And then a wet, brown hell broke loose, flooding downtown Boston.

Go see Eric Postpischil's Molasses Disaster Pages and read all about the explosion of a two million gallon tank of molasses.

And while your there, enjoy a glass of sweet, sticky, fermented irony:

As the rescue workers and clean-up crews tackled the incredible mess the night of January 16, they paused in puzzlement at the sudden ringing of church bells all over downtown Boston. Nebraska had voted on the 18th Amendment and ratified it. Prohibition was law, and churches which had campaigned for it in their pulpits now celebrated. Men up to their ankles in the makings of rum listened for a moment and went back to work.

Frankly, I'm shocked I've never heard of this before. It seems like this event should be common knowledge.

Nikon D100, 75-240mm

Bluebird

South Knox Bubba gets a funny picture of a bluebird couple. Add your own hen-pecked husband joke in the comments, I did.

I, Toilet

Nikon D100, 28-80mm

Wait, he's reading the book I'm reading?

I just discovered that Jeff VanderMeer, one of my favorite authors, and the only author who has ever made me stop reading, drop the book, and say "Holy shit. I can't believe how good this guy is.", out loud, has a blog: http://vanderworld.blogspot.com/.

In my own postmodern fantasy world, where Spoon is on top of the Top-40 and ketchup and mustard cost extra, everybody has read and loves VanderMeer's City of Saints and Madmen.

Low shoulder

Sony P7

That's no moon...

...that's a space station!... or maybe a navel orange, or a stuffed olive.

Nikon D100, 105mm macro

Power of the pen

Alas, a Blog remarks on something remarkable:

For years, many concerned about human rights and disability rights have been trying to get countries like The Czech Republic (along with Slovakia, Slovenia, and Hungary) to stop the use of 'caged beds,' often used to control those with mental illness and/or disabilities.

And now they've changed their minds about those beds. But why? Did someone threaten to bomb them? Sanctions? No, it was...

A letter. Not just any letter, but a letter from a very influential person, calling for the elimination of these beds. So, who could this incredibly powerful and influential person be? Kofi Anan? Nelson Mandela? Madeline Albright?

Who?? Go find out.

Nikon D100, 28-80mm

Nikon D100, 75-240mm

Nikon D100, 75-240mm, grayscaled in PS

Nikon N80, Kodak Max 400, 28-80mm

Best Guitar Sound Ever

The start of Brian May's solo in Queen's We will rock you.

Nikon D100, 28-80mm

Awesome

Rock Paper Saddam

More clever spam

Just try and stop this one with your clever pattern-matching filters:

  FBfEqa   flrCF0rb 8B7    t8e    9I7    Eo bv  D0r77rp    d2w7ebq3    kbscEs     7xd7go 

 e4x71c3b  1G6ss1Bk  8ez  sFg     Btg   v8x Ep  3xI2dktv   t1H0z5Ev   gt0yb7ye   7u46BGo1

 Aws  CzG  He         0FfIGu      t33   wvC gx  sy   arlG  7d        ApCo  vgsv  37C  GgC

 BgH       yB         DzysrI       r4   e1  dE  2A    Fsp  CF        ve2    kFo  EC7     

 kxqBut    ulbcaw0o    ly3b        Ftd yf8  1s  Cs     ka  EFgkefaA  f7      to  spc2xv  

  CF3u25   z1oqv5Ec    Itpe        b9H aaD  cp  zE     HC  ol0uouFH  tr      7I   cvpvq7 

    o7FfA  zC          aHIb         bqIHf   vb  E9     xp  33        ze      qb     Ileus

      d2f  qe         k2DrHu        AEql7   H0  tG    CDr  ls        IGw    0Fv       rE8

 dyH  ks1  p1         2blGcl        Ddzop   sx  vw   yyDg  l3        wsGA  814d  FE4  oux

 DegasI3v  Gq6qwakA  Avy  r5x       37bIA   tq  CEIdvvqG   Hyzgo4BG   9fFycAgq   CH2vrbEb

