A favorite passage

I'm re-reading Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon (for probably the forth or fifth time). It's not that it is a particularly deep book. I just find its style appeals to me on a level few books do. There is an early sentence that I have always adored. It is early on, when Lawrence Waterhouse starts to spent time with Alan Turing.

One day a couple of weeks later, as the two of them sat by a running stream in the woods above the Delaware Water Gap, Alan made some kind of outlandish proposal to Lawrence involving penises. It require a great deal of methodical explanation, which Alan delivered with lots of blushing and stuttering. He was ever so polite, and several times emphasized the he was acutely aware that not everyone in the world was interested in this sort of thing.

Lawrence decided that he was probably on of those people.

And later...

Alan and Rudy's relationship seemed closer, or at least more multilayered, than Alan and Lawrence's. Lawrence concluded that Alan's penis scheme must have finally found a taker.

My phone reappeared

...thanks to friend Jeremy.

Crazy weekend, full of stuff. A show tonight for one. Always a good way to start the weekend.

So damn cool

From MarsPhoenix about five hours ago:

Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! w00t!!! Best day ever!!

Lightsabers add 27% more awesomeness

Videogum has their top 10 lightsaber mashups up.
We live in a glorious age.


(via Boing Boing)

Things I say out loud to myself when watching tv

"I knew it was in that case."

"Who in their right mind goes on The Real World and not expect to by surrounded by booze?"

"Why am I watch Two And A Half Men? Why am a laughing?"

"What if the Galactica itself is the last Cylon?"

"That looks disgusting and I still want to eat it."

"Well, I have a plan to stop the spread of genital herpes, but you're not going to like it."

Give people the tools to create ANYTHING and they will make penises

Honestly, NSFW.

The demo for Spore Creature Creator (which is sort of like a demo for a demo) has been out for about 48 hours now (although it was leaked to the internets a few days before that), and youtube is being swarmed with vids of folks creations.






Not surprisingly, a lot of those creations are creatures with large penises or shaped like large penises...



Or "beasts with two backs"...
(It appears the video of this creature has been removed from YouTube... for some reason.)

Make your own conclusions all of this says about human nature.

(via Kotaku)

Wikipedia Brown

I got to play Wikipedia Brown at our System Error show on Sunday. A bit of a dream of mine. Made me happy.

Of course, there is a lot of W. Brownout there.
• Wikipedia Brown and The Case of The Captured Koala.

• Zebra Crossing's Wikipedia Brown and The Case of The Accidental Occidental.

•BJ Novak reads from The Case of The Missing Bike

Open Invitation to Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Thank You, Robot has opened their arms to improv team/Mtv Real World 20: Hollywood cast Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (or WTF).

Link.

Dear Joey, Kimberly, Dave, Sarah, Will, Brianna & Greg,
We'd love to give you a slot at one of our SUMMER FRIDAYS shows at Under St. Marks. We won't even ask that you bring 15 audience members. The fact is, it is hard to say you've really done the improv thing until you play in a basement in The Village. Heck, I might even buy you all a beer at Grassroots Tavern afterwards.
-Chris
P.S. - Sorry Brianna and Greg. You won't be able to get into Grassroots. They card EVERYONE.
EDIT: P.P.S. - I just started watch episodes. Joey, you also aren't going to Grassroots.

"Shopping for pants. Wait. I don't have legs."

The MarsPhoenix has a Twitter feed. In the first person.

Why is it that when I picture MarsPhoenix, I picture WALL•E?

Man believes he knows Parseltongue. Snake, Cops beg to differ.

Connecticut Man Threatens Girlfriend, Then Police With 9-Foot-Long Python

Lucky for them, 9-foot-long pythons aren't very obedient.

Police Lt. James Viadero said 21-year-old Victor Rodriguez was charged with threatening police and disorderly conduct after Monday's incident. No one was hurt.

Officers were called to Rodriguez's apartment on a report that he was going after his girlfriend with the pet reptile.

When the building superintendent opened the apartment door for the officers, Rodriguez allegedly told the snake, "Get them!", according to Viadero.

Rodriguez and his pet were both taken away: Rodriguez to jail on a $10,000 bond, and the albino python to the city's animal control shelter.

(via PapaSix)

That's crazy

Three things this morning:

1) If you slow down Jeff Goldblum, he sounds drunk.
(via Alden. Ford.)

2) SPOILER
Calvin and Hobbs performs The Happening:(via Alden but from somewhere else)

3) I misplaced my phone. Or it fell out of the big whole in my bag that I discovered today. Couldn't wait a few more weeks, stupid phone? Sheeesh.

Number Spirals

I have no idea what is going on but still fascinating.
Link.

Amazing Paper Art

By artist Peter Callesen. There are tons of others on his site. His works "have lately been based around an exploration of the relationship between two and three dimensionality."

Yes, I am six years old

This game just makes me laugh.
Puzzel Farter!

(via Kotaku)

Now if I can only work it into a song

I was using the interwebs to look up rhymes for the word "day" and "jean baptiste pierre antoine de monet" came up.

Sensual Stretching

(via Chris Gethard)

OMG! SO FRACKIN' EXCITING!

Really, is there anything "sudden" about "sudden death" golf?

I suppose it's all relative.

Not Me

I am not the runner-up for some contest on xmarksthescot.com, a website for "kilt-wears and those who encourage the wearing of kilts."

Indiana Jones and The City of Mindless Repetition

SPOILERS

I started to write a whole entry about the Frank Danabont Indiana Jones script. All sorts of insightful thoughts and observations. But then I realized it came down to one thing: It had more Marion.

Really, it had a lot of the same problems of the filmed version. Most of it was just a Greatest Hits collection of action set pieces. I enjoyed where they start off playing with Jones' age, but it gets pretty much dropped. I also liked the Cold War stuff... but that gets dropped. There is a fun bit in the early on with a drunk, depressed and old Jones but it doesn't really go anywhere. A lot of dumped moments in Crystal Skull (see: monkeys and vine swinging) have there genesis in Danabont's script. They're less stupid... but still manage to be pretty stupid. And, yes, it is still aliens. They are angry aliens and the script doesn't feel the need to give as mindlessly stupid exposition at the end, but it adds up the same.

But it had more Marion and that is key. The Indiana/Marion relationship should be the center on it all. It makes me sad to think what might have been instead of the basically "I'm along for the ride roll she was given."

Monkey poop indeed.

Thoughts for a Sunday Morning

Here I am, hanging out at the UCB classrooms, waiting for Thank You, Robot's weekly practice to begin.  I'm noshing on a bagel, drinking coffee, basically trying to wake up.  This weekend has been a whirl wind of doing stuff around the house, making plans for next week, and seeing shows.  Tons of shows.

I wish I had been awake enough to discuss them after returning home on either Friday or Saturday night... but that was not the case.  And it won't happen today either.  Hopefully Monday I can ramble on a bit about the following stuff:

• That Indiana Jones and the City of Lost Gods script

• The Apple Sisters show at The P.I.T. and why silly is good.

• The Incredible Hulk and how Marvel will either reinvent superhero movies or (most likely) fail.

• Why I will probably end up seeing The Happening even though I know it is crap.

• Baby Wants Candy and musical improv

• Why A Week of Kindness is brings me joy

• Improv audiences vs. sketch comedy audiences: YouTube Makes Skirts Shorter

• Tens of Thousands makes me bounce

• Other shows I basically slept through