Dark Tower: The Long Road Home (tags: reading) Trigger Happy: Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution A somewhat dated but still entertaining and informative review of the history of videogames taken as an art for (or at least a proto one). (tags: nonfiction videogame book book2008) Get Your War On: The Definitive Account of the War on Terror, 2001-2008 It's somewhat horrifying how funny this book is. But, I guess you have to laugh. I believe the subtitle. (tags: politics comic ...

tags: history of videogames, definitive account, war on terror, proto, nonfiction, long road home

Mitch Wade is one of the people charged with bribing former Representative Duke Cunningham to the tune of $1.8M. Now years after Cunningham's fall, Wade is coming before the judge to receive his sentence for corrupting a sitting Congressman. Wade is looking for clemency because he's been very cooperative with the prosecution. And how was he cooperative? Well, he's named 5 additional congressional members whom he says he worked. Here's Seth Hettana's report ...

tags: virgil goode, alan b mollohan, n nhe, congressman cunningham, john doolittle, former members of congress, duke cunningham, dan inouye, congress members, randy cunningham, home detention, congressional members, nthe, john porter, members of congress, katherine harris, jerry lewis, brent wilkes, clemency, misrepresentation

Zach Smith, fellow NYCResistor and Founder of The RepRap Research Foundation decided that for Lazzzorbattle 2008, he wanted to do something cool. In QCAD, he mocked up a peristaltic pump and after about 5 versions, he had it working and the entire design is cut out of 12″ x 12″ x 1/4″ of acrylic! Peristaltic pumps are used to pump liquids that you don’t want touching any mechanical parts. By squishing a tube, the pump ...

tags: zach smith, peristaltic pump, qcad, research foundation, reprap, fellow

A quick review of the facts: You live in Seattle You go to Bumbershoot You whine about ticket prices Yes, these are pretty much defining characteristics that make you a true Seattleite. But it’s time to break the cycle. Right now you can buy tickets to Bumbershoot 2009 for the insanely low price of $60 for a three-day weekend. It’s the perfect gift for yourself, your friends, and anyone who likes music, art, theater, elephant ears, books, comedy, and ...

tags: nyes, bumbershoot, ticket prices, whine, seattle

photo by taylor hain [flickr] via our group pool [#]. Eli Sanders tries to understand why the [student-funded] Daily is publishing offensive, right-wing, poorly reasoned, ill-informed, anti-gay editorials. [slog] Let’s try to not cynically compare the number of comments between that one, and this pro-Prop 8 one published the same day [uwdaily] and just accentuate the positive — it prompted Dan Savage to coin the term “douchesparkle“. [slog] Hell, with enough ...

tags: alien vs predator, neli, flickr, right wing, hain, editorials, pool, blogs, photo

A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. RT 88:47. Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, this captivating documentary explores the perilous state of our planet, and the means by which we can change our course. Contributing to this crucial film are noted politicians, scientists and other ambassadors for the importance of a universal ecological consciousness. The 11th Hour is directed by Nadia Connors and Leila Conners ...

tags: academy award nominee, leonardo dicaprio, ecological consciousness, perilous state, 11th hour, global environment, practical solutions, leila, ambassadors, narration, ecosystems, nadia, politicians, rt, documentary, scientists

Some excerpts from the 2/7/1989 San Quentin Prison interview with Charles Manson. The interviewer is Penny Daniels.

tags: san quentin prison, charles manson, real person, interviewer, excerpts

"You can fool all of the people some of the time; you can fool some of the people all of the time; and that should be enough for most purposes." - From Minims by Tom Weller. [Note: Long ago I was the editor for this wonderful book. Glad to see it has survived being out of print and is still being pointed to today by distinguished pages such as Drawn. ] Getting closer: In 2007 Thomas ...

tags: northeast intelligence network, littoral combat ship, catskill mountains, thomas sowell, president hillary, hillary clinton, national review online, military coup, danger room, intelligence agencies, thankless job, minims, intelligentsia, degeneracy, lusts, mountains in new york, school bus, ambrose, malaise, new york state

Always on the lookout for references to the technology we love hitting the pop culture, we had to share these clips from The Simpsons. In the clip above, the family visits the new mApple store that has opened in the Springfield Mall, and we’re sure you can imagine the things they joked about in that one. We’ve got references to MyPods, MyPhones, the Brainiac Bar, and even the almighty Steve Mobs. Good for a chuckle. ...

tags: springfield mall, mapple, mobs, pop culture, simpsons, lookout

Now that Dancing with the Stars has officially wrapped up, it’s time to shift our focus back to reality television’s reigning giant: American Idol. With only 6 weeks left to go until the January premiere, promotion for Season 8 has officially begun. On today’s episode of The View, Randy Jackson tried to put everyone at ease about the new judging addition. When asked if Kara DioGuardi was brought in because of an eventual ...

tags: dancing with the stars, american idol, promotions

The 2009 Tour de France is a sure thing for Lance Armstrong. The 37-year-old returning professional cyclist confirmed his plans to the Associated Press from the Canary Islands where he's training with the Astana pro cycling team. That's Armstrong, right, and teammate Levi Leipheimer taking a break from surfing during the team training. (More pictures at Twitpic.) Armstrong initially announced in September that he'd come out of retirement to race at the Tour de France and other races ...

tags: pro cycling team, lance armstrong, professional cyclist, nthe, levi leipheimer, tour de france, sure thing, canary islands, teammate, retirement

The Dow Jones dropped 7.7 percent today, to 8,149, after a gradual run-up last week. Local heroes Microsoft and Boeing dropped to $18.61 (-1.61 percent) and $39.88 (-2.75 percent) respectively. We're officially in a recession--surprise! it's been a year already!--and are turning to survivalists for advice: "All true survivalists like yard sales."