  GwHA9p   ewg4ggHG cxH    lDq       vgE    cb  F3z11AB    H5sq5yzq    6ak7sk     eDB6Au 



 cFbf  5D    36xo  wGrF  Gb  qz    dD   eG Crudg uv05a  rF70A

w7   H Fa     sc  ss   w 51 eI     tx   G5 Iu    pw  6C 2q   

3g     z6     kF  0t     IaBI      rt   Fq Fc    8I  Fo 9y   

xB     wp     Ag  ts     8q4       kFavscd 2ag4  qB5eo  u0u0 

1e     sr     ce  tl     off4      ew   xw 9c    4qfw   uF   

dG   6 ad     eq  0t   F A4 sx     tl   r3 Ax    Er gt  d3   

 vFex  9afEz a3xA  v90p  d4  dc    k6   gc z1dvg bE  rw ACF07

The "CLICK HERE" is all one big link to some geocities page. Pretty clever.

Nikon N80, Kodak Max 400, 28-80mm

"Feeding someone is an act of caring"

Alton Brown lets loose on people's attitudes towards fast food:

Here’s what it comes down to kids. Ronald McDonald doesn’t give a damn about you. Neither does that little minx Wendy or any of the other icons of drivethroughdom. And you know what, they’re not supposed to. They’re businesses doing what businesses do. They don’t love you. They are not going to laugh with you on your birthdays, or hold you when you’re sick and sad.

...

We are fat and sick and dying because we have handed a basic, fundamental and intimate function of life over to corporations. We choose to value our nourishment so little that we entrust it to strangers. We hand our lives over to big companies and then drag them to court when the deal goes bad. This is insanity.

Right on.

N80, Kodak Max 400, 105mm macro

B,double-E,double-R,U,N

Nothing beats a good beer run. Well, some things do, like not spending even more time in jail. But, most things don't.

Nikon N80, Fuji Sensia 100, 105mm macro

Nikon N80, Fuji Sensia 100, 28-80mm

Nikon N80, Fuji Sensia 100, 28-80mm

Fun game

Via Boing Boing Follow-ups to One-Hit-Wonder song titles. ex:

• How Are We Going to Get These Dogs Back In?
  
• Bust an Additional Move
  
• Seriously, Eileen, Come On
  
• I Will Now Pass the Dutchie Back to You and Thank You for Passing It to Me Originally Because I Really Enjoyed the Dutchie
  
• Whoomp! There It Continues to Be
  

This looks like something I would enjoy... Let's see..

• 867-5310
  
• I Said Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo!
  
• MP3s Killed The Video Star
  
• The Boys Were Back In Town
  
• I Don't Like Tuesdays, Either
  

OK. It's a little fun. Not as much as I'd hoped.

Nikon N80, Fuji Superia 400, 70-250mm

Listnin

Franz Ferdinand - After many months of disappointments, I finally found a record worth playing more than once. All hail Franz Ferdinand. They belong to the Television, Pixies and Sleater-Kinney school of angular, jerky, tense and super-catchy school of rock. And that's a great way to start. And, bonus, they're from Scotland - the mere mention of which makes me want to drink Scotch and eat shortbread cookies (two of my favorite things).

Beastie Boys - To the 5 Boroughs. I like it better than their last one, though it's not in the same league as their wonderful Ill Communication. Ah well. Gotta support 'em anyway, for they speak the truth.

Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism. Like this better than The Postal Service record (singer Ben Gibbard's other current project), though the songs are similar. While The Postal Service is heavy on the 80's bleepy synth sound, this has a more organic real-live-musician feel - as it should - they're real, live musicians in there!

New ones from Modest Mouse, Tortoise, Blonde Redhead - all long-time favorite bands, but I simply can't get into any of their new stuff. It doesn't sound that much different from their old stuff, but it just doesn't grab me any more.

