Working from home today
Which has a dial up connection, thus the lack of updates. Aside from that, I really don't have much to report, unless you count the wicked lung cookie I horked up this afternoon. Yep. I'm finally starting to feel a little better.

Have a good weekend. Jerk stores.

Continuing with this week's theme
...crap I drug out of my images folder. Corn dog!

It's like buying yourself a bride
Only you don't have to pay for shipping. And she doesn't actually ever visit you. And she's not really in a realtionship with you.

I guess it's not like buying yourself a bride at all. But hey! You can make your friends jealous. Well, all of your friends who don't have real girlfriends of their own.

I guess you could call this inventive
These guys are selling labels that you affix to the outside of your beer can to disguise it as pop. I am having a difficult time telling, from the front page alone, whether or not they are serious. Mostly because of their recommendation that beer can be concealed while driving and their use of a Pepsi label from at least 10 years ago.

Know your fringe candidates
Mr. Love22, entertainer, philosopher, presidential candidate. I think I still a 22 dollar bill/ring that I got from this guy last time I was down in Key West. Good stuff.

Inside the CIA Museum
Excellent stills taken from CBS' Early Show tour of the CIA museum. Electronic catfish? Check. Crazy flying bug camera? Check. Poop disguised motion sensors? Chiggity-check.

This is why I need to read more comics
Then I would be able to fully appreciate the awesomeness that is Drinky Crow. Because remember kids: "this whimsical toy will charm and enthrall both young and old alike as Drinky Crow pops with drunken revelry."

Did you know you can breath through your mouth-hole?
And a good thing too, because apparently someone decided to fill up my nose with cement whilst I was sleeping last night. Man, I freaking hate being sick. The only good part about being sick is being able to complain about being sick. And, nobody wants to try any of your food when you eat out.

I'm crushing your head!

Aw Man. Two great DG's in a row.
Say it ain't so. Spiderman, the crazy game. Not only does it have indecipherable instructions, save for the all important space bar maneuver, but it has giant headed cartoon spidermans and batmans in it. And wacky sounds.

Mercedes im Chrom Look
Worlds greatest "paint" job. I don't know how well it would disguise fingerprints though. I guess that is what Windex is for.

This is the movie review site I have been waiting for
All the reviews without all the actual "going to the movie first" nonesense. A personal favorite: Cat in the Hat.

Mr. Ventura goes to Harvard
Is my former Governer still an idiot? Answer: yes. Except now he's an idiot sanctioned to teach others in the ways of his idiocy. At Harvard.

You make me sick!
And by you, I am referring to the person who sat next to me on the first leg of the flight back to Madison on Sunday. Either you, or that little kid who tossed his cookies three rows up. And just when I was finally getting to the point where I couldn't remember what barf smells like.

The best part about that flight is when the debutante sitting in front of the little puker started to freak out and hit the call button for the stewardess about twenty times in a span of five minutes. And she kept looking back and giving the kid the stink eye. I mean, come on, who gives a four year old the stink eye anymore?

Oh, yeah. It's the greatest american hero baby.
Know your heroes... step one. Identifying hero in both street clothes and super clothes form.

St. Giles's School
St. Giles's School is an independent boarding school for boys in grades nine through twelve. The School was founded in 1824 by Dr. Ethan Sharp, founder the Sharp Farm - originally a thriving berry bog, later the site of the School. Since then, St. Giles's has grown to encompass some 438 acres on which approximately 220 lads and 65 faculty fellows live and learn together.

I am seriously contemplating re-enrolling in high school just so I can take some of the fantastic classes they teach there. Take the Natural Sciences Program, for instance:
- Physics IV
- Introductory Genomics
- Astronomy versus Astrology: Once and For All
- Cesium's Dance
- Madam Curie's Handsome Husband, Pierre
- Prostate Cancer : How to Check (open enrollment)
- Oriental Science : Powders, Creams, Explosions and Ninjas (taught by Mr. Lee)
- Calvinistic Chemistry

One good deed a day
What's yours? Mine is leaving the student newspapers in the bathroom stall after I finish up my business in the morning. I like to think that the next guy's day is brightened up when he sees that he will have some reading material for the next couple of minutes. In fact, I'm thinking of getting some sort of group crossword on the back of the stall door going. I should get some kind of merit badge for this.

