Waffling in THREE dimensions.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Zoo Years
Oregon Zoo Education: I Love the Zoo Overnight
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Dentist
I just got back from the dentist.
I hate the dentist.
I also hate the Dennis Miller Show, but it directly precedes The Rick Emerson Show.
I like that my dentist appointment only took about half an hour. That is probably my favorite part of visiting the dentist. Half an hour twice a year, or a total one hour a year. It's not too bad when you think about it that way. Also when it's in the morning and you only have brush your teeth and hop in the car.
I hate the music they play in the background. Today it was some easy listening station, KISN? I have no idea. They started playing "That Don't Impress Me Much" and they hygienist started humming along. That song came out in '99. Last century. I still knew all the words.
You can't hear the music when they have the tools in your mouth. That bothers me. Also the tools in my mouth, I don't care for that. It's not a matter of comfort, but it feels far to vulnerable to me, and I keep thinking "THIS IS NOT NATURAL" and wanting to die a natural death at age 50 like an elephant. Elephants are cool. My father tried to teach me the importance of proper dental hygiene using the elephant. You see, the elephant dies of starvation when they lose their last set of molars. If they could brush their teeth, they would live much longer, my dad explained. Unfortunately this metaphor did not have the desired effect. Nature intended us to die when we lose our teeth. Dentistry, I concluded, is contrary to God's Will.
The discomfort of the dentist visit is compounded by my age. The main dentist, he has a sidekick now, is Mormon, as are the majority of the hygienists, and similarly, the patients. I went to the receptionist's son's missionary farewell last year. Being 21, having not served a mission, makes this a little awkward. Just a bit.
A few years ago I was assigned to some church committee to plan stake youth activities. I never really did much and honestly, I probably wouldn't have gone to more than one of the meetings if there wasn't this amazingly beautiful girl also on the committee. I saw her today, dressed in the same scrubs as the hygienists. I looked horrible, as I always do before noon, even more so than usual because I got so little sleep last night. I maintained my composure. I will fade from her short term memory as an unkempt man in pajamas pants and a gray hat. My hat kicks ass.
I think I will get a hair cut today.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Cats Don't Dance
I was reminded of this movie, which I believe my family has lost, tonight by those weird pre-movie quasi-trailers. I can't remember what the announcement was about, maybe snackes? Anyways, it had dancing cats with cleavage and other flavors of hep. It looks like someone has loaded the entire movie on the youtube if you want to watch it.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Nina Conti
She has a brief cameo in For Your Consideration. I've decided ventriloquism is hot. Or she is. Pick one.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tay Zonday reads The Night Before Christmas
YouTube - "Twas The Night Before Christmas" Random Read by Tay Zonday
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Christmas Tadpoles!
Bit Babble: Mutant golden frogs and Dmitry Bulatov's fluorescent tadpoles
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More going, and joeing
More join up with GI JOE! -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.
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Tuesday, December 25, 2007
This is sad
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Jazz legend Oscar Peterson dies
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Monday, December 24, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
The Most Important Issue
Clinton Would Crack Down on Computer-Generated Cartoon Sex | Threat Level from Wired.com
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Most searched
Searches for "Who is ...?"Who is calling? Such a simple query. I also enjoyed that enough people asked Google "How to levitate" that it was ranked the ninth most searched for topic in the How to section.1. Who is God
2. Who is who
3. Who is lookup
4. Who is Jesus
5. Who is it
6. Who is buckethead
7. Who is calling
8. Who is keppler
9. Who is this
10. Who is Satan
NPR : Google Captures the 'Zeitgeist' of 2007
My favorite was the top search in the category "What is...?" Which was, naturally love. The answer is rather simple:
Children
Flash (comics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Friday, December 21, 2007
Ok, ready for this
Forgetting Sarah Marshall trailers and video clips on Yahoo! Movies
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If only I had cable
Stewart/Colbert ’08!! Specifically?? Jan. 7!! -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.
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Harmless mistake
Bush Acknowledges Existence Of Carbon Dioxide | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
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Thursday, December 20, 2007
Happy Birthday
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Tuesday, December 18, 2007
McDreamy
I don't care for McAnatomy (shark jump!), but this is adorable:
Fairy Tale movies are my guilty pleasure.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Ahhhh
The Valve Store
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Friday, December 14, 2007
The Onion AV Club
This article made me laugh for like 20 minutes. Especially read the comments for the gold that is Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome.
