend. How to heal a relationship that has been damaged in the past. The biochemical ways in which the body amply rewards the male for touching his penis.

Hilarious, talented people having amazing, deeply personal conversations - check it out!

WTF with Marc Maron

Minnesota Death Star

2011-01-17T00:37:00.001-05:00

I love the intro...

Thanks Unique Daily!

Chinese Lightning

2010-12-27T11:27:00.004-05:00

"Too Fast, Too Much" from Nathan Mauger on Vimeo.

Very cool time lapse project. Thanks Unique Daily!

Beginning Texter on Board!

2010-12-19T17:26:00.004-05:00

Chlupabot strikes again!

BBC: 200 Countries, 200 Year, 4 minutes

2010-12-19T17:17:00.002-05:00

Brilliant visualization of a complex topic!

Thanks Chlupabot!

Sol Cinema

2010-12-13T15:43:00.003-05:00

Check out what must surely be the world's smallest movie theater, which runs entirely on solar power!

Click here to visit the Sol Cinema website.

Thanks Unique Daily!

Farewell Irvin Kershner

2010-11-30T00:47:00.004-05:00

Director of The Empire Strikes Back, the greatest of the Star Wars films.

All Time Great SNL: Celebrity Jeopardy

2010-11-12T23:32:00.002-05:00

Click here for a LOL montage of Celebrity Jeopardy featuring Will Ferrell and Darrell Hammond!

All Time Great SNL: Point - Counterpoint

2010-11-12T23:09:00.004-05:00

This is a perfectly written sketch and still hilarious to this day, as well as a nice piece of political satire.

Thanks Grimmbot!

George Takei PSA

2010-11-06T00:00:00.001-04:00

"This is us!"

2010-11-01T08:52:00.008-04:00

Jon Stewart's closing speech at the Rally for Sanity was very powerful, a moving end to an event was wonderful - good cheer and friendliness with no problems that I could see. Amazing given the sea of people in attendance!

"We live now in hard times, not end times."

This was my view of the event:

I was right in front of the prominent white tent in the previous photo.

Big Cat Halloween

2010-10-20T18:08:00.001-04:00

I love that these giant cats play in the exact same way as my four house cats.

Thanks UniqueDaily!

Yikes!

2010-10-14T23:15:00.003-04:00

The last thing she said raised all the hairs on my arms.

My Girlfriend Destroyed My Life - Watch more Funny Videos

Thanks to Break.com, where this was part of a collection titled 13 Sexiest Psycho Girlfriends in Internet History.

Talk about getting a boner...

2010-10-06T10:03:00.005-04:00

Thanks Visboo!

They do things a little differently.

2010-10-06T09:59:00.001-04:00

Thanks lolBoom!

Atari Storage System

2010-09-21T18:42:00.011-04:00

Here are some pics of an Atari display system I just made from Masonite, trim material and hot glue.

This is my original "Light Sixer", purchased with funds I earned over the course of an entire summer at a rate of $1.00 per hour circa 1981 or so. It no longer works, but I cannot stand the idea of parting with it after all the hours spent earning it and then playing on it. Its a tangible artifact to a childhood long gone.

The cartridges also date from that era, representing the best of the best, IMHO. In the order I came to acquired them, they are:

Air-Sea Battle
Space Invaders
Breakout
Berzerk
Missile Command
Ms. Pac Man
Video Pinball
River Raid
Defender
Pitfall!
Starmaster
Adventure
Bowling

Honorable mentions for cartridges that seem to have been lost over the years include:

Combat
Boxing

Bravo Cleary & Harding!

2010-09-16T17:16:00.007-04:00

If this does not put a smile on your face, nothing will!

Its in the same league as the always-amazing Daft Bodies' Harder Better Faster Stronger.

More hypnotic hilarity at UniqueDaily!

"I have read and agree to the terms of service."

2010-09-08T02:15:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the whack format. I'm too ignorant to know how to adjust this one.
See tons more at Funny Graphs!

That is one BAD MO-FO!

2010-09-08T02:05:00.000-04:00

Peeping Tom

2010-09-02T21:19:00.002-04:00

EMBED-Peeping Tom Cat - Watch more free videos

Thanks UniqueDaily!

