fak3r

Bored at work, well I’m not, but I did take a second to try this stupid thing, and it turns out it’s kind of interesting. Give it a shot, and remember, I never promised you all of my posts would be entertaining!

While sitting at your desk, raise your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. Now, while doing this, draw the number “6″ in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Source

It looks like the ultra conservative news site, OneNewsNow, brought to you by our friends over at the American Family Ass (remember them?), aren’t very hip with those new web technologies.  Oh sure, they block plenty of news that doesn’t meet their views so they can present the user with a tainted view of the world in order to support their viewpoints, but they also *fail* hard when they do a blind ‘find and replace’ of the word ‘gay’ to ‘homosexual’.  A fun example is the image above, where runner Tyson Gay’s accomplishments were introduced with the line “Gay eases into 100 final at Olympics” becomes the much more interesting headline, “Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympics”.  Other times when runner Tyson Gay’s name is ‘re-spelt’ to conform to the sensibilities of the more conservative set:

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You have got to be fucking kidding me.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9_amg-Aos4]

 Props to Cofano for pointing this out and making Infomercial Hell a new favorite site of mine.

Ok, it covers 20 acres (eight hectares), is more than 1,000 yards long, is 115 feet deep at the deep end and holds 66 million gallons of water, so it’s no surprise that this pool in Chile has been named the biggest in the world by the Guinness Book of Records.  The previous champ is in Morocco, but it’s a mere 150 yards long and 100 yards wide.  For reference, an Olympicsize pool measures 50 yards by 25 yards.  I don’t know what to say besides, how much are tickets to Chile?

This man-made saltwater lagoon, “…has been attracting huge crowds to the San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo, on Chile’s southern coast, since it opened last month. Its turquoise waters are so crystal clear that you can see the bottom even in the deep end.” (more…)

This is just silly, so apparently during her Grammy performace, Amy Winehouse was told to cover up exposed breasts…on one of her tattoos!  The reason given was that, “Grammy bosses were scared she’d offend US audiences” with her pin-up girl tattoo on her left upper arm.  Really, that would have offended Americans? “The ‘Back to Black’ star used her trademark black eyeliner to disguise the breasts of a nude girl tattooed on her arm as she performed via satellite link from London at the Grammys. “Amy drew a little black bikini top on the large topless female tattoo on her arm, so as not to offend any of America’s puritanical viewers,” a source told Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.” Now come on, I’m going to need to find another source on this, really, would any of you be offended if you saw a topless tattoo on tv?  I would think things like shootings, murders and adultry constantly protrayed on tv shows would be something to focus on rather than an ink drawing of some (giggle) boobies! (giggle, giggle)  Pla-lee-zz.

I guess since the Nigerian scams are too common people are working on new angles to rob people via email.  This is a great one too, the email purports to be from a contract killer with the recipient being the intended target, but the killer will renege on the killing if the person will cough up some cash.  It said, in part, “Am very sorry for you my friend, is a pity that this is how your life is going to end as soon as you don’t comply. … I don’t have any business with you, my duty as I am mailing you now is just to KILL/ASSASINATE you and I have to do it as I have already been paid for that. [...] Get back to me now if you are ready to pay some fees to spare your life, If you are not ready for my help, then I will carry on with my job straight-up.“  The FBI reports that it started seeing these emails about 6-8 months ago, and they’ve traced at least one to Eastern Europe.  It looks like they’re even starting to resort to some standard phishing tactics to get more personal information out of people, “…some bold thieves have even used the e-mails on FBI letter­head, or claim to be from the Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration or Better Business Bureau. Typically, they say some kind of complaint was filed and ask the recipient to make a phone call, click a hyperlink or open an attachment — tricks designed to steal personal information.“  So just remember, if any of this were true they would not be contacting you via email.

