Imitation of Life

Why own the DVD when you can live it???
WSJ.com - Hollywood's 'Wedding Crashers' Inspires the Invitationless

NY Times 2005 in Pictures

2005 New York Times Year in Pictures [may req email reg]

Damon, dollars and you

Fans are from Venus, Atheletes are from Mars...

ESPN.com: Page 2 : Damon, dollars and you

Lazy Sunday (Narnia Rap)

Worthy of your bandwidth...

Muzak For Cybernetics: Andy Samberg & Chris Parnell - Lazy Sunday (Narnia Rap)

Them bones

File this under oddest story of the year...

An investigation is under way in New York into allegations that the bones of the late broadcaster Alistair Cooke were stolen before his cremation.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Alistair Cooke's 'bones stolen'

Early X-mas Present

The best part of this is that Judge Jackson was appointed by Dubya. Apparently there is a God....

Case closed.

Judge Bars 'Intelligent Design' From Pa. Classes - New York Times [may require email reg.]

Econ 101: XBox 360

""But this means that a large shortage is not a sign that manufacturers could make lots more money by raising the price - in fact, it is a sign of the opposite. Raising prices even a little would reduce demand a lot and would generate only marginally more revenue."


Marginal Revolution: Solving Das XBox Problem

The UnMuseum - King Kong

The special effects behind the original "King Kong" of 1933.

The UnMuseum - King Kong

Pants Pants Revolution

Sorry for the multi-Slate posting. They're hitting on all cylinders.

Slate.com: Pants Pants Revolution - The Gap squanders a great Spike Jonze ad

Meltdown

"The true brilliance of Paramount's high-profile acquisition of DreamWorks is that it will serve to divert from, if not totally hide, Paramount's own failure to assemble a full slate of films for 2006-2007. "

Slate.com: Meltdown - The real reason why Paramount bought DreamWorks

Top Creative Minds of 2005

Here are some of the most fascinating people that appeared in Fast Company magazine this year.

FastCompany.com: SlideShow - Top Creative Minds of 2005

Scariest Xmas Gift of 2005

Yikes!! This has "West World" meets "Planet of the Apes" written all over it. Maybe version 2.0 will include commands to throw and eat its own fecal matter.

Amazing "Alive" Chimpanzee is a fully animated, life-size bust of the real animal.
"Alive" Chimpanzee can see, hear and feel in ways that allow him to interact intelligently with you, your family, your guests...and with baffled strangers.
Soulful eyes track movements using infrared "radar" vision; his ears have stereoscopic sound sensors; his skin reacts to contact with touch sensors all around.
Four distinctive emotional moods include "Curious," "Happy," "Fearful" and "Feisty."
Override his "natural" autonomous mode by using the wireless controller to communicate specific commands as far as 30 feet away.

SharperImage.com - Alive Chimpanzee So Real, It's Unreal!

2 from the New York Times

The Museum of Modern Art has mounted the largest, most object-oriented exhibition in its history devoted to film: a show about the runaway phenomenon of digital animation. Specifically, Pixar
It's a Pixar World. We're Just Living in It. - New York Times

An increasing amount of irreverent and sometimes R-rated Hanukkah productions are popping up, largely in reaction to what many Jews say is an overwhelming amount of Christmas hoopla.
A Happy Hipster Hanukkah - New York Times

Top 100 Wines for 2005

From the San Francisco Chronicle. It's a Pinot heavy and pricey list, partially driven by the demand produced by "Sideways".

A podcast summary is also available here.

SFGate.com: Top 100 Wines 2005

Not Hot

"Yes, it’s just another meaningless list, but we like to think that this one echoes the true thoughts and feelings of real people, rather than the opinion of some editor on high with a passion for brown nosing. This is what everyone really thinks about these same people, many of whom show up every year on these so-called 'power lists'.”

FilmThreat.com - FILM THREAT'S FRIGID 50: THE COLDEST PEOPLE IN HOLLYWOOD 2005

Show, Interrupted

"But maybe some TV shows, like some relationships, were never meant to last. Instead of plodding on for 10-plus seasons and retiring in a comfy haze of nostalgia and clip shows, maybe AD should live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking, and very funny, corpse."

