Happy Towel Day 2012!

My Photo from Towel Day 2010

Woolly Krackers! Yet another Towel Day has come upon us!

May 25 is Towel Day, an annual celebration of the life and work of Douglas Adams, the man behind H2G2 (among other stories). You can get great background on the day and the man at http://towelday.org/ or scifimafia.com. Then surf over to asitecalledfred.com to read a lovely compilation of tributes. By the by, today is also Geek Pride Day (in honor of the first Star Wars film, which was released on this day in 1977. Wired's GeekDad reviews the results of the latest Geek Pride Day Survey. It's two years old, but the Daily Caller's summary of the basic rights and responsibilities of geekdom (May 2010) is a good read as well. And, in the best spirit of geeky mashups, ThinkGeek is having a fun photo contest with cool geeky prizes.

May 25 is also, strangely enough, World Tarot Day. My guess is that Douglas Adams would be somewhat amused with this intersection of superstition and intellect. But, hey, I know many geeks who also dig the tarot in one form or another. How about the Lovecraft Tarot, dedicated to the horror writing of H.P. Lovecraft, or the Vertigo Tarot, a limited edition deck with images celebrating the characters of DC Comics' Vertigo line, hmmm?

So, my hoopy froods, don't panic and always keep your towel handy. Who knows, maybe the Force will be with you as well. (If you're not sure about that, just find your friendly local occultist for a tarot card reading).

Oh, and because Towel Day falls on a Friday this year, you have the added benefit of a Friday 80s Flashback!

The Theory of Hipster Relativity

Dustin Glick weighs in with the astonishingly accurate Theory of Hipster Relativity

Doctor When?

 Originally posted at GraphJam

Unfrozen Caveman Candidate

When political ads start appearing on TV, doesn't it seem like they are all variations on this theme:

Ladies and gentlemen of the constituency, I'm just a caveman. I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic make me want to get out of my BMW.. and run off into the hills, or wherever.. Sometimes when I get a message on my smart-phone, I wonder: 'Did little demons get inside and type it?' I don't know! My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts. But there is one thing I do know - when a man like my opponent is in office, BAAAAAD things happen. When a caveman like me is in office, only GOOOOD things happen. So vote for me. Thank you."

With apologies to the genius of Jack Handey and Phil Hartman (1948 – 1998) who brought us the brilliant Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer sketches on SNL.

By the way, we miss you, Phil.

Happy Towel Day 2010!

It seems somehow fitting that my next post after writing Forty-Two is for Towel Day. May 25 is Towel Day, an annual celebration of the life and work of Douglas Adams, the man behind H2G2 (among other stories). You can get great background on the day and the man at http://towelday.org/ or scifimafia.com. Then surf over to asitecalledfred.com to read a lovely compilation of tributes. I should also point out that ThinkGeek is having a fun photo contest with cool geeky prizes -- just tweet a photo of yourself, with the #towelday tag, to @thinkgeek. By the by, today is also Geek Pride Day (in honor of the first Star Wars film, which was released on this day in 1977. The Daily Caller sums up the basic rights and responsibilities of geekdom. It's not the only place you'll find the writeup, but I happen to like their title for it. So, my hoopy froods, don't panic and always keep your towel handy. Who knows, maybe the Force will be with you as well.

Obama: The Unofficial Commemorative Plushie

OK. Today is historic. I get that. And people are excited about it. I get that, too. What I do not get, however, is the vast and diverse array of "commemorative" items that people are shilling for Obama's inauguration as our 44th president. Just perform a Google search on "obama commemorative" and you will see about 868,000 results. If you want to narrow it down to items you can actually purchase (or, rather, items that include the correct metadata to be pooled under shopping results), click Google's shopping link. Still, it's just under 10,000 (I got 9,778 results). But among the plates, cups, coins, and clocks (yes, clocks!), I did not see an official Obama plushie. Not in the top 50 at any rate. Now, it's not that I actually want an Obama plushie. I just became curious after seeing this particular LiveJournal post. Hence my entry's use of "unofficial" in the title. Seems that at least one LJ user is so excited about President Obama, is so enamored of him, that she created her very own tribute in the form of a plushie doll. Oh, and it comes complete with a Blackberry:

Now, I say she created her very own plushie, but it might be more accurate to say that she created "your" very own plushie. And by that, I mean they put it up for auction on eBay. Starting bid: 99 cents. Oh, and before you go looking for that auction, hoping to get your bid in ... the auction is over. It ended on January 18, with 27 bids. High bidder took the plushie for a capitalist-friendly final bid of $91.00.

[Click for larger image]

Remember kids: This is not a toy. It's a piece of hand crafted artwork (It's fanart! It's homemade!). This is not intended for children. Nor is it intended to make a mockery of the office of the President of the United States. Really, it's not.

[Click for larger image]

Principles

Mom and dad say I should make my life an example of the principles I believe in. But every time I do, they tell me to stop it.” -- Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes)

Mad Scientist Blocks

Just in time for the holidays (go ahead and pick one), Xylocopa has a gift that will help your child along the path to mad science proficiency ... one block at a time.

A Young Mad Scientist's First Alphabet Blocks

Are they not gorgeous? According to their website, the blocks' images started as original pen-and-ink drawings that they laser engraved onto -- get this -- solid blocks of American maple wood. And, being alphabetical, the topics include

• A - Appendages
• B - Bioengineering
• C - Caffeine
• D - Dirigible
• E - Experiment
• F - Freeze ray (you can see this one in the posted image)

Refer to Xylocopa's website for the full list. Now, I must warn you. The blocks retail for $39.95 (not so bad considering the craftsmanship and coolness quotient). Also, Xylocopa cannot guarantee delivery in time for Christmas morning. In fact, they're not shipping until probably after the Solstice ("...will ship on or around December 22..."), so they won't make it for anyone's Yule celebration either -- unless, of course, you're holding it off till later in the month. But I must say, I love these blocks. I don't know whatmy niece would think of them, but I certainly want a set on my desk at work.