Daily Game
Today's DG is actually fun, for once. It is basically a Scrabble clone, but each of the players puts down a word a the same time. The word with the highest score kept, while the others are taken back off the board. The games are quick, at 10 minutes, and the interface is pretty user friendly.

Our lab needs more tools
Seriously. I can not believe how we operate efficently in this lab somedays, when one can not even find a simple screwdriver or pair of scissors. I guess that says something about the importance of improvisation. Here is a sweet little offset screwdriver recommended by the always handy Kevin Kelly.

Apparently there is a way to beat a sobreity test
Just drive home drunk and naked. The jury will totally believe you when you say that you failed the field tests due to embaressment over being on the side of the highway naked.

And you all mocked me when I signed up for this...
Well, who's mocking the check for thirteen bucks I have in my possession right now? Huh? Huh? Higgity-huh?

The class-action against the RIAA finally got settled, and I got my check in the mail. You can check this site to see if you ever bothered to sign up. If you did, you should be getting a check as well.

And who doesn't like the DDR?
I sure as heck do. And so does the Al. The following comes from him:

I'm bored in studio and wasting some time. At the thought of Darren's upcoming DDR party, I was checking out sites looking for pics and movies of nerds being foolish. I found this, and I think it is good incentive for me to try to hit the 300lb mark so that I can begin a diet.

Daily Game
Centipede. The original. For your pleasure. Trackball not included.

Daily Picture
This week is a slight continuation of last week's theme, random superhero pictures. The rest of the week will be devoted to random pictures I have lying around in my media folder. Here's a pretty sweet shot of Shazam.

What do you collect?
I have always been fond of grabbing the airsick bags out of planes that I fly on. I like to give them to other's as a unique souvineer. Plus, it's dirt cheap, and the people who receive them are left with a handy traveling tool given to them by someone who obviously cares about their equilibrium.

The people who fly Hooter's airlines take every damn thing they can get their freaking little hands on. Save for the actual girls of course.

Metric time is stupid.
I'm all for the use of the metric system in general, mostly because it makes me feel like I am traveling faster in my vehicle. Metric time is just plain stupid. Probably because it has something to do with the French. Yeah, I'm talking to you, reader of this page from France.

Texas is the reason.
And you thought only dumb people lived down there. Apparently, some theives are retrofitting ATM machines to wirelessly transmitt patrons bank card numbers and PINs to their waiting databases. Then they are reaping the rewards of technological ingenuity. Honestly, I would have never thought twice that an ATM would have been modified in some way without the bank knowing it. Crazy.

Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music
Somebody has a lot of time on their hands. Which is good for people like me, who like to browse through vast amounts of online music samples. Beware, this is a bandwidth beast, but it is an awesome bandwidth beast. There is way, way more crap in this version than the last, which was pretty awesome in and of itself.

The inside world of tech phone-support workers
Who would have thought that many of them know far less than you do about computers. Well, admittedly, no one knows less about computers that Hoj, but he's tall. It's a well known fact that tall people don't know anything about computers.

By the by, I highly recommend you read the whole article, it is rather amusing. You can do so by watching the ad for the Salon Day pass. It's free, and while it is running you can get up and use the restroom or something.

Personal replica sub built
This is really old news, but it is Disney related so I will squeak it in. Some guy built a working personal sized model of the sub used in Disney's 20,000 leagues ride. You know, I was trying to ascertain whether or not that ride was still functional and in existance over in the Magic Kingdom, and I did not see any literature on it. Does anyone know if it still exists?

Sir Charles II watch...
will no longer be a regularly scheduled feature on this site, as the great Sir Charles II decided to end his reign over the course of the weekend. I can only hope that the poor fellow died happy.

I'm Back..
Just got back in from Florida yesterday. And a good thing too, I was starting to miss all of that rain mixed with sleet and near-freezing temperatures. Who needs 70's and sunny anyway? Not me.

