tags: pears

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

The Nurit 2085U is a low-cost, high power geared , compact machine and the special version of the 2085 has a battery backup of 5-9 hours. Nurit 2085U makes daily transactions run faster and smoother. The Lipman Nurit 2085 All-In-One has everything you need. Its a amazing machine that is perfectly merchant friendly ,having a high-speed built-in printer that eliminates the need for costly ribbon replacement, thus substantially reducing mechanical malfunction and ...

tags: nurit 2085u, lipman nurit, nurit 2085, mechanical malfunction, compact machine, speed and performance, battery backup, ribbon, high speed

You try to not violate your travel rules. Inevitably, you fail. I don't know why this is hard. The wife and I learned this early on: Do not eat anywhere close to the town square, for you will be served fucking garbage. We violated this rule on our trip--again--and paid. It was nearing ten o'clock in Avignon, and we had not eaten. Yes, we were in the fucking town square; yes, we ...

tags: gastronomic equivalent, pasta pomodoro, luc besson, public squares, sauteed vegetables, siren song, fusillades, fifth element, everloving, travel rules, toilet seat, gruel, copious amounts, waiters, colossus, worldview, fifteen minutes, grumping, slab, nit

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

I am loving the latest conspiracy theory out of wingnuttia.

tags: conspiracy theory, open thread

[@375]Twits du JourIs it me or the Cyber-Monday deals are crappy this year. I got better deals online yesterday. #Erik's Tumbles: CNN’s Anderson Cooper Races Michael Phelps tinyurl.com/5m3pzu #

tags: cyber monday deals, twits, cnn

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 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

World's Cutest kitten

tags: cutest kitten

The cookies aren't the only thing that's baked.

tags: cookie monster, pot

Peabody and his boy Sherman use the Wayback Machine to visit Peru in 1532 and Francisco Pizarro.

tags: francisco pizarro, wayback machine, peabody, peru

This time Yakko, Dot, and Wakko are in for a load of trouble when a very strict teacher, Miss Flamiel, is about to stamp some manners into them - or is it Miss Flamiel who's about to get taught a few lessons?

tags: strict teacher, animaniacs, chalkboard, manners

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

Jumbo squid up to 2 metres long have invaded waters off the central coast of California and are devouring local fish populations More info at: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12315

tags: fish populations, jumbo squid, newscientist, coast of california, squid, central coast

Jim Morrison - The Doors - performing Whiskey Bar / Alabama Song live on Danish televison. Great!

tags: jim morrison the doors, whiskey bar, alabama song, televison

The little porcine sisters strike it rich and one Henry Q. Wolf seeks to defraud them out of their fortune.

tags: fractured fairy tales, three little pigs, fortune, wolf

First aired 07 Oct 2008 on BBC Four, RT 58:16. As the credit crunch bites and a global economic crisis threatens, Robert Peston reveals how the super-rich have made their fortunes, and the rest of us are picking up the bill.

tags: robert peston, global economic crisis, credit crunch, fortunes, greed, bbc, game

http://www/ted.com Andy Hobsbawm shares a fresh ad campaign about going green -- and some of the fringe benefits.

tags: fringe benefits, ad campaign, ted

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

Produced by Ten Worlds Productions on The History Channel that originally aired on November 9, 2004. RT 43:37. Mao was the 20th century's answer to Napoleon: a brilliant tactician, a political and economic theorist, and a statesman who ruled a billion people for three decades.

tags: economic theorist, brilliant tactician, chairman mao, three decades, history channel, nmao, statesman, declassified, napoleon, 20th century

Eastwood. Need I say more?

tags: hot bath, high plains

Jake and Elwood find a tune to the pleasing to the country-western crowd.

tags: rawhide, blues brothers, crowd, country western

When I was growing up, I had a very close-knit family. Christmastime was always one of my favorite times of year because we would all get together, have a big noisy dinner, and then adjourn to our den to commence the festival of greed. In addition to my mom, dad, brother, and sister, I would also buy gifts for my aunt, uncle, and four cousins. As we all grew up, spouses and children were added to the ...

tags: mom dad, aunt sarah, nking, thoughtful gifts, exchange gifts, breaking the bank, christmastime, gift exchange, brilliant idea, merriment, brother and sister, elephants, scarf, greed, cousins, cluttering, holidays, bonus, economy, benefit