Oh yeah, just in case you thought us American’s didn’t stand for anything anymore, out of the chute comes a newly reworked Sylvester Stallone (who directed and co-wrote) the new ”Rambo” , out to prove that we’re still number one in over the top, mindless violence!  “The new Rambo film is the most violent yet - with more than two on-screen deaths every MINUTE. There are a total of 236 “kills” in the 93-minute-long action flick, which has just been released in America - an average of 2.59 each 60 seconds. In the first Rambo film, 1982’s First Blood, just one character lost their life, according to a chart compiled by terrorism expert and author, John Mueller. The fourth installment sees Vietnam War veteran John Rambo - Stallone - trying to free a group of Christian missionaries who have gone missing in Thailand. Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Mike Thomas wrote: “How violent is Sylvester Stallone’s new “‘Rambo’ film? “Put it this way: If you were to make it a drinking game and then take a slug of booze each time someone buys the farm, you’d either become monstrously drunk or possibly dead yourself from alcohol poisoning by the time the end credits roll. “Beheadings, disembowelment, exploding bodies, decomposing bodies, raping, torturing, hanging — you name the most depraved level of man’s inhumanity to man (and woman and children), and it’s most likely represented onscreen.”  Makes those Abu Ghraib photos look so quaint!  That, plus Stallone shows us all what it takes to be tough, plenty of plastic surgery and some good old fashion HGH (human growth hormone).  Gather round kids, be proud of your freedom, and our apparently innate manifest destiny to go forth and pillage!

UPDATE: according to a Pitchfork post, 05-14 St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

So it’s been confirmed, Radiohead will play St. Louis on this tour; what incredible news.  I last saw them during the tour for The Bends, far, far too long ago.  “St. Louis is confirmed as a stop on British rock band Radiohead’s upcoming North American tour. Exact dates and venues are to be announced. The tour will be broken down in two parts – a first leg prior to a European summer tour, and another leg after the European tour. Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” CD is the top-selling album in the country this week.“  F - yes!  I have seen far too many concerts of them on video - must see the new shit live…so damn cool.

It’s amazing, with all the toy recalls this year, the Aquadots one just stands out since it apparently contians the same active ingrediate in the ‘date rape’ drug! And how could such a hazardous chemical have ended up in a child’s toy? Remember, it’s all about money… “The toys were supposed to use 1,5-pentanediol, a nontoxic compound found in glue, but instead contained the harmful 1,4-butanediol, which is widely used in cleaners and plastics. The Food and Drug Administration in 1999 declared the chemical a Class I Health Hazard, meaning it can cause life-threatening harm. Both chemicals are manufactured in China and elsewhere, including by major multinational companies, and are also marketed over the Internet. It’s not clear why 1,4-butanediol was substituted. However, there is a significant difference in price between the two chemicals. The Chinese online trading platform ChemNet China lists the price of 1,4 butanediol at between about $1,350-$2,800 per metric ton, while the price for 1,5-pentanediol is about $9,700 per metric ton.” Indeed, the Wal-Mart ‘race to the bottom’ mentality of needing everything to be cheaper rewards this kind of ‘cost cutting’.

So last week we thought the biggest Johnny Marr (who is currently still touring with Modest Mouse) news was that he’s ”…been announced as Salford’s new professor of music. Not just an honorary title, Marr’s responsibilities will include hosting workshops on the composition and performance of popular music.”  Salford University is in Manchester, England, where Johnny was born, and the Salford Lads Club is famously featured in an indside picture of The Smiths 1985 release, The Queen Is Dead. So while that’s pretty cool, the fact that he’s going to be teaching students about music in a Unversity, it’s nothing compared to what he blurted out this week.  Johnny Marr has said that The Smiths may reform.  While it’s been rumored to be in the works (with offers being made) for years, no one in the band has ever said it would ever happen, so that he’s not ruling it out seems a big change.  “Different members of the band have ruled out offers of reuniting over the years, with Morrissey most recently revealing that he turned down a near $80 million offer to tour again.  He added: “It’s no biggie. Maybe we will in 10 or 15 years time, when we all need to for whatever reasons, but right now Morrissey is doing his thing and I’m doing mine–so that’s the answer, really.”  O’RLY?  It’s no BIGGIE?  To WHO?  Are you KIDDING ME?  “Marr has said that “stranger things have happened.”  He added: “Not much stranger things, but stranger things have happened. So you know who knows.”  … “Right now I am personally working in a band that I have been in for the last 2 years, with Modest Mouse,” he told the BBC.  “You know we are doing a lot of good stuff and kind of strikes me, hits me with surprise really whenever I’m asked it because I’m like well if you are interested in what I’m doing, there is a record I put out in February that a lot of people like so why would I want to talk about a band I was in 20 years ago.”  Um, hello, because that band was The Smiths, a huge band for many from the era, yours truly included. I’ve really liked Modest Mouse for years now, and am really excited about Marr’s contribution there, but come on, to act surprised that people are more interested in The Smiths?

np - The Smiths “Strangeways Here We Come”