The Onion A.V. Club: The Worst Band Names Of '07
I totally watched this
I'm near, or over, the threshold for chrifsmas presents. I think all my gifts will be excellent. I do have that horrible tendency to buy things I would like myself, but I don't think it's as bad as everyone claims it is. I use my own judgment as a litmus for quality. If I enjoy something, and you enjoy the same things that I do, which makes sense as we are friends/related, why wouldn't you like the thing I like? Often times, I don't even get to play with the gifts I give, how is that anything less than generous? That said, I had an almost overwhelming desire to purchase many many things at the bookstore today. It was hard, to resist. Ultimately, I didn't, and purchased myself a copy of World War Z, which I am expecting to be excellent as it was recommend by Rick Emerson and the first novel of the author, Max Brooks, changed my life. Also, Amazon is creepily accurate in its predictions of books that I would like, having come across some of its recommendations at the bookstore. If I said anymore I might be embarrassed by the incredible geek held inside me only by the thinest of fibers.
myNetworkTV - Shows - 2007 World Magic Awards
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CLASH OF THE TITANS
The CLASH OF THE TITANS Remake Has A Director... -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.
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Thursday, December 13, 2007
This is a travesty
Duel - Home - ABC.com
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Fear
Wired News - AP News
TOKYO (AP) -- Cat and mouse may never be the same. Japanese scientists say they've used genetic engineering to create mice that show no fear of felines, a development that may shed new light on mammal behavior and the nature of fear itself.
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Pregnancy
NPR : Women Have Backbone for Pregnancy
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Dead Rising
I'm still kind of groggy. I slept like 13 hours to augment the 2 I experienced the night before due to that zombie paper. Plus two other naps of about an hour and a half each. It was an interesting day; I'm glad it's over. I still need to go back to return books, but that requires getting a new ID.I don't really care for that. So it'd be this big thing and I could just keep the book because I'll probably only get $20 back and I could still use to the book to help me study for Jeopardy when I eventually go on. The training must continue!
Anyways, for all that work on zombies, I had a dream about a robot apocalypse. It was a neat dream, neater than the one I later had about being Aladdin. At one point I had to pretend to be a robot. I did, I might add, a very good job. Unfortunately, the item I was handed let the GLaDOS like entity track us before I flushed it down the toilet so through her off. The weird part of the dream was the companion I had, which still has me confounded. I'm like, where did that come from? Always confuses me who the girls that show up in my dreams are. I mean, she's attractive, but so far out of my league the thought had never crossed me. Anyways, it wasn't my faithful companion cube, which makes me sad.
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Kind of Interesting
Religious Super-Teams
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The Living Dead
The Living Dead
In every almost every mythology there exists an avatar for death. Whether personified as the Grim Reaper or Hades, theme of mortality permeates all human consciousness as a necessary part of life. Language denotes a symbolism of death in synonyms such as passing, departure, and laid to rest. However, there often exists an in-between state that explores the ambiguities of mortality where humanity’s fear of the unknown can manifest itself. They can go by many names: the undead, ghouls, specters, and zombies, to name a few. These creatures existing somewhere between life and death, are often connected to another state of being, whether an afterlife or something worse. In this essay we will briefly analyze the meaning of one such story and how it has changed in the annexation into the American culture and the implications of this change. This is the story of the zombie.
The “zombie” originates from Haitian Vodou where it was believed that a bokor, a sorcerer, could trap a person’s soul and turn them into a mindless slave. The bokor’s victim would fall into a coma-like state for days, and be buried under the assumption of death, after which the bokor would retrieve the “corpse” shortly before it reanimated (Wilson). At least one man claimed to have been the victim of a bokor’s “zombie powder” sparking scientific interest in the possible medical mystery, but no conclusive evidence in zombie rites was found (Wilson). The folklore of the zombie was transported to America by authors such as Zora Neale Hurston where it became entangled with other imaginary practices of “voodoo” such as voodoo dolls (Gallaher). America quickly became fascinated, or terrified, by the idea of zombies.
Zombies have since lost most of their connection with their magical origin. They no longer work on plantations at the command of their master but instead hold an insatiable appetite for human flesh (Brooks, 18). The rites of zombification are no longer administered by a mystic, but are instead forced upon a victim through contact and infection, through virus, radiation, or chemicals (Wilson). The infection “is 100 percent communicable and 100 percent fatal” and it only takes one individual zombie to begin an outbreak (Brooks, 3). Films such as Night of the Living Dead and 28 Days Later have cemented the zombie as an object of terror and fascination.
