Perhaps one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while:

h/t TechRepublican

(In case you missed it, it’s a parody of this)

Tetris theme as performed on empty bottles.

The first digital camera.

“What every man whats in bed.”

There’s a pretty strong correlation between the success of a programming language and the amount of facial hair of the inventor.

Very funny…well, at least to a programmer such as myself.

Obviously.

As hard as it is for me to get out of bed in the morning, I might need to get me one of these.  It’s an alarm clock that will donate money to your most hated charity/organization every time you hit the snooze button.  Of course, mine would be the Yankee Society of Wearing Black Socks with Sandals and Shorts At the Beach.

Nanotube: This will definitely test your reflexes.

Questionaut: Geared toward the older grade school / middle school crowd, but a really interesting game nonetheless.  I could listen to level 6’s soundtrack all day and level 8 is pretty clever.

This really tickled me.

Trivia round 2…  Supreme Court.  Who was the first rejected nomination to the Supreme Court?  Which Justice(s) was(were) nominated and confirmed, but never sat?  How many justices have left the bench (of the Supreme Court) to run for political office?  Who is the only man to have headed two branches of government?  What President nominated the most members of the Supreme Court after 1800?  Who was the longest service justice?  Shortest serving?  Which justice(s) were impeached?  Convicted?

Let’s try to have our reader and blogger cocktail hour tomorrow night (Friday night) at 7:00 here at the Mayflower in the Town and Country Bar.  If you can drop in, please do.  I’ll buy the first round. 

this.

An old standby of mine, some trivia…  When, since the passage of the 17th Amendment, has the House changed hands but not the Senate (two right answers)?  What Presidents were not sworn in?  Finally, in what case, prior to Marbury, did the concept of Judicial review appear?  (may be several, I only know of one).

Done as if it was a thriller.

(h/t The Corner)

Now you, too, can be a virtual minuteman (or gal) by logging in at the Texas Border Watch test site. The welcome page explains….

As part of the Virtual Neighborhood Border Watch Program, the State of Texas has been testing video surveillance cameras in different environments along the 1240 miles of Texas/Mexico border using the internet to transmit the images. The last stage of the test is to stress the system by providing public access to numerous surveillance cameras.

Firefox users are out of luck but those of you with IE browsers could give it a spin. I suppose it will be like watching paint dry.

Yep, a flamethrower made out of mostly LEGOs. In the video it looks like the guy is demonstrating it in the middle of his apartment. Can’t say that’s smart thinkin’.

Everyone should celebrate this day by watching this inspiring clip from Kenneth Branaugh’s Henry V.  The feast day itself has nothing to do with the Battle of Agincourt, fought on October 25, 1415, but any excuse to watch this clip is a good excuse.  You can read about St. Crispin and his brother St. Crispinian here.

Will the ACLU stand by and allow such torture of Texas inmates?

They wore pink jumpsuits and pink slippers, and one was wrapped in pink sheets. They were surrounded by pink bars and pink walls….. They were not comfortable.

Mason County, with about 3,800 residents, is about 100 miles southeast of San Angelo. The jail is in Mason, the county seat.

[Sheriff] Low got the idea of pink jumpsuits from a sheriff in Arizona, Joe Arpaio, who bought pink boxers to keep inmates from stealing the underwear and other clothing. In Mason, Low dyed the jumpsuits and slippers pink, and the color later bled to sheets, underwear and other articles during washings.

Low, who was a deputy in Mason before being elected sheriff, estimated the re-offense rate in the county is down 70 percent since he switched to pink jumpsuits for the inmates. He also said there have been no fights between inmates in the jail since it was painted.

Here is a interesting/fun story from the National Website of Wales:

IF YOU think your man is a neanderthal, research by a leading DNA expert may mean you’re closer to the truth than you ever realised.

Prehistoric man died out in the UK 30,000 years ago.