"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

Sad: In the two months since federal regulators seized and sold Washington Mutual’s banking operations to JPMorgan Chase & Co., WaMu employees have been resigned to the likelihood that thousands of them would be out of work. ound out just how many: 3,400 employees, out of 4,300 the company had in Seattle at the time of the takeover. And mad: Bowing to aggressive lobbying — along with assurances from banks that the troubled mortgages were OK — regulators delayed ...

tags: washington mutual, carnage, regulators

Jaw dropping -all in a days work.The market needs some mood stabilizers. We need to get our heads out of asses, our troops out of Iraq and Bush should just resign right now.pissed and no where done with itnm

tags: mood stabilizers, asses, iraq, bush, heart

A Jack Bauer-free night meant a return to normal for NBC and CBS.  Last night, the Eye network - with help from a usually-strong 60 Minutes - was on top with the viewers. Meanwhile, sports programming helped NBC in the demos. 8pm Approximately 13.6 million watched the Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football (5.3/12 in 18-49). The Amazing Race (11.6 million, 5.3/12) was up 1.5 million. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (10.2 million, ...

tags: jack bauer, nbc, cbs

CD REVIEWTomer Yosef: Laughing UndergroundJDub RecordsI'm usually the first one to jump on an artist who ignores the obvious: I rail against West African musicians who eschew their fantastic drumming tradition in favor of machine-made beats, or for that matter, most anyone who embraces electronics at the expense of the wonderful acoustic traditions of their culture. I thought about mounting such complaints against Tomer Yosef's latest offering until I was swept up in the flood ...

tags: dancehall rhythms, ethnic motifs, infectious rhythms, african musicians, myspaceyoutube, high velocity, s mp3, balkan beat box, tomer, yosef, gypsy, dub, rai, cocktail, hebrew, flood, beats, hip hop, rap, traditions

Thanks to reader Alex Stein for forcing me to write a post I hate to write with every fiber of my being. An Indian news report claims that many of the Mumbai hostages were tortured before being killed and that the Chabad hostages were tortured most brutally of all. IF (and I stress “if” because stories like this must be confirmed and reconfirmed before they are accepted as truth) this story is true, ...

tags: alex stein, indian news, hostages, news report, jews, terrorists

From Stealth Health Bring out the laughter from within. The Best Medicine What is the greatest reward of being alive? Is it chocolate, sex, ice cream, tropical vacations, hugs from children, a perfect night’s sleep, or the satisfaction of a job well done? A thousand people, a thousand different answers. But one supreme pleasure that spans all people is laughter. Little can compare to the feeling of a deep, complete, heartfelt laughing spell. No matter your age, wealth, ...

tags: stealth health, chocolate sex, tropical vacations, best medicine, greatest reward, perfect night, sense of humor, laughter, medicine

Photo courtesy of Wesa [flickr] via our group pool [#] Nickelsville is likely to move again, after a vote by University Congregational United Church of Christ (UCUCC) to allow the homeless encampment use of their parking lot at 45th and 15th for the next three months. (#) This will be the fifth move for Nickelsville since September- they began near the Duwamish River, moved to a parking lot nearby, camped out at ...

tags: duwamish river, homeless encampment, congregational united church, church ucc, united church of christ, discovery park, congregational united church of christ, flickr, church of christ, parking lot, photo courtesy, three months, pool, vote

Pancake and bacon face is sad that he is going to be eaten soon. Such is the fate of yummy breakfast foods.

tags: breakfast foods, bacon, fate

Happy Thanksgiving! I don’t have a turkey mask, but I think this chicken mask from Archie McPhee’s will do. :)

tags: nhappy, happy thanksgiving, thanksgiving

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

Given the state of affairs in NBA attendance this year, I thought we should take a quick look at how the league fared over the course of the four-day holiday weekend.Thanksgiving means turkey, mashed potatoes, and basketball – at least to NBA fans, anyways. While it could be argued that Christmas Day is the start of the NBA season, the NFL is winding down, you get a couple of marquee games to watch, Thanksgiving is ...

tags: nba attendance, sammy hagar, thanksgiving 2008, nba season, raw numbers, grump, head above water, christmas day, pat on the back, difficult times, state of affairs, holiday weekend, gap, nod, oklahoma city, potatoes, weather, good time, sampling, avg

Tonight: the Wu-Tang Clan and Fatal Lucciauno are throwing down at the Showbox SoDo. The Wu speaks for itself (hello), but Fatal is a Seattle rapper you need to know about. It might be too late to change your plans and get to this show. It's never too late to watch this video, though. 7 p.m. // Showbox SoDo // $35-$40 // All Ages

tags: wu tang clan, showbox sodo, n7

PNB photos © Angela Sterling The moon always seems to be full in Maurice Sendak's illustrations. He's done some 90 children's books, two of them cherished icons (Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen), along with one ballet. As it happens, Seattle is the beneficiary of this unique venture into set-and-costume design: the wildly popular Nutcracker, which celebrates its 25th season this year. It was the early 1980s. Kent Stowell and Francia ...