"Not Just for Job Quitting!"

2010-08-26T23:24:00.003-04:00

Thanks UniqueDaily!

Three Songs That Play in My Head

2010-08-26T21:02:00.012-04:00

over and over and over and over....

Beastie Boys: "Intergalactic" from Hello Nasty.
Click here for this all-time-great, must-see music video.

Jazz and Awol that's our team
Step inside the party disrupt the whole scene
When it comes to beats well I'm a fiend
I like my sugar with coffee and cream

Click for more lyrics!

Beastie Boys: "Just a Test", also from Hello Nasty.
Attached here to some random cloud footage.

Like sand in one hand You can't hold for long
Like scheming on a plan that goes all wrong
Like fudge and caramel they're not the same
And it's a shame all you talk is game

Click for more lyrics!

MC Frontalot + Optimus Rhyme: "Very Poorly Concealed Secret Track" from Secrets from the Future. Song ends at 4:57.

Every ball is branded, serve it left-handed
O.R.P.P.R.B. see the label in demand

Click for more lyrics!

‘Back door, huh? Good idea!’: Star Wars Speed Dating!

2010-08-22T22:40:00.003-04:00

'Star Wars' speed-dating: A three-minute shot at the chance to stop flying Solo

By Alexandra Petri
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 21, 2010

ORLANDO -- Deciding not to wear my inflatable Jabba the Hutt suit was tough. But, I reasoned, I wanted guys to like me for my personality, not just my appearance.

So a week ago, I donned a skirt and "Star Wars" T-shirt and stepped into line with 54 other women at the entrance to a conference room on the third level of the Orange County Convention Center. We were among more than 250 fans of the sci-fi saga who showed up to participate in the first-ever bout of speed-dating at a "Star Wars" convention.

Read the story at The Washington Post.

Other lines that I bet were exchanged:

‘Get in there you big furry oaf, I don’t care what you smell!’

‘Luke, at that speed do you think you’ll be able to pull out in time?’

‘You’ve got something jammed in here real good.’ ‘

‘Look at the size of that thing!’

‘I thought that hairy beast would be the end of me.’

‘Size matters not. Judge me by my size, do you?’

‘There’s an awful lot of moisture in here.’

‘Possible he came in through the south entrance.’

‘Control, control! You must learn control!’

‘Hey, point that thing someplace else.’

‘I never knew I had it in me.’

‘There is good in him, I’ve felt it.’

‘Hey, Luke, thanks for coming after me — now I owe you one.’

‘She’s gonna blow!’

‘Pull out! You’re not doing any good back there!’

‘YAHOOOOO! You’re all clear, kid. Now let’s blow this thing and go home. ‘

“Oh. I thought they smelled bad on the *outside*.’

Thanks to RadarBot for the story!
Thanks to Myconfinedspace for the list!

Picnic Basket Playhouse Presents:

2010-08-09T10:50:00.006-04:00

Spying on the Order of Hoofstock

Brilliant!

2010-07-25T00:37:00.003-04:00

So far the other Auto-Tune posts are equally delightful.

Thanks again to Grimmbot!

Thor and Captain America!

2010-07-21T20:24:00.005-04:00

Wow! This concept artwork looks great! They are definitely playing up to Captain America's WWII origin-era birth as an American super-soldier built to created to dismantle the Nazi war machine. Could this carry the tone and intensity of Band of Brothers, except where one of the brothers is Captain America?

I love the Wagnerian scope and tone of this battle between Loki and Thor! I can hear the score booming in my head - an entire legion of tubas, baritones and trombones belting out Branagh's vision of Sigfried's Funeral.

This artwork looks great. It will be amazing to see all this realized in lavish productions. I hope they remember to breath some life into them as well.

These are from MTV's coverage of Comic-Con.

Why Women Stay Single

2010-07-19T21:37:00.004-04:00

More hilarity at TimeIdol.com!

Star Wars Personal Transport Prototype

2010-07-19T21:13:00.002-04:00

Wow! Its a cross between a Phantom Menace racing pod and a Return of the Jedi speeder bike! You know, except for the slow speed.

