Thursday, June 30, 2005

NPR's got the report

You know, the one Kenneth Tomlinson commissioned to have Frederick Mann watch NOW and quantify the liberal content. The one he won't show to the CPB board, to the public, or anyone else.

Somebody's been up to mischief in the copy room, though, and fed the report to NPR.

PDF downloads and everything.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Marzipan's Answering Machine (version 12.2)

Crying... laughing... so... hard...
Can't... breathe...

Monday, June 27, 2005

The Death of Republicanism

One of the things that has mystified me more than anything else about the Bush administration has been its ability to keep traditional conservatives within its party ranks.

Here's an eloquent reflection by a Goldwater Republican who's bailing at last.

This is a guy I'd have railed against in the 1980s as the enemy, who now I realize is just someone who differs with me, but with whom I could engage on critical issues.

His elegy for the Republican party has somehow made me very sad.

Friday, June 24, 2005

1510 AM = KPIG

Coming in July: Goodbye, Sinatra. Hello, KPIG!

Honeybee Waggle Dance Reviews

Science humor from Mcsweeneys.

Reminds me of the SF Weekly and the Bay Guardian.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Quick! Radio!

K-Mozart, 1510 AM, broadcasting out of Piedmont, is no longer classical. It switched to Oldies. Or, at that's what it was playing last week. Today it's a nostalgia station: Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Sergio Mendes, Ella & Louis. Actually, on the 20 minute ride into the city this morning with the boys, we heard three Sinatra tunes. On the way back to Berkeley they even repeated the same one.

At first I thought someone at corporate headquarters wasn't paying attention to the shuffle button.

Then I realized there's actually someone programming this, because, at the top of the hour, they play "Piggies," by the Beatles. Go figure.

Also, no commercials. And the only voice between songs says "1510 AM."

Testimony of a lifeguard/excavator/bartender

Man, I wish I'd been at this Senate hearing. Maybe I can catch a rerun on C-Span later this week.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

The Chalets: Feel the Machine Video

Don't know the band, don't know their work. But I think they're very, very talented.

Or, at least they know who to hire to make their music videos.

The Onion 2056

This week the Onion is being beamed back to us from fifty years in the future. Warning: contains audio.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

HomestarRunner.com Welcome Speech

Christa and I have watched this a half dozen times this week, and are now sneaking Homestar Runner voices into nearly every book we read to the Boy.

It's dot COM!!!

c

Monday, June 20, 2005

Grift Away

So with all of the excitement surrounding Coingate and the rest of Ohio's state pension nightmares, you may not have been following the real estate shenanigans of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-San Diego, CA).

But the foofaraw sure is inconveniencing his neighbors.
Another neighbor, who lives across the street from Cunningham's home, came out to chastise the group [of citizens protesting outside his house], saying she had a party starting soon and her guests would need places to park.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Matchbook Films: The Blog

The new Matchbook Films is LIVE.
Hoping to post at least one video a week.

Please bug me if I get behind.

Friday, June 17, 2005

Terry Moran vs. Scott McClellan

ABC's Terry Moran steps up to the plate and swings freely at Scott McClellan's head over the question of whether the Iraqi insurgency is indeed in the "last throes."

Too bad he wasn't questioning Cheney directly.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Blognabbit

There once was a randy young abbot/
who thought he might entice a rabbit/
to experience his hype/
so with Movable Type/
he feverishly updated his blognabbit--

blognabbit blognabbit blognabbit

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Summer blockbusters

Adam Felber of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me predicts the boffo news stories of summer 2005.

Toys of Our Lives

A sixth grade video blogger creates a Bratz n Barbie soap opera.

Friday, June 10, 2005

I forgot all about StrongBad

I'd seen this site back in 2000 or 2001, and forgot all about it.

How could I have forgotten about StrongBad?

There is so much crunchy Flash goodness to enjoy. Hours and hours.

The main attraction is StrongBad's responses to visitors' emails.

StrongBad makes the rest of the internets a waste of your freaking time.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

The Web = San Francisco circa 2001

A rumination on why dotcoms failed, and on what the future might bring.

Here was a city cross-hatched by freeways that each felt just a little too dangerous to walk under. Coupled with a lack of decent public transportation, it meant there were loads of communities slightly too small to support really big stores or specialist shops. I was seeing, in short, a city in which home delivery made a ton of sense: pet supplies, groceries, late night snacks...

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Live from the National Spelling Bee

Mr. Sun, blogger and Spelling Bee fan, live blogs from the National Spelling Bee. He appears to be not so much a rabid fan of spelling bees, as of a devoted fan of North Carolina's spelling bee champs, so his coverage is extremely partisan.

Bee Buzz starts
Day 1
Color Commentary
Day 2
Wrap Up

Clip Party Fodder

Casshern hasn't been released in English yet, but it's slated for a 2005 release in English, I guess. Link

Greencine has it. I'll check Reel, but actually, I don't have any interest in watchng the whole movie. The Quicktime trailer itself is clipworthy, especially sans subtitles, because it looks gorgeous and at the same time virtually incomprehensible.

The ultimate in local weather reports

Because StormTracker 9000 is, like, so yesterday.

Poaching. In your dishwasher.

Hey. It's no dumber than acid-washed jeans.

Monday, June 06, 2005

Moyers: The Progressive Story of America

One of my favorites of Moyers' speeches.
From the same conference, two years ago.

As he requests, I am passing it on.

Moyers on the American Dream

From this past week's "Take Back America" conference.

I'm printing it out and taking it with me to read over lunch.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

It's a girl!

(via Boing Boing)

Magician Penn Jilette has named his first born daughter "Moxie CrimeFighter."

Saturday, June 04, 2005

The New Yorker on "Intelligent Design"

A more in-depth look at the "scientific" argument for Intelligent Design than I've read previously, explicating the theories of biochemist Michael Behe and mathematician William Dembski.

I might be inspired to read more about it, but the whole thing still just makes me so mad.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Mike D'As Cannes Wrapup

Written for the Nashville Scene, part of the family of alt-weeklies that includes LA Weekly and the Village Voice.

Because his Esquire columns are only available online if you're a subscriber. Which, good luck with that.

Chicken couture

[From BoingBoing]

An Austrian/Japanese design team has launched a line of clothing for chickens.

Clothing. For chickens.

Today's podcast: Lessig and Tweedy

Although fully listenable without an iPod.

A conversation on Free Culture with cyber-copyright law professor Lawrence Lessig and faux-humble megalomaniac rock star Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, as moderated by Steven Johnson, author of the new Everything Good is Bad for You.

Best to download during the evening hours, when bandwidth competition is lower. Or, figure out that whole audio torrent thing.

Or, wait. There's also a Quicktime video feed. So you can actually see Lessig's Keynote presentation.

As with most first posts

This one has little in the way of content. 'swhat it is.