"Lifted", an hilarious Pixar short

Wal-Mart doesn't own the smiley face

Duh? Yeah, duh. Thing is, they tried to trademark it, then sued when some young whippersnapper launched a line of t-shirts parodying the company and its mascot.
They lost, proving that our legal system hasn't gone completely bonkers yet.

Can't. . .stop. . .laughing

If you only see one Papal ascension parody this year, make it this one.

Stop dying!

First Gygax, now Clarke. In his defense, he was 90, and ninety-year-olds to have a tendency to die on occasion. Sad still.

Salt Lake City is odd

Title says it all, really.

I just got back from a weekend trip to la Cite du Grand Mer du Sel. It wasn't quite what I expected. The city itself, with the obvious exception of downtown, is identical to every other sprawling city in the west. Standing on the average street corner you simply can't tell the difference between them. There's a shell on one corner, a strip mall on the other with an Applebee's and a Starbucks and a Radio Shack and despair.

It turns out it's easy to spot Mormons. They're disturbingly polite, well shorn, and they all want to introduce themselves, shake your hand, and give you their business card. However, they seem to lack distinguishing characteristics. They're like polite, well-dressed Borg.

If you ever find yourself in town, you simply must check out Sam Weller's Bookstore. Their rare book collection is an amazing thing to behold. While you're there, cross the street and pay a visit to Utah Book and Magazine. It's the polar opposite of Weller's. Books and random junk piled a mile high, some of them priced, some of them not so much. Boxes full of old cards and magazines and posters, denoted by pissy signs admonishing visitors not to get the books out of order. Not that they were in order in the first place. Unless the proprietor uses some obscure masonic version of the Dewey system that mere mortals are not fit to understand.

Blake does Wired

Blake made the front page of wired with his entry into their Self-Portrait contest. Friggin' sweet pic, too. If you haven't done so yet, check out his website, or have a look at his flickr feed. I'm a big fan of his vintage coin-op pics from the Musee Mecanique

BattleBots are coming back to TV

This summer's BattleBots competition will be broadcast on ESPN 2, home of such fine sports as curling, alpaca wrangling, and extreme milkshake drinking. I drink it up. To the MAX! WOOO!!

Sorry. Got a bit carried away there. Still. Battle Bots. I wonder if they'll let Jamie come back.

pTerry on pTV!

The second Discworld movie adaptation, The Colour of Magic, will air on March 23-24. This news fills me with yay. It's only airing on Sky One for now, so that's a torrenting. And if you haven't seen it yet, check out Hogfather. It's da bomb.

ESA++;

The European Space Agency goes big. While we 'murcans worry about what we're going to do in the five year gap between the retirement of the shuttle, only two years away, and the first launch of our new old non-reusable rockets, the ESA is forging ahead with a new, fully automated delivery system that boasts a fairly decent capacity (nowhere near that of the shuttle though). It's good to know there will still be something besides a Soyouz that will be able to deliver valuable goods and services to ISS 24 months from now.

Gary cheats death

Today's XKCD tickled me. But which one's the DM?

We need a cleric!

Gary Gygax passed away today. Just a few weeks ago Lomedae and I were discussing his recent lack of public appearances. It turns out he's been in poor health for quite a while. I used to enjoy D&D immensely - it was a major factor in my formative years, and I still can't resist the lure of old, beat-up modules when I find them at thrift stores. So long Gary, and thanks for all good times.

Oranges will grow in Philadelphia

I'm a bit of a sucker for historical predictions of the future. This one, from the Ladies' Home Journal, anno 1900, attempts to predict life in the year two thousand. It contains gems such as "Automobiles will be cheaper than horses", and "Wireless telephone circuits will span the world.", but also serves up a few canards; "Storekeepers who expose food to air breathed out by patrons [. . .] will be arrested."

Who wants to go to Pax with me?

Pax will be held from 8/29 through 8/31 this year, and after missing the last gazillion events, I'd really like to make it this time. Anybody up for a fun road trip? I'm looking at you, Pie.