Thanks Grimmbot!

Picnic Basket Playhouse Presents

2010-07-19T20:13:00.002-04:00

"Barnyard Ballet"

He survived!

2010-07-14T16:54:00.003-04:00

...which is amazing.

Thanks to UniqueDaily.com!

The Backyard Lazy River

2010-07-14T00:09:00.003-04:00

How cool is that? Now in reach of the well endowed homeowner thanks to the good folks at RiverFlow!

Wow!

2010-07-14T00:06:00.003-04:00

Travel Photos: #0003

2010-07-13T22:13:00.012-04:00

Check out this groovy lost temple at the zoo in lovely Audubon Park in New Orleans, from a visit on May 6, 2008.

Perhaps it was all those Robert E. Howard stories I read as a teenager, lost cities in desert, island and jungle - all populated with gibbering, toothy-mawed horrors and/or the last perverse shreds of humanity - repugnant charades of civilization drenched in madness and orgy - and all soon to know the business end of Conan's mighty hewing sword! Or perhaps my dad and stepmom were right - that the living energy that is the true meaning of each of us returns to wear the mobile meat box over and over again, that for each of us there are past lives to which images like these might speak. Whatever the reasons, scenes of lost civilization really resonate for me, whether Detroit 2010 or the truly ancient - long and then almost countless generations to reach the times of the Khmer Empire (1,200 years ago), Greece (2,800 years ago), Ancient Egypt (5,100 years ago), Sumeria (7,000 years ago!). Indeed, any one of us is only dust in the wind - like one of so many ants.

In the meantime, that fountain feature in the last photo would make a great and do-able centerpiece for a ruins-themed backyard micro-pool/patio/hot tub area. Where this one has stone eyes I'd leave a hollowed out chamber where you could light a fire.

Alternate Ending to Willy Wonka

2010-07-11T00:22:00.003-04:00

Thanks to The Coderbot!

Mom Spanked the Gay Out of Me

2010-07-03T16:05:00.000-04:00

Leprechaun Remix 3X

2010-07-01T22:39:00.005-04:00

Does everyone remember the Leprechaun sighting in Mobile, Alabama, a few years ago? Check out these remixes!

I want the gold! This one comes equipped with a monster booty-shaking riff/beat/hook.

I love this one's driving beat and trippy echoes.

Whoa!

Conan the Barbarian: The Musical

2010-06-30T01:34:00.000-04:00

Thank to Aerobot!

Travel Photos: #0002

2010-06-27T21:00:00.007-04:00

Tax dollars hard at work in southern Utah on July 21, 1998!

I seem to remember the fellow being annoyed by our gales of laughter.

Travel Photos: #0001

2010-06-27T20:30:00.019-04:00

We took these in 2001 in the famous Sedlec Ossuary near the medieval mining town of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic, where the remains of thousands of black death and Hussite War victims were arranged by a local woodcarver in 1870.

Here's The Bride posing under the chandelier.

Here's the Coat-of-Arms of the local lord - the Schwarzenbergs - reproduced in the same materials, followed by a more pedestrian rendering of the same for comparison. And yes, that is a 20 or so foot tall mountain of skulls and femurs in the background.

Of special interest is the lower right quadrant, wherein is depicted a raven plucking the eye out of the corpse head of a Turk - a little shout-out to the Schwarzenberg conquest of the Turkish fortress of Raab in 1599. This is badass even on the painted version, but especially when lovingly rendered in human bones. Here's a closeup I found on the googleweb:

As soon as we arrive the woman manning the door asked if we minded if she ran a small errand for a few minutes, leaving us alone in the place. We looked at one another, then answered, "Uhhh... We guess so?" And with that she closed the heavy wooden doors at the top of the stairs and locked us in behind them. Of course nothing came of it, but we were definitely hoping she looked both ways before she crossed the street on her errand lest an accident leave us forgotten to eventually become a part of the exhibit!

Ten great "Oh Shit!" moments from BaconBabble

2010-06-24T15:43:00.006-04:00

Many more at BaconBabble!

Ozzy makes dreams come true!