If you were wondering what the heck happened to me these last few days, Jess and I went to Florida to suprise my mom for her birthday. I am sure I will fill everyone in on the hijinks that ensued as they come back to me over the next few days, but to sum everything up... it was a wonderful trip. Well, save for the 13 hours spent on planes and in airports yesterday. That part wasn't wonderful at all.

Sir Charles II watch...
Still alive, I think. I figure he is either sleeping or dead. And I am going with sleeping, because it makes me feel better.

Good ol' Spidey to the rescue
So, there's a Spiderman two coming out with the Doc Oc as the bad guy. It should be pretty swass.

Stolen Phanatic head returned.
The Phillie Phanatic got his head back finally. You know, the story itself isn't that interesting, but it reminded me of a time when a paper mache head of Bucky Badger was taken from a parade float and placed upon the noggin my bald-headed friend Stew.

The Geek Heirarchy
Hey Hoj. Better hide that giant owl suit, because we just found out where you stand in the heirarchy of geekdom.

Maybe iTunes isn't so expensive afterall...
Especially when you know how to get a winning bottle of Pepsi everytime. I saw people doing this a while back with Dr. Pepper two liters, and, contrary to what the linked article states, they did look like complete tools. They had a nice little stack of winners and losers going, and they had cleared an entire shelf of bottles out onto the floor.

Voters opt "No" for casino
Results of yesterday's casino referendum are in, and an astounding 64% of people voted against having a casino in Madison. All together, about 150,000 voted. That's a pretty big turnout. Good job on just making it to the polls people.

As a result of yesterday's voting experience, I have decided that I am going to volunteer at a polling place the next election day. The senior citizens that work there are bringing the whole mood down. We need more excitement, more balloons and possibly clowns. Voting clowns. We should also have a contest to see how many people we can fit into one of those little voting booths. Dems vs. Reps.

Sir Charles II watch update...
Still alive.

It's superhero week here on the S&C...
Yep, all superheros, all the time. In picture form.

I guess you really are getting the most chocolate for your money
Scientists have determined that M&M's pack together more tightly than spheres. This is materials science at it's finest folks. Calculating density. Sweet sassy molassy.

Vote tonight
If you live in Wisconsin, please, please vote tonight. Vote in the primary. Vote in any of the referendums for your county. Vote on what you are going to order for takeout. Then treat yourself to a civil-duty earned Big Mac.

This throws a wrench in my workouts
Looks like I will be listening to more music and watching less close captioned TV when I go on the treadmill from now on. Lest I learn to read lips, which is difficult to do when the actors are animated... or dogs. And Law & Order? Why ban captioning for that show? It teaches moral lessons dammit! Moral lessons!

The end result of all this is just going to be me yelling at the television more often, an act that is already occuring up to five times a night. I'm the crochitiest man this side of the Mason/Dixon.

Webmonkey is going the way of the dodo
It was announced today on Wired that the powers that be are pulling the plug on webmonkey, an excellent web developers site. I especially liked the beginner's tutorials, as this site is more of a hobby than a jorb. So, see you around monkey. You will be missed. And spoken about as if you were a living person.

Holy Crap! It's my freaking birthday! And Rando's freaking birthday!
See, that's what the exclamation point is for. Oh yeah. Who would have thought that mine and the doh's birthday would be a federal holiday. I wouldn't have. But then again, it doesn't matter because it's my (and the doh's) freaking birthday! So, what did I do today? Got my car checked out! And bought a camera battery! And picked up some stuff for Jess! And listened to those jerks on NPR ask me for money! Wow, this certainly is shaping up to be quite the day. Oh, and I picked up a new fish for the tank... Sir Charles the Second. Sadly, Sir Charles the First, who was purchased yesterday, did not fare the welcoming reception as well as one would have hoped.

Here's to the long and prosperous reign of Sir Charles the Second.

Operation: Butt Snorkler was a success!
Yep, I am pretty sure that Butt Snorkler will shortly be one of the nation's most oft mentioned insults.

Lately, we have been throwing around "bgl", pronounced "boggle" as a random emotive. Additionally, it can be used to stonewall your opponent in any type of debate and is most effective when yelled. Examples:

Them: "Wait, so you're saying that we shouldn't allow a casino in Madison?"
Me: Bgl!