The horror of hordes of undead is nothing new or exclusive to American society. Other popular monsters, including vampires, werewolves, and mummies, all share similarities to the current manifestation of the zombie and analogues to these creatures can be found worldwide. The epic poem Gilgamesh makes mention of zombie-like creatures:
“Ishtar said, ‘Please, Father, I beg you,
give me the Bull of Heaven, just
for a little while. I want to bring it
to the earth, I want it to kill that liar
Gilgamesh and destroy his palace.
If you say no, I will smash the gates
of the underworld, and a million famished
Ghouls will ascend to devour the living,
And the living will be outnumbered by the dead.’” (Mitchell, 136)
The apocalyptic scenario presented here follows the same plot present is most zombie stories with humanity suddenly facing the grim reality that for the first time in ages, they are prey. Often, survivors find that they themselves are a greater threat to their survival than the slow moving zombies as stress and hysteria set in and cohesiveness disintegrates.
In this telling of the zombie story, the zombie no longer represents a supernatural threat, such as vengeful gods or powerful sorcery. The agents that transform them are now the same terrors that we must face: mysterious pathogens, radiation, chemical mutagens, all transmitted by people we used to love and trust. The zombie can represent cultural apprehension and ethical dilemmas in the same way as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which has also enjoyed success in the mythologies of film (Cole). The zombie shows us the incompetence of our governments; heighten the discord of our society, and the inevitable collapse and consumption of the things we love (Cole). The undead terrify us because they are us, transformed into something we scarcely recognize, devoid of humanity (Brooks, 15). Zombies make us face the things we fear most.
A zombie apocalypse is the ultimate disaster. Although it is likely, and hopefully, a completely fictitious possibility, that has not prevented organizations from utilizing the ghoul as a tool for activism. The Zombie Squad, an emergency preparedness advocacy group, utilizes the metaphor of undead hordes to promote emergency preparations, stating,
“Zombie Squad realizes that it is quite possible for someone to live their entire lives without encountering the undead nuisance. However, we hold fast to the belief that if you are prepared for a scenario where the walking corpses of your family and neighbors are trying to eat you alive, you will be prepared for almost anything.” (Zombie Squad)
In addition to the Zombie Squad and survival guides, the zombie horde has become a parade of sorts, with participants being “bitten” by a growing zombie mob, converging on a location, and then dispersing (San Francisco Zombie Mob). Occasionally these events take place to draw attention to a public event, such as a mayoral debate (San Francisco Zombie Mob).
For as long as any cultural malaise exists, we are likely to only see an increase of the undead in our lives ― hopefully only as a hypothetical.
Works Cited
Wilson, Tracy V. . "How Zombies Work." Howstuffworks. 11 Dec 2007
Gallaher, Tim. "Zora Neale Hurston." 1996. 11 Dec 2007
Brooks, Max. The Zombie Survival Guide. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 2003.
Mitchell, Stephen. Gilgamesh. New York, NY: Free Press, 2004.
Cole, Liz. "Zombies." GreenCine. 2005. 11 Dec 2007
Zombie Squad. Zombie Squad. 11 Dec 2007
"San Francisco Zombie Mob." San Francisco Zombie Mob. 30 Oct 2007. 11 Dec 2007
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Now playing: Jay and Kai Trombone Octet - You Don't Know What Love Is
via FoxyTunes
Facial hair
Fu Manchu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
His style of facial hair has become known as the Fu Manchu moustache although Rohmer described his character as possessing no such accoutrement.
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Monday, December 10, 2007
Marvel
I'm delaying an inevitable essay at the moment and will share a brief story I was reminded of in the course of my "research." We were watching cartoons Saturday morning while my grandparents were over, notably The Legion of Superheroes and The Batman. My grandfather remarked that all the popular superheroes ("super heroes" is a trademark co-owned by DC and Marvel) were popular when he was a lad. It's true! Superman was invented in 1938, after all.He then asked, "Is Captain Marvel still around?" I only knew to whom he was referring because I am a huge nerd and read the excellent blog Living Between Wednesdays. I don't think he heard me say there there were rumors, I say rumors because I've never bothered to check the progress of or verify claims, of a movie starring him. It's kind of strange that his foil Black Adam seems so much more popular now.
I suppose I should get back to "research" for my project.
Captain Marvel (DC Comics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Sunday, December 09, 2007
OMGWTF Snow?