2010-06-22T23:27:00.005-04:00

Remember that video of Japanese guitar prodigy Yuto Miyazawa playing "Crazy Train" on the Ellen Degeneres show? Here's the brilliant follow-up:

Great Ozzy Interview!

2010-06-19T00:22:00.004-04:00

Most interviews with Ozzy Osbourne ask the same boring questions or are cut to highlight the damage he has sustained. Chris Hardwick delivered an in-depth, conversational interview that allowed Ozzy to make his points, which were witty, candid and down-to-earth. As a framework are the top 10 questions submitted by Digg subscribers, some of which are quite thought-provoking.

Click here to see for yourself!

Thanks Rowebot!

So... who pays for it?

2010-06-17T20:49:00.004-04:00

Congressman Joe Barton from Texas (R), the ranking Energy Committee member, has apologized to BP for the deeply shameful act of President Obama "shaking down" a corporation to the tune of $20 billion for Gulf region repair and restitution. This is surprising, since the only realistic alternative is for the American Taxpayer to foot the bill for most of the cleanup and countless lives ruined, the kind of bailout he bitterly opposed two years ago. Check it out!

Or perhaps Congressman Barton imagines a third path, in which no one pays and the Gulf Coast can go f$ck itself?

Just for fun, here is Secretary Chu failing to explain plate tectonics to Mr. Barton, who smirks like the high school oaf who thinks he has just stumped the brainy kid.

A message of some kind?

2010-06-15T23:52:00.006-04:00

From the AP:

A six-story-tall statue of Jesus Christ with his arms raised along a highway was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm Monday night and burned to the ground, police said.
The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

Civilization in Decay

2010-06-11T23:45:00.004-04:00

Click here for a cool collection of photos of abandon subway stations at The Infrastructurist.

Peaches Piggy - NSFW!

2010-06-10T23:39:00.001-04:00

Thanks Grimmbot!

The New Face of British Petroleum

2010-06-10T22:20:00.005-04:00

The imagination reels to consider the cloud of death that stretches a mile to the seafloor and who knows how many tens or hundreds of miles from there.

BP has lost fully 50% of its market capitalization since that rig exploded, but the company is quite healthy with oil at $60 a barrel. The Gulf Coast will continue to feel the repercussions from that blast for decades to come - environmental and economic - as we witness and endure these and other convulsions of the dying oil economy.

Hedgehog Riverdancing!

2010-06-05T00:30:00.003-04:00

See more at UniqueDaily.com

Gotta get this book!

2010-06-01T01:27:00.002-04:00

This example was in the comment section at Amazon:

"Errors in Communication Between My Hairdresser and Me in the Form of What I Said and What He Heard":

Said: Just a little off the length, and a little thinned out?
Heard: Could you make me look like a clown's apprentice?

Said: A little shorter, thanks.
Heard: I want the style that would emerge if you combined all three of Charlie's Angels.

The Gate to Hell is in Guatemala

2010-05-31T22:20:00.004-04:00

Read the story at: DotShot

Cambodian 'jungle woman' flees back to wild

2010-05-31T22:16:00.002-04:00

Mr Lou blames his daughter's second disappearance on "forest spirits". In a society shrouded in mystic beliefs, he has also enlisted a fortune teller to help with the search. He is saving up for an offering of one wild ox, one pig, one chicken and four jugs of wine, which, the mystic assures him, will secure his daughter's return.

A separate theory was offered by local rights group, Ad hoc, which believes that the woman struggled to readapt to society and suffers from stress. "She must have experienced traumatic events in the jungle that have affected her ability to speak," said Penn Bunna.

Click here to read the whole story at The Telegraph site.

Ozzy Scares the Fans

2010-05-27T23:59:00.001-04:00

John Pinette the Ewok

2010-05-24T10:13:00.000-04:00

Thanks UniqueDaily!

C3-P OH OH OH OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

2010-05-18T00:31:00.003-04:00

From a thread about a giant Star Wars collection that is being liquidated.

Thanks Rowebot!

Songs of "Sabotage"

2010-05-16T00:17:00.012-04:00

Black Sabbath's Symptom of the Universe, from their sixth album - Sabotage (1975).

