Farewell, Dick Tufeld. You were a great voice artist, and a great robot. More at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0876185/) #ddtb
Embedded Link
Dick Tufeld, voice of Lost In Space's Robot, RIP – Boing Boing
Category: Performers & Celebs
When audiences bring you lemons, make musical lemonade
Very nice. This one's for my mom. #ddtb
So Who Is Gene Simmons Supporting for the GOP Nomination?
More importantly, who cares?
I mean, jeez, why would anyone possibly care who a particular actor or singer thinks is the bee's knees as a candidate? I suppose if they can speak eloquently and articulate their support that's useful — but usually celebrity endorsements are sort of a cookie cutter "Dude standing next to me is a cool dude, so vote Dude, dude" kind of a thing. #ddtb
Reshared post from +David Kurtz
Fun chart on the futile race for meaningless endorsements:
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Celebrity Deathmatch | TPM Media
Who Has More Celebrity Endorsements?
In honor of Nicol Williamson
Whose passing just before Christmas was just announced by his family (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16727853). Williamson was considered one of the stage actors of his time, though a variety of conflicts truncated his career (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0932116/).
He'll always be Merlin to me: mad, wise, powerful, sad, conniving, startled, and all too human in his power. #ddtb
This is the Report about Colbert
Fascinating NYT Magazine article about Stephen Colbert. #ddtb
Embedded Link
How Many Stephen Colberts Are There?
A suburban dad. A fictional television blowhard. And now a political money launderer. How one funny guy became three.
Airbrushing? Old School. Photoshopping? So Last Year
The hot new trend in fashion modeling is … virtual bodies. I.e., design some sort of ideal computer body, paste on a real fashion model head (to avoid the Uncanny Valley), and cut and paste your clothes on them.
I'm not sure it is any worse than the above, but is one more step away from reality-based fashion. #ddtb
Embedded Link
H&M Puts Real Model Heads On Fake Bodies
The bodies of most of the models H&M features on its website are computer-generated and "completely virtual," the company has admitted. H&M designs a body that can better display clo…
So long, Harry Morgan
You were always a trouper, and a joy to watch, including (but limited to) during your time on M*A*S*H and Dragnet. #ddtb
Reshared post from +Breaking News
Harry Morgan, Colonel Potter on ‘M*A*S*H,’ dies at 96
Los Angeles, Calif., USAWed Dec 7, 9:09 a.m. PST: Harry Morgan, best known for playing Colonel Potter in the long-running television series “M*A*S*H,” died this morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96.
Read more:
– +The New York Times – http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/arts/television/harry-morgan-mash-and-dragnet-actor-dies-at-96.html
Photo: +The Associated Press
Google+: Reshared 1 times
Unblogged Bits (Fri. 7-Oct-11 1130)
Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….
- Barnes & Noble Pulls Watchmen, Sandman And 100 DC Graphic Novels From Their Shelves Over Amazon Kindle Fire Deal Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors – Wow. I can understand B&N being torqued at DC, but I don’t see this as a smart move on their part. Anything that reduces traffic into or sales from a bricks & mortar store isn’t a good idea.
- The Other Guy Who Died: Jeffrey Weston
- Oct 7, 2011 – Ten Years Later – Priorities …
- I Just Don’t Know What You See in Him – I can honestly say my wife is more of a “gamer chick” than I am a “gamer dude.” And it’s cool.
- California Officials Quash School Rule That Forced Students Into Separate Lunch Lines Because Of Low Test Scores – Incenting achievement by rewarding it in some fashion is a fine idea, if done carefully and properly. Turning it into a “dunce cap” program, though, is neither careful nor proper.
- Obama’s Food Safety Law That Republicans Fought Could Have Prevented Tainted Melon Outbreak: Alex Seitz-Wald
- Wells Fargo Forecloses On Home Because The Title Was Never Transferred – Stay classy, Wells Fargo!
- What do these books have in common? – Go, Kate, go!
- Drug Maker Adds Line To Pill’s Surface To Delay Generic Versions – Best Health Care in the World!