Slate.com: Show, Interrupted - Arrested Development lingers between death and resurrection

Esquire Cover Gallery

All 857 - starting from 1933.
Esquire Cover Gallery

Word of the Year

Looks like the winner was driven by this year's crop of Republican scandals. Turnabout is fair play....

Merriam-Webster Online: Words of the Year 2005

FilmLoop

Sounds interesting. May have to take it for a test drive...



FilmLoop (beta) review by PC Magazine

Year of the iPod, or iPod Decade?

Readers respond over at iLounge.com


The iPod Year in Review 2005: Year of the iPod, or iPod Decade?

Stumbled Upon

Clear Channel's trash is this man's treasure - especially the thousands of live recordings from 1966 - 1999 that could be monetized.

WSJ.com - Music Stash Recalls When Rock Was Young

Tis the Season pt. 2

Holiday mash-ups. Need I say more??




Santastic: Holiday Boots 4 Your Stockings

Tis the Season pt. 1

Xmas songs played on rubber bands. 2 guys and some rubber bands - what more do you need for the holidays.



WFMU's Beware of the Blog: Battle of the Rubber Bands (mp3s)

Perspective

A map of the world sized by population vs. land mass.



The World's Most Populous Countries

Army of Santas

via A Whole Lotta Nothing

Flickr Photo Download: Army of Santas

birth of macrodobia

Click the image to see an interactive kitchens site from Ikea with 360-degree freeze frame images (a la The Matrix).
rants and ramblings: birth of macrodobia

Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag

"Since the dawn of the shopping-mall era, people have eaten at chain restaurants. And for almost as long, they have made fun of them. The nutty-kitschy, kooky-urban, farmy-charmy interior design became the aesthetic of the strip-center banal. Perhaps sensing the cliche, two of the nation's top chain restaurants -- T.G.I. Friday's and Ruby Tuesday -- have been giving themselves quiet makeovers."

WashingtonPost.com: Arts & Living - A Side of Decor

Why O'Reilly is an idiot

Requires QuickTime
The Daily Show's Stewart responds to O'Reilly's misleading attack - CommonBits

Best Products Of 2005

Slideshow of some way cool stuff from this year.
Best Products Of 2005

What Your Christmas Tree Says About You

This week the Non-Expert addresses the great American class divider: Are your tree lights white or colored, or even (gasp) blinking?

via Airbag
The Morning News - What Your Christmas Tree Says About You, by Rosecrans Baldwin

iPod Bling-Bling

$12 large and it's yours...



Gadgette: Diamond iPods Are a Girl's Best Friend

Dear Jennifer Anniston

An open letter to Jen's boobs.

Funny, yet sad that this kind of commentary exsists. But hey - Don't shoot the messenger, eh??
FYI - this was penned by former "Real World - Miami" star Dan. Dan grew-up here in the wonderful KC metroplex and promptly left town. Can't say I blame him....

How was your day, Dan?: Dear Jennifer Anniston

This is Cape Canaveral - a photoset on Flickr

Great, fun book from 1963, written and illustrated by the fantastic Miroslav Sasek.


Via Airbag
This is Cape Canaveral - a photoset on Flickr

WSJ.com - Music Labels See New Threat From Satellite Radio

Just when I think the labels are making progress changing their dinosaur of a business model, along comes this. I've also heard that whislting may soon warrant a lawsuit from the RIAA....

WSJ.com - Music Labels See New Threat From Satellite Radio

Canon 1D Mark II N: Canon's Update to the Mark II

I like the dual media slots that capture different modes simultaneously
Canon 1D Mark II N: Canon's Update to the Mark II

Creative uses for old photos

Use iPhoto to make a collage-style poster or very large size print
Macworld: Feature: Creative uses for old photos

Go Speed Racer

A driver named "Speed"? No seriously, that's his name. Sort of like if Heath Ledger had decided to be an accountant instead of an actor...
Speed to Be 1st American at F1 Since 1993 - Yahoo! News

Wow! I'm at Greenspan's Desk

Amusing piece.

