Erwin Olaf

Really interesting photography and more....

http://www.erwinolaf.com/

You Suck At Photoshop

An excellent instructional video on how to modify images using Adobe Photoshop. I, for one, learned much.

Also, this reminds me of some friends of mine...

Don't make em like this anymore.

Carnival must be quite a party

Definitely on my to-do list.....get to Carnival.


http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080129205915.awyqwrhn&show_article=1

Cluth and the Burning Beard

If church rocked this hard, I might consider going....

Dillon's College Essay

When I was 16 years old I got my first job. I worked in a laser tag arena. This is where I learned an important lesson. A job is a job no matter where it might be. The curtain pulled away to reveal the man behind it when my boss, on my first night of work, said to clean the toilets.

My boss and I wound up being friends and have maintained a good friendship over the years. Tina's son was about 6 years old when I first started the job. Dillon was a small red-headed child that had the imagination of a dreamer, the energy of a coyote, and the verbal level of a martian inhabiting a child's body. Now he is heading off to school, and Tina sent me Dillon's college essay to read over......

I had to post it:

It seems that a good portion of my teenage years were spent in the guise of a rogue of the seas, a pirate, if you will. However, since there is little in the way of legitimate piracy careers outside of the Straits of Malacca, I will have to content myself to the study of what lies beneath the waves, instead of plundering upon them. Despite my tendency to lean towards the ways of a buccaneer, I do have a true passion for Marine Biology. Unfortunately, I cannot completely express this through words alone. Being stuck in a mountainous area of Connecticut has effectively cut me off from exploring the ocean, or even venturing near it, for quite some time. Nevertheless, this inland isolation has certainly not dampened my enthusiasm for the subject at hand.

Aside from my oceanic passions, I also have a number of other interests and hobbies. Foremost among these is my musical instrument, the bagpipes. If anything, the decision to play the pipes came almost on a whim, but I have dutifully pursued it for the past three years. I am now a full- fledged member in the Waterbury Police Pipe and Drum Band. Such was similarly the case with my pirate persona, which also was spawned upon a whim, and now is such a facet of my personality that anyone who knows me would subsequently identify me with that. I also act as a sort of "rabble-rouser" for the student body. While outwardly I am a student council representative, and editorialist for the school paper, I actively cause more than my share of school spirit based ruckus whenever possible. I know, or am on a friendly basis with everyone in my graduating class, and can use such connections to great benefit when choosing a course of action to help the school achieve a sense of unity, even in the face of interpersonal drama and disparity. This comes in particularly useful during the winter months, specifically basketball season, where I can utilize my role as the school mascot to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Much of the mascotting is specifically with body language, which is most certainly not my forte. It is with the word, both spoken and written, where I most excel in both academics and social situations.

I have been blessed with a quick wit and a sharp tongue, which has been both a help and a hindrance throughout my life, and has gotten me into and out of interesting situations on more than one occasion. Though I have the ability to rattle off one liners with the best of them, I still have yet to learn that careful line which must be tread, and occasionally toed across, but never deliberately strode over. More recently I have begun to exercise a bit more restraint in what I say, but not by any significant degree, much to the chagrin of my teachers. Aside from my overt friendliness and sharp wit, (not to mention extreme modesty, these essays just seem so damn pretentious) I also have my share of rather odd and unique qualities that set me apart from most of mainstream society. I have a rather deep interest in activities which would seem rather archaic and impractical in today's day and age. I have dabbled in both recurve archery and fencing, and enjoyed them to a degree that would almost seem obscene by members of the moral majority. I also have a apprentice level of blacksmithing knowledge, and while when I first began I ended each day exhausted, filthy, and exhaling black fumes, my soot-covered teeth were set firmly in a grin. It could be, and has been said, that I don't have a firm anchor on the plane of reality, and it is entirely possible that those who say that are completely correct.

Indeed, a pirate-reenacting, bagpipe-playing, mascot-wearing, quick-witted, epee fencing blacksmith with a passion for Marine Biology may seem peculiar to some, downright weird to most, and just plain wrong to others. However, if such is wrong, then I sure don't ever want to end up right.

Here's Lookin at You

I'm sorry, I had to. It's like accidents on the highway. You don't want to look, but you have to....

Veganism and Athletics

This is an article in the Wall Street Journal about how Tony Gonzalez, the greatest player at the position of tight end in NFL history, decided to try out a vegan diet.

