More Than Words

Grammar
Notes on "Sweet Child O' Mine" as Delivered to Axl Rose by his Editor

She’s got a smile that, it seems to me—Why equivocate? You weaken your point by framing this as a mere personal observation instead of a fact.

Reminds me of childhood memories—Redundant. You either have a memory or you’re reminded of something. You’re not reminded of a memory. Heavy-metal fans won’t stand for such writing, my friend.

Rock
Classic rock lyrics obfuscated in verbose and scholarly language. Take the quiz



Grammar Rock I

Mr. Morton, one of the Schoolhouse Rock series covering grammar, this one having to do with subjects and predicates. I thought I had seen all these growing up, but this one must have escaped my notice (until today).



Grammar Rock II

A quick grammar lesson from The IT Crowd

If You're Happy and You Know It...

...well, your sentient mohawk will know what to do. The commercial is for Gatsby, a line of hair gels and waxes popular in Asia. (via Copyranter)

No relation to Jon Secada

It's summer (in my half of the world) and our backyard has its fair share of cicadas, making that one-of-a-kind sound.

What this deranged individual is holding is a member of the largest cicada species in the world, the Malaysian Empress Cicada, which has a wingspan of 8 inches(!)

Morning Jukebox

Whiskey Shivers - Gimme All Your Lovin'

You know, I could use a shirt like that. Also, there seems to be something amiss in the basement.

Lulzasaurus

This still makes me laugh every damn time I see it. Enclicken to embiggen.

Your dress code said "Tie Required". It didn't say anything about a shirt. Or pants.

The Escapist : The Big Picture : The Collar

Ever wonder why a lot of Hanna Barbera cartoon characters have a collar and tie, but no shirt? This is why.

Rumination Nation

Some Deep Thoughts® from some reader submissions at Ruminations. People enter their pithy (or pissy) observations and everyone votes on the best ones. Here were some that made me giggle like a schoolgirl trapped in a nitrous factory:

"While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart. "

"I tend to think love would be a lot more efficient if Cupid replaced his bow and arrow with a sniper rifle. We need some accuracy up in this bitch."

"The supreme court is just like regular court except it has tomatoes and sour cream. This is correct?"

"I have a hard time believing there was a time in my life that I had to be coaxed to finish my entire plate of food."

"Wow! Its a beautiful day outside! I probably should do something productive, like get up and shut my blinds to stop the glare on my television set." (via Ned Hardy)

Send 'Em In

 

Oh, that's a nice pic of... OH MY GOD

Roll your own nightmare fuel with the Evil Clown Face Generator

Tumbling in a World of Swirl

Pas de Deux by Daniel Wurtzel uses just two pieces of fabric and a vortex of air to create a sensuous, hypnotic swirl. Also worth a look is his Fire Tornado. (via Miss Cellania)

Reminiscent of the plastic bag scene in 1999's American Beauty where Ricky (Wes Bentley), the odd neighbor boy, invites Jane (Thora Birch) to see "the most beautiful thing" he's ever filmed.

Beyond the Disco Ball of the Planet of the Apes

Planet of the Apes Party Fun Time (via Miss Cellania)

The 2 Second Rule

The rules are simple: I put the self-timer on 2 seconds, push the button and try to get as far from the camera as I can.

From the it's-nothing-if-not-specific Running From Camera blog.

This is Unix! I know this!

Hollywood sometimes stretches the limits of our credulity, whether it's programming a virus that is able to interface, and infect, seamlessly with never-before-seen alien computer systems a la Independence Day, or, as Weird Science assures us, a couple of kids scanning in pictures from Playboy and hooking their computer up to a Barbie doll while wearing bras on their heads would create Kelly LeBrock.

Here are some of the more egregious examples of unrealistic computers in the movies.


From Hackers (1995), our hero Zero Cool hacks into a local cable TV station to wrest control of the robotic videotape mechanism so he can watch the movies he wants to watch. Wackiness ensues.

10 Unrealistic Uses of the Internet in Movies

14 Things You Never See Computers Do Except In Movies

By the way, you know the (in)famous scene in Swordfish where Hugh Jackman writes code like a maniac? Yeah, not so much in real life. In it there's about 7 monitors and he is wailing on that keyboard at like 900 words a minute, but he never seems to have any typos.

Cheer up, Novice Programmer! Now you too can impress your friends with your 1337 coding sk1llz with Hacker Typer. Open up Hacker Typer and just start banging on those keys with abandon! Hell, do a faceplant into the keyboard or have your cat walk across the keys, it doesn't matter. Up on the screen it will begin to type in perfect code, free of logical and syntactical errors.

Here's me Hacker Typing with my elbow:

Morning Jukebox

In 1980, Utopia (Todd Rundgren's prog-rock band) put out the Deface The Music. The concept of the album was to pay homage to The Beatles.

The first track, "I Just Want to Touch You", was written by Rundgren for the movie Roadie soundtrack. It was rejected by the producers for fear of legal action because it sounded so much like the Beatles.

Veronica Lizzioncourse!

NPR mainstay Car Talk has been around forever, and every show closes with credits to some of their extensive and oddly-named staff. Just a few below, and more (a lot more) at their site.

Director of Top Secret Strategy                  Donatello Nobatti
Conservative Political Commentator          Eileen Tudor-Wright
Head of Working Mother Support Group   Erasmus B. Dragon

What do mimes speak in Japan?

Simple, stupid, very, very funny. Gamarjobat.