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!

Come to My Movie Spot.

Since I'm just sooooo conscientious about keeping always up-to-date (ha!), I've gone ahead and started a new blog. It's called Desuko Movie Spot, and I'll review all sort of movies over there. My plan right now is to post new reviews at least a couple times a week, possibly more than that depending on demand. Anyway, go check it out!

A New Blog?

Anyway... I'm thinking of starting a new blog, dedicated to movie reviews. It would be similar to the reviews I included in my old ULV site (which still exists, by the way, depsite being all but forgetten by me and everyone else), but would have more in-depth commentary, as well as a few extra bells and whistles. (It would focus more on older films rather than current releases, and cover a wide range of genres, eras, etc.)

So, to coin a phrase... is that something you'd be interested in?

Any suggestions for a name would be welcome, since that's my biggest hangup on the project right now. Also, I'm thinking of using something like WordPress rather than Blogger -- anybody have any recommendations on one versus the other, or even other alternatives? You input would be greatly appreciated.

Cool Web Things.

Once again, I forego any sort of substantive content in favor of a bunch of links. (Apparently I have a life. So sue me.)

Want to know how popular your name has been throughout history, check out the Baby Name Wizard. It seems that approximately 10,000 billion Erics were born in same year as me. But I'm unique, dammit! (Flash required)

Anyway, if you had trouble in high school physics, you might want to skip this one. For the rest of you, enjoy this thought experiment in what the 10th dimension might be like. (More Flash required)

Want to know what's playing on the radio right now anywhere in the country? Of course you do. (Need I remind you that you need Flash to view this?)

I think I've posted this before, but they've changed URLs and done a nifty redesign. Check out JoeSportsFan's Worthless Card Collection. (No Flash required. What are they, Luddites?)

Monkey portraits!

Finally, Bizarre Records makes me wish I had the money to go vinyl hunting more often.

Two Things That (I Hope) Are Completely Unrelated.

First off, there's this story. It shouldn't come as any surprise that there's another story emerging about corruption and shady dealings from the Bush Administration. But what is a surprise is that it doesn't involve power-hungry proto-fascism, but rather good ol' fashioned 19th century-style graft. There's something oddly refreshing about that.

Secondly, there's Justin Timberlake's song, "SexyBack." Um... what the hell? "I'm bringing sexy back"? Where the hell did it go? I was unaware that "sexy" was ever out of style. And as much as I appreciate Justin's efforts to bring it back, I'm not sure I'd want anything he's touched.

Building a Monster.

Got Flash installed? Want to see the most obnoxiously self-serving splash page/intro on the web? Look no further than guitar god Edgar Winter. Don't forget to stick around after the intro to see the welcome video on the index page. And get ready to... RAWK 'N' ROLL!!!

Some Words on 9/11.

I know this is about a month behind the fact, and I also apologize for not offering much in the way of content lately besides video posts, but this is too important not to share.



Well said, Keith.

Video Blogging #3.

In this edition, we look at the biggest thing in Japan -- Hard Gay! Have you ever wondered what would happen if a high strung leatherman wandered the streets of Tokyo harrassing strangers? Well, here's your answer.

First up, Hard Gay asks folks what they're doing for Father's Day...



Now, Hard Gay works at a ramen shop...



As a Japanese television sensation, it's only right that Hard Gay should be featured on the cover of The Television magazine. At least he thinks so, so he tries to talk his way into a photo shoot. Here's part one...



And part two...



Look out! It's the Hard Gay Dance!



And finally, here's an un-subtitled bit in which Hard Gay meets an overly-ardent imitator and comes out on top...



HOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Video Blogging #2.

In this episode, we learn why making music should be left to the professionals...

First, there's Lionel Davis, who's going to send you home with a mattress on your back:


This guy's probably Internet Famous already, so there's no need for an introduction. Here's Cool Tak:


Staying in Asia, here are some Korean soldiers making poor use of their free time:


And finally, here some actual professionals, the Village People, trying for an '80s comeback and just getting it all wrong:

More of My Geekish Past.

