| You are cool. |
hip news: Boilerplate
Here's a cool steampunk-esque fictive website about an amazing automaton from the 1800s. Boilerplate, ostensibly created by Victorian genius Prof. Archibald Campion, is the invention of comic book artist Paul Guinan, who shows remarkable skill in photoshopping the robot into pictures with Teddy Roosevelt and Pancho Villa. Following all of the links through the Big Red Hair website leads to entertaining stories of other "early robots," airships, Chicago's Columbian Exposition, and adventurers. I especially enjoyed Boilerplate's Antarctic expedition.
linksy love: slashdot: robots of the victorian era
with a name like slashdot, it has to be good and geeky
erik 11:15 AM | permalink | yap
in the in-box
Today's reliable spam sender: Numbering M. Chocked, who informs me my account is overdue.
erik 9:43 AM | permalink | yap
| You are cool. |
book on the run: BookCrossing
Thanks to my pals over at Wrybrarian, I've discovered BookCrossing, the neat, free, global book club. I just released my first book into the wild, a duplicate copy of Breakfast of Champions that I had lying around. It was strange to leave a book sitting outside (but protected under shelter)--I felt as if someone was going to catch me, and I would run afoul of the heightened security around the Hancock building. Here's hoping whoever finds it actually takes it and reads it!
erik 11:48 AM | permalink | yap
| You are cool. |
in the in-box
The recent move toward using totally ridiculous fake names as the sender of spams is annoying when you're scanning a list of messages to see if any of them are from a friend. This morning's favorite sender from the spam pile: Batman F. Currency, who invited me to "See Paris H1Lton get slammed on tape." Is it even possible to play tennis on a sticky surface?
erik 9:48 AM | permalink | yap
| You are cool. |
attention to: New Black
RE: Shows
MESSAGE: Stop booking them for when I am out of town. Start booking them for when I am in town. That way I can go see them.
THAT IS ALL.
erik 4:48 PM | permalink | yap
over the weekend (last weekend): They Might Be Giants
After giving Liz's nieces and nephew copies of No! by They Might Be Giants for helping out in our wedding last year, it seemed the perfect birthday gift this year was treating them to a TMBG show. Luckily (except in an egg before the chicken kind of way), TMBG performed a special kids' show at the Old Town School of Folk Music, just down the block from my apartment, last weekend.
I'm not going to go into as much detail as Benjy gives in his reviews of TMBG shows, but that's just because I didn't have a notebook or his fanatical memory of every show they've every played with all included nuances (the man is committed).
John, John, Dan, Dan, Dan, and Robin performed many of the songs off of No!, and one off of Bed Bed Bed, the kiddie albums. At one point or another, the performance was by the Deeply Felt Puppet Orchestra. Noteable non-kids album songs performed were "Istanbul," "Dr. Worm," "Why Does the Sun Shine?," "Particle Man," and "You're Not the Boss of Me" (Grammy-winning theme to Malcolm in the Middle). I had a diaper-load of fun, and the interactions with the mosh pit full of kids and all the quips between songs were great: Flans, introducing "Boss of Me," said, "My brother is 46 years old, and he still pushes me around."
Our niece and nephew weren't eager to join the kiddie moshing or even crack a smile, it seemed. I guess it could be weird, going to your first rock concert at 6. At least they got to be pretty cool, meeting John and John at the autograph table and speaking intelligently with them (my nephew even told them that they didn't play his favorite song ("Edison Museum"), and Flans spoke with him about it). So what if my niece and nephew are wet rags--I loved the show.
erik 1:51 PM | permalink | yap
| You are cool. |
huh
"A sordid past" sounds kind of like "assorted past." Ooh! A sampler pack!
erik 1:23 PM | permalink | yap
| You are cool. |
hip news: Bend.com: "Teen dances to record after partner's stumble"
Attention, Ernie! Now hear this! Don't be a DDR slacker! Be a DDR h4x0r! Boom Boom Dollar!
That is all.
erik 12:46 PM | permalink | yap