The main riff and Bill Ward's drumming are particularly spectacular. I love the turns this song takes, from the relentless power riff opening to the Yes-like technical rock midsection at 3:36 before climbing to the funky acoustic groove at 4:15. Ozzy's singing there is as good as it gets, perhaps the last time we would ever see the raw, ragged power that was the norm in the early days for Ozzy. I love the slow fade that takes us out of the song from that slow groove, the mellow retreat standing in such contrast to the gigantic pounding riff that opened the song. Check it out!

Sabbath's next two albums would display equal parts burnout, lack of inspiration and train wreck, leaving Sabotage as the last of the great Ozzy-era Sabbath albums, IMHO.

The Beastie Boys' Sabotage from Ill Communication - their fourth album (1994).

I took the long way around getting to the Beastie Boys. I arrived at college the year their 9 million selling debut Licensed to Ill hit the streets, so I definitely knew the words to Fight For Your Right to Party just like every other college student in the nation, but fundamentally I did not get what they were doing at all. Certainly with regards to sampling, where I remember complaining at the time that they had literally ripped off Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.

Nearly 25 years later I finally get it, the brilliance of sampling revealed to me at first by Fatboy Slim's first three albums and then the Propellerheads' Decksandrumsandrockandroll, all of which are brilliant.

My path to rap started with the song Bawtida from Kid Rock's gigantic breakthrough 11-fold platinum release, Devil Without a Cause. I was driving to Ohio, a 10+ hour ride. Probably an hour or so outside of Cincinnati I could usually begin to pick up a good rock radio station, but unbeknown to me, the station was doing a promotion where they had some poor DJ locked in the booth all weekend with Bawtida playing on a continuous loop to raise funds for a charity.

I was already seven hours into the drive when I tuned in, so I was completely zoned out. It took me at least 30 minutes to realize that this was not one long song, but actually a normal length song repeating. The song was heavy and rocking enough that I continued to listen to it, also curious about what was going on since there was absolutely nothing in the way of between-song promotion for the fund raiser. It was a solid TWO HOURS into this before the DJ finally cut in, and then he just wailed, "Will someone please get me some cigarettes?"

Later yet the whole promo was finally revealed, but by then I was singing along, so I continued to listen to Bawtida until it faded away as Cincinnati slipped from my rear view mirror - probably a total of 3.5 hours. Amazingly, I still had no idea who the artist was despite the fact that the song literally opens with Kid Rock yelling through a megaphone "My name is Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid Rock!", thinking it was just a long rebel yell kind of thing.

So after the Bawtida incident I was indoctrinated into rap.

MC Chris brought it all together for me, the use of booty-shaking loops and samples with the use of the voice and the word as a instruments of mind bending rhythm and flow. Taking things to a whole new level was the fact that his songs spoke not only of traditionals rap themes like sexual prowess and skill as a rapper, but also directly to my core nerd interests - a giant first. Here's a song that pretty well tells this story, with illustrative fan artwork in case you miss a line.

Recently DJ Format's funky explosion and MC Frontalot's hardcore nerdcore have both come onto my radar, all of that work remaining lodged in "high rotation" in iTunes for months now.

And after all this it struck me that I had never even heard any of the Beastie Boys albums past the first one. A couple of $1.99 eBay auctions later have delivered Paul's Boutique (1989) and Ill Communication, both of which have proven to be brilliant - filled with mind-blowing, funky, and hard-rocking songs. Sabotage is a great example. And the video is hilarious:

Here are some more from these albums, since they are so fantastic.

The UNBELIEVABLY funky but un-embed-able Root Down, also from Ill Communication.

Sound of Science, from Paul's Boutique, much of it laid on loops carved from Beatles tracks.

Egg Man, also from Paul's Boutique.

W00t!

More proof that cats are hilarious!

2010-05-14T00:45:00.003-04:00

UniqueDaily.com!

He felt it alright!

2010-05-14T00:42:00.002-04:00

Which is more surprising - the deed or the lack of reaction to the deed?

Thanks to Yisbot!

Random WTF Ahoy!

2010-05-05T17:21:00.002-04:00

Perplexed at UniqueDaily.com