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited. Can't believe I waited this long to buy it. Amazing record.

Got all these from the wickedly simple iTunes.

I'd do better if i had more time.

I want to give them my money

Kafkaesque confirms for me that the problem isn't just with contractors (and car dealers!) in North Carolina; it happens in Southern California, too:

" I want to give these people my money, because frankly I'm too pretty and weak to remove cement myself, but they won't take it. I've called them repeatedly, and been assured that they are all ready to go with the job, and then they never call back. I can't figure it out. I want to give them my money."

Luckily, we moved into a brand new house in December, so we haven't had to replace anything on it yet. But before that, in our last house, we were constantly replacing trim boards, crappy masonite siding and various other rottables. Replace some boards in the spring and by fall, another set has rotted out (or become food for carpenter bees); by spring another set has rotted out and the ones you replaced last spring have begun to rot because the gutters were re-installed wrong and water was getting trapped against the wood, etc.. The trim cycle stops for no man.

Every time we had to get work done, we'd find a new handyman in the phone book (because the last one was shit), leave a message "Hi, my name is Cleek and I need someone to fix a few trim boards", and then we'd wait; 80% of the time, he'd never call back. So, we'd call another one, and another one, none of them returning our calls, until we finally found a guy who seemed really eager to do the job. "Yeah man! Sounds good! I can fit you in next Thursday!" Hooray! Finally, someone interested in our money!

Wednesday night, he'd call and postpone our job for another day because his current job is taking longer than he expected. Then he'd show up Friday, an hour late, looking hungover and desperate for another cigarette. He'd start working, go for a few hours before telling us he has to leave to go finish this other job and that he'll have to finish us tomorrow morning. So we've got a bunch of unpainted boards nailed to our house, or big chunks of siding on the ground and who knows when it's going to be fixed, because half the time he blows us off again and comes back Tuesday morning, whining about how much time he's spending on a job as small as our's. "Heh, I shouldn't really take these small jobs anymore. I only take them to fill up holes in my schedule, but it seems they always take more time to get to and setup than it does to do the work! Haha!" No, ya prick, it's because you underestimate every job you take; and then you start late and waste time driving between the one you just started and the one you need to finish, instead of just showing up on time and finishing them as fast as you can. Organize your damnfool self!

If I ever find a decent, reliable handyman, I'm gonna send him cookies every Christmas and a case of beer every July 4^th.

Nikon D100, 75-240mm

Wow

The Polyphonic Spree have come up with a really great interactive music/video/puzzle game/web site. Most excellent.

W

BTW, "W" was the 61^st most popular name from 1900 to 1909.

Nikon D100

"But that would be wrong. It is Giblets's ham jello."

Fafblog has A Serious Philosophical Discussion on Utilitarianism versus Deontology.

Sony P7

The Mrs. Says Hi

Sony P7

Patently

Do you need a method of inducing aerobic exercise in an unrestrained cat ?

US Patent 5443036 might be able to help. Handheld laser pointer required.

For a bunch of philosophers...

Crooked Timber tries to answer a rather silly question: : Wilco or Cat Power?

Wilco: good
Cat Power: good

"Which is better?" is a "that depends" question, just like "Should I wear pants?" The correct answer to both is "That depends on who's in the car with you".

Nikon D100, 105mm macro

Nikon N100, 105mm macro

New record in the 100m!

CNN.com reports that a South African man has slashed 5 seconds off the 100m time!

The new record for the fastest 100 year old man 100 meter run is : 30.86 seconds!

Nikon N80, Fuji Superia 400, 70-240mm

Nikon N80, Fuji Superia 400, 28-80mm, Grayscaled in Photoshop

The things you notice

When you fly out of Cincinatti after your layover, heading west, the farms below are all smallish with irregular borders; the roads are curvy and run into each other at strange angles as they wiggle around the little hills, run next to rivers and streams and property lines. But, within an hour of flying, the roads straighten out into a nearly perfect grid, the hills flatten out and the farms become rectangular and many times larger. Houses are miles apart, on perfectly straight roads. Another hour of flying west and the farms are enourmous rectangles, then they become squares with huge irrigation circles in them. Sometimes you can't even see houses or buildings - nothing but crops.

