I Go Away from the Internets for 1 Week

and all hell breaks loose.

• This really bums me out. Or it would if I actually cared at all about Hollywood.

• I found a pretty sweet music stream..Rip it open in Winamp and enjoy.

• An impressive cleanup, I must say.
  

• Bullies need love too. [Towleroad]
  

Hmm. Coincidence?

I'm not an official card carrying member of Mensa or anything, but these two news headlines from today caught my attention:

U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Worst in a Year photo
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The number of American troops killed in Iraq in October reached the highest monthly total in a year Thursday after four Marines and a sailor died of wounds suffered while fighting in the same Sunni insurgent stronghold. The U.S. military said 96 U.S. troops have died so far in...

Followed by this one:

Exxon Mobil Posts $10.49B Profit in 3Q photo
DALLAS (AP) - Oil industry behemoth Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday its third-quarter earnings rose to $10.49 billion, the second-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company. Its shares rose to a 52-week high. The report comes as high crude prices this year have fueled...


Keep up the good work, Mr. President. For reals.

PS - I've basically given up on the entirety of the internet and have thrown my self completely into Second Life. It was nice knowing you.

Douchebaggery of the Papal Sort

What do you call it when the figurehead of a major organized religion ends up making a statement that runs directly opposite to the message of the alleged founder of the faith? Seriously, there ought to be a word for it.

Oppose 'deviant' love, Pope urges

Yeah, cause opposing 'love'...it's a good thing.

Taken in the positive, the message would be "support state-sanctioned/approved love" I guess.
That's much better.

Another fine message brought to you from THE represenative of the Roman Catholic faith.

Helsinki Street Fashion: Mikko & Jan

I am completely digging this.

Mikko (28) and Jan (29)

Mikko: "I'm wearing my father's old leather jacket and shoes made by my sister Jenny Vainio."
Jan: "Junya Watanabe and rivets inspire me. But Emelie Björnberg's House of Björnberg is the one I love!"

From HEL LOOKS

Audio Treat: P.P. Arnold - 'The First Cut is the Deepest'

Adorable

Check it out.

And you are welcome.

Geek Tip: Online File Format Conversion

Haven't used this yet, but if it works, that would be very cool.

Allows you to convert audio files, image files, documents, etc. into other formats (pdf. to .doc, or .jpeg to .png, or .wav to .mp3, etc) without installing any software. You upload your file and then select from a pull-down menu what you want the resultant format to be. Then you save it locally.

Someone let me know if it's stable.
via

Daily Dose of Dietrich

My new favorite song - apparently aus Deutschland.


On a related note, now I can totally see why Google purchased You Tube for 1.5 billion or whatever..So much potential to make a profit -- especially with gems like these.

Halloween '06

this year's first display of my mad carving skills.

Heroes from Yore

Peter Marshall: Nathan Hale, one of the heroes of the American Revolution, was hung. Why?
Paul Lynde: Heredity!

I was but a wee lad when Paul Lynde was the center square, but I still feel the void that was left when he passed. Here are some of his swell zingers.

Gray Kid

Bringin Paxil Back

Two Words: Extreme Pumpkins

So I've been lying (laying?) low for the past couple. To be frank, I have not been loving the internets lately. Most. Boring. Place. Ever.

Aaaanyway, rather than rehash tales of an 8-hour marathon at a Santa Monica spa (a "body wash", by the way is the most relaxing thing ever experienced, thanks Burke Williams!), or 80's night at the Hollywood Bowl (hello, Phil Oakey from Human League looks & sounds great.. Ditto Anabella, Bow Wow Wow), or the feeling of seeing one's fitness goals realized (bumps to 14.5" guns and Level 8 incline on the treadmill for 8 minute miles)...

I'll get straight to the point:

Shut up, I'm designing my pumpkin, yo

Halloween's a' comin'... I got myself a battery-operated carving saw (2 blades), a decent preliminary pumpkin, and am searching for extreme stencils. I surprise myself every year with the enthusiasm that grows as I approach the 'holiday'. Maybe it's the Gaelic pagan from a past-life in me or something..Irregardless, I'm looking forward to the challenge this year. My pumpkin's gonna kick ass.

Or suck.