The protein-rich bounty of the football training table is supposed to grow the biggest and strongest athletes in professional sports. Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Tony Gonzalez was afraid it was going to kill him. "It's the Catch-22," says Mr. Gonzalez, 31. "Am I going to be unhealthy and play football? Or be healthy and get out of the league?"

It's an interesting read...and don't forget to watch the video of Mr. Gonzalez making a shake, although he's got nothing on Keith.

Link.

Jews and Accupuncture

Someone in my class sent me this in an email. Something to think about:

So interesting. I did a little research & discovered that this is true.



http://www.koshertorah.com/PDF/tefilin.pdf



UNBELIEVABLE WHAT THE CHINESE DISCOVERED ABOUT TEFILIN


I don't know why this happened to me, but it's a fact
that stuff comes my way; I went to Tel Aviv to visit
my father and someone there asks, "Have you heard
about T'fillin?" I asked, "What are you talking
about?" and she tells me that her friend has an
article from the Chinese Journal of Medicine written
about T'fillin. Right away my curiosity was aroused
and I had her immediately bring me the article - and
when I got it, I saw something unbelievably amazing!!

Who of us doesn't know about Chinese Acupuncture? The
Chinese discovered the medical treatment using needles
to heal when they are inserted at certain points in
the body. The Chinese have mapped out and named all
the points of the body du 24 du 70 du 23, and so on.
And the Chinese Journal of Medicine - to which
everyone important in the field of Acupuncture
subscribes - published an amazing article, absolutely
amazing. The main article in volume 70 of the Journal
deals solely with the T'fillin of the Jewish People.
The article conclusively establishes that the contact
and pressure points covered by the hand and head
T'fillin are exactly those points at which the
Acupuncture needles are inserted in order "to increase
spirituality and to purify thoughts." The non-Jewish
author of the article puts it that the points covered
by the T'fillin are those where the Acupuncture
needles are inserted. I would reverse the statement
to read: The Acupuncture needles are inserted in
those points which are exactly where a Jew puts on
T'fillin.

The article details all of the Acupuncture points
which are the same as the points-of-contact of the
head T'fillin - front and back - as well as the
points-of-contact of the hand T'fillin on the arm and
hand. In the opinion of the expert who wrote the
article, these are the only Acupuncture points that
will achieve this result [to increase spirituality and
to purify thoughts] which, in addition to following
the Torah's command to place the T'fillin on the arm
(hand) and head as a sign that HaShem brought us out
of Egypt with a strong hand, is likely the reason that
Jews put on T'fillin. Absolutely amazing!

When amateurs go pro....

Seriously? The world is truly a twisted place. Some people fall into success. Why couldn't I have been that stupid/brilliant?


http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2008-01-24T160922Z_01_SYD98302_RTRUKOC_0_US-AUSTRALIA-PARTY.xml

The War Against Scientology

Let us all pray that they are not empty threats.....

http://www.breitbart.tv/html/36094.html

Maz Jobrani

Enjoy.....

Part 1



Part 2

Clean your computer

Click here if your computer screen is dirty.

This will clean it remotely.

Eyeball Marak

Eyeball Marak
Originally uploaded by The Passing Strange

Alright, the first one was just a warm-up.

What am I?

Blabbity

Blabbity
Originally uploaded by The Passing Strange

Let's Play this Game:

What am I?

Daniel Zamir

Born a secular Jew in Israel, moved to New York and started recording for John Zorn's label, Tzadik. Found his Jewish roots, became orthodox and moved back to Israel where I saw him perform last night. Avant-Garde Jazz......Start watching the video at 4:00!

Haka

Haka is a traditional Maori (New Zealand) dance/performance. Most people know one particular Haka from the New Zealand Rugby Team (The All Blacks). Haka is used to perform many different kinds of songs which express a range of emotions. But watching the All Blacks is INTENSE.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haka_of_the_All_Blacks




And if one wasn't enough.....






Roughly translated: "We're going to use your skulls to drink our victory wine, and then use your flesh to cover our women folk after we finish pleasuring them."

Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry is a French screenwriter and director who made Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He directed many music videos before becoming a feature length director. He permeates his work with very interesting themes, such as dreams and deja vu. Here are three videos that give a sense of some of this style, and I think he works it into Eternal Sunshine. Pretty neat stuff.

technology and simplicity

I thought of this speech earlier today as I've been working at my computer. One of the things that Mr. Pogue does not discuss in his presentation is the adherence to tradition of some designers. For instance, the desktop computer keyboard.I hate keyboards. First, the QWERTY design was created to slow typists to prevent malfunction. Second, the number pad is on the wrong side of the keyboard. I was assured by an older accountant that the desktop calculator is designed to be used by the left hand. The enter and + buttons are supposed to be pushed by the thumb of the left hand while the right hand flips through ledgers or whatever accountants do.

