Christión - Full Of Smoke

Christión - Full of Smoke, 1996

I listened to this song at least 10,000 times in one month when I was in high school. I always thought they were twins, but now I'm not sure.

Alexander and his brother

Here's Alexander with his brother Gustaf Stark Sands.

UPDATE: I totally thought that was Gustaf in the photo, but Allison (thank you!) showed me the error of my ways! To make up for my mistake, here's a photo of most of the Skarsgard's:

If you are curious, you can check out all the Skarsgard kids, there are 7 of them!

Source [askarsswedishmeatballs]

Spent some time on YouTube... British and American Words

A video explaining some of the differences in American and British words, phrases and slang (he has more on his YouTube channel). I found this rather informative. And let me just say, I had NO idea pudding meant dessert, I've been reading a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction and they always mention eating pudding after dinner and I always thought, wow, is that their favorite dessert? Or wow, the British really like pudding, but silly me didn't know pudding MEANS dessert! It's all rather confusing really.

I enjoyed Ellen and Hugh Laurie discuss British and American slang

Quick video on the differences of British and American words from the British Council

And just for fun (it has nothing to do with language); this British kid decides to run away from home for America.

Fun with Wikipedia - Rococo

First I have to say, saying the word "Rococo" is fun.

Second, I had fun learning about this architecture and decorating style on wikipedia.

The luxury, the beauty... oh, I can totally imagine spending a holiday in a rococo style villa in France. Not that, that would ever happen, but I could imagine it.

Anyway, learn about Rococo.

That is all.

The Raven

I had to memorize The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe in 7th grade. Now, a thousand years later, I can still knock out the first 3 verses without breaking a sweat (after that, I will probably stumble a bit).

Image Source [fyeahvictorians]

Please don't talk to me...

I totally get this... and empathize.

Source [thegirlwiththefro]

Movie Trailer: Leaves of Grass

A twins film!

Synopsis:

The lives of two identical twins, one an Ivy League philosophy professor, the other a small-time and brilliant marijuana grower, intertwine when the professor is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown for a doomed scheme against a local drug lord.

Trailer:

Have you ever...

Have you ever dated someone or let's say you are married and you notice you guys are getting along really great.

I'm talking, it's been weeks since you had an argument, you always have interesting things to talk about, you've been hanging out (not just watching TV but actually leave the house) and having a really good time together.

And then you start thinking, "wait, this is too good... something bad is about to happen."

Well don't.

That is all.

These gentlemen are not embarrassed by their corrective lenses

This is all kinds of cool.

Source [lee bretschneider flickr]

Arizona, really? Show me your papers?

The new immigration law in Arizona is offensive to me and I think it should offend everyone. I mean, seriously, you could be the next person required to show papers!

Okay, okay, I won’t go down that slippery slope but it’s silly to stop everyone you “think” may be illegal (racial profiling). Any rational person can see how this law will get abused. Anyway, Seth Meyers from SNL Weekend Update put it best:

"I know there's some people in Arizona worried that Obama is acting like Hitler, but could we all agree that there’s nothing more Nazi than saying 'Show me your papers?' There's never been a World War II movie that didn't include the line 'show me your papers.' It's their catchphrase. Every time someone says 'show me your papers,' Hitler's family gets a residual check."

I’m just waiting for Arizona’s “Rosa Parks” moment. Some well known Latino (or someone who may look Latino) well get stopped and asked to show their papers and someone will be videotaping and then the whole world will see the ridiculousness of the law.

If this is your strategy to curb illegal immigration... well I just don't know what to think. It's just going to cause more harm than good.

My glasses...

As I enjoyed some frivolity by taking obligatory self photos with my cell phone this weekend I notice something.

You see, I took a general self photo (below):


Which is nice. I mean, this is what I look like, no changing that.

But then I decided to take a photo without my glasses (below):


And I realize, without glasses, I think I look a lot younger. Maybe it's a trick of lighting or the slight difference in angle, or dare I say, wishful thinking, but there is a difference there.

So I started to wonder about all those trite movies where geeks and nerds suddenly become attractive once they take their glasses off, or how superman suddenly becomes this "hunk" without his glasses... and maybe there is something to it. (No, I am not placing myself in that same category... I'm just making talking about the idea of it... anyway...)

Maybe nerds all over need to shed their glasses and enter the world of the normals?

Or maybe not.

When I explained this to my significant other, he suggested I get a new pair of glasses or just start wearing contacts if I wanted to change something.

He might be right, about the glasses bit because I've become far too lazy to deal with contacts.

George W. Bush - Decision Points

The cover of former President George W. Bush's "memoir" was released.



Interesting... he choose "Decision Points" as the title instead of "The Decider".



The book is scheduled to be released November 9, 2010.