Effective Corporate Bailout

According to Wiley, the artist behind Non Sequitur, this is the most effective bailout plan (click image for larger version): I tend to agree with him.

Friday Funny: Let's Go Exploring

I love this comic strip. Scott Kurtz penned a truly fine homage to Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes". Click the image to see it full size, or use the following link to view the strip on Kurtz' website: PvPonline » Archive » Let’s Go Exploring

Quotable | Cary Grant

Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.” -- Cary Grant

The Doctor is (Write) In

Brent Sienna votes for the other "One." Original URL: http://www.pvponline.com/2008/11/04/smithjones-08/

The Onion Store: Are Your Cats Old Enough To Learn About Jesus?

I want this shirt!

Are Your Cats Old Enough To Learn About Jesus? :: Onion Store
People often ask us when they should teach the Good News to their housecats. We have but one answer: "What are you waiting for?"
Think of the alternative: your cat mired in darkness for eternity because you put off a 10-minute conversation.

Bailout Thoughts

And this week, Secretary Paulson and his Wall Street friends sing a variation on the Janis Joplin classic:

Oh politician, won't you pay for, my Mercedes Benz? The taxpayers all drive Yarises and Hybrids, I must make amends. Fleeced the public all my lifetime, with bigtime government friends. So politician, won't you pay for, my Mercedes Benz?

I wrote those four lines during an IM session with a friend. Derivative? Yes. Still, it's not bad for off the cuff.

Toxic Political Statement

Septic truck with sign on tank (click for larger view). Message reads:

CAUTION: Vehicle May Be Transporting Political Promises!

The Asatru/Urglaawe Meetup is an Editor's Pick!

I'm involved in a Meetup group for local and not-so-local Heathens in Eastern PA and NJ. We use the Meetup.com website to organize and promote activities ranging from ritual observances to discussions. Our members run the gamut of reconstructionist expressions and we don't necessarily keep under the radar. Still, I was surprised to see Philadelphia Weekly further publicize our upcoming discussion ("How Relevant Are Seasonal Observances in a Post-Agricultural Society?") with a humorous review as an Editor's Pick: Editor's Picks - philadelphia weekly online Just in case the link goes cold down the road, I've archived the text of the review below. That Viking picture to the right of the writeup? Yes, it appears in the review, too!

» Faith-Based

Philadelphia Area Asatru and Urglaawe Meetup Group

Fri., Sept. 19, 7:30pm. Free. Germ Books and Gallery, 2005 Frankford Ave. 215.423.5002. www.germbooks.com

“Urglaawe” isn’t just the noise a peasant makes when you stick a spear in his throat; it’s also Pennsylvania German for “primal faith.” We’re talking modern-day Viking god botherers, basically. And what a crazy lot of gods they were. Odin (aka Wotan), Thor, Freya, crafty old Loki. Then there are the Vikings themselves and their crazy kickass Germanic cousins. What a scary bunch of permanently pissed bearded nutters. When they’re not raping and pillaging and discovering the Americas hundreds of years before Columbus, they’re debating the relevance of even knowing what an equinox is when you live in an industrialized society. (Actually, I thought the lack of debate about “the relevance of seasonal observances in a post- agricultural society” was one of the major flaws in that 1958 Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis movie The Vikings.) And yes, there will be snacks—the parboiled heads of Saxons and the children of Christians roasted on spits. Or maybe just some chips and sammies. Hang on, a bookstore? By Odin’s balls! What folly is this? Why the hell isn’t this being held in a pub? (Steven Wells)

Supervillain-Friendly Running Mate?

OK. This is kind of silly, but I still find the concept rather entertaining. The International Society of Supervillains rates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden on a number of qualities (media depictions, rhetoric, laugh, past crimes, hobbies, etc.) to determine which ticket is the most supervillain-friendly. International Society of Supervillains: Palin or Biden: Who's the Supervillain Running Mate? [Warning!]: I feel I must provide some warning to the gentler souls who might read Prophet or Madman. Under the discussion of hobbies, the write-up for Palin says she "shoots wolves from airplanes." Why am I posting a warning when this bit of information has been bandied about the internet? Because those aforementioned gentler souls will likely be horrified by the accompanying photo of a dead (presumed shot) wolf trundled up below an airplane's wing.

The Robot Uprising is Delayed ... Well, Sort of ...

The Care-O-Bots are coming! The Care-O-Bots are coming! (Hmmm...that does sound pretty lame). Check out the new robot by German engineers: Robot Underlords: Welcome Your New Robot Over... Oh, Never Mind

Baconhenge

And now for something completely different ... Baconhenge! I'm not certain of its ritual value, but it is certainly a celebration of taste (not to mention fat and calories). Because, you know, everything tastes better when it's wrapped in bacon. (I said it tastes better ... I never intended to give the perception that wrapping something in bacon actually makes it good for you, let alone better for you). Note: This is not a gluten-free delicacy. Repeat ... this baby is chock-full of gluten!

Man gets Air Force leave extended for...

...White Castle?!? USA Today reports on an Air Force serviceman who recently got his leave extended so he could attend the opening of ... wait for it ... a White Castle. Apparently, there's just nothing that comes close to a White Castle burger where he is stationed. That's dedication. Or something.