In addition to frustrating the original purpose of the number pad, it makes reaching for the mouse even further than necessary for right-handers. Yet nearly every keyboard is laid out like this. Even the 'ergonomic' keyboards still have a number pad thrown in on the right side, without considering that proper ergonomics study would put it on the left.

Why do they do this and will this ever change? The costs of conversion for some innovations is high, but there are promising alternatives. Apple now gives us a keyboard without a number pad, because as most regular laptop users know, the number pad largely goes unmissed. And hopefully soon, I won't have to use a keyboard at all because of voice recognition and touch screens. 'Till then, I'm working on my carpal tunnel.

party hard

Australians really know how to party.

And then they get on the news for it.


Funny Kid Isnt Sorry About Huge Party - Watch more free videos

I find his frankness refreshing.

You want to discuss weird sports hobbies???

A camerawomen visiting from Berlin came over and had some tea with me. She informed she worked on a project about chess boxing. Apparently, the sport is picking up in Europe. I looked into it.

Here's a video about it (How's your German?)



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing

But then I started thinking...is this really new or is it a rehash. There's nothing new under the sun, and after more consideration I thought about some older merrymakers known by the name of the WU-Tang Clan.



That's some chessboxing, kids....

1,000,000 Donkey Kong Points and Perfect Pac-Man

Uhhhhhh.......I like video games, but is this too much?




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mitchell_(gamer)

I'm still going with Kucinich

Elizabeth Kucinich that is. All the Presidents' Women

via GQ

Shatner

Pretty funny around the fourth minute.

Robert Heinlein

Robert Heinlein was a science fiction author who wrote prolifically. I have read a few of his books, and they are both good and influential. 'A Stranger in a Strange Land' has been particularly lauded as capturing the zeitgeist of the 1960s. Here is a particular quote of Heinlein's I came across again:

"A human being should be able to: change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, pitch manure, solve equations, analyze a new problem, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.

Specialization is for insects!"

gliders

I was mountain biking last weekend and saw some guys doing this. They called it 'discus launch gliding'. It was pretty neat to see this guy hurl a fiberglass plane into the sky just by spinning around. It's like throwing a giant paper airplane. Man, the weird hobbies people get into...

Ultra Orthodox Religious Buses

http://in.news.yahoo.com/reuters_ids_new/20080115/r_t_rtrs_wl_us/twl-israel-back-of-the-bus-rule-sparks-r-d4a870c_1.html

Sometimes I just assume that living in Tel AViv is like the rest of Israel. It isn't. In fact, almost all Israelis, including Jews and Arabs, call Tel Aviv: "The Bubble." It's true. Tel Aviv is a rich, modern city. All of Israel is not like this. You can go out to bars, hear live music, go to art shows, see secular couples walking in the park, women wear whatever they want, religion is seen at the background of society. Leaving the city takes on a new definition of what Israel is. Ever since I've started school, I haven't really left the city too much on the weekends. My semester break is approaching, and even though I still have to teach, I plan on getting out and seeing more of the country.

Top 50 Atheism Quotes

Top 50 Atheism Quotes

Enjoy!

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; give a man religion and he will die praying for a fish."

1 to 100

This is an interesting video featuring people hitting a drum from the ages of 1 to 100. The way we change...

I know Mother's Day is a few months off....

...however, I saw this, and I knew right away what I had to get mom for that special day:

http://www.lilmynx.com/?gclid=CM60vILe85ACFQeVMAodrEUQqg

Dad is going to be so happy I thought of mom this mother's day.

Waiting for Girls

I get it. I really do. Girls want to look pretty. It's not even an attraction thing. It's an "I want to look pretty....just because." And as a man, I have learned that that is as much an explanation for it (Don't push it, trust me. There's logic there for them, and that's all that is important.)

And men have built-in timers. "Andrea, we were supposed to be there 10 minutes ago. Hurry up," if I might pull from my childhood memories.

I think the middle path is communication. Gentleman, be honest and direct about when you want to leave. Women, be honest about how much time you need to get ready...then add 30 minutes.

Let's find a happy place, yes?

