Here's a great article on Vernon Smith and experimental economics and another by Smith on how to give Iraq back to the Iraqis. Good stuff.

Whatever-Dude.com finally finished their series: 10 Degrees of 80's Separation. Scroll down for links to the best of 80's movie nostalgia.

An interesting article on the origin of "Murphy's Law".

[Chuck] Yeager responds gruffly, “That’s the way rumors get started, by these people…who weren’t even there... Guys become, if you’ll pardon my expression, sexual intellectuals. You know what the phrase is for that?” I have to admit no, I’m not familiar with the term. Sexual what? “Sexual intellectuals. They’re fucking know-it-alls, that’s what.”

CH3K OUT THIS SIET WHICH TRANSLAETS ANY T3XT OF UR CHOSNG IN2 12-YAAR-OLD AOLER SPEAK!11!11!1 OMG WTF 2 FUNY11!11!!! OMG WTF LOL

The hotel where Nicole G-C had her wedding reception is being sued for copyright infringement on the Dewey Decimal system. Personally, I think the Library Hotel rocks, but as this blog has clearly established, my coolness credentials are not all in order.

World Beard and Moustache Championships 2003


What else is there to say?

Nick clarifies the Russian currency thing:

The funny thing is that it probably wasn't taken down for reasons of public decency. In Russia, its illegal to advertise using other currencies.

However, as with most laws, this hasn't prevented Russian businesses from using dollars as the price. Instead of writing $50, they write 50 y.e. (pronounced "Oo-yeh") is Russian for "conditional unit" and that miraculously means the ruble equivalent of $50.

I just can't get enough of this bandwagon... David Blaine Assasination Game.

For all your non-sequitur soundbite needs. Just in case that wasn't enough.

Although I believe The Brunching Shuttlecock scooped em by several years (damned if I can find it on the site though...), I still find this Onion bit on Idaville Detective 'Encyclopedia' Brown pretty "fits-of-giggles" funny. I read way too many of these stories as a kid and have many fond memories of the live-action HBO show.

Apparently, even the Russians have standards.

Short on cash?

Sell your soul.

Only you can prevent forest fires.

Nothing to say about this, really.

This is a great story.
Bee + Timberlake = Car crash.

Here's that Ford commercial that was yanked for insensitivity towards flying rats.

The Wave asks the only question that matters: which San Francisco mayoral candidates are replicants? (Credit to Todd for the link.)

The internet comes through for me.... a site dedicated to Blaine baiting.

Maybe all those globalization critics are right, another gem of foreign culture is being lost as China now faces 'Open-Crotch Pants' extinction.

Here's a collection of some of the video bits that have been circulating the web lately. I recommend "The Bus" and "The Bear."

It's Talk Like A Pirate Day!

A great article in Salon about the lameness of David Blaine.

Magicians are historically a sorry-assed lot, who keep company with flame-retardant midgets and frog-swallowers...
...Blaine, a fraction the card shark, looks like the kind of swarthy danger boy that old rich homos would go all the way to Morocco to buy for outlandish sums... He's pulling cigars out of Bridget Hall's bikini and making cognac disappear with Leo DiCaprio while superior magical geeks are honing their skills and trying to be louder than the children's birthday party, trick-shuffling in a vacuum with nobody paying any attention.

From my inbox this morning:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

I wnoder aobut tehse uvinservity wnkaers wtih tmie to do taht srot of tihng.

Just thought I'd share this map of Europe with the country names in their native languages. ...Ok, so I'm a dork.

Some guy tried to cut the water line going into David Blaine's box. I think it's great that the people taunting Blaine are much more interesting than Blaine's actual "stunt." I predict paintballs will be next...

When you care enough to send the very best: Bloody Finger Mail.

Kaiju Kitten! (Credit to Todd for the link)

Another addictive time waster.... identify movie scenes with invisible characters at FilmWise.

Meatshake update: It's a big meaty lie! (Thanks to Michael Malice for pointing out this hoax .)

By day he's an office clerk... but by night he becomes Angle Grinder Man!!!! Saving parking violators everywhere by sawing off tire boots free of charge.

You just know if this guy lived in the States he'd be running for some kind of office on the LP ticket.

Test your powers of observation with this surprisingly addictive game.

Though I am a meat fan, this just sounds repulsive... apparently there's a bunch of these out in Brooklyn though. So anybody out there have first hand experience with MeatShake?

Click at your own risk... someone's made a Bush mosaic out of assholes. Don't say I didn't warn you.

What's next? Dogs?

"Cambodians are being urged to eat more dogs as part of a crackdown on stray mutts wandering around the capital of the southeast Asian nation.

"City governor Kep Chuktema says it is now time to draw up a special pooch policy to control the growing problem of pavement-fouling strays, and for city-dwellers to throw off their traditional snootiness toward dining on man's best friend.

"'Come on, dog meat is so delicious,' he was quoted as saying in Thursday's Cambodia Daily newspaper. 'The Vietnamese and Koreans love to eat dog meat.'"

First worms, now raccoons...