- Vintage Right-Wing Whine: Hank Jr. Says His First Amendment Rights Were Violated By ESPN – You keep citing that “First Amendment”. I do not think it means what you think it means …
- Herman Cain Quotes Obscure 20th-Century Strike-Breaker and Attributes it to Lincoln – Don’t let your “facts” and “history” get in the way of my sound bite!
- Wall Street Journal: neutrinos show climate change isn’t real – Science doesn’t know everything! So science really knows nothing, and we must ignore it when it tells us really inconvenient stuff! (Dolt.)
- Strong winds mussing your Colorado lifestyle? Get used to it – The Denver Post – Should be an “interesting” winter this year.
- Parents’ code word thwarts stranger’s advances toward CAK student » Knoxville News Sentinel – An interesting family safety idea.
- Panel: Healthy men shouldn’t get prostate test – The Denver Post – Very, very interesting. The question is not whether folks have had their lives saved by PSA testing, but whether more lives have been lost (and others injured) by the follow-up activities from such testing.
- Crackdown on California dispensaries planned; Colorado shops watch development closely – The Denver Post – Really, Justice Department? You don’t have any other more urgent law enforcement concerns going on out there? Really?
- ‘Blues Brothers’ Actor Charles Napier — Dead at 75 | TMZ.com – Also a ST:TOS alum. “His name was Adam.”
Tweets from 2011-07-13
- Make it so! RT @pourmecoffee: Patrick Stewart turns 71 today. Link #
- Rain and hail. Woot. #
- Sat in on a G+ “Hangout” with @hijinksenue while he drew. The Hangout tech is very cool, very easy. You could do some gaming that way. #
- Thunder, lightning, downpour has arrived down here. Indy is not amused, esp. by the last. #
Unblogged Bits (Wed. 20-Apr-11 1130)
Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….
- Ayn Rand’s New Religion for the Righteous – Remember when people were appalled (or at least pretended to be) by G Gordon Gecko’s “Greed is Good” mantra?
- DORK TOWER, Wednesday, April 20, 2011 – Yes.
- Top Republicans Embarrassed By Birthers; – This is one of those cases where, on the one hand, I’m gleeful that GOP tactics are biting them in the butt, but on the other hand those tactics have still had a toxic effect on the political and social system we all have to live in.
- Walking Dead billboard on funeral parlour: Now that IS product placement! | Mail Online – Now THAT’s comedy.
- Heaven – Heh.
- The Gospel according to Ayn Rand – On Faith – The Washington Post – I’m trying to figure out how Ryan can claim that Ayn Rand was the basis for him entering public service — since “public service” would seem to be, by definition, not part of Rand’s philosophy.
- Obama’s signing statement is wrong – “There’s no denying that Obama has been inconsistent on signing statements. But conservatives who profess to want fewer Obama ‘czars’ might start by calling on Republicans to stop exploiting that dysfunction to grind the nominating process to a halt.”
- Big business to Republicans: stop screwing around – You’d think that might have an effect, wouldn’t you?
- Lake Powell drought ended? Don’t trust the warming denialists’ predictions – People seem always willing to cherry-pick the one anomaly that proves their case, vs the trends that disprove it.
- Harvey And LaBarbera Accuse LGBT Community And Glee Of Using “Demonic Manipulation” To Make Kids Gay – FEAR! FEEEEEARRRRR!!
- Philco PC – DO WANT.
- Euthanasia coaster: assisted suicide by thrills – Well, I suppose if you gotta go, there are worse ways.
- Florida Gives Handout To The Jobless…Superhero Capes Costing $73,000 – So … by wearing bright red capes they might receive spontaneous job offers? Or what? (At least they might have made the capes long enough to sleep underneath, for some of those jobless …)
- New Ad In Maine Fights Conservatives’ Attempts To Rollback Child Labor Protections – Wow. Some Republican legislator is actually framing getting rid of child labor laws as protecting parental rights. Dolt.
- The Big Thirst: The Secret Revolution In U.S. Water Use – Actually, there’s actually some good news in here.
- Printing your boarding card out REALLY BIG: Cory Doctorow
- Reality Check – To summarize, science is real because it works, it’s self-policing, and it tells us “inconvenient truths.”
