Potpourri
No subject at all, just a random tour of stuff and thoughts...
Lots of people ask me what hosting service I use for my website. Frankly, web hosting is a commodity. I use Hostway, but Laughing Squid looks like a good deal, too. I used to host my site on my desktop, but then it crapped out on me.
Don't Blog: Headlines from the Future
June 20 will be a big movie day for me here in Seattle. The Hulk opens that day, as does Le Cercle Rouge in a one week stint at the Varsity. Also, the acclaimed documentary Winged Migration visits the not-deserving-of-acclaim Egyptian Theatre.
Kicksology is a cool site that reviews basketball sneakers. Shoe fit is so personal that you can't really buy a shoe based on a review, but some of the info is objective and useful, and the pics are sweet. The Nike Air Ultraposite is one of the coolest looking basketball shoes ever. Unfortunately Nikes are made for people with perfect feet--narrow, with perfect arches. I have wide, flat feet. The last pair of Nike basketball shoes that fit me were the Nike Air Jordan VIII's, in black and concord. I still have that pair even though the treads have worn down so much they're useless on a court. They have sentimental value. They were the last time I could wear the same shoes as Jordan, and they're the first pair of expensive basketball shoes my mom bought me. She didn't even know if I played basketball that well, and they cost $100 back then, a fortune to spend on a short, non-athletic kid like me. But every now and then she could tell when I really wanted something, and she'd splurge for me, no questions asked. Those were great shoes, and if I ever find another pair for sale at a decent price I'm picking up another pair. Those were better than any hoops shoes I've worn in recent years.
Charles Pierce on Sammy Sosa and cork, in Slate.
Interview with Bill James about Moneyball, also in Slate.
Busted! I saw this news clip in IMDb:
Before re-releasing their 1989 short Knick Knack and attaching it to their release of Finding Nemo, Disney and Pixar virtually eliminated the breasts of two female characters, a mermaid and a plastic bunny, USA Today observed today (Wednesday). "In the original, the girls have breasts the size of large grapefruit," animation fan Raymond Tucker of Greensboro, N.C. told the newspaper. "In the new version, the breasts just aren't there." Animation historian Jerry Beck added: "These films need to be treated like classic films, not kids' fodder."
My first thought? I think Raymond Tucker is more than an animation fan. Second thought? I've got to go home and confirm this! Knick Knack is included in the deluxe collector's edition laserdisc boxset of Toy Story. I fired it up just now, and lo and behold...the breasts are indeed massive in the original! That is so cool. Anyone who wishes to come by and confirm this for themselves is welcome. By the way, laserdiscs are totally cool and retro now, the same way LPs are cooler than CDs. Laserdisc collector box sets are the ultimate in cool, with their huge packaging and lovely cover art. Until they issue DVDs of the Star Wars Episodes IV through VI, the deluxe laserdisc box set of that trilogy is the only way to experience them in your own home with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.
Exactitudes.
The perfect gift for your graphic designer friend.
Not feeling creative? Stuck? Try Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies. Here are lots of links to online versions.
Some kind Photoshop users throughout the web have chipped in some interior design suggestions for the embattled Martha Stewart in case she ends up in the slammer.
Einstein: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Lots of people ask me what hosting service I use for my website. Frankly, web hosting is a commodity. I use Hostway, but Laughing Squid looks like a good deal, too. I used to host my site on my desktop, but then it crapped out on me.
Don't Blog: Headlines from the Future
June 20 will be a big movie day for me here in Seattle. The Hulk opens that day, as does Le Cercle Rouge in a one week stint at the Varsity. Also, the acclaimed documentary Winged Migration visits the not-deserving-of-acclaim Egyptian Theatre.
Kicksology is a cool site that reviews basketball sneakers. Shoe fit is so personal that you can't really buy a shoe based on a review, but some of the info is objective and useful, and the pics are sweet. The Nike Air Ultraposite is one of the coolest looking basketball shoes ever. Unfortunately Nikes are made for people with perfect feet--narrow, with perfect arches. I have wide, flat feet. The last pair of Nike basketball shoes that fit me were the Nike Air Jordan VIII's, in black and concord. I still have that pair even though the treads have worn down so much they're useless on a court. They have sentimental value. They were the last time I could wear the same shoes as Jordan, and they're the first pair of expensive basketball shoes my mom bought me. She didn't even know if I played basketball that well, and they cost $100 back then, a fortune to spend on a short, non-athletic kid like me. But every now and then she could tell when I really wanted something, and she'd splurge for me, no questions asked. Those were great shoes, and if I ever find another pair for sale at a decent price I'm picking up another pair. Those were better than any hoops shoes I've worn in recent years.
Charles Pierce on Sammy Sosa and cork, in Slate.
Interview with Bill James about Moneyball, also in Slate.
Busted! I saw this news clip in IMDb:
Before re-releasing their 1989 short Knick Knack and attaching it to their release of Finding Nemo, Disney and Pixar virtually eliminated the breasts of two female characters, a mermaid and a plastic bunny, USA Today observed today (Wednesday). "In the original, the girls have breasts the size of large grapefruit," animation fan Raymond Tucker of Greensboro, N.C. told the newspaper. "In the new version, the breasts just aren't there." Animation historian Jerry Beck added: "These films need to be treated like classic films, not kids' fodder."
My first thought? I think Raymond Tucker is more than an animation fan. Second thought? I've got to go home and confirm this! Knick Knack is included in the deluxe collector's edition laserdisc boxset of Toy Story. I fired it up just now, and lo and behold...the breasts are indeed massive in the original! That is so cool. Anyone who wishes to come by and confirm this for themselves is welcome. By the way, laserdiscs are totally cool and retro now, the same way LPs are cooler than CDs. Laserdisc collector box sets are the ultimate in cool, with their huge packaging and lovely cover art. Until they issue DVDs of the Star Wars Episodes IV through VI, the deluxe laserdisc box set of that trilogy is the only way to experience them in your own home with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.
Exactitudes.
The perfect gift for your graphic designer friend.
Not feeling creative? Stuck? Try Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies. Here are lots of links to online versions.
Some kind Photoshop users throughout the web have chipped in some interior design suggestions for the embattled Martha Stewart in case she ends up in the slammer.
Einstein: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."