"[Shaker Heights] City regulations allow employees to request so-called 'scavenge' material, but they must ask each time before taking something.

"But DiPietro added that others in the department told him that the practice of taking raccoons home to eat had been permitted for many years.

"'I was advised that it had happened in the past,' DiPietro said. 'It was something that was done in the department.'

"DiPietro acknowledged that ordinary citizens might find the idea unappealing, but he said the employee making the request was a hunter.

"'Everybody's got their own taste,' he added. 'But these are hunters who are into wild game. . . . They eat raccoons. They eat squirrels.'"

Johnny Cash is dead at 71.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

Looks like Christian Bale is set to be the next Batman.

Time to revisit an old favorite. I give you Lobster Magnet!!!

Nihilist Bear


Which Dysfunctional Care Bear Are You?

Here is an interesting poll of Iraqis that's worth a look.

Isn't it odd that Nick is the one to send me this find...

More David Blaine torture: a FARK group plans to attack him with laser pointers.

From Today's NYPost:
POOR David Blaine. Everybody's favorite magician is being treated like a human piñata as he hangs suspended over the Thames in a Plexiglas coffin for what he says will be 44 days without food. Blaine's box has so far been pelted with eggs, golf balls and even fish and chips. Security guards have been chasing away Blaine's mostly teen tormentors. Two girls even tried to get Blaine's attention by baring their breasts.

I am really looking forward to Bubba Ho-Tep.

A bunch of videos from the Matrix Ping-Pong/Magic Shadow folks.

I just love this title: Jesus Christ Beyond Thunderdome

I remember hearing an MP3 of this a few years ago. Now someone's turned it into an amusing 8 bit D&D video clip.

ASCII movies galore.

Cartman's boombox, a Southpark soundboard.

Meet the ten year old who can kick your ass. It's just wrong.

Where's Kiefer Sutherland and a sniper rifle when you need him?

The short-lived series, Firefly (damn you Fox Network, damn yooooouuuu!!!!!), will be making its way onto the big screen. Also, the DVD of its first and only season is due out in December, which includes the missing 3 episodes that never aired.

Despite the 'endorsement' picture and the fact that this is being bankrolled by Rosie O'Donnell (who convinced Boy George she was serious and not 'pedestrian' by shaving half her head for this), I can't recommend Taboo enough. Laughed myself silly in London last year....

After 2 years, the democrats' filibuster of Estrada's nomination to the D.C. Court of Appeals ends with his withdrawal.

The Onion has a feature interview with P.J. O'Rourke this week:
...anyone who's talking about libertarian ideas and certain basic conservative principles will get people who nod politely and say, "Oh, yeah, we knew that already." It's a pain in the ass.

Wasn't there a kids' book about this? Somebody has to eat a worm a day for a month to win a bet for a bike and discovers that they taste best when fried? Eww.

Anyhow, in real news... for NYers, be sure to check out a Jinx Society debate featuring Michael Malice tomorrow night. As I understand it, Malice will be arguing that terrorism is a legitmate political tactic. His opponent will be a bartender. Should be fun. (See his site for details.)

Speaking of shooting through digestive tracts, check this out:

"'One day, I was sitting there waiting for a fish to eat my bait for hours and was starving. Suddenly, I realized fish don't die from eating worms so I shouldn't either. I ate them until I was full,' Paisit said in a telephone interview.

"He now loves worms, and has become accustomed to chew them instead of swallowing them whole.

"The father of two credited his good health to this dietary supplement, saying a mild flu was the worst illness he's had.

"His co-worker Thepnakorn Kongwien, 28, said Paisit often digs for worms in the area near the fire station.

"'We're used to that. But we still think it's strange and disgusting,' he said.

"Paisit said eating worms was like 'eating mushy sticky rice.' He was referring to chewy glutinous rice, eaten as a snack and sometimes a staple food in parts of Southeast Asia."

I think it's fair to say that the Star Wars Kamasutra, featuring hot Scout Walker on Scout Walker action, easily rivals Episode 1 for absconding with my childhood, shooting it through the digestive tract of bad taste, and leaving me with a big steaming pile of broken dreams.

Sometimes the fat kid really should be the last one picked.

I guess one good argument against open borders might be the loss of comedy relief. Poor bastard.

If you haven't read the 1977 Schwarzenegger interview from Oui, you need to.

Good cop, bad cop.

My horns and tail are showing a bit today:

DICTIONARY OF JAPANESE PERVERSIONS



"Japanese people are stereotyped as being uncreative and lacking in originality. The most common image of a japanese man is a 'salariman' in a grey suit riding on a 'bullet train' full of identically dressed men. But in fact, when he gets home at night, the porn comes out, and he's going to be much more creative and 'unique' than you or I. He's wearing an Airline Stewardess uniform and boxing gloves, watching a DVD of broccoli being put up someone's butt. Let's face it, Japanese porn consumers are so utterly perverted that the industry can't invent new kinks fast enough.

"That being said, this site isn't really porn. There's no dirty pictures, or even dirty words. It's just really naughty anthropology! The infamous used-panty vending machines are just the tip of the iceberg.