tags: local heroes, survivalists, dow jones, recession, stock market, boeing, surprise, microsoft

See what we mean? Cozy. Photo of Honey Bear Bakery by pdgibson. Books new and used, wi-fi, sandwiches, coffee, and a fireplace: Third Place Books (in both locations) had for years held a perch high up on Seattlest's list of cozy, soul-nourishing morning destinations as the bearer of quite a few good things. When we moved south from our studio apartment on the Ave to a somewhat quieter, albeit shared, old house on Capitol Hill, Third ...

tags: third place books, seattle marathon, honey bear, time sandwich, dark coffee, mind zone, bottomless cups, pecan rolls, seattlest, nsee, studio apartment, greek food, noon time, stomping grounds, baklava, hummus, sprouts, out of sight, capitol hill, ravenna

Law firm marketing and business development professionals have been politely getting after Kevin McKeown, our VP of Client Development, for an updated report on large law's use of blogs. Innovators, such as Gloria Fox at Blank Rome, are looking for hard data for their law firm's management that their competition has effectively addressed any liability and ROI concerns, and made the move to blogging for reputation enhancement and client development. The last eight months shows no ...

tags: amlaw 200 law firms, foley hoag, womble carlyle, business development professionals, fox rothschild, reputation enhancement, epstein becker green, law firm marketing, sheppard mullin, n71, lexblog, blogosphere, nand, innovators, eight months, nin, vp, gloria, rome, stable

Time: 1964. "I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours."

tags: blues time, world war iii, prophecy, dreams

Buried under the avalanche of over-writing that is Island of Misfits (Thurs-Sun through December 21, tickets $10) is a very funny parody of the stop-motion holiday classic Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town. In this case, puppeteer Freddie Douglas Black (Geoffery Simmons, with a Poitier-esque suit and throaty rasp) has been called up for the Vietnam draft, so he heads for the snowy north (Canada) with his cynical, lovelorn photographer Snowflake Jones (Kaitie Warren) and ...

tags: santa claus is comin to town, story arcs, winter warlock, vietnam draft, stick in the mud, two and a half hours, grand dragon, snowy north, kaitie, production supervisor, north canada, blunt instrument, holiday classic, geoffery, stop motion, irregulars, laplante, ulman, poitier, second act

-- by DaveKaren DeYoung at the WaPo had an interesting report on the change of style that Obama is bringing to the White House, particularly in how it approaches the military:Obama has been careful to separate his criticism of Bush policy from his praise of the military's valor and performance, while Michelle Obama's public expressions of concern for military families have gone over well. But most important, according to several senior officers and civilian Pentagon ...

tags: michelle obama, conservative governance, ground decisions, council on foreign relations, pentagon officials, kool aid, military minds, decisive factor, economic problem, wapo, military leaders, military families, certitude, iraq war, misgivings, bush administration, chain of command, realism, deyoung, outsiders

Under my nom de musique ihouoniui, I have a track on the new godxiliary compo “Animals & Alphabets”. 26 bands writing/playing/programming about 26 animals, one for each letter of the alphabet. ihouoniui submitted a number called (and about) “Urchin”. (Said track available just a post or two ago on this very blog; the other 25 are worth a listen, eh?) Go check it out, won’t you?

tags: self promotion, animals

Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security It’s a long slow goodbye to pretending. I get the feeling you’re starting to notice. I get the feeling you’ve noticed too late to get out of it gracefully and are digging in instead. Students lie, cheat, steal, but say they’re good In the past year, 30 percent of U.S. high school students have stolen from a store and 64 percent have cheated on a test, according to ...

tags: new boss, s high school, scale survey, high school students, domestic security, criminal act, doctorow, 30 november, mankind, ntwo, large scale, nit, intellectual property

The view looking up is to a knurled-slate indigo sky through the blackened clawing fingers of a maple tree, its leaves stripped completely clean as of this last Samhain (November 1st). The bus is late as it labors around the bend when I look down, its two lamp eyes flickering not as its gaze is directed at the five of us waiting: Jake, G, next door neighbor, myself, and a replacement Bike Man replete ...

tags: indigo sky, yellow slicker, collective denial, blind ambition, working stiffs, dead leaves, close proximity, maple tree, new roads, samhain, november 1st, trudge, rat race, cacophony, iota, facial hair, essences, bustle, spandex, rotations

You may have already heard of ChaCha. It’s like Ask for cell phones. We bring it up because it is a perfect tool for the holidays. You simply inquire about the best deal on a product and dial 242242 (ChaCha, of course) or 1-800-2ChaCha and they will send you back a text message in a few minutes. Although the service is free, your provider may not be. By the way, if you have a computer ...

tags: product availability

Apparently part of a multimedia project by a group called Playing for Change. Neato. Via the excellent Christina, who says "Turn up the volume for full enjoyment."...

tags: multimedia project, neato, christina

Live Earth India Canceled After Terror AttacksThe Live Earth India concert, scheduled to be held in Mumbai on Sunday (Dec. 7), has been called off after terror attacks in India's financial capital killed nearly 200 people.Jon Bon Jovi, Roger Waters and Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan were to share the stage at the event to raise funds for lighting homes with solar energy in places where people do not have access to electricity.Islamist gunmen held Mumbai ...

tags: live earth concert, jon bon jovi, cause of global warming, assault rifles, government panel, united states vice president, al gore, amitabh bachchan, roger waters, international artists, terror attacks, management firm, luxury hotels, event management, gunmen, solar energy, grenades, bon jovi, foreigners, hostage