Photo Dump.

Here are some images I've come across lately, where are all awesome in one way or another...

Quotables.

"Dadaism is the strategem by which the artist can impart to the citizen something of the inner unrest which prevents the artist himself from being lulled to sleep by custom and routine. By means of external stimuli, he can compensate for the citizen's lack of inner urgency and vitality and shake him into new life."
-- Udo Rusker, 1920

"The essential thing is not to become inured. For habits are deadly. Even if it is for the hundredth time, you must encounter each thing as if you have never known it before. This is next to impossible, I realize, but it is an absolute rule."
-- Ivan Chtcheglov

"No matter how you look at it, we'll never get out of this alive."
-- Jean-Michel Mension

"He who fucks nuns will later join the church."
-- The Clash, "Death or Glory"

Hooray for Hump Day!

marriedtothesea.com

This is Turning Into a Meme Blog.

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Book Quiz.

You're Siddhartha!

by Hermann Hesse

You simply don't know what to believe, but you're willing to try
anything once. Western values, Eastern values, hedonism and minimalism, you've spent
some time in every camp. But you still don't have any idea what camp you belong in.
This makes you an individualist of the highest order, but also really lonely. It's
time to chill out under a tree. And realize that at least you believe in
ferries.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Eep!

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[via Occasional Fish]

Faith of the Heart.

My daughter knows all the words to the "Star Trek: Enterprise" theme song and will sing it in its entirety, over and over -- often unprompted.

On the one hand, my kids are freakin' awesome. But on the other, it's one of the most stupidest songs. Ever. Plus, it's from "Enterprise," the worst Trek series. Ever.

So, you win some and you lose some.

Annual Hall of Fame Speculation.

With the enshrinement today of Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. in the baseball Hall of Fame comes the urge to forecast into the future and guess which current MLB players will eventually join them. So, allow me to be presumptuous enough to do just that. I've tried to be as complete as possible, breaking down the players into three categories (ignoring the ones who will never, ever have any chance of making it).

For the moment, I'm going to ignore all the steroid speculation. With the state of public opinion on the issue changing every year, it's too hard to get a fix on what the BBWA voters will think of any particular player a few years down the road.

The Automatics
These guys have already done all they need to do to deserve to be in the Hall. Right now, they're just playing out the last few years of their careers:
Craig Biggio, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, Ken Griffey Jr., Trevor Hoffman, Randy Johnson, Jeff Kent, Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza, Mariano Rivera, John Smoltz, Sammy Sosa, Frank Thomas

The Next Wave
Project their current level of production out just a few more years and (barring catastrophic injury or meteor strike or anything like that), they too will be among the Automatics:
Carlos Delgado, Vladimir Guerrero, Roy Halladay, Todd Helton, Derek Jeter, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Pudge Rodriguez, Johann Santana, Gary Sheffield, Alfonso Soriano, Ichiro Suzuki, Jim Thome

The Wannabes
Sure, they're among the best of their era, but they just don't have enough to push them over the hump and should remain stuck in Steve Garvey-ville (or, Jim Kaat-ville if they're pitchers):
Garret Anderson, Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon, J.D. Drew, Adam Dunn, Jim Edmonds, Julio Franco, Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, Troy Glaus, Luis Gonzalez, Torii Hunter, Kenny Lofton, Magglio Ordonez, Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettite, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, Omar Vizquel, Billy Wagner, David Wells, Carlos Zambrano, Barry Zito

The Young Guns
Could these youngsters eventually make it? Only time will tell. If they're still producing in 10 years like they are now, look for them in the one of the above three categories:
Erik Bedard, Lance Berkman, Miguel Cabrera, Carl Crawford, Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy, Matt Holliday, Ryan Howard, Scott Kazmir, Russell Martin, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Jake Peavy, Brad Penny, J.J. Putz, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, C.C. Sabathia, Ben Sheets, Grady Sizemore, Mark Texiera, Chase Utley, Justin Verlander, Brandon Webb, Dontrelle Willis, David Wright, Chris Young (the pitcher), Ryan Zimmerman

That's a lot of names. And yet, I have the feeling there's someone I'm missing...

Milestone Trifle.

This is officially the 100th post since I moved Idle Musings over to Blogger. So, uh, "go me!" I suppose. If I was as on-the-ball about blogging about my personal life as I am about keeping up my other blogs, this would probably be the 1,000th post or something. But still, it is what it is.

Having said all that, it seems like there should be something more to say here, no matter how insignificant. So with that in mind (along with the fact that "The Simpsons Movie" opens today) I offer you this, my avatar from the movie's web site.

Not bad, given the somewhat limited options available. The Simpsonizer is out there, too, but I don't have any good pictures to feed into it right now.

Truth be told, I'm not all that fired up to see the movie. I like the show well enough, but I haven't watched it in years and my life doesn't really feel incomplete without it. Maybe I'll eventually watch it on video. Maybe.

A New Blog in the Family (and Some Good Reads).

While I may be on an extended vacation, I haven't been entirely idle. Check out DesukoTube -- daily, if possible.

Also, I've been spending a lot of time over at the uber-groovy Good Reads. Come on by, sign up and friend me, why doncha?

What I'm Reading.

As usual, in lieu of actual substantive content, I'm giving you a list of links. These are new-ish-to-me blogs that I've been spending quality time with lately. Hopefully you'll enjoy them, too...

Uni Watch: Dissection of the fascinating minutiae of sports uniforms and equipment, led by Paul Lukas of "Beer Frame" fame.

Qomics for Queers: Daily snark of comics page standards. Not as prolific as the Comics Curmudgeon, but pretty good and with a homo-normative slant.

Joe Mathlete Explains Today's Marmaduke: I always knew something was up with that bastard.

Judge a Book By Its Over: The abysmal world of cheap paperbacks gets the snark it deserves.

Monkeys for Helping: The Internet regurgitates its detritus all over your monitor. You've been warned.

Ha, Ha! You're Pwned, Strunk & White!

Your English Skills:

Grammar: 100% Spelling: 100% Punctuation: 80% Vocabulary: 80%

Does Your English Cut the Mustard?

This is How the World Ends: Not Just With a Bang, But With a Grope.

Here's a news report that's enough to leave you shivering in the wee hours of the night.

I'm afraid my copy of "How to Survive a Robot Uprising" doesn't address this one.

We may finally be doomed here, folks.

My 15 Minutes of Yule.

Coming out of hiding to pimp myself a bit... Back before Christmas, I shared a holiday mixed CD with CaptainOT over at the Christmas Yuleblog. He's been spending every day of the new year reviewing the various comps he's received, and today he gets to mine. (Thanks, Cap!) Check it out, yo!