"Why did I make this site? Because even though both the internet porn AND the japanese porn are world-famous. . . . For some reason, I couldn't find a dictionary of japanese pornographic terms on the internet!"

Today's life lesson: When you can't figure out why someone refuses to dish any good gossip, it probably means that all the really juicy stuff is about them.

Paul McCartney is Dead!

See the proof for yourself.

Cornell West finally has some competition ... check out the musical stylings of Orrin Hatch.

Get them while they last: Extra Ugly t-shirts are what all the kids will be wearing this Fall!

Advice from Maddox:

"I know you think you're the first person to discover the fat Star Wars kid video, and although everyone enjoys the timeless humor of a kid twirling a pole, assume that everyone has already seen it and DON'T SEND IT TO ME OR ANYONE ELSE. To be on the safe side, format your hard drive and cancel your internet account."

Here's a lengthy but interesting piece in the Atlantic Monthly about everyone's favorite libertarian media mogul, Rupert Murdoch.

New army tactic in Iraq: Girls for Guns

"U.S. troops in Iraq have started what they're calling the 'Girls for Guns Program' after a young Iraqi man was willing to turn in his weapons -- a rocket-propelled grenade and two heavy machine guns -- in exchange for pictures of Carmen Electra in a bikini."

Those wacky Japs are at it again... first it was Matrix Ping Pong and now it's Magic Shadow.

Test your knowledge of Middle East/ N. Africa geography. My own attempt was nothing to brag about.

Star Wars Kid goes mainstream...

Looks like I've got my work cut out for me:

So You've Decided to be Evil...

A Step-by-Step Guide to joining the Forces of Darkness

I'm a big fan of John McWhorter after I watched him disembowel a pair of lawyers in an affirmative action debate at Fordham last year. Here's a nice vitriolic piece he wrote for City Journal detailing why rap music retards black success.

Sorry for the spotty blogging.. just got back to NY on Saturday and I'm living out of boxes. I am busy getting my life together and haven't found the time to really procrastinate on anything important.
Also, FedEx just delivered my PC today and it was pretty bashed up and parts were rattling all over the place. This is the second time I've shipped this PC by FedEx and had it arrive in pieces. Anyhow, I had it back up and running in about an hour (thank you child-laborers of southeast Asia), but I still don't have internet access. This should be remedied within the week... until then my blogging may be a bit sparse.

At least the methods for finding Saddam are getting more creative. Here's a little something to give you nightmares:

Cincinnati crazy for cornhole

Now that's a great headline. You really do learn something new every day.

Are you there God? It's me, Margaret.

"We all want to know if God exists; maybe He just needs a reliable method to let us know He's here."

Buy your God Detector today, and start keeping track of all the action!

The latest iteration of the Nazi party: The Libertarian National Socialist Green Party

I sure hope someone's kidding.

It's the Star Wars Kid in ASCII.

Bushspeak Hangman.

Today's Photoshop on FARK - Schwarzenegger campaign ads:

Thanks to Beth for reminding me to visit www.despair.com. Great for those last minute stocking stuffers...

Just when I thought we were running low on heroes, someone slams a pie in Ralph Nader's face.

Tasteless but funny.. the Jack Black soundboard.

Finally found a reason to visit Arkansas (in honor of Matt who is rumored to have relocated there... ).

Mosh.

Since I am 'vacationing' in Detroit, I can't promise any decent posts for the next few days (especially since the other bloggers on this site have been silent for quite some time now...), so to keep you busy, here are a bunch of classic Nintendo games to fend off the despair and keep you safely buried in childhood nostalgia while I'm away.

If only all elections were driven by recall... among the contenders for the California governorship:

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arianna Huffington
Gary Coleman
Gallagher

Democracy surrenders.

Best movie rumor I've heard in a while: Dan Simmon's Hyperion series may be turned into a movie trilogy (with rumors of Scorsese and DiCarprio thrown in the mix).
This is a great series by one of my favorite authors. I even bothered to seek him out meet (read: stalk) him a few years ago. Hopefully, they won't totally butcher the story... anyone know if Peter Jackson is busy?

Just had to share some geek trivia.... for Angel fans, the character named Numfar who shows up in Pylea at the end of season 2 and is ordered to dance ("Numfar, Do the Dance of Joy!" "Numfar, Do the Dance of Shame!" etc.) is actually Joss Whedon.

Apparently Hitchens felt that not enough people were actively resenting him this week and wrote a piece for Slate entitled "Did Bob Hope Ever Say Anything Funny?" which leads me to think that Hitchens obit might one day read "Did Christopher Hitchens Ever Say Anything Nice?"

Those Google editors are at it again... search "crackhead" and hit "I'm feeling lucky."

In case you haven't met the net obsession that is Homestarrunner, a good introduction is the online game "Population Tire" (thanks to Will for pointing it out) and be sure to check out some of the StrongBad emails.

Flash games to kill your productivity.

World Sauna-Sitting championships in Helsinki

And they say we Finns don't know how to have a good time....