My parents are dead!

I'm experiencing a blend of accomplishment and shame. It took me quite a while, but I managed to size down an ascii Batman to fit in that trite little box Facebook put under profile pictures. Behold:

(`I'M_THE_`)oo.ooo.oooooooo
(`GODDAMN`)ol\__\ooooooo
(_BATMAN!_)ool#ò_ó\oooooo
ooooooooo\,\ool#[~_] ooooo
ooooooooo____l# '- \___ooo
oooooooo/.-------.___.----'\oo
ooooooo//#####___###\ooo
ooooo//###.-.#(w¥w)#/ooo
oooool'l##/\:###.--##/#\oo

!

I wish I could say it looks better on Facebook, but it doesn't really. One of many recent complaints with Facebook. Foremost of them: why is there a like button but no dislike button? I want to disprove of my friends actions through the electronic ether. Seperated by space, but not from condescension!

Come back with that statue!

This made me laugh a little bit.

Today has been weird. On Facebook, I found the profile of one of my current professors after he half-jokingly said he wanted to be my friend on Facebook. I assumed he was joking when he said he had one, but now I'm tempted to add him. I also stumbled on the profile of my elementary school music teacher. She's friends with someone I knew in high school. I'm still reeling from the friend request from my aunt.

Aside from these things I've spent the day counting some fruitflys and reading about a genetic origin of homosexuality. Then I spent some time trying to find this awesome sculpture at DIA on Google Earth, but it hasn't been updated. I'm a little embarassed to say, I think I found the house from the latest Real World. I think maybe later I might try to find a whale.

Oh, and this.

Ten Days to Singles Awareness Day

I'd be more tempted to see this if I hadn't been so let down by Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter

I dugg this a while ago, and apparently it happened in Texas. The maintenance worker quoted seemed more concerned about the traffic risks than the false zombie alarm. Clearly, they have their priorities mixed up. Also based on my experience in public works, I don't believe they really locked up the sign.

Having Fun Isn't Hard

Youtube recently revamped its search feature, but that can't stop me from finding nostalgic clips from PBS series!

I find myself blogging most often when I should be doing something else. Some people clean when they procrastinate, I tell the interblag what I found on the PBS website (Not the Arthur clip).

I just requested numerous items that probably won't arrive in time to help write the midterm I requested them for. But they still look interesting! A few of them were videos, so I may watch those if I remember to pick them up in time.

Did you know the song "Make 'Em Laugh" from Singin' In The Rain is actually plagerized? It's true! I read it on the internet. I'd play the more you know sound appropriately here, if I had it on my soundtrack shirt, which I do not wear enough. I'll get there. Currently, I'm still trying to optimize the rest of my daily wear. I think I want to add lights -- to avoid Doomesque situations.

Anyways, the original sidetracking thought was a new PBS series I was fortunate to catch last week about (the history of American?) comedy. I only caught the tail end and it's not on dvd yet since it hasn't finished its initial run, I suppose. There's an episode tonight. They have a web-exclusive episode called "Teh Internets". I can't wait to watch it! Unfortunately, I'm in the library and don't have time (it's 30 minutes) to watch it today. But you should!

iDeadpool

This was my birthday breakfast. It was delicious. I'd like to thank Holy Taco for the amazing idea.

I'd like to begin 2009 by asking for a moratorium on using pronouns as prefixes. It's ridiculous and it needs to end. It doesn't making your product seem more hip. Stop it.

I only seem to blog when I'm procrastinating, although I maintain my moblog and twitter accounts fairly consistently. I've been meaning to muse on some things for the past month and I've probably forgotten most of them by now. I'll try to address a few of them.

Wrapping the year up: One person on my 2008 deadpool passed, Gordon Hinkley. I'm really rather disapointed in myself given the impressive number of deaths in the past year. I'm hoping to do better this year, as morbid as that is. Clearly, I don't want any of these people to die, but I also like being right and feeling slightly prophetic. You can play along at home too! Just write down the top ten notable people you feel may expire in the coming year. The person with the most deceased on their list at the end of the year gets the satisfaction of knowing they're responsible for the world being a little less bright. It's fun!

On blogging: I made 264 posts on this blog, passing the 500 and 700 post marks. I also created my moblog, which has over 3,500 posts of useless thoughts, and a comblog(?) which is a bit of both? I'll probably add a twitter widget to that eventually too, likely instead of writing a paper of some sort.

Today's procrastination is buying textbooks. Although I'm excited for the new semester, I don't especially care to get dressed, instead savoring having the apartment to myself. I'm taking one class on television genres, which I've very much looking forward to. Perhaps it will be like this South Park class? Or perhaps we will touch on Buffy Studies. I'm just excited I'll be reading House and Philosophy, although much less to be Reading Sex and the City, but I'm sure it will be interesting.

Finally, here's my 2009 Deadpool:

Deadpool '09

Les Paul

Sasha Grey
Van Morrison
Marian McPartland
James D. Watson
Ursula K. Le Guin
Patrick Swayze
Steve Jobs
Gene Wilder

Jack Kevorkian

See also: Holy Taco's Top 5 '09 Deadpool

Game Over

I'd just like to point out that one of the fifth place contender(s) in that American Apparel costume contest I mentioned before was a series of Tetris blocks. Though I didn't include any of their products in my costume and was thus ineligible (I didn't have time to buy tights), think my costume is superior since it lacks the goofy looking face windows that totally detract realism. My actual only complaint, besides the inherent loneliness of being the only block, is how hot the costume got, which was a very nice considering the weather. Fortunately it didn't rain, though I'm confident it would have held up pretty well. I was happy with it. If I can find appropriete boxes and approprietely sized friends, I might try to make more. I got the boxes for free from Target, Party City, and a few others (most places have a surplus that just get recycled although it took a while to find matching sizes). Overall, it ended up costing less than twenty five dollars with the primary expense being the three rolls of white duct tape I went through. I posted pictures on my mobile blog as I went. Drunk pedestrians really enjoyed the costume. Many wanted to talk about it, or at least confirm that I was, in fact, the greatest video game character evar, which was difficult for me as I wanted to stay in character. The L-Block doesn't speak, though I would occasionally awkwardly pantomime with my torso and legs. The strangest adjulations proclaimed their hatred of rubix cubes.