If you are curious, check out the cover of Laura Bush's book Spoken from the Heart, set to be released May 4th. I wonder who will do more in book sales? Oh nevermind, I'm pretty sure George will out sell Laura, I mean, he was actually President, not a good President, but President none the less, and that means something... I think.



Source [Huffington Post]

Just because...

Image Source [pineapple101]

Controversial or just funny?

To give you a little background, Chris Rock made this video parody of OutKast's hit "Hey Ya" back in 2004 (if you aren't familiar with that song, click the link and watch the video first, before you watch the one below).

Some people think it's racist, others satire, some just find it funny.

Oh yeah, the song is called "Crackers"... consider that a warning.

What do you think?

Source [Jack and Jill Politics]

Author Smack Down - WWE Raw Edition

Someone complied a list of the 50 best author vs. author put downs of all time.

I picked a couple which caused me to laugh.

James Gould Cozzens on John Steinbeck

I can't read ten pages of Steinbeck without throwing up. I couldn't read the proletariat crap that came out in the '30s.

Charlotte Bronte on Jane Austen

Why do you like Miss Austen so very much? I am puzzled on that point. What induced you to say that you would rather have written 'Pride and Prejudice'...than any of the Waverly novels? I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined houses.

George Bernard Shaw on William Shakespeare

With the exception of Homer, there is no eminent writer, not even Sir Walter Scott, whom I can despise so entirely as I despise Shakespeare when I measure my mind against his. The intensity of my impatience with him occasionally reaches such a pitch, that it would positively be a relief to me to dig him up and throw stones at him, knowing as I do how incapable he and his worshippers are of understanding any less obvious form of indignity.

Mark Twain on Jane Austen

I haven't any right to criticize books, and I don't do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticize Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can't conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Every time I read 'Pride and Prejudice,' I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin-bone.

James Dickey on Robert Frost

If it were thought that anything I wrote was influenced by Robert Frost, I would take that particular work of mine, shred it, and flush it down the toilet, hoping not to clog the pipes....a more sententious, holding-forth old bore, who expected every hero-worshipping adenoidal little twerp of a student-poet to hang on his every word I never saw.

Harold Bloom on J.K. Rowling

How to read 'Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone'? Why, very quickly, to begin with, and perhaps also to make an end. Why read it? Presumably, if you cannot be persuaded to read anything better, Rowling will have to do.


Full disclosure, the author of the original article did not cite all the quotes, so I'm not sure I believe all of them, but it does make for interesting reading.

Source [examiner.com]

Movie Trailer: Barry Munday

Synopsis:

Barry Munday, a suburban wanna-be ladies man, wakes up in the hospital after being attacked in a movie theater, only to realize that he is missing one of his most prized possessions… his testicles. To make matters worse, Barry learns he’s facing a paternity lawsuit from a woman he can’t remember having sex with. Filled with an ensemble of unusual characters, “Barry Munday” is the surprisingly heart-warming tale of a guy who finds it took losing his manhood to be a better man.

Trailer:

She's very pretty

I don't think I've ever seen a bad photo of Zoe Saldana.

Source [fyeahblackbeauties]

Worst typo ever in a cookbook?

Sometimes the hyperbole of the headlines on the Huffington Post gets out of hand. Of course this hyperbole always causes me to click the links to read more, so I guess it's achieving their desired result, but for me, I'm always left shaking my head.

So when I stumbled across the headline "Worst Typo Ever In A Cookbook?" I had to check it out.

Apparently,

An Australian publisher has had to pulp and reprint a cook-book after one recipe listed "salt and freshly ground black people" instead of black pepper.

Okay, you should not cook black people (or any people for that matter), and when you think about it, the typo is kind of funny. I'm pretty sure the author didn't mean "black people" so I don't think anyone can get offended or anything. It was a simple mistake.

So it's kind of funny to me that huffpo wrote "worst typo ever", I mean, ever? Really? I'm sure there are far more damaging typos out there than confusing pepper with people.

Source [Huffington Post]

Monday Morning Links

• I was right! Proof that the iPad is just a really big iPod Touch

• Bored, try this craft project and make yourself happy.

• Apparently TV's Gay teens are having a moment. Sadly, I'm not familiar with any of the characters.

• Interesting idea, perfumed incense paper

• Colin Powell is thinking of joining twitter

• Believe it or not but Hollywood may be remaking the films Real Genius and House Party. I don't think this will end well.

• I like this cute luggage tag

• In case you cared, Beyoncé is learning how to drive.

• An interesting article about how the paperback novel came to exist.

• This might be why some people have a fear or are intimidated by going to the library.

• How do you know you're reading a literary magazine? You can't pronounce the name.

• 2009 Top Ten list of most frequently challenged books. I’m surprised people are still “complaining” about To Kill a Mockingbird

• Very cute wrapping paper

• 15 reasons why Franzia (box-o-wine) is awesome. Btw - I love me some box-o-wine.
  