Then, somewhere in eastern Colorado there's a thin and wiggly road. Nobody farms on the west side of that road; all the farms are on the eastern side. On the western side is nothing but low rolling brown hills and tiny houses stuck at the ends of skinny dirt roads. Maybe it's cattle ranching country, but you can't tell from 25,000 feet.

And then you're in Denver, and you're dizzy from the altitude.

I love the new spam

Here's one I just received:

Hello, young lovers! :)
From Paul to Stalin, the popes who have chosen Caesar have prepared the way for Caesars who quickly learn to despise popes.
Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God.
Searching for pill on the net? irishwomen discreeter
We`ve got anything you will ever need. unhastiness nonmembers
Free ClAIis sample with any order! skunks parfaits interfertile overbase ehrlich
There is nothing so annoying as a good example!!
Better to have loved a short man than never to have loved a tall.
Critics! Those cut-throat bandits in the paths of fame.

The blue line was a link to some site I wasn't about to visit. But, I really do love the random quotes sprinkled with random words style. It brings out the dadaist in me. Hunkpapa. Meisterbrau.

Sony P7

Sony P7

Documentary

Let's take a look at some films nominated for the Oscar for best feature-length documentary.

Here's 1943 (circle = winner):

• Baptism Of Fire - Produced by The United States Army
  
• The Battle Of Russia - Produced by The United States Department Of War: Special Service Division
  
• Desert Victory - Produced by The British Ministry Of Information
  
• For God and Country - Produced by The United States Army: Pictorial Service
  
• Report From the Aleutians - Produced by The United States Army: Pictorial Service
  
• Silent Village - Produced by The British Ministry Of Information
  
• War Department Report - Produced by The United States Office Of
• Strategic Services: Field Photographic Bureau
  
• We've Come a Long, Long Way - Produced by Negro Marches On, Inc.
  

Here's 1944

• The Fighting Lady - Produced by The United States Navy
  
• Resisting Enemy Interrogation - Produced by The United States Army Air Force
  

Here's 1945

• The Last Bomb - Produced by The United States Army Air Force
  
• The True Glory - Produced by The Government Of Great Britain, The Government Of the United States
  

Here's 1974

• Antonia: A Portrait Of the Woman - Produced by Judy Collins, Jill Godmilow
  
• The Challenge… A Tribute To Modern Art - Produced by Herbert Kline
  
• The 81st Blow - Produced by David Bergman, Jacquot Ehrlich, Haim Gouri
  
• Hearts and Minds - Produced by Peter Davis, Bert Schneider
  
• The Wild and The Brave - Produced by Eugene S. Jones, Natalie R. Jones

Do you suppose "The Last Bomb" (1945) presents the glory of the USAAF from the perspective of a Japanese noodle vendor who spends the last two hours of his life writhing in the dust, blind, with 3rd degree burns and a crushed pelvis ? Or, do you think it shows how they ended the war in the Pacific with the application of our superior technology and gritty determination, yadayadayada ? Well, of course it's the second one, why would the USAAF make a film about the first? Is one view more accurate and un-biased than the other ? No. A documentary doesn't have to present all sides of the issue, doesn't have to be un-biased, and doesn't have to lack a strong overriding message. In fact, it would be impossible to make such a thing; making any kind of film (or even simply taking a snapshot from your disposable camera) requires that you first choose a subject and then decide how best to present that subject - before you've exposed any film, you've made two editorial decisions both of which will reflect your own personality. You can make an accurate record of your subject, but someone else can make another accurate record of the same subject that looks nothing like what you came up with.

So, did Michael Moore make a documentary or not?

Sony P7

The bride-to-be

Sony P7

Sony P7