Musing

The Myrtle Beach 2007 Music Video or You Want To See My Monkey? I dumped the contents of our cameras onto the computer a couple days ago and realized that I probably had enough to make a short video out of it all. This was a lot of fun to make. A lot of the music I used is there for lyrical content that matches what you're watching, so even if you don't think the video clips/pictures are funny enough, you should at least appreciate it for that fact. YouTube distorts things a little bit, as far as timing and clarity go. If there's any kind of demand, I could probably upload the whole 100MB file to some other sharing site that would allow you to download it. Rated PG for crude humor, at least one drug reference, and about 30 seconds of watching my backside while I simultaneously cook supper and dance. Watch it. Enjoy it. And stay young.

Our Dream Come True or We're All Gonna Die Straight out of the Holy Fucking Hell Department (thanks to Heaton) comes this amazing tale of the realization of our high school lunchtable's dream - making salt water burn . While it doesn't look like this means the end of the world, I think it's pretty awesome that our long-standing joke actually became a reality. As many people have said in the comment area for all of the You Tube videos of the topic, it's probably a little too early to say whether this actually stands a chance of being a feasible alternative to our current fuel sources. I would imagine that the energy required to produce (and maintain) radio waves of the proper frequency would be greater than the thermal energy produced in the reaction, although one story indicated that the discoverer and some other team mates are looking for ways to make the process more efficient. Salt water for fuel - sure as hell beats $4/gal for gasoline. It also means we shoul...

The Purpose of Art or Episode III: Revenge of the Cubist It sounds strange to say, but I love the power of Picasso's Guernica . In searching for a high-res shot of it for my desktop today, I came across this quote. Ol' Pablo scored a couple of cool points for this one. "What do you think an artist is? An imbecile who has only eyes if he is a painter, or ears if he is a musician, or a lyre in every chamber of his heart if he is a poet, or even, if he is a boxer, just his muscles? Far, far from it: at the same time, he is also a political being, constantly aware of the heartbreaking, passionate, or delightful things that happen in the world, shaping himself completely in their image. How could it be possible to feel no interest in other people, and with a cool indifference to detach yourself from the very life which they bring to you so abundantly? No, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war." --Pablo Picasso For reasons that I...

Sex Education for Parents or No, My Wife Is Not Pregnant One of the latest crazes sweeping the nation for 10 year old girls (1) is having a Purity Ball . Far right evangelical Christians bring their daughters to one of these balls where the father pledges to be a good role model (faithful to the wife, no pornography (2) , etc.) and the daughter promises to wait until she's married to have sex. Sounds like a good idea, if a little corny, right? Then you get to the end of the article: 88% of those girls lose their virginity before marriage . So it works! In fact, it works so well that the number of Purity Balls across the county this year is expected to double from last year! Idiots. If you're a father concerned about your daughter's willingness to remain a virgin until wed, I have a better solution for you. This summer, I will be hosting the first annual Fugly Ball. I'll be renting the Indianapolis Convention Center for one weekend in July, where eligible young ...

Paranoid Copulating Androids or I Don't Understand Either Music is orgasmically wonderful all on its own. Personally, I think having sex with music playing would be awfully distracting. Chiming in with me is Thom Yorke, who revealed in an undated video clip that he is confused by people who tell him they love to shag to the sound of Radiohead. He mentions Paranoid Android in particular. What the hell? (brought to my attention by http://www.greenplastic.com)

And Then I Blew Up The Indians or Rage, Rage Against The Occupancy of the Handicapped Spot A couple of months ago, a new family moved into the apartment below ours. They looked harmless at first - a young couple with their toddler and a pair of grandparents. In fact, for a while, we never heard a single peep work its way up to our domain. Even the baby was silent. This is probably the closest I've ever been to a baby without making it cry. One night I was out at Kroger picking up some snacks. It was around Christmastime, so the weather wasn't bitterly cold, but definitely cold enough to make a jacket a must-have. I gathered my bags, locked the doors, and walked up to the sidewalk leading to our stairs. Then crazy Grandpa India comes charging out of his door in a skirt. You're probably shaking your head, calling me ten different kids of culturally intolerant. But I'm telling you it was a skirt. I walked within three feet of the man when I went up the stairs, but ...

A Quote or Another Tidbit "Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are." --St. Augustine Normally I'm one to rant against hope, but this is a brilliant statement nonetheless. Stay young. (That's another brilliant statement, in a less obvious way.)