tags: 25th anniversary, pnb, nutcracker, photos

The long holiday weekend has come to an end. For me, that means stressing about finals. For our clients, that means getting back to blogging. Here's their best work from today: North Carolina Has 4th Highest Beer Tax - Chapel Hill lawyer Greg Herman-Giddens of Trust Counsel, PA on the firm's North Carolina Estate Planning Blog May Deductions Be Taken From An Employee's Paycheck To Recover Prior Wage ...

tags: trust counsel, dlse, beer tax, long holiday, giddens, legal news, holiday weekend, paycheck, chapel hill, lawyer, lawyers, north carolina estate, blog

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

When I last signed up for a new cell phone service, I opted for the “family plan” that provided two lines with a shared pool of up to 400 minutes per month.   At $600/year, this was cheaper than having two separate plans with the theoretical estimated use of the second line.  While reviewing my cell phone bill, I realized it’s been over four and a half years since I tried to calculate the optimal cell ...

tags: cell phone service

Common lore states that it takes about three weeks to establish a habit. Though we usually associate habits with things that should be done (like flossing or washing dishes daily or walking to work—notice the negative connotations), leisurely activities also qualify as habits. Like writing. When we begin to establish habits, we may not “do” the habit “well”. For example, there’s a difference between flossing daily and flossing well daily. However, one needs to establish the habit ...

tags: washing dishes, flossing, lore, habit

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

The pun potential in describing GW’s interview today with Charlie Gibson is incredible. The lamest duck insults the world’s swans with a song that offers stork reminders of just how fowl his presidency has been. I don’t even like puns, but I couldn’t help myself. This interview was a like a Greatest Hits compilation, so let’s take a trip down memory lane. First, we have that lovable folksiness that Sarah Palin aspired to: GIBSON: Is there one more deal ...

tags: swan song, pun, swan

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

This is as bizarre an opening paragraph as I’ve ever seen. This article is about nurses and smoking, and a study that was done to examine the “devastating” effects of cigarettes on this population. From the UCLA News Staff: A new UCLA School of Nursing study is the first to reveal the devastating consequences of smoking on the nursing profession. Published in the November–December edition of the journal Nursing Research, the findings describe smoking trends and death ...

tags: nicotine, nurses, paragraph

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

Here are some of the TV on DVD options available this Tuesday. Cannon (Season 1, Vol. 2) A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All InuYasha (Season 6) Jake and the Fatman (Season 1, Vol. 2) Kyo Kara Maoh (Season 2, Vol. 9) Law & Order (Season 6) Metalocalypse (Season 2) Password (Best of) Perry Mason (Season 3, Vol. 2) Saturday Night Live (Season 4) The Story of Saiunkoku (Season 1, Part 2) Tags: (T), (T), (T), (T), ...

tags: nlaw, tv on dvd, ncannon, fatman, colbert, season 1, vol 2, nkyo, christmas

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

At 7 p.m. on December 4, Capitol Hill's Northwest Film Forum kicks off its free holiday party, which features "your favorite film critic as Santa!" We don't know how they know who our favorite film critic is, but okay. There will also be DJs dropping festive beats, classic holiday TV repeats, and, in the back alley, dreidel feats. See how that all rhymes? Mostly? Now that's festive. ...

tags: northwest film forum, nwff, classic holiday, film critic, back alley, holiday party, free holiday, feats, capitol hill, rhymes, beats

Thanksgiving was different this year. We’ve almost always had it at my parents house in Seattle. Even over the last four years I would fly back to have Thanksgiving in Seattle. There have been two times when we haven’t had it at my parents house: 5th grade (1996) when we had it in Idaho and another time we had it at a family friends place. This year we had it at my Aunt’s house. My whole ...

tags: giving thanks, thanksgiving

On the heels of the highly successful Black Friday sale for US Members, I am happy to announce the Marketplace ‘Holiday Deal Of The Week’ which will run through December. The program kicks off tomorrow with a deal on the Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack. Originally priced at 600 points, it will go on sale tomorrow for 400 points for Gold Members in ALL Xbox LIVE regions. That is a savings of 33% (200 points.) The special pricing will ...

tags: black friday sale, holiday deal, xbox live, xbox, marketplace