But Bryan Sykes, a professor of human genetics at Oxford University, says the last of the real neanderthal bloodline could have been carried by a pair of Mid Wales twins who died in the 1980s.

A mysterious debris field around the space shuttle is vexing the NASA folks. Magnified image of the space bag revealed……

(more…)

Methinks not. To the extent that I think it’s complete crap that USC jumped them in the USA Today poll…esp. after a bye week.

Me: And, bear in mind, I’m a Notre Dame hater…

…and a VLOG to prove it. I guess you could put this in the category of things to do in seminary when you’re bored. These are not your parents’ Bible stories and you need not be a theology student to get a chuckle out of this site. One of the creative contributors to the VLOG, Paul Hannum, died this month at age 45 from surgical complications. If you’re new to The Real Old Testament, drop in here for an overview.

Remember this, from the halcyon days of July 2002?

Former US President Bill Clinton who many Arab thoughts was more even-handed on the Palestine question than his predecessors shocked many when he asserted in Toronto last week that had Israel been attacked by Iraq or Iran during his presidency, he would have been ready to “grab a rifle, get in a ditch and fight and die.”

“The Israelis know that if the Iraqi or the Iranian army came across the Jordan River, I would personally grab a rifle, get in a ditch, and fight and die,” Clinton told the crowd at a fund-raising event for a Toronto Jewish charity Monday.

Of course, Bill was lying. Hezb’Allah, recognized by the world as a proxy for the Iranian army, violated Israel’s borders to kidnap two soldiers, and continues to lob missiles into centers of Israel’s civilan population. Clinton, meanwhile, continues to reside safely and soundly in his Chappaqua home.

But fate has now given Slick Willie a chance to redeem himself. According to this AP story, Syria’s foreign minister offered on Sunday to join Hezbollah.

“If you wish, I’m ready to be a soldier at the disposal of (Hezbollah chief) Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” Walid Mouallem told reporters on arrival in Lebanon in a symbolic gesture.

So here’s my idea: A pay-per-view, no holds barred, steel cage death match between Bill Clinton and Walid Mouallem (who, from the photo on this page, looks like a guy who doesn’t miss too many meals). Clinton wins and the proceeds go to Magen David Adom, the equivalent of the Israeli Red Cross. Mouallem wins and the purse goes to the madrasah of his choice.

Let’s get it on!

In the Sunday Edition of the Washington Post:

Do “American Idols” grow on trees?

In Birmingham, apparently so. Over the past four years, three of the city’s talents have barreled to the finals of Fox’s hit reality show. The streak started with Ruben Studdard in 2003, followed by 2005 runner-up Bo Bice and this year’s crowned crooner, AARP-haired Taylor Hicks. So, America wants to know: How did Birmingham get its groove?

Alabama’s largest city cannot be pigeonholed — musically or culturally. The three Idols are a good example: Hicks sings pop-wrapped soul, Studdard belts out gospel, and Brice channels Southern rockers. Indeed, there’s no pure Birmingham sound; it’s more like a compilation disc.

“We have gospel, punk rock, Dixie, jazz musicians who claim to be gospel and Christian instrumental,” says Hunter Bell, 34, who produces and hosts a weekly public radio show featuring local bands. “I think there’s a ton of talent. . . . A lot of people think the Birmingham music scene is going to explode like Athens [Ga.] or Austin. It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s on the brink.”

A big push has, of course, come from “American Idol,” which just announced that it will hold auditions in Birmingham for the first time. But the city is also working hard to improve its image, breathe life into deserted buildings and create a environment that sparks innovation and makes its own stars.

Me: I know most of you couldn’t care less, but I keep telling people that the world is beginning to notice our little slice of heaven down here in Dixie - it seems that I just might be right on the money…

There’s a reason I won’t give up posting privileges at SA until Steve Dillard pries them from my cold, dead hands. 