- Japan Ends Whaling Program! – There’s some good news.
- Tom Baker Newsletter | Latest news | Lis Sladen | Sarah Jane
- Trumped – Well, that’s rather depressing.
Unblogged Bits (Tue. 19-Apr-11 1730)
Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….
- SAD NEWS – TIME CATCHES UPWITH DOCTOR WHO STAR: MadPriest
- School Children Entertained, Terrified by Life-Like Dinosaur Puppet – This. Is. FANTASTIC.
- Erase a CD in style with high voltage electricity – Awesome.
- Boykin: There Can Be No Interfaith Dialogue Between Muslims and Christians – The only positive thing I can say about this video is at least he’s retired from the military.
- City of Shadows – Freaky.
- ‘What is the use of the ‘Pops’?” c.1963 – I suspect you can find an article like this at least once a decade.
- Abandoned houses in Detroit – Haunting.
- Elisabeth Sladen, actress who played Sarah Jane Smith on “Doctor Who”, passes away. – I, too, started with Sarah Jane, back in the Third Doctor days — and I found her appearance on the current go-around of DW poignant, and her new spin-off show a goodly amount of fun. Sorry to see her go.
- Mike Warnke and Marriage Equality – “Warnke controlled most of the market selling scary stories about a conspiracy of satanists, but there’s a lot more competition in the marketplace among the fraudsters selling lies about the Big Gay Menace. The audience eagerly buying those lies, however, is much the same. And that audience is still seeking the same things — excitement, simplicity and pure, uncut indignation.”
- TOM THE DANCING BUG: Attend 4-Profit University!: Ruben Bolling
- David Barton on Thomas Jefferson: The Kaskaskia Indians – I’m shocked, shocked to find David Barton has exaggerated Thomas Jefferson’s so-called evangelism.
- DOCTOR WHO’S Elisabeth Sladen has died? | Unreality TV – Thanks, Ms. Sladen, for the good times. And farewell, Sarah Jane — off to your next big adventure. You’ll always be the archetypal Companion to me.
- When You Cancel Your Magazine Subscription on Your Kindle, Your Back Issues Disappear Too [Kindle] – Sounds like a great reason to not subscribe to stuff on a Kindle. (Also, a really bad licensing decision on the part of the magazine publishers.)
- Before Taking That Hotel Towel Home, Check For An RFID Chip – I’ve never stolen a towel from a hotel, and I can’t imagine doing so. Now, those little pads of scratch paper, however …
- Barton: The Bible Opposes Net Neutrality – It’s good to see that David Barton is as astute of a network technologist as he is an historian.
Unblogged Bits (Fri. 15-Apr-11 2330)
Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….
- Victim of Prosecutorial Misconduct Speaks : Dispatches from the Culture Wars – The inability to trust in the law and the justice systems means that the population will feel no need or duty to align with them. Dishonest prosecutors not only harm (or even kill) the innocent, they attack the bedrock of our nation and society.
- Dishonest Use of Budget Numbers : Dispatches from the Culture Wars – Of course they’re going to blame Obama for what Bush did (and set up to be done to this very day). What other choice do they have?
- A Tax Day Special—The U.S. is a low-tax country – But … but … we’ve been assured by the GOP that we’re paying humongously high taxes and that no civilization could possibly endure with our horrific tax burden, especially on the rich!
- Rick Santorum Swears “Most Seniors . . Are More Than Willing” To Sacrifice Their Medicare Plan – Hey, they were the Greatest Generation, right? They gotta be eager to sacrifice still more!
- Doctor Who – Premiere Week – Woot!
- Chickens roosting – Amusing, if true.
- iOS, Android gobbling Nintendo’s share of portable game market – Hadn’t considered this before but, yeah — handheld game systems are pretty much doomed.
- Ayn Rand vs Jesus Christ – That’s pretty much correct. And, yet, Rand seems to give so many on the Right, many of them ostensibly conservative Christians, giggles of glee.
- NationalJournal.com – Fox News Removes Story Linking Obama to a College Suicide – Friday, April 15, 2011 – Stay classy, Fox News!
