Author: Owen

Grab bag for August

That’s right, another grab bag!

First up, my mother wanted me to photograph the dinghies at the local dock on Cape Cod. None of them are great, but here’s the best of the lot.

The whole family went up to visit Laurel in Vermont last weekend. Not content with three birds, two cats, and a dog, Laurel has added two geese to her ménagerie. The geese, aside from being silly and fun to
have around, eliminate the need for a lawn mower.

Since we were all together, we took the opportunity to take the yearly Christmas card picture.

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the fam

Worms3D!!!

I didn’t even know this was in development, although it would seem an obvious idea. Behold, video footage of Worms3D.

Henry will no doubt complain that this 3d version compromises the “purity” of the Worms experience, but he’s the guy who refuses to play anything except the Worms2 demo because having more than one level also pollutes this purity.

This file is served with BitTorrent. It’s a special method of transferring files that maintains high download speeds with popularity. The downside is that if you wait too long, the file will become unavailable. So grab it now!

A Fair and Balanced look at the ten commandments issue

For Fair and Balanced Friday, a fair and balanced report from NPR. It concerns the Alabama judge who is refusing to remove the 2-ton monument to the ten commandments from the courthouse. It’s a fairly normal fair and balanced npr piece, that is until the legal expert chimes in with his opinion. Very funny stuff.

(Note: WMP9 is supported by the latest version of xine, so this file is playable in linux. You might need binaries from avifile)

Fair and Balanced

Fox News sued Al Franken for the title of his new book: “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.” Specifically, they think using the phrase “Fair and Balanced” is an infringement of trademark. People with more expertise than I have explained why this is total crap.

In response a lot of blogs have added the phrase to their titles. Add me to the list!

I neeeeeed to know!

moron pays 50000$ to find out who Carly Simon is talking about.

This story is number two on Yahoo most sent. Snippet:

Carly Simon Gives Away Who Is ‘So Vain’

Carly Simon will finally reveal who’s so vain to a man with major connections in the media world — should he ever decide to break his vow of secrecy.

But Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC sports and NBC Olympics, said he’ll never tell once Simon divulges to him the subject of her 1972 song “You’re So Vain” after a private performance in about two weeks. Ebersol won the information with a $50,000 bid in a charity auction; he also gets a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

My first reaction was “who the fuck cares?” I’ve never heard of the singer, the song, or the supposed mystery of who she thinks is vain. As a musical moron, perhaps I’m missing out on some long-running soap opera. Even so, look at how the AP can’t take a joke:

Ebersol said Simon gave him one clue about the man’s identity that she said he could reveal: He has the letter “e” in his name.

That could be any of the chief suspects: actor Warren Beatty, whom Simon dated; Mick Jagger, who sang backup on the song; and her ex-husband, James Taylor.

They actually try to think of people with e’s in their names! Truly the human need to reveal the unknown is revealed as the base instinct it is. There’s no other explanation for why this is being taken seriously. I applaud Simon for exploiting it to the tune of 50000$ minus a sandwich.