Do you know who the ultimate badass is?

I'll give you a hint.

It's Snake-Eyes.

I just started watching the animated series, G.I. Joe: Resolute, and there is nobody more badass. This is a mute ninja who jumps out of planes without parachutes and can kill you seven different ways with just his hands. I'll come right out and say it. Snake-Eyes is a bigger badass than Darth Vader. Vader wastes so much time talking, and you always know he's there. Snake-Eyes could be behind you right now. Of course he'll probably only kill you if you're devoting your time to evil. Probably.

Episodes 2 and 8 are where the money is at, but it's worth your time to watch them all. Each one is about five minutes.

Thanks again to Penny Arcade for pointing me in the direction of cool.

Inhumane in the membrane

So there is a great article on The Huffington Post about water boarding. I suggest you check it out. On a similar note, there was a terrifying piece by Christopher Hitchens on the subject. Here is a video.



And here is a link to his, admittedly old, article on Vanity Fair. Nothing like an upbeat post to start the week off right.

Purple lightning

Once again Stephen Colbert gets it right. Four states have legalized same-sex marriage, and the tide of public opinion is moving in the right direction. So the anti-gay nutjobs are resorting to the ridiculous.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

If somebody could show me one instance of a straight marriage being damaged in any way by a gay marriage, then I might have some sympathy for these intolerant fear mongers. Don't hold your breath.

The Hurt Locker

So here I am, thinking that I need to post something, but not having anything to say. While I'm procrastinating, I found this trailer for a movie without any stars, that was completely under my radar. All of a sudden I am really excited and think you should be too. No, not you. You. So check this out.



Enjoy.

Better late I guess

This is a video for a song called "Oasis" by Amanda Palmer, of The Dresden Dolls. The album is called "Who Killed Amanda Palmer." This is by no means the best song on the album. It is just one of the funniest music videos I have ever seen. You can check out more of the videos here. I would recommend the song "Astronaut" to anyone. The whole album is good, and you can pick it up at iTunes or here. Be aware that the subject matter of this video is fairly NSFW.




Amanda Palmer "Oasis" Music Video from Amanda Palmer on Vimeo.


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Higher Education

Today in my class on Realism and Naturalism Literature, I witnessed a dude. Now this dude was sitting in a class that costs him close to $700 before room and board. Now while this dude was sitting in this expensive class, he had his laptop open. Fark, Facebook, and online poker were occupying his attention. Two games of poker simultaneously. So this poker playing dude was hanging out, throwing money away, when he took his index finger and shoved it up his nose. After a few moments, he started absently sucking his newly green finger. I really wish I could have missed that.

Science!

This is fantastic news. British researchers have developed a drug that seems, in early and limited trials at least, to help break up the plaque in the brain that causes Alzheimer's. The drug attacks a protein, which seems to be an important aspect of the disease, in the blood. This is why I try to keep up with science. The researchers initially thought that the drug would impact the blood levels of a protein associated with the disease. Apparently, there is also an effect on the plaque in the brain. This could be one of the early steps toward a cure, or at least a treatment, for Alzheimer's.

The Whole World

Four thousand eighty three.
Four thousand eighty four.
Four thousand eighty — Looking. Looking. Here! Eighty five.
Four thousand eighty five legos so far, and I only have Antarctica and most of Australia. I don't have enough green pieces to get far into India. Forget about blues. Less than a third of the way, and I don't have enough to finish the coast of Australia. I'll have to do just enough to connect New Zealand. Reds, oranges, blacks, and the occasional purple make up the core. I had hoped to create an accurate inside too. I just need to get the outside right. The guts are unimportant. Wait. There it is.
Four thousand eighty six.
Four thousand eighty seven.
Four thousand eighty eight.

Duct tape, road flares, and helium

Today I found something at Bad Astronomy that made me very very happy.

First I should explain that I don't believe in UFOs, ESP, or BLTs. I do believe that there is probably life out in the universe, there are things that we don't understand, and bacon is delicious, but I don't think aliens have visited the Earth, I think all psychics are frauds or nutjobs, and bacon is not terribly healthy.

So, this past January, two guys in New Jersey attached road flares to five helium balloons and let them go. What do you think happened?

There were dozens of sightings of a UFO in the surrounding area. People called the police, the news was out in full force, and the History Channel sent the "UFO Hunters" to investigate. The consensus seemed to be that something mysterious happened in New Jersey and everyone seemed to give the story credence. Now I am not suggesting that we start disbelieving everything we think we see, but there are some things that demand skepticism. The guys that did this documented the setup, the launch, and the news coverage so there couldn't be any doubt that this was a hoax.