- Dilbert Creator Pretends to Be His Own Biggest Fan on Message Boards – As funny as I find Dilbert (even now), I’ve long had the impression that Scott Adams was … well, not the nicest guy in the pool.
Unblogged Bits (Fri. 28-Jan-11 1631)
Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….
- Their Own Private Europe – NYTimes.com – The GOP hereby formally requests that “facts” not be allowed to interfere with their “talking points.” Thank you.
- Tussling Over Jesus – NYTimes.com – “To me, this battle illuminates two rival religious approaches, within the Catholic church and any spiritual tradition. One approach focuses upon dogma, sanctity, rules and the punishment of sinners. The other exalts compassion for the needy and mercy for sinners — and, perhaps, above all, inclusiveness.” I know which one resembles most the Jesus I read about in the Bible.
- Charlie Callas, Zany Comedian, Dies at 83 – NYTimes.com – Sorry to see him go.
- Jerry Springer | Springer Liberals Won | Springer Howard Stern | Mediaite – An interesting interpretation.
- Arizona Introduces Legislation Targeting Birthright Citizenship – We had to destroy the Constitution to save it!
- What Is The LEAST Dangerous, Cutest Thing We Can Outlaw Next? – “How about those scary animals that have clipboards and dream up worst case scenarios for every aspect of childhood? Let’s ban THOSE! But no, first we must worry more about The Children.” Crikey.
- “WTF?” Palin completely misunderstands what “Sputnik Moment” means « Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub – “One gets the impression Palin does not think much of science, nor education, nor especially science education. She could use some lessons in history, too. Sputnik didn’t bankrupt the Soviet Union. Ignoring Sputnik might have bankrupted the U.S.”
- YouTube Looks to Integrate Comments From Facebook & Twitter – Clever. A pity there’s no call for Buzz integration …
- Amazon Sales Up 40% in 2010 – That’s pretty remarkable, both the numbers and the Kindle-vs-paperback sales.
- Google Starts Censoring BitTorrent, RapidShare and More | TorrentFreak – It’s hardly censorship, but … well, it’s an odd thing for them to do — completely ineffective, even trivial, yet an intentional step. Is it a (poorly considered, but intentionally harmless) sop to Big Media, or the start of something less savory from Google in this area?
- KFC’s Top Secret 11 Herbs and Spices Revealed! | Internet Today – And it’s not from Wikileaks, either. 🙂 (Actually, there’s no sourcing, so I can’t vouch for the authenticity.)
- Egypt Leaves the Internet – I suspect all sorts of unintended consequences, none of which will do the government, nor the people, of Egypt any good.
- Tea Party Patron Saint Ayn Rand Applied for Social Security, Medicare Benefits – See! She really IS an inspiration for all those stimulus-bashing but stimulus-relying-upon GOP leaders!
- Letting Another Crisis Go to Waste: Weak Agreement on Senate Rules Finalized – As far as I can tell, once again the Dems let slip a chance for real change. “Reverence for institution” and “collegiality” are values their GOP counterparts seem to have only when convenient.
Daniel Radcliffe is my new hero
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) does Tom Lehrer on Graham Norton. Geekgasm.
These are the only ones of which the word has come to Harvard.
There may be many others but they have not been discovered.
Unblogged Bits for Thu, 22 Apr 2010, 2:01AM
Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….
- Leonard Nimoy Retiring, Won’t Star in ‘Trek’ Sequel – I’ve very much enjoyed the voice-overs he’s done for Star Trek Online.
- Dem. Sen. Carper: Dems should drop areas of disagreement from Wall St. reform bill – So the way to move forward is to let the minority dictate to the majority what should or shouldn’t be in a bill. Um … right.
- Price of Ignoring ToS Details: Your Soul – Not at all surprising. What percentage of people (my guess: low single digits) actually read all the EULA information during an installation? (And, no, I don’t, either.)
- Facebook Used To Make Partners Delete Your Data After 24 Hrs. No Longer. – I don’t have anything on Facebook that worries me, and I decline to join in any games or applications that want to access my profile. That said, I’d never dream of making it my primary social platform.
