Conspicuous consumption
"Doting South Korean parents can preserve their child's umbilical cord in acrylic resin to make a personal seal or even have it gold plated.
"Shim Jae-cheol of U&I Impression said the firm had gold-plated about 80 to 100 umbilical cords a month since starting business in August, with prices ranging from 80,000 won to 100,000 won ($76 to $96). It also offers mail order (that seems sanitary).
"South Korean law allows parents to keep the umbilical cord of their children, although sales to a third party would be illegal.
"Another supplier, Agamo, which makes calligraphy brushes made from human hair and preserves umbilical cords in personal seals, hopes to branch out to Japan.
"'The company got the idea from mothers just storing umbilical cords and navels in an album or what-not,' said Suk Tae-jin of Agamo.
"Keeping children's umbilical cords and making calligraphy brushes from their hair have long been a long tradition in Korea."
"Doting South Korean parents can preserve their child's umbilical cord in acrylic resin to make a personal seal or even have it gold plated.
"Shim Jae-cheol of U&I Impression said the firm had gold-plated about 80 to 100 umbilical cords a month since starting business in August, with prices ranging from 80,000 won to 100,000 won ($76 to $96). It also offers mail order (that seems sanitary).
"South Korean law allows parents to keep the umbilical cord of their children, although sales to a third party would be illegal.
"Another supplier, Agamo, which makes calligraphy brushes made from human hair and preserves umbilical cords in personal seals, hopes to branch out to Japan.
"'The company got the idea from mothers just storing umbilical cords and navels in an album or what-not,' said Suk Tae-jin of Agamo.
"Keeping children's umbilical cords and making calligraphy brushes from their hair have long been a long tradition in Korea."
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Happy Thanksgiving
So I actually went to the Macy's parade today. Figuring that it's my last chance to go see it and having someone remind me that not going when I live two blocks away would make me the laziest person on earth, I felt compelled. Unlike the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, this one takes itself seriously. The crowd is noticeably different - a lot of families, far fewer transvestites, and a lot more sober. Not nearly as much fun. The highlight? Steve Irwin (aka The Crocodile Hunter) waving with such enthusiasm from his little float perch I thought he might do an unintentional stage dive into the crowd. He didn't.
So I actually went to the Macy's parade today. Figuring that it's my last chance to go see it and having someone remind me that not going when I live two blocks away would make me the laziest person on earth, I felt compelled. Unlike the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, this one takes itself seriously. The crowd is noticeably different - a lot of families, far fewer transvestites, and a lot more sober. Not nearly as much fun. The highlight? Steve Irwin (aka The Crocodile Hunter) waving with such enthusiasm from his little float perch I thought he might do an unintentional stage dive into the crowd. He didn't.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Monday, November 22, 2004
Friday, November 19, 2004
Politics will never be the same
The ramifications of this are, well, amazing. He should be at every future political debate:
"The Amazing Kreskin, who bills himself as 'the world's foremost mentalist,' wants to help his home state of New Jersey stem the tide of shady practices in government, a problem U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has called widespread.
"Kreskin sent a letter to acting Gov. Richard J. Codey offering his nonpartisan services to help ferret out those who come to government with ulterior motives.
"Kreskin, who lives in northern New Jersey, said he would monitor government meetings with a mind's eye toward keeping things above board.
"'If a person is coming in with a strong hidden agenda, they're thinking about it. They're focusing on it,' he said Wednesday in a phone interview. 'I could get a ... strong sense (of that).'
"Kreskin said he sent his letter to Codey's office Monday, signing it 'ESPecially, Kreskin.' A spokeswoman for Codey, Kelley Heck, wasn't sure the letter had been received."
The ramifications of this are, well, amazing. He should be at every future political debate:
"The Amazing Kreskin, who bills himself as 'the world's foremost mentalist,' wants to help his home state of New Jersey stem the tide of shady practices in government, a problem U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has called widespread.
"Kreskin sent a letter to acting Gov. Richard J. Codey offering his nonpartisan services to help ferret out those who come to government with ulterior motives.
"Kreskin, who lives in northern New Jersey, said he would monitor government meetings with a mind's eye toward keeping things above board.