Them: "Can you had me the phone please?"
Me: Bgl. Jerk store.

Don't make me use that TWS
Did you know there is a Madison Scrabble club? I sure as crap didn't. But there is. I am thinking of going one of these upcoming weeks, but I don't know how I am going to mentally prepare myself to be beaten by both child and elder alike. Nothing makes you feel worse than losing to someone who looks like they should be baking you cookies for when you visit over thanksgiving.

Anyway, I am boning up with
Everything Scrabble by Joe Edley. Good stuff in that thar book.

Yeti Sports 2
What started out as bat the penguin continues with Orca Slap.

Too much to do today...
So much, in fact, that I don't have the time to write up a bunch of non-funny link descriptions. But here are a bunch of links.

- Pope Soap on a Rope
- Draw your boss
- At least it's not rat milk
- Google Catalog search
- Detroit Salt City

Initial Thoughts on Grey album
Blah. Jay-Z swears far too often. Even for someone as jaded as me. Must keep listening though...

Black + White = Grey
Download here. A little background for all you playas:
DJ Danger Mouse's recent Grey Album, which remixes Jay-Z's The Black Album and the Beatles White Album, has been hailed as a innovative hip-hop triumph. Despite that and the fact that only 3,000 copies of the album are in circulation, EMI sent cease and desist letters yesterday to Danger Mouse and the handful of stores that were selling the album, demanding that the album be destroyed.

I will be listening to it all day today and will give my formal review on Monday. Unless I forget.

I got it. I got it.
867-5309. You can have it too... thanks to the good folks at ebay.

I'm feeling presidential.
Mr. T's got himself a Wilson. That's probably due to the presence of the Nance on his lap. Merry Christmas everyone!

I've got a party in my pocket!
And you're all invited! For my birthday, I got the most-excellent RCA Lyra 1071 mp3 player. It's small, versatile and sexy. Plus it plays mp3pro files. Oh, and it's not that expensive either.

Example.com is off limits
This is kind of cool. When you go to example.com, you end up going nowhere. It is a site that is set aside for use in text regarding the structure of the internet, be it patents or lawsuits or, well, examples. Here is some more info.

Create your own conspiracy theory
Checking my referrer logs today, I noticed that someone came to my site by way of www.whatsthedownload.com, the site put up by the recording industry to promote legal file sharing of music. I figure that the only way someone would have found my site linked off of a huge site like that would be from their own referrer logs. This means that someone over there saw that I visited their site and decided to check out mine. Well, sorry folks, no illegal mp3s here.

Of course, I could (and most likely am) completely off base with this whole thing, but that's the fun of the internet!

Makes me want to cry tears of joy.
Vladimer Putin demonstrates the different emotional states of the average Russian.

More science... less filling.
Finally, an article that appeals to both the science geeks and the binge drinkers amongst us all. A new bastion of tests has been developed that can tell how much booze one has consumed not in just the last few hours, but the last few weeks. Doctors are jumping to use this technology to get a better feel for patients who may not always answer their lifestyle habit questios 'truthfully'.

I have got to stop reading so much Sci-Fi
Ever since Al gave me those Dan Simmons books, I have been voraciously reading up on all things sciency and fictiony. It has finally gotten to the point where the Sci-Fi is creeping into my dreams. And one crazy time travel dream is one crazy time travel dream too many. Time to switch back to cookbooks.

Daily Game time
Following up on yesterday's American Idol post, here is today's DG. It's like wack-a-mole but with the hosts for the show as the wackiees. I only missed three, and Clay Aiken says that's "super"!

What a day... here comes the T.
Well, Mr. T week is starting to come to a close. I am still tossing around ideas for next week's theme, but I have to weekend to figure all of that out. Here is a picture of the T in a sombrero, for all of my sombrero wearing friends out there.

FBI says that bullet IDing can be misleading
The FBI says that the standard practice of analyzing the composition of a bullet and attempting to match that composition to bullets in the suspects possesion can be misleading.

Real time, GUI using picture sharing app
Flickr.com is currently beta testing a program that will allow pictures to be shared in real time among groups of people. I haven't had a chance to register yet, but if anyone does, let me know. I have some pics of B Arthur that are begging to be brought out into the light.

