Month: November 2002 (page 3 of 11)

A genetics expert carries the entire human genome on his iPod. Now that’s just cool.

Thanksgiving Marble Magnets

Hello Kitty PilgrimsThanksgiving Marble Magnets!
I spent the morning scouring the Internet for images to use for some Thanksgiving marble magnets. I’m going to print them out on a color laser printer and then put the magnets together this afternoon. In case any of you would like to do the same, I’ve provided my image sheet for you to use. Here’s the low-res version so you can see all the different designs. There are some cartoons, some stylized images, and even some Norman Rockwell scenes. If you want to use them, download the high-res version. It’s at 300 dpi, which should give you a nice crisp image when you print. They’re designed for 20 mm diameter magnets, so if you need them larger or smaller, you might need to change the resolution slightly. Have fun!

It’s Public Service Announcement Day. Here’s another one for you fellows: Don’t set your laptop directly on your lap. It could burn your genitals. Snookums and I are still laughing at this guy’s claim that he was just “writing a report” fully-clothed. Uh-huh. Anyone bothered to check his ISP logs?

Note to aspiring New Zealand politicians: Don’t knit in Parliament. How funny is that? My favorite part of the story is the end: “Retired parliamentarian Marilyn Waring, who admitted to knitting 32 garments during her nine years in parliament, said in her autobiography it had been the only productive thing she had accomplished in the debating chamber.” Ha!

Song of the SouthToday I finally got to see the “infamous” Disney movie Song of the South. As it’s never been released on video (many speculate that this was due to complaints by the NAACP over the depiction of blacks in the film), the Snook managed to download a copy from Kazaa for me. Personally, I didn’t find it offensive at all. In fact, I didn’t realize til afterwards that the movie is set after the Civil War, and thus none of the blacks in it are supposed to be slaves. For a film made in the 1940’s, Disney treated the subject just about as sensitively as he could, I think. The result is actually a surprisingly boring film. I was expecting an animated version of Birth of a Nation, but instead it was more like Old Yeller (in the blandness of the live-action footage and story). The animated sequences were great, but they only constituted about 10% of the film. (They gave me crazy nostalgia though. I’m pretty sure I had a Brer Rabbit Little Golden Book as a child, because – though I hadn’t seen the movie before – I could practically recite the cartoon dialogue.) At any rate, I found a great fan site with loads of information about the film. It’s really well designed too. You should check it out, if only to see how all fan sites should be done.

Looking for a great Christmas gift for that special Roald Dahl fan in your life? Why not buy them The Gremlins, his super-rare first book from 1943! They’ll love you, I promise. (But don’t buy it for me, silly! I’m the one selling it.)

The Snook and I did our ritual “weighing-in” this morning to check our diet progress, and get this: I weigh 50% more than he does. Yeah, he’s a skinny little man, but still. I’m going to go stick my head in the oven.

Ladies and gentlemen… I give you The Return of CouchCam! You may be lucky enough to see me sitting down there watching the cricket and knitting. (Note: the Australian local time is printed on the image, should you ever want to know what time it is here.)

Oh dear God. Some English couple got high on GHB and the guy ended up yanking out 18 of his girlfriend’s teeth. And what was the bit about her being dressed in a clown suit? I’m gonna have nightmares about that. (Link courtesy of Jann).

New Poll: Now I’m thinking about my new DVDs. For those of you that watched the show, which guy did you like the best? When I was Angela’s age, I was all about Jordan. Now that I’m older and more mature, I’ll go with the sensitive nerdy Brian Krakow type every time. (I’ve also thrown in the Dad and the Gay Best Friend for those of you with different tastes.)