"'If a person is coming in with a strong hidden agenda, they're thinking about it. They're focusing on it,' he said Wednesday in a phone interview. 'I could get a ... strong sense (of that).'
"Kreskin said he sent his letter to Codey's office Monday, signing it 'ESPecially, Kreskin.' A spokeswoman for Codey, Kelley Heck, wasn't sure the letter had been received."
Thursday, November 18, 2004
It would surprise me if this game (?) was made by the same folks who made the site for the Polyphonic Spree.
Wars and rumors of war
The educational value of the U.S. Department of Education has often been questioned, but few realize it has a much more important mission - its contribution to the war effort. Also, Louisiana apparently wants its teens first in line for a Middle Eastern vacation.
The educational value of the U.S. Department of Education has often been questioned, but few realize it has a much more important mission - its contribution to the war effort. Also, Louisiana apparently wants its teens first in line for a Middle Eastern vacation.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Who says my people don't know how to have a good time?
"Croatia may reopen its most notorious communist-era prison for tourists willing to part with their money to re-enact the life of a political prisoner including hard labor, stale food and nights in solitary confinement.
Modric envisions tourists being issued convict uniforms, pounding large stones with a sledgehammer and hauling the pieces on their backs to quarries around the prison on Goli Otok, a barren island in the northern Adriatic Sea.
Goli Otok which means Naked Island was a miniature gulag set up by Yugoslavia's communist dictator Josip Broz Tito after World War II. It housed 3,000 inmates at its height but has been derelict since its closure in 1989."
In semi-related news... I have a total blog-crush.
"Croatia may reopen its most notorious communist-era prison for tourists willing to part with their money to re-enact the life of a political prisoner including hard labor, stale food and nights in solitary confinement.
Modric envisions tourists being issued convict uniforms, pounding large stones with a sledgehammer and hauling the pieces on their backs to quarries around the prison on Goli Otok, a barren island in the northern Adriatic Sea.
Goli Otok which means Naked Island was a miniature gulag set up by Yugoslavia's communist dictator Josip Broz Tito after World War II. It housed 3,000 inmates at its height but has been derelict since its closure in 1989."
In semi-related news... I have a total blog-crush.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Indiana: Home of the nation's sexiest highway
Might as well help spread a fake news story:
"John Hostettler, the Congressman representing the 8th district of Indiana, has been convinced by local religious groups to introduce legislation in the House that would change the name of an Interstate 69 extension to a more moral sounding number.
"There are plans to extend the interstate from Indianapolis through southwestern Indiana all the way through Texas into Mexico in the coming years. While most believe this highway will be good for the state’s economy, religious conservatives believe 'I-69' sounds too risqué and want to change the interstate’s number.
"Hostettler, a proponent of the interstate extension, agrees. 'Every time I have been out in the public with an ‘I-69’ button on my lapel, teenagers point and snicker at it. I have had many ask me if they can have my button. I believe it is time to change the name of the highway. It is the moral thing to do.'"
Might as well help spread a fake news story:
"John Hostettler, the Congressman representing the 8th district of Indiana, has been convinced by local religious groups to introduce legislation in the House that would change the name of an Interstate 69 extension to a more moral sounding number.
"There are plans to extend the interstate from Indianapolis through southwestern Indiana all the way through Texas into Mexico in the coming years. While most believe this highway will be good for the state’s economy, religious conservatives believe 'I-69' sounds too risqué and want to change the interstate’s number.
"Hostettler, a proponent of the interstate extension, agrees. 'Every time I have been out in the public with an ‘I-69’ button on my lapel, teenagers point and snicker at it. I have had many ask me if they can have my button. I believe it is time to change the name of the highway. It is the moral thing to do.'"
Some pics from the set of Serenity (minor spoilage). I'll have to start an obsessive countdown to opening day soon...
Sunday, November 14, 2004
This video game controller almost makes it worth buying a GameCube. (Yes, I have stooped to stealing links from BoingBoing)
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Thursday, November 11, 2004
After receiving negative feedback on her latest
...the entire development of my career has been fueled by my ability to ignore denigrating and trivializing criticism as I realize my dreams and my goals. However there is something compelling about Amazon's willingness to publish just about anything, and the sheer outrageous stupidity of many things you've said here that actually touches my proletarian and Democratic soul.