"After 18 years in office, Alan Greenspan will hand over the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve to Ben S. Bernanke early next year. Probably no other single event in 2006 is more likely to affect the future economy than that change. Based on their writings, what might they say to each other in private if either were to let his guard down?"
Wow! I'm at Greenspan's Desk - New York Times [may req. email reg.]

Clicks, bricks, & bargains

See which online retailers are growing this season, read the full article in the link to the Economist and check out the always tantalizing blog commentary.
The Big Picture: eBay, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target, Apple

Better Bananas, Nicer Mosquitoes

Say what you will about Bill and the Redmond deathstar, but his foundation truly has the chance to make a difference in the world in eraticating disease amongst the poor.
Better Bananas, Nicer Mosquitoes - New York Times [may require email reg.]

Marathon of Mirth in two parts

Be sure to read pt. 2 aout who gets invited - or not. I'm guessing Joe Wilson and Patrick Fitzgerald will not be swinging by for a "stop & chat"...

Slate.com - Marathon of Mirth - Had enough Christmas parties yet? Bush has to host 26 of them

xmas or holiday?

"What the boycotters are doing is not defending America's Christmas traditions, but creating a new version of the holiday that fits a political agenda."

This Season's War Cry: Commercialize Christmas, or Else - New York Times

Merry Christmas From The Gotti's

Merry Christmas From The Gotti's | A Socialite's Life

Pardon Our Dust

Use the "alternate link" as the other one is hosed.

Boing Boing: Spike Jonze TV commercial for Gap

Ricky Gervais' Podcast

A half-hour of all-new drivel from Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington.
Guardian Unlimited | Ricky Gervais | Guardian Ricky Gervais

Comedy Central to air unseen 'Chappelle'

Dave Chappelle is coming back to Comedy CentralComedy Central -- sort of.

Variety.com - Comedy Central to air unseen 'Chappelle'

Aperture - Half Baked?

This coming from the former Director of Prod. Marketing for Apple.
Writers Block Live � Blog Archive � I Got Distracted - Aperture Arrived Today

Ghosty

Nice to see some local guys getting some PR.

Seth Sherwood of the New York Times noted in a February 2005 article that "It may only be rock 'n' roll, but Ghosty and other young bands are playing it with such virtuosity that Lawrence, Ks. is now perhaps the most vital music scene between Chicago and Denver."



NPR : Ghosty: 'Big Surrender'

Magic Lantern Slides - Sierra nevada

"In the early years of the twentieth century glass lantern slides, sometimes hand-tinted, were a popular form of entertainment, known as "magic lantern" exhibitions. They were also used in education.
An interesting collection of these slides has ended up in the possession of the Geography Department, University of California, Berkeley. Some are part of a series used by the Southern Pacific Railroad to show off the beauties of California,where it not only monopolized transport, but also owned a tremendous amount of land. Another series seems to have been assembled to aid in teaching the physical geography of California. The slides date from about 1900 to around 1915."

Magic Lantern Slides - Sierra nevada

Vintage GI Joe View Master Reels

Sweet! I has eome of these as akid in the early 70's & these are packed away somewhere in my parents' attic.

Vintage GI Joe View Master Reels

18 Tricks to Teach Your Body

Soothe a burn, cure a toothache, clear a stuffed nose...

Men's Health.com - 18 Tricks to Teach Your Body

foXpose

The Foxspose plugin for Firefox lets you see all your tabs as thumbnails in your window, click one of them to switch to it. Just like hitting the F9 key to activate Expose on the Mac.

Also available are extensions for Yahoo! Mail and enhanced use of tabs in Firefox.

Rock on!!

AJAX Yahoo! Mail/foXpose/Tabnail - Viamatic Softwares

It wasn't me

Open letter to all Dead fans from Phil stating he had nothing to do with the recent removal of all live Dead tracks from archive.org
PhilLesh.net - Hotline