This Could Never Happen Here

...right?

Iranian cartoon pulled from film festival | The Australian:

From correspondents in Bangkok
June 27, 2007

THAILAND has caved in to pressure from Iran and withdrawn the animated movie Persepolis, about a girl growing up and feeling repressed under Islamic rule, from next month's Bangkok International Film Festival.

'I was invited by the Iranian embassy to discuss the matter and we both came to mutual agreement that it would be beneficial to both countries if the film was not shown,' festival director Chattan Kunjara na Ayudhya said today.

'It's a good film, but there are other considerations.'

The film, based on the popular French comic books of Iranian director and writer Marjane Satrapi, drew complaints from the government-affiliated Iran Farabi Foundation when it was screened at this year's Cannes Film Festival in France.

After all, this country would never do anything like that...

<⁄bullshit>

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And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

Again, let's do our own homework, shall we, kiddies?



I forgot to add the word analysis to essay homage to isaac babel doris lessing. But damn, I guess it means Google is doing its job, huh?

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Essay Homage to Isaac Babel Doris Lessing Notes

Everything you wanted to know but was too dumb to read the damn story to find the answers yourself. I hope you fail whatever class you were doing this for, you lazy-ass bastard.

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Utensils, My Ass

E and I spent this morning at the local farmer's market. There was a stall with a merchant selling wooden furniture and cooking utensils. Amid the spatulas and spoons, these jumped out at me...



I picked one up and thought, "With that curvature? Utensils my ass." But they were exactly the right size and shape to be a different sort of tool, something I can train with. So I bought two.

I mean, come on...

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I Want a 64 Box

Emo Crayons

Where were these when I was young?

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Righteous Anger

Listening to these albums, I really think Lewis Black knows my pain.

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These just take me back to a time in high school where all us freaks and geeks hip cats would pass comedy tapes around in study hall and such.

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Utopia

Series 3, Episode 11: Best. Episode. Yet.

...and it's only part 1 of 3.

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Diiiiiiiive!

Last night, the wife and I went to the first film of a summer outdoor film series at the Big Red School on the Hill. Sing it with me...

Flash! Ah-ahhhhh! King of the impossible!



I just had to get a shot of the almighty Brian Blessed...

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The Ultimate Lifehack

Bones could allow data swaps via handshake:

YOUR backbone's connected to your shoulder bone, your shoulder bone's connected to your neck bone - and your neck bone's connected to your cellphone.

Something along these lines is what Lin Zhong and Michael Liebschner at Rice University in Houston, Texas, envisage. They want to use the human skeleton to transmit commands reliably and securely to wearable gadgets and medical implants. Their research, funded by Microsoft and Texas Instruments, could also lead to new ways for people with disabilities to control devices such as computers and PDAs.

I'm so getting this!

(via Warren)

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It's All Part of Their Grand Plan

A quick smoke? It's good for the wings:

Birds are picking up discarded cigarette butts and using the smoke to fumigate their wings of parasites, experts said yesterday.

Hitchcock's THE BIRDS was prophetic! Mother Earth is getting ready to rise up and beat us like J-Lo in that movie where she learned Krav Maga and kicked her abusive husband's ass.

Just five more years, watch.

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Amen (Break), Brother!

My plan for the day was set back a bit. I got caught up in BookTV, random Saturday morning lingering, and this video I got via 3:AM Magazine.

Have a seat and educate yourself for about twenty minutes...



I've been keeping a list of various good reads, but am I now going to have to start a new one for documentary videos on YouTube?

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Your Own Worst Enemy

Once again, someone says something I always knew but never knew how to put into words. This is why you are your own worst enemy.

From Dar Kush:

Your ego identifies itself with whatever your “steady state” is—usually your current self, but if you are in a state of flux, whatever your most stable condition might have been.... Whatever your automatic habits would turn you into? That’s your ego. Take your concentration off for a few weeks, and you’re right back where you started.... Remember: if you don’t change your internal image, your ego-identity, you’ll have to use conscious attention to compensate. And trust me: your conscious mind is the smallest, weakest part of you. Eventually, it will LOSE. [emphasis mine]

Pretty much falls in line with the whole GTD idea about how smart your conscious mind isn't. This is why it's never just a matter of sheer willpower, but of executing a methodical plan to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish.

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Steampunk(ish)

From Warren.

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Bwah-Ha-Ha-Ha!

Blogger unmasked, court case upended - The Boston Globe

By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | May 31, 2007

It was a Perry Mason moment updated for the Internet age.

As Ivy League-educated pediatrician Robert P. Lindeman sat on the stand in Suffolk Superior Court this month, defending himself in a malpractice suit involving the death of a 12-year-old patient, the opposing counsel startled him with a question.

Was Lindeman Flea?

Flea, jurors in the case didn't know, was the screen name for a blogger who had written often and at length about a trial remarkably similar to the one that was going on in the courtroom that day.

In his blog, Flea had ridiculed the plaintiff's case and the plaintiff's lawyer. He had revealed the defense strategy. He had accused members of the jury of dozing.

I really don't need to say anything, here...

Via Whatever

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Next Season: Christians and Lions

It's only a matter of time at this rate.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Outcry over TV kidney competition

A Dutch TV station says it will go ahead with a programme in which a terminally ill woman selects one of three patients to receive her kidneys.

EDIT: Yes, now I know it's a hoax, thank you.

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Retro

I've been on a real retro 70s kick lately. Real 70s music, not the SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER soundtrack (not that there's anything wrong with that).

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It's tastes like these that cause others to wonder if I was really born in the early 70s, which I was.

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Adriaaaaaaaa...Oh, Wait

I know I should make fun, I really do. But this actually looks interesting on a couple of levels.

WARNING: This is definitely not for the kiddies!



via The Engine and other places.

EDIT: And then I read the (supposed) plot. Most of it you could glean from the trailer, but "With five young and highly diverse mercenaries at his disposal..."? Is this going to be like that last season or two of WALKER: TEXAS RANGER where you just didn't see Chuck do as much kicking as he used to?

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Getting Things Done Sunday

Not much reading or scribbling done so far today. But what I have done is dumped my brain. Most of it, anyway. Between that and moving a couple of major projects forward today, I’ve been feeling a lot better.

This is why I’m going to try to get back into some habits I’ve let slack lately.

1. I bought a discount copy of POWER SLEEP by James Maas. I need to get my sleep habits back on track.
   
2. My days have to begin and end at my desk, processing my virtual and real inboxes.
   
3. I need my weekly reviews again.

Of course if you’re not up on the whole GTD thing, you can get up to speed here.

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Meet the Flintstones

It had to happen eventually.

Variety.com - ABC developing 'Cavemen'

"Winner for most unusual piece of development this pilot season goes to ABC, which has turned a series of quirky Geico commercials into an actual half-hour comedy project.

'Cavemen' will revolve around three pre-historic men who must battle prejudice as they attempt to live as normal thirtysomethings in modern Atlanta."

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If You Build It, They Will Come

It's how they get here that bothers me...

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