Image Source [thegirlwiththeafro]

I am so going to try and draw this...

Source [Photorealism Tutorial by ~markcrilley]

Double Facepalm

Oh TNG, if only you knew how much I love you.

Anyone know which episode this is from? If I had to guess, I would assume it was a Lwaxana Troi episode.

Image Source [james-tiberius-kirk]

The Princess Bride, I love this movie

Source [this isn't happiness]

A mutual addiction

I think I need to read this book... I totally get this quote.

Source [Design Crush]

Penn Relays 2010

I spent the afternoon at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

The Lady Volunteers of the University of Tennessee

There were many great races from various high schools and colleges.

The Kenyan team

But the highlight was seeing the Fastest Man in the World, Usain Bolt.

Usain Bolt pre-race

I was able to record a bit of his race; you can watch him pre-race and grabbing the baton, sorry but I couldn't record the ending with everyone celebrating and jumping in the way of the camera as he neared the finish line.

You can view some of photos from the day.

Lazy Jane

I can so identify with this. Which is sad.

Source [theloveyoumake]

A photo of Colin Farrell, just because

Source [bellem]

If this is coffee...

If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee. — Abraham Lincoln

Judging a book by its cover

Source [Library Land]

Cute Save the Dates

Source [Oh So Beautiful Paper]

Good to know...

This door reminds me of the romance novel Vice I reviewed about brothels in Victorian Britain.

Source [whatswithtodaytoday]

A Star Trek parody from In Living Color

Louis Farrakhan "liberates" Uhura and Sulu from the oppression of Captain Kirk. He also explains how Spock has suffered from discrimination.

Source [Nerd Hurdles]

Happy (almost) Birthday William Shakespeare

Scholars are still not sure his exact date of birth.

If you were wondering, The Merchant of Venice is my favorite Shakespeare play.

Hath not a Jew eyes?
Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions;
fed with the same food,
hurt with the same weapons,
subject to the same diseases,
heal'd by the same means,
warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer as a Christian is?
If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die?
And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.
If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge.
If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example?
Why, revenge.
The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

This speech is amazing! You gotta respect Shylock!

Source [William Shakespeare wikipedia]

The Secret Life of a Fly

Source [etis communication]

Make your bedside table a chair

Very cute idea! Check out this DIY Project to learn how.

Source [Design*Sponge]

Never Forget: The Vietnam War

Source [another perfect day]

Day Dreaming Again... Stardate

You know how Star Trek always lists the "stardate" in episodes...

well I still can't figure out how that works.

Like what would the stardate for today be?

I've attempted to read up and figure it out, but my brain hurts.

I am disappointed in myself.

But then again, I never tried very hard to figure it out.

I guess Star Trek wouldn't be the same with the Gregorian calendar.

On another note, I saw this on YouTube and it made me smile, I don't think these kids understand stardates either.

The Dark Fields filming outside

Walking to work was like walking onto a film set today. The film The Dark Fields is filming across the street from the my job. I wanted to grab a donut from the craft services table (lots of yummy foods), but was too scared. Sadly no Bradley Cooper or Robert De Niro sightings, just a lot of extras in NYPD uniforms.


I might have to take lunch outside today.

Needless to say, I doubt much work will be accomplished today, since I can't stop staring outside my window.

9:16 am Update: Ok, I saw Bradley Cooper! Much taller than I expected... was just yelled at (from film crew) for shouting his name from the 3rd floor window of my office. Now I can get back to work... sigh.

9:44 am Update: I was able to record some of the filming, it's hard to see but Bradley Cooper is in the scene (trust me):

Celebrity READ Posters

Hugh Laurie

If you have ever entered a library (public or school), I’m sure you’ve seen the “READ” posters.

Colin Farrell

In my elementary school we had a READ poster with Nancy Reagan (yes, I know I just dated myself).

Keira Knightly

You can find all the current celebrity READ posters at the ALA (American Library Association) website. Posters are only $16.

Seth Meyers

Source [American Library Association]

If you click this link you will be able to make a squirrel shoot a laser gun in space

click here

I assure you this vague link is harmless.

Source [No Pillars]

The Human Body

Source [LE ZÈBRE BLEU]

How The Matrix Should Have Ended

Three Words: Bill and Ted

More Keep Calm Posters

Background on Keep Calm and Carry On.

Adorable Song and Video

The song is sweet and the video is adorable.

Charlie Winston singing I Love Your Smile:

Source [Bits of Beauty]

Portrait of Aline Masson in Blue

Portrait of Aline Masson in Blue (Date unknown) by Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta

Source [Jennifer's Place]

Stephen Fry said it, so it must be true

I will admit to being a little bit of a prude when it comes to "swearing". I only do it for humor or in extreme emotional distress.

Source [beckysanspants]