- Glenn Beck, the IMF, and the “Global V-A-T” “prison” conspiracy | Media Matters for America – The Rodeo Clown meets Global Financial Policy. Hilarity ensues.
- Pope Urban Novak II – Right! We must protect the site of the Sermon on the Mount, and act as Blessed Peacemakers by BOMBING THE SNOT OUT OF IRAN! Just like Jesus would do!
- Army considers rescinding invitation to evangelist – Yahoo! News – It’s highly inappropriate to invite a speaker to the Pentagon who refers to Islam as “a very evil and wicked religion” — not least of which because (a) Muslims serve in the military, and (b) we have military posted in (and ostensibly in service to the people of) Muslim countries. That’s not censorship — that’s common sense. (Plus: why the hell does the Pentagon have a guest speaker for the National Day of Prayer in the first place?)
- Jeffrey Scott Shapiro is on a mission to rehabilitate George W. Bush’s reputation. – By Jordan Michael Smith – Slate Magazine – Money quote of Mr Scott: “Bush is clearly very smart. And you don’t need to be a genius to be president — you need good leadership skills and good instincts.”
- Barbershop Ewoks – I love Barbershop. I love Star Wars. I love … well, I appreciate Star Wars Barbershop.
Isn’t “Free Money” another term for … SOCIALISM?!
And … hey … that chimp looks awfully evolutionary …
I liked him better when he was zany, not angry-weepy-scary.
(via PourMeCoffee)
Unblogged Bits for Monday, 05 October 2009
Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….
- A Swift view of Andromeda – Whenever I see lovely pics of galaxies, the end titles music for the (original) Outer Limits always plays in my head.
- HAPPY Days or, Should Pets Be Tax Deductible? – Everyone has sacred cows — and when you’re a Congresscritter, of whatever party, you get to vote in tax advantages to them. I have pets, but I’d just as soon not get a tax deduction for them.
- Why American Credit Cards Suck [Travel Tips] – Yeah, we’re going to be the greatest country in the world right until we turn around one day and realize everyone else has left us behind.
- Photographers – Toughest Shot | Outside Online – Okay, I’m now cured of wanting to be a professional photographer.
- The Abuse Of American Exceptionalism – Amen, brother.
- Tolkien’s Monsters: Tonight, on the History Channel – If I can just remember the DVR … since this will no doubt be the only thing on History Channel ever to never to be repeated.
- Competitive Awesome: Yum…Camel Balls! – Extra sour!
- You know the name, but just who were the Luddites? – A little bit of noteworthy history.
- Happy 40th, Monty Python! (And Now, For Something Completely Different) – Certainly one of the great cultural influences of our time. At least in the subculture I inhabit.
- Great billboards – Nice hourglass.
- Product Ideas for Google Reader – Google Product Ideas – A great way to solicit (and vote on) feature ideas. Of the 2,000 ideas received, they’ve come up with responses (“Answered Ideas”) on a dozen … none of mine, alas.
- Busted burglar – I guess if you’re going to be burgled, it’s good to have a burglar with a sense of humor.
- Baked Ziti Recipe – Mmmmm … baked ziti …
- See my baby? O – M – G . – TEH CUTE!
- France Announces $2.2 Billion Electric Car Charging Network: Sarah Parsons
- Sputnik at 52: Ed Darrell
- Online Dating Advice: Exactly What To Say In A First Message – How to win friends and influence potential dates. Say “Howdy” and talk about zombies and atheism, not about how hot the other person’s picture looks. Ooookay.
- Parishioners asked to pay criminal defense of Rev. Don Armstrong – The Pulpit : Colorado Springs Gazette, CO
- Kristol Compares Obama’s Olympics Pitch To ‘George W. Bush-Like’ Bullying – “For them to be cheering America’s loss here on the right, I think is sort of disgusting.” Yup.
Potpourri for $25, Alex
Sundry articles of diverse origin which I’ve insufficient time to chat about individually.
SERIOUS STUFF
- The Velvet Reformation – The Atlantic (March 2009) – The Archbishop of Canterbury, the gay rights debate, and the future of the Anglican Church. A fascinating read.