...You are interrogating this text from the wrong perspective. Indeed, you aren't even reading it. You are projecting your own limitations on it. And you are giving a whole new meaning to the words "wide readership." And you have strained my Dickensean principles to the max. I'm justifiably proud of being read by intellectual giants and waitresses in trailer parks,in fact, I love it, but who in the world are you?
Amazon has since removed the entire post, but it can be found here.
(Credit to Nicole for keeping tabs on the seedy underworld of Anne Rice fandom and for the links.)
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
For that special someone in your life that's just so hard to buy for: Dog in a Shell
(also available in cat)
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Here's a nice Patently Silly piece on a Roller Tool For Applying Sunscreen Lotion To One's Own Back.
Friday, November 05, 2004
Sure She Wasn't Channeling Ted Danson?
Ronald Bailey recounts a recent Joan Baez concert:
Joan stopped singing and announced that she had "multiple personalities." One of her multiple personalities is that of a fifteen year old poor black girl named Alice from Turkey Scratch, Arkansas. Baez decided to share with us Alice's views on the election. Amazed and horrified I watched a rich, famous, extremely white folksinger perform what can only be described as bit of minstrelsy—only the painted on blackface was missing. Alice, the black teenager from Arkansas Baez was pretending to be, spoke in a dialect so broad and thick that it would put Uncle Remus and Amos and Andy to shame. Baez' monologue was filled with phrases like, "I'se g'win ta" to do this that or the other and dropping all final "g's." Baez as Alice made statements like, "de prezident, he be a racist," and "de prezident, he got a bug fer killin'." Finally, since Bush won the election with 58.7 million votes to Kerry's 55.1 million, Alice observed, "Seems lak haf' de country be plumb crazy."
Credit to Todd for the find.
Ronald Bailey recounts a recent Joan Baez concert:
Joan stopped singing and announced that she had "multiple personalities." One of her multiple personalities is that of a fifteen year old poor black girl named Alice from Turkey Scratch, Arkansas. Baez decided to share with us Alice's views on the election. Amazed and horrified I watched a rich, famous, extremely white folksinger perform what can only be described as bit of minstrelsy—only the painted on blackface was missing. Alice, the black teenager from Arkansas Baez was pretending to be, spoke in a dialect so broad and thick that it would put Uncle Remus and Amos and Andy to shame. Baez' monologue was filled with phrases like, "I'se g'win ta" to do this that or the other and dropping all final "g's." Baez as Alice made statements like, "de prezident, he be a racist," and "de prezident, he got a bug fer killin'." Finally, since Bush won the election with 58.7 million votes to Kerry's 55.1 million, Alice observed, "Seems lak haf' de country be plumb crazy."
Credit to Todd for the find.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
This was great until the bagpipes outside my apartment (I am as baffled as you) started to drown out my PC. Viragelic.
There is Hope for Michael Moore Yet…
Are you an enraged liberal having trouble getting into Canada? Our neighbors to the north have not abandoned you! They’re ready and willing to marry American political refugees.
Are you an enraged liberal having trouble getting into Canada? Our neighbors to the north have not abandoned you! They’re ready and willing to marry American political refugees.
Of farts and fugues
Sure, Mozart may have been a red, but who knew he had Tourette's?
"When you write a song, as Mozart did, called Lick Out My Arsehole, that in itself is not so shocking judged by the standards of his day. But what is very odd and Touretty about it is that he set it to the most gorgeous, sublime tune. It's Tourettishly inappropriate."
Sure, Mozart may have been a red, but who knew he had Tourette's?
"When you write a song, as Mozart did, called Lick Out My Arsehole, that in itself is not so shocking judged by the standards of his day. But what is very odd and Touretty about it is that he set it to the most gorgeous, sublime tune. It's Tourettishly inappropriate."
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Insert Lame "MacGyver/Red Green/Quirky Use of Tape" Joke Here
Another great occupation that I should've known about before law school.
And thanks to GIS, I now know that duct tape has a political stance as well: Duct Tape for Peace
Monkeyphonecall might be old news, but there are other ways to brighten your pal's day. Try The Smile Starter, for instance.