You are currently browsing the archives for March, 2010.

Self-Immolation No Longer Effective Mode of Protest

A 92-year old farmer and his son set themselves on fire yesterday in protest of a forced sale of their land to Chinese authorities. As reported by the Shanghai Daily, the bulldozer operators respectfully delayed their demolition for two full hours, and then proceeded to tear down the farm once the corpses had been fully extinguished.

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Cassini’s Saturn Pac-Man

Cassini heat-graded imagery of Saturn’s moon Mimas revealed an unmistakable image of an old digital friend this week.

Why do I get the feeling that that Mario, Qbert, and Pac-Man sightings will replace Virgin Mary or Weeping Jesus Events as our generation ages?

Grand Theft Auto Steals Lifeforce

Terrific and heart-rending article written by a GTA4 addict who consciously decided to abandon his life of productivity to gain a greater understanding of both cocaine and Pixeltropolis, San Andreas.

For more on video game addiction, listen to this classic Mep debate on WoWs similarity to crack.

How to walk and chew gum at the same time.

Next!

As you probably read in the news today, President Obama officially announced a new START arms control treaty with Russia which will reduce each side’s nuclear arsenal to 1,500 strategic warheads, along with other delivery and verification protocols which will ensure the reduction is actually happening.  (This is, of course, still more than enough to annihilate everything hundreds of times over, and there are many more warheads “in reserve” on each side, so we’ve got a long way to go…but still.)  Assuming the Senate ratifies said treaty (which, admittedly, might take a little time thanks to the party of teabaggers party of inciting violence party of lies party of No Republicans in that august body), and for those keeping score at home, that means that in the first fourteen months of the administration:

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McCarthy Had Nothing on This Era


Just another couple people thinking for themselves.

For 63 years, Goshen College has refrained from playing the national anthem before sporting events because the song prioritizes war and allegiance to country over peaceful devotion to God. Sixty-three years ending this year.

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Why we might, just possibly, be worth saving.

I’m late to the party here, but I just spent almost an hour catching up on this group: a chorus of fifth graders from Staten Island, in a public school no less (how shocking! /snark), who thanks to exactly the kind of music teacher the schools need more of (and believe me, he’s not getting rich doing this) is producing some pretty amazing arrangements.  They’ve been featured on Nightline, Good Morning America, and have had a bunch of celebs weigh in with their praise, all while fighting budget cuts and skeptics who wonder whether this is the “right kind of music”…but that’s not really important.  What’s important is that, every once in a while, something comes along to remind us that there might be some hope for us after all.

Too much time…too much genius…

…or both?  You decide with this picture, via Game Culture:

No shield this, bitches!

The Future of Music

On its face, this wildly popular YouTube piece, The TV Theme Medley, is a potpourri of pop-culture fare performed by a talented and versatile musician/tv addict. A deeper analysis after the jump…

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Google Adsense Unlocks Television Advertising

Thanks to the Titans of Internet Industry, Google, anyone with a computer and an internet connection can now create an ad campaign and purchase network or cable time slots relatively cheaply. Here’s a little video discovery of this amazing new service run by the folks at Slate.

Little Klaus, Big Run

I spent Sunday amongst a pulsing throng of humanity attending the 2010 LA Marathon. While there, I happened upon Internet Celeb Klaus Pierre, who had recently crossed the finish line.

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