Vacation!!!

Off to Seattle to go visit my sister and her boyfriend. It has been 2 long years since I was there, so very excited to go back, not to mention the break from work being fantastic.

..photo by BensonKua

Disturbing Burger King Ads

"It seems that the Onion depicted in this image isn’t a quality ingredient. Yikes.
The Onion is standing in the middle of the airport with his pants around his ankles while an angry, brawny “pickle” slips on a examination glove in preparation for a body cavity search.
I’ve got so many questions.
In addition to Botox and anti-aging cream (to make itself look fresher than it actually is and try to sneak into Burger King’s ingredients)… Look at the collection of articles airport Pickle security has dumped out of the Onion’s bags… (i.e. Burger King has allowed the artist to depict in the cartoon artwork). "

..Really, read the whole article. This doesn't make much sense as to why this ad is on a tray at a restaurant. But, maybe this will win enough ridicule to make it even more famous.

Hahahahahahahahahaha

Salmonella Basics
Not everyone who ingests salmonella bacteria will become ill. Children, especially infants, are the most likely candidates to get sick from it. About 50,000 cases of salmonella infection are reported in the United States each year and about one third of those are in kids 4 years old or younger.

The type of salmonella most commonly associated with infections in humans is called nontyphoidal salmonella. It is carried by chickens, cows, and reptiles such as turtles, lizards, and iguanas.

......Not me. While I keep trying to be empathetic, the overwhelming irony that it was not the downfall of salmonella-infested jalapenos or cilantro, but some nasty runny-non-cooked-eggs just makes me giggle. Even if I have had to deal with the downside all weekend.

..

On a side note, too many life posts lately.

The Things You Learn...

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again

The real Humpty Dumpty was not a person but a powerful cannon used by the Royalist forces during the English Civil War of 1642 to 1651.

Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle led the King's men and overpowered the Parliament stronghold of Colchester early in 1648. They grimly held on while the Parliamentarians, led by Thomas Fairfax, encircled and besieged the town.

The supporters of Charles I almost won the day - all thanks to his doughtiest defender, Humpty Dumpty. In pole position, as it were, on top of the church tower of St Mary-at-the-Walls (Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall) their gunners managed to blast away the attacking Roundhead troops for 11 weeks.

Eventually, though, the top of the church tower was blown away, sending Humpty Dumpty crashing to the ground, where it buried itself in deep marshland (Humpty Dumpty had a great fall).

The king's cavalry (the horses) and the infantry (the men) hurried to retrieve the cannon, but they couldn't put Humpty together again - and without their weapon of mass destruction they were soon overrun by Fairfax and his soldiers.

...From archaic nursery rhymes...viaDaily Mail>

British people are bloody weird.

It's All So True

7 Steps to a Cooler You

"Nothing Endures but Change"

So middle sister is pregnant. Now I find out that she is not only pregnant, but expecting twins. So sometime around St. Patrick's Day or before, I will become an aunt. Or, as the case may be, due to my middle name, I will become Aunt Ique (eek) so that one day, if these kids also breed, I can be Auntique. Yes, my family is very clever.

“All who would win joy, must share it; happiness was born a twin.”-Lord Byron

Photography for the Win!

Parthenon Frieze Live!

..via Eternally Cool

Library of Dust

In 1913, Maisel explained, an Oregon state psychiatric institution began to cremate the remains of its unclaimed patients. Their ashes were then stored inside individual copper canisters and moved into a small room, where they were stacked onto pine shelves.
After doing some research into the story, Maisel got in touch with the hospital administrators – the same hospital, it turns out, where they once filmed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – and he was granted access to the room in which the canisters were stored.

e-MANcipate

e-MANcipate! is a project to accelerate the acceptance of male pantyhose as a regular clothing item.

..really, it has come to this. There is a reason why women no longer wear pantyhose all the time. Why want to encourage the same lack of comfort for men?

Pill to Cure the Common Cold

The drug, which is known as BTA798, latches on to cold-causing human rhinoviruses (HRV), preventing them breaking into the body's cells and causing infection.

Never Used the Toy This Well

The Etchasketchist! Try to beat him. Try it. Super double points for drawing the Mac vs PC ads. Maybe even triple.

How Our Culture Keeps Students Out of Science

Students respond more profoundly to cultural imperatives than to market forces. In the United States, students are insulated from the commercial market's demand for their knowledge and skills. That market lies a long way off — often too far to see. But they are not insulated one bit from the worldview promoted by their teachers, textbooks, and entertainment. From those sources, students pick up attitudes, motivations, and a lively sense of what life is about. School has always been as much about learning the ropes as it is about learning the rotes. We do, however, have some new ropes, and they aren't very science-friendly. Rather, they lead students who look upon the difficulties of pursuing science to ask, "Why bother?"

Article by Peter Wood

Britain From Space

London Taxi activity from satellite images.

HDR Photography

HDR Creme with a gallery of over 2100 high dynamic
range photos. If you like photography, this site is definitely worth looking at.

Art by Kimo Easterwood

Random Elements layered photography by Kimo Easterwood.

Tantrum waiting....

A good friend moved away last week. She was supposed to be finishing her bachelors at Texas Tech, until her bank account got jacked and stole her tuition money. so instead, she moved to Houston with her parents for the time being.

Another friend was granted her doctorate a few weeks ago and wiill be moving to London for a fellowship.

And the closest pain is that a very good friend is leaving in the morning for a few weeks in Mississippi to visit family and then will be moving to Chicago to pursue acting. Just left him about 10 minutes ah\go, and already miss him, as he has been a staple for the past year and a half.

Really, at this rate, I will be completely friendless in 2 months if this trend is not abated.

Things I Need # 1

My downstairs neighbor has my dream car. No, really. I have wanted a 240Z since I ever thought about driving as something I might do in the future. Sure, it sucks for gas efficiency and if I had the money, I'd probably make a Smart roadster and change the engine due to the cheapness and lack of upkeep, but this is the car I have been dreaming about since I was 10 (don't judge me, I was sheltered). When I was trying to buy my first car, I wanted to buy a Datsun 280z, but was told very clearly by my parents that I could not buy a used car. Saddest day of my life. Instead, I end up buying a car that I could 'afford' and 'pay off' and all those stupid ideas that make sense. And now, I get to covet my neighbors possession and look at how pretty it is everyday. And then be awoken by the pretty little loud-ass car. That could've been me. The top picture was totally stolen from the internet, b/c I am too lazy to walk downstairs. Yes, very sad. Also explains why I love Adrian's 350. But nowhere near as much.

073008

Few days late to post, but sometimes it is an absolutely wonderful thing to live on the third floor so that a much broader perspective is possible. Sure, the bottom picture is a bad composite that does not line up correctly, but the only way I really could have gotten the whole rainbow correctly was to sit on the roof. Or have a mountain to see it on, but unfortunately, that only ever was possible when the original X Files movie decided Dallas was near a tectonic plate edge.

Olena Shmahalo

Art by Olena Shmahalo