I Vote Kittens

(PROTIP: Never search a local news site for the term "puppy." You will only find sadness.)

I guess I've been following my senatatorial race too closely, the most gripping political story is unfolding and I almost missed it! If you watched Obama's victory speech, you know that Obama promised his daughters a puppy. But what breed will they get? America wants to know!

Still no word from the league btw

This was my Halloween costume. It's not as original as everyone thought.

I missed it. Actually, I didn't know Portland had one. Ugh. I can't say I would have tried to attend had I known. I know I don't want to miss Zompire this spring. I'm also a little disappointed that I can't make it to Live Wire! this weekend. I'd love to see John Hodgman and Jonathon Coulton.

I need tights for my costume

I don't have time for a full post right now, but following my Halloween related posts, I thought I ought to link to an amazing applicant in American Apparel's DIY Costume Contest.

Enflamed with Passion

I cannot draw penises this well.

I've never counted exactly how many feeds I'm subscribed to, but they extend almost to my status bar. Perhaps I'll do a screen cap sometime. There are some I only skim and others I wait to check. I'm not even sure why I added Upside Down Dogs to it; all the posts are titled "Photo". Of my many subscriptions, I strongly recommend Passive Aggressive Notes. The image above is my favorite post yet. It actually wasn't included in the post proper but it is absolutely fantastic. My favorite comment:

The orange penis is not ejaculating.

His genie is going back inside!

A blog is fine too

I wanted to do a research paper on Louis Wain, but it wasn't viable.

I had some midterms this week. I'm not happy with my performance. I'll blame Leibniz rather than Newton since I think I did splendidly on my physics test. Did you know Leibniz invented binary notation? Neat!

But that's not important.

I've started on my Halloween costume. It is not one of these, but it will be great. More on that at a later date.

Anyways, what I wanted to comment upon was something I encountered doing another ethics assignment.This time it was about bloggers and citizen journalism and standards of professionalism and... The case study was about Josh Wolfe and whether he is a journalist or not. I came down on the affirmitive side. If I was allowed to cite Wikipedia I'd point that he is included in the category: American journalists, but his Journalist of the Year award is better evidence. I'm sure that was one of the citerion they used when considering that categorization as well. As the class went on, I realized the class didn't share this opinion. I'm an introvert naturally and even more so when I feel myself in the minority opinion. I'm not elequent enough to win an argument against so many. I know the internet is serious business, but the class just sounded like Andrew Keen. I know by writing this, I am confirming many of the criticisms they expressed. In my amateur opinion they sounded a little afraid of the Internet. I don't blame them, but being a luddite just makes you sound butt-hurt. Everyone knows the internet is just for porn and cats anyways.

I've digressed. I did a little reading about Mr. Wolf while I was hastily writing why the Internet needs protection and found that he ran for mayor of San Fransisco in 2007. He failed spectacularly. More interesting to me were the write-in candiates. One vote for Robert McCullough and he's in the municipal history books. I just got my ballot, perhaps I shall try for some of this cheap immortality.

Pseudonymity

I find I work best in the early morning. It's strange but seems to work fairly well assuming I don't grossly underestimate the time and work required or my ink supply. Today's task is from my mass media ethics class and is about...ethics. The case study specifically concerns the creation of shill accounts and their effect on society and the marketplace. I wanted to find some mention of the wikiality that takes place on Wikipedia. I can't be sure how often it takes place, but I would suggest more often than Wikipedians will admit. Perhaps ironically, on the page dealing with criticisms of Wikipedia, including inaccurate and sometimes non-existent sourcing for controversial assertions in articles there are several dead external links. It seems that the North Adams Transcript doesn't keep an active archive. Whoops.

Despite it's many flaws, I still consider Wikipedia a nobel endeavor. I have both admiration and pity for those who spend their freetime editting a free encyclopedia. I'm not sure why they do it. I'm even less sure why toast shows up on the list of most vandalized pages.

In related news, I recently went to a little seminar featuring the creator of wiki technology, Ward Cunningham. It was very interesting.

Virtually Connected

[Pictured: Delicia Fay]

I keep a mobile blog. I've thought of just using Twitter, but then I remember that no one cares about the minutiae of my life, including myself. So I'm content to post inane things for my own gratification happy to know no one but myself will ever read them. But occasionally, I'll see something fantastic on Twitter and want to join. Perhaps Assisted Homicide needs to tweet @Bad Horse.

I've really wanted waffles the last few days

The night before this was due I had a dream some old biddy accused me of not being a hardcore Whedon fan.

I don't read io9 as much as I really ought to. It is simply too much amazing for me to handle. I fear would never release me from its tentacle vortex of wonderful things. I was checking it out today because they mentioned the Evil League of Evil contest that recently closed and I stumbled upon this Lego Zombie diorama. But sometimes, it is just sad. Anyways, I'm in the library and should probably get to class pretty soon.

Baby Pig

Piglets are adorable.