Man's best Friendster
It's Dogster. Post and search through tons of pictures of dogs. This is especially important, as I am working the dog angle on Jess pretty hard. Last night we watched Westminister and she mentioned she likes Beagles. So, it's off to find as much beagle info as possible.

If you only visit one site off this page today
Let it be williamhung.net. The ultimate tribute page for the ultimate American Idol competitor. Be sure to watch the video, and if you want a t-shirt, let me know. I am thinking of putting in a group order. One can never have enough t-shirts.

No Mr. T pick today
I am trying to figure out the format for the weekly picture theme. I am thinking that MWF will be the best, in both the conservation of bandwidth and ability to find quality pictures that fit into a given theme. I have two more good T pics, which will be brought out Thursday and Friday. Until then... keep it in your pants.

Mr. T is one popular guy.
There has been a request for more information about the cartoon entitled "Mr. T". The basic premise was that it involved Mr. T coaching a bunch of mystery solving gymnasts. Here is a pic to jog your memory, and here is a synopsis of all of the episodes from 1983 through 1986. Good stuff, that Mr. T.

By the by, the big cartoon dataBase is a fantastic resource for all things cartoony.

More sound, less game
Forcefully confined to the category of Daily Game, I present to you... the Dr. Zoidberg Soundboard. This reminds me... go get season one. STAT.

Seriously PETA
PETA, when they're not handing out bloody comic books to kids, they are placing fake ads denouncing the Atkin's diet while pretending to be doctors. I am just as against the Atkin's diet as the next sane person, but I don't go around forming phony doctor's legions to get my point across. Maybe I should, and then again, maybe I should just start to shove the elderly.

I'm not a casino... I'm a casin-yes
A week from today, residents of Dane County, Wisconsin will be voting as to whether or not the Ho Chunk nation can build and operate a full casino on the southeast side of Madison. While there are many profound arguments both for and against this construction, I believe that the key issue is being side-stepped by the media. That issue... inexpensive all you can eat buffets. Casinos usually have very good buffets at very low prices.

Remember, if you are in favor of inexpensive, all you can eat buffets, you are in favor of the casino.

Scrabble Blitz yo.
In case anyone is wondering, and I know you all are, the current high score on Scrabble Blitz is 425 points. Try to beat that jerk stores.

On and Off
Simple. Effective. To the point. Especially if that point is to turn something on and then turn it off again.

I'll give you your Daily T right now!
See. People get excited about the Daily T. Well, today's T comes as part of an important public service message... it's the T with heart.

I like the exclamation point!
There. I said it. A fair amount of people would tend to not agree with me on this point, but I think it comes down to a matter of coming to terms with one's own false pretenses. I can not believe that it is healthy to go through life seemingly jaded about everything one encounters. The "point" conveys a sense of excitement about something, be that something the old guy across the street giving you the stink eye or the OTC re-release. And that excitement is something that far too many people pretend not to have... all in the hopes that they will be viewed as a "been there, done that" type of person. Blah to that, I say.

Oh, there was some sort of even that sparked this tirade, though I can't remember quite what it was.

Comb Overs!
An entire website devoted to spotting, tagging and eventually understanding the phenomenon that is the combover.

I need a new fish tank
Actually, I just want the car that the fish tank comes with.

ASCII to Binary to ASCII Convertor
Because you know you want to find out what it says on the cover of Sixteen Stone. Binary- it's digitalicious!

Harmon Leon goes on a blind date!
Reason 4567 why I need to get TiVo. Harmon Leon goes on the TV show Blind Date. Hilarity ensues. Harmon Leon writes about said experience in magazine. Magazine article published online for world viewing audience. CJ laughs at article and attempts to eat stick of butter.

Today's DG...
Today's daily game is a study in "things that make no sense". Starting right away with super-excited directions letting you know that you need to make your squirrel go fast. Then the sonic-like loops de loops that involve crowns and sad anime nurses. Finally, the title itself, Squirrel Squash. Are we squashing squirrels? No. Is there anything at all to do with squashing going on anywhere in this game? No. What a seriously strange little game.