There's a great piece over on ESPN's Page 2 in which their writers share they favorite baseball card memories, and solicit similar submissions from readers. (If you read it, be sure to check out the "Trip to the Topps Factory" sidebar as well.) Anyway, here's what I sent in (short and sweet, because of their 200-word limit):

There were a lot of memorable baseball cards from my childhood collecting days, but one in particular really illustrates my silly obsessiveness about collecting.

When I was 8, I came across half of a 1978 Topps Sparky Anderson card on the playground of my elementary school. Someone had apparently torn it in half, crumpled it up and threw it away. The fact that the card was now worthless meant nothing to me – in my eyes, it had plenty of value since it was one I didn’t have yet. So, I scoured the school grounds looking for the other half, only to come up empty. That didn’t deter me, though, as I proudly took home the left half of the card, taped it to a piece of paper cut to the exact size of a full card, and proceeded to draw in the right half of the card. (At least, what I imagined the right half of the card to look like, since I didn’t have a picture of the whole card to work from.) And in it went with the rest of my collection, where it stayed for many years after that.

Damn, I was a dork.

R.I.P., Syd.

I know I'm a day or two late with this, but I just had to give a melancholy nod to the passing of Syd Barrett. He had apparently been fighting cancer for some time, and it finally caught up with him at the age of 60. That's twice now he's been taken from the world, but now he's finally found his peace.

Got RealAudio? Have a listen to Terrapin in his memory.

Arts and Crafts Time.

The best thing since the Macquarium... it's the iPod Retro Radio!

Since I don't own and iPod, can someone make this and verify to me that it works? Cuz that would be so kewl, man....

Video Blogging #1.

Like the rest of 'net-dom, I'm becoming something of a YouTube addict. So, periodically, I'm going to try to share some of my favorites with you. Today, we're going with a baseball theme...

From a couple years ago, here's an ESPN Top 10 countdown of the best baseball fights. A more recent list would surely have to include Pedro Martinez vs. Don Zimmer from the 2003 ALCS, as well as this season's main event, Michael Barrett vs. A.J. Pierszynski. (Yes, I know there are only nine included. Don't blame me, blame the uploader...):



Bronson Arroyo hits a home run just for... you:



I post this next one, not so much because I have any particular affinity for the Mets or hatred for the Red Sox, but for two other reasons -- 1) as an appreciation of the sheer amount of time and dedication it took to pull this off, and 2) because they used the audio of Vin Scully's classic call of this classic game. Vin always was, and always shall be The Man. Anyway, here's Game Six of the 1986 World Series as recreated on Nintendo's RBI Baseball:



I can't let a baseball post go by without a little fandom, so I offer this, Steve Finley's walk-off grand slam to win the NL West for the Dodgers in 2004. Even though I wasn't in the stands for this (but instead watching at home, jumping around excitedly with an infant Sarah in my arms), I still get chills watching it again:



And, lastly, we can't forget the new gold standard in manager tirades:

Da Doo Ron Ronnie.

Giving the Reagan the respect he deserves....

(Gotta love that backing band, though. Go, John Paul, go!)

Yay! Stupid Meme Time!

Here's something pointlessly fun...

THIS WAY UP á

Eric has fragile contents which may break!

Username:

From Go-Quiz.com

Oddly enough, when I use my capping handle, I get exactly the same thing. Go figure.

People Have the Power.

Tired of waiting around for your lazy-ass congressional representative to quit dillydallying and recommend to impeach our corrupt, lying and cheating president? Well, now you don't have to! Turns out there is a legal precedent in the House rules that allows impeachment proceedings to be initiated by any American citizen. So, head on over to Impeach for Peace to find out how, download the forms and get started now. After all, the government is here to serve us, not the other way around, and it's our ability to choose its direction that helps make America great.

And while you're doing that, here's some extra motivation from Neil Young and DJ Green Lantern and friends.

Satan! Satan! Satan!

Happy 6/6/06 everyone! Or, should I say Eeeeeevil 6/6/06? Anyway, in honor of the impending armageddon, I present to you the Top 10 Most Ridiculous Black Metal Pics of All Time and (The Other) Top 10 Most Ridiculous Black Metal Pics of All Time.

All hail our Dark Lord and his funny pants...