- Pam’s House Blend:: Hawaii Civil Unions Bill Senate JGO Hearing – my personal aftermath – A disgusting example of how far some ostensible followers of Jesus are from “And they will know we are Christians by our love.” Hideous.
- Heath Ledger Fans Call for Joker’s Retirement From Film | The Underwire from Wired.com – I don’t care how fine a job Heather Ledger did — this is just silly, but in a very sad way.
- Personal Health – Babies Know – A Little Dirt Is Good for You – NYTimes.com – From bumping up the immune system to getting worms, a bit of non-sterility is good for a body.
- Think Progress » Bailed-out bank eliminated 450 jobs and then spent millions on lavish parties in LA. – These guys really, really, really don’t realize how close-by the angry mobs with torches and pitchforks are lurking. They seem obliviously tied to an internal culture of entitlement.
- Family planning stops more than 800,000 abortions :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Nation – But, of course, it’s evil because it encourages promiscuity. Or some lame argument like that.
- Evolution of Security: 3 oz or 3.4 oz? What gives??? – It’s all those crazy “metric-mania” Europeans who have weakened our country by a precious 0.4 oz./bottle! Evil! Eeeeevil!
FUN STUFF
- 140 Characters » How Twitter Was Born – Far less intentional, far more interesting than you’d think.
- Petzal: The Rules of Gunfighting | Field & Stream – Words to, um, live by.
- Joss Whedon’s Theory On Why DC Comic Book Movies Usually Suck | /Film – Maybe so … but DCU cartoons kick Marvel cartoons’ butts all around the playground.
- Don’t Fear Atheists; We’re the New Lutherans | Friendly Atheist by Hemant Mehta – In many ways, that’s true, in terms of provoking Christians/theists into examining and revitalizing their own belief systems. Though I’m hoping they’ll be more like the Lake Wobegone Lutherans, and less like the anti-semitic Martin Luther kind of Lutherans.
- Rands In Repose: A Disclosure – A great introduction to changing from being a worker to a manager. I remember going thorough a lot of these stages, though my management promotion changed the IT area I was working in.
- Blambot Comic Fonts and Lettering – How comic book word balloons work. Spiffy!
- IESB.net – Sam Jackson Will Be Nick Fury…Nine Times! – Woot!
And, via Kate, the excellent How to Get Boys to Like You:
Escaping from the Islands
Patrick McGoohan, most famous in my circles for the 1960s series The Prisoner (which he created and starred in, as “Number Six”), has died. The 17 episodes of the series…
Patrick McGoohan, most famous in my circles for the 1960s series The Prisoner (which he created and starred in, as “Number Six”), has died.
The 17 episodes of the series are available for free at the AMC Web site. There a new version of the series in the works
Me? I also remember him for a number of other TV roles in the 60s and 70s — especially multiple appearances (in different characters) on Columbo; he and Peter Falk were close friends.
“Be seeing you!”
Also passing away today is Ricardo Montalban, most famous in the geek crowd as eugenics superman Khan Noonien Singh in both the original Star Trek and in the second Star Trek movie.
He started his career playing Hispanics, Indians and (seriously) Asians in the movies, but went on to a variety of fine, geeky roles, including the voice of Señor Senior, Sr. on Kim Possible — but he was probably most famous for the rest of the world as flogging the “fine Corintian leather” on the Chrysler Cordoba, and as the mysterious host, Mr. Roarke, on Fantasy Island.
“Smiles, everyone! Smiles!”
Eartha Kitt, RIP
The classic sultry songstress of the original “Santa Baby,” my first exposure to Eartha Kitt was as a 3rd season replacement of Julie Newmar as Catwoman on the 1960s Batman…
The classic sultry songstress of the original “Santa Baby,” my first exposure to Eartha Kitt was as a 3rd season replacement of Julie Newmar as Catwoman on the 1960s Batman TV series. Nobody could supplant the sultry and regal Ms. Newmar in the role, but Kitt brought an appropriate cat-like ferocity and sly unpredictability to the part (not to mention the purr), making her a more-than-worthy substitute.
(thanks, Amanda, for the IM)