Oh, I've got to run. She's FINALLY ready.....

Fancy meetin' you here...

WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish man got the shock of his life when he visited a brothel and spotted his wife among the establishment's employees.

Polish tabloid Super Express said the woman had been making some extra money on the side while telling her husband she worked at a store in a nearby town.

"I was dumfounded. I thought I was dreaming," the husband told the newspaper on Wednesday.

The couple, married for 14 years, are now divorcing, the newspaper reported.

Link.

Tom Brokaw on the 1960s

Tom Brokaw, who made somewhat of a name for himself as an author, wrote a book praising the people who fought in World War II and named them the Greatest Generation. He's followed up on that by writing a book about the 1960s called "Boom!" In this 53 minute interview, he discusses the book and the legacy of the 1960s. It's a very entertaining conversation, ranging from topics of sex, gender politics, civil rights and Vietnam. Worth listening to, although after listening to this, I'm not sure I need to go out and buy the book.

Click here!

He'Brew

He'Brew...the Chosen Beer, Genesis Ale. Keith, you must send me some of this from Israel.


Edit: Oh, my bad. These guys are in NYC. And they've got a new brew combining humor from This is Spinal Tap with Judaism. The Jewbelation beer. Awesome.

Joe Cartoons

The person who showed this to me couldn't believe I didn't know about it. She said she has been quoting it for years. News to me, so I thought it might be news to some of you.

We watched the Superfly ones first, and then explored some of the other ones.

http://www.joecartoon.com/cartoons

Enjoy.

Truth Speakings

Reincarnation

The evidence for reincarnation gets stronger:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenile_(rapper)

Obama

My man Obama pulled through on Iowa yesterday.

Here's how he first got my attention. Best speech I've heard this century, and I think it's important that we pay attention to those skills of rhetoric and presentation.

False Flag

Is it worth two hours to know what happened?

You tell me...

http://www.911blogger.com/node/10025

Design Like You Give a Damn

To hell with the ego driven "starchitects"... this is what we need to work on. Architecture and infrastructure that makes a difference to humans in their every day lives.

http://www.architectureforhumanity.org

Corian

From the industrial design part of my mind... some inspiring objects made from the thermoplastic Corian.



http://www2.dupont.com/40_40/en_GB/objects/indexobjects.html

Curious

Excellent new show I found on PBS last night.

Check it out.

http://www.thirteen.org/curious/

Death and the Implication of Grammar

"He is one of the best.......Oh, he was one of the best lawyers in town. I can't believe I just referred to him in the past tense."

The students were working on a text with questions quietly. I thumbed my way through a grammar book looking for a lesson to photocopy to bring into my teaching methods course on Sunday. The English adviser, Tzippy, walked in the room to advise me she would be leaving early today because she had a funeral to attend. Her friend had a heart attack at 6 a.m. His wife/widow is a nurse, and couldn't do anything to save him.


When Tzippy said that sentence, it collided with the grammar I was thumbing through. When we die, our grammatical sense of being changes. It necessitates a new grammatical structure.

I suppose I never thought about the way death can change your grammatical being.

Beautiful Music from Beautiful People

The one and only.....Rebecca Zapen
www.zapen.com
Check her out!

Ed sent me this link, and I thought it needed to be shared with everyone.....

rice resonance

Dig it... especially the intricate patterns as the pitch gets higher.

potty head

Some people weren't held enough as babies

Monster Traps
Originally uploaded by musclnhair

Seriously, what motivates this guy to get out of bed every morning and think, "If I was just a bit bigger."

Is his purpose to show people how deformed you can make yourself look if you work really, really hard at it?

I'm lost...

Movies on the Web - Quicksilverscreen

I'm not sure how this stuff is going to stay on the internet given the current regime of intellectual property law, but here's a website that streams movies, documentaries and other shows for free. Although not very comprehensive, there are some very neat selections.

quicksilverscreen

Eyeball Marak

Eyeball Marak
Originally uploaded by The Passing Strange

There are some things in this world that even I can destroy. It's not impossible.

The Man, the Myth, the Legend.....

ED!

Learning how to embed video can be so much FUN!!!!!

I'm learning, and you're reaping the benefits......

Lucky you!

Year's End News Reel

Growing up in Florida, I think I always took for granted how amazingly weird the place actually can be. I miss it terribly at times, and news reports like this one:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/22/america/NA-GEN-US-Weird-Florida.php?page=1

remind me why!

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2008!