This weekend hasn't been nearly as bad as I feared it would be! I've almost got Stool Pigeon done, and there have been no awkward questions about life goals! And now it's effing snowing. I took a cap of my ForecastFox for proof, because my phone wouldn't be able to see the flakes, and they probably won't stick. What this means is some people may have a hard time getting home, if they aren't already.
I had a weird dream last night. I had superpowers, as always, although this time they were different. I had the power to control spheres, and to a lesser extent circles. I couldn't decide on a name. Some of my favorite choices included Sphere-man, Radian man, Pi Guy, or Ball Boy. Mostly I used this power to mob people with torrents of orbs of eclectic origins. I could also take globes out of their little holders, and I did that a lot for some reason. I could also transform globes to maps, and maps to globes and even perfect imperfect spheres (removing terrain from globes). I also cruised around on ball bearings, which was pretty neat. It was a weird dream. There were some other parts were me and peter were painting a clay model of the Eiffel tower, but I can't remember what powers he had, if any. There was another dream where I had to protect kids from a puma. Damn pumas.
Hmmm
Pigeons Revenge and other Free Internet games @ CrazyMonkeyGames.com
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Saturday, December 08, 2007
Yatta!
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Thursday, December 06, 2007
Nightline
ABC News: Matter of Faith: Vote God 2008
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Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Character Counts
I asked the question, and tried to transcribe it:
"i think she is very contrived. I think she's very... what bugged me about her most is back years ago when her husband was elected she was going to do this that and the other stuff....that's not what the first lady does...she doesn't push major political reform on a country that's not ready for it. Am I going to fast?"
Earlier they kept stating "Character Counts". It is a catchy axiom, that is why the Boy Scouts have chosen it. They were asserting that the character of a president candidate should be determined and can be used to predict possible future behavior. The logic goes something like "if the president lies about cheating on his wife (his personal life) then he will lie in other areas (his public life)". My refute was that he most likely lies publicly out of nessessity. He cannot tell the public all sorts of national secrets and thus some obfuscation must occur. If we assume that presidential candidates run for office out of a general concern for the nation and an earnest belief that they will do a good job, a question that cannot be answered by character questions, as all will doubtlessly say they are the best person for the job, as any other answer would result in immediate disqualification, then we can assume that they will certainly try to achieve this, with varying degrees of success. As much as I disapprove of President Bush, I do not doubt for a moment that he has, what he perceives, as the nation's best interests in mind, as would any other candidate I believe. The question then becomes, not who the candidate is, but what the candidate would do, and we learn this by asking about policy ideas and hypothetical questions, not what their favorite television show is.
I've become distracted.
10 Tough Questions For 10 Top Candidates, Katie Couric Asks Presidential Candidates Questions Of Character -- And Gets Surprising Answers - CBS News
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Grrr
Amusing Ourselves to Death - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Kid Nation
Not as much as this one.
But at least he's entertaining.
Kid Nation on CBS
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Unpleasantness
They really do need to raise Candidiasis awareness. You wouldn't want this to happen to you:
In immunocompetent persons, candidiasis is usually a very localized infection of the skin or mucosal membranes [1]:
- the oral cavity (oral thrush)
- the vagina or vulva (vaginal candidiasis or thrush)
- folds of skin in the diaper area (diaper rash)
- the nipples while breastfeeding
- the penis or foreskin
- the armpit
- the ear
- the skin around the nostrils or in the nostrils
Candidiasis is a very common cause of vaginal irritation, or vaginitis, and can also occur on the male genitals. In immunocompromised patients, the Candida infection can affect the esophagus with the potential of becoming systemic, causing a much more serious condition, a fungemia called candidemia. [4] [3]
Children, mostly between the ages of 3 and 9 years, can be affected by chronic mouth yeast infections, normally seen around the mouth as white patches. However, this is not a common condition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast_infection
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Victoria's Secret
Victoria Secret Fashion Show Notes
Typing this up as it goes on. Also playing City Of Villains during lulls.
A lot of these model profiles reveal that their "indulgences" are massages,
hmm...
Lots of Victoria Secret Commercials. These commercials are awesome.
Actually, the whole program is just a commercial. I don't mind though.
Seale and Heide are endearing. He was singing the higher harmony. She
wasn't really singing words.
That Dyson guy is cool. I like him.
I never really cared for the Spice Girls. I think I'm okay with that.
Playing City of Villains and watching the Victoria Secret Fashion Show.
Life is wonderful!
Some of the models are blindingly beautiful; Others, not so much. I don't
think they picked the hottest girl in the college
Alot of them claim to have been tomboys when they were younger. Tomboys are
hot.
One of them just said their secret indulgence was laundry. I don't
understand, but that is certainly not a turn off, I suppose. Some have
cooking on there. Hmm...
Everything has wings. Reminds me of city of heroes. What does that say
about me? Hmm...
This is really weird with my dad in the room. Please leave, father. He
keeps lamenting how much he dislikes the "model walk".
Heide Klum is the hottest mother ever. Alot of the aspiring models wish to
have children. Makes me go :-/
I definately prefer brunnettes.
The flashing lights in the background that tell me "SEXY" are a nice touch.
I never would have figured it out on my own.
The winking and other sorts of crowd working are kind interesting. There is
a sort of celebrity among the different models. I recognize a few from
commercials, others from repeated cat walks. But really, it's just a buffet
of beautiful people that just flushing through.
They all seem to be such generous people!
Stupid Spice Girls. Damn it, that Beckam chick is still one of them. They
have male back up dancers. This will just get me incensed. There is no
continueity between their outfits, I mean, there's a theme, but like. I
don't care really. They haven't all aged at the same rate.
Pajamas are hot. I always suspected the possibility, but I didn't *know*
this before a few weeks ago when my eyes were opened to the true
possibilities. The models seem very umm...friendly...towards each other in
that commercial.
I'm glad I can't get yeast infections, at least, I *hope* I can't. That'd
be awkward, AND eye-opening.
No, I don't really want the Spice Girl's Greatest Hits, but it can't be as
bad as their flops, I suppose. Oh, it's back!
Yes, you are a christmas decoration. Wow, you are dumb, but it is
forgivable.
I sparkly things. However impractical they are. Hallejuah, indeed. The
choir seems weird, but really, I should have suspended my disblief by now.
I don't know if i'd call that "sexy santa" maybe more like "naughty santa"
Really? Wrapping paper? I'm questioning every value I have, and Loving it.
They all have these eyes...
OK, wtf. a bell? That...ok...
The snowflake is cool though, but looks incredibly dangerous. I thought
Seale was going to die.
Some of the women seem impossible. Where are their intestines? I suspect
girdle training on at least one, perhaps others. They are all freaks of
nature. I should feel guilty for letching, I know this. Yet, nothing. I
will blame the media and absolve myself of guilt.
What? IT CAN'T BE OVER!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I hope they put it online. hmm...
cbs.com
Monday, December 03, 2007
Dinosaur mummy
Rare Mummified Dinosaur Unearthed: Contains Skin, and Maybe Organs, Muscle
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Sometimes these just suck
xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe
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Saturday, December 01, 2007
Adverts
Snorg Tees - New Funny T-Shirts Every Week (Vintage T-Shirt, Cool Graphic Tee Shirts) -
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Robots
10 Reasons I'd Rather Marry a Robot
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Fall Cleaning
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Music.
Anti-folk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Approval
Wonder Woman is 100% going to be... -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.
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WHAT IS THAT YOU SAY?
CLOVERFIELD has been seen! -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.
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Blog Archive
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2007
(306)
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▼
December
(62)
- Zombie Rain
- Zoo Years
- Conflicts
- Dentist
- I was saving that bacon
- Cats Don't Dance
- Nina Conti
- Tay Zonday reads The Night Before Christmas
- Christmas Tadpoles!
- More going, and joeing
- Go!
- This is sad
- Trap Cards
- The Most Important Issue
- Most searched
- Children
- Ok, ready for this
- If only I had cable
- Harmless mistake
- Happy Birthday
- McDreamy
- Ahhhh
- The Onion AV Club
- I totally watched this
- SKorean Scientists Clone Cats That Glow
- CLASH OF THE TITANS
- 400th Post!
- Christmas Cheer
- This is a travesty
- Fear
- Trebek
- Pregnancy
- Good Grief
- Best. Wedding. Ever.
- Dead Rising
- Kind of Interesting
- The Living Dead
- BRAAIIINNSSSSS
- huh?
- Facial hair
- Marvel
- OMGWTF Snow?
- Nerds!
- Hmmm
- Yatta!
- Nightline
- Character Counts
- BMG
- Grrr
- Kid Nation
- I fixed Scribefire!
- Elasmotherium chaser
- Unpleasantness
- Victoria's Secret
- Dinosaur mummy
- Sometimes these just suck
- Adverts
- Robots
- Fall Cleaning
- Music.
- Approval
- WHAT IS THAT YOU SAY?
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December
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