Where else could I ask the readers for a recommendation on where I can find a really good barbecue cook-off or a barbecue festival?  Now, listen, I’m not talking about any of that Texas brisket stuff.  I’m talking about barbecue pork and chicken. 

S.T. Karnick is one of the journeyman writers of the conservative-libertarian (or as he would say, classical liberal) movement.  His work has appeared just about everywhere.  Some of you may remember him from his editorship and co-creation of American Outlook, which was a very good policy and culture magazine put out by the Hudson Institute for several years.  He and Wlady gave me my first opportunities in freelance writing a few years ago.  (Thanks to both for helping through a couple of lean years in Waco.)

Although Karnick has written about just about everything between his freelance work and his regular editorial pieces for the Hudson magazine, he really shines when opining about popular culture.  After years of encouraging him to focus on that area, I am happy to report that Karnick on Culture is now in business.  After only a few short days, Karnick has written posts covering Mickey Spillane, Monk, Psych, the Beach Boys, Touching Evil, Nero Wolfe, The Closer, and Superman Returns.  Spend a little time with S.T. Karnick before you make another CD, DVD, or fiction purchase.  You’ll be glad you did. 

This didn’t take long at all…

No. Not the governor’s race. No, not the low unemployment rate. Yes, Auburn Football’s academic integrity is in question.

A graphic popped up on James Gundlach’s television during an Auburn football game in the fall of 2004, and he could not believe his eyes.

One of the university’s prominent football players was being honored as a scholar athlete for his work as a sociology major. Professor Gundlach, the director of the Auburn sociology department, had never had the player in class. He asked the two other full-time sociology professors about the player, and they could not recall having had him either.

So Professor Gundlach looked at the player’s academic files, which led him to the discovery that many Auburn athletes were receiving high grades from the same professor for sociology and criminology courses that required no attendance and little work.

Eighteen members of the 2004 Auburn football team, which went undefeated and finished No. 2 in the nation, took a combined 97 hours of the courses during their careers. The offerings resemble independent study and include core subjects like statistics, theory and methods, which normally require class instruction.

The professor for those players and many other athletes was Prof. Thomas Petee, the sociology department’s highest-ranking member. The former star running back Carnell (Cadillac) Williams, who is now playing in the National Football League, said the only two classes he took during the spring semester of his senior year were one-on-one courses with Professor Petee. At one point, Professor Petee was carrying the workload of more than three and a half professors, an academic schedule that his colleagues said no one could legitimately handle.

Me: Man, this feels good. As a nutcase Crimson Tide fan, nothing makes me happier than seeing that “Cow College” come under fire. Alabama has had FAR MORE than its share of problems over the past 5+ years, and I’m dang glad that for once we (yes, I referred to U of A as “we”) aren’t the ones under intense scrutiny. I’ll withhold the over-the-top gloating until the facts get laid out, but boy would it be sweet if Auburn got nailed for this one…especially since we are only 51 days out from the pure insanity we like to call SEC Football.

And, yes, in case you are wondering, when it comes to Alabama/Auburn football, I am lacking in taste and am an extremely poor sport.

Oh, and I also realize that this is probably par for the course at pretty much all major university’s around the country. But, if you will, just let me have my moment. Roll Tide!

We’re off to spend the weekend tooling around in Alabama (are y’all going to have a governor’s wing in the state prison soon?)- I’ll be the guy reading Mansfield’s Manliness and Dostoevsky’s The Devils.  (Friends say Mansfield’s got a bit of the devil in him, so it seems like a good combination).  Our thoughts and prayers with the men and women who are in much less pleasant places doing the hard work of keeping a people free.

Since a growing number among us aspire to appear in a Mad Max movie, I’m thinking of investing in tattoo removal technologies.  Especially after viewing this video.

I’m doing a low-country boil - anyone have any good recipes/suggestions?

Another winner meal at the QD household.  First up, some BBQ chicken, fresh corn-on-the -cob, green beans, and watermelon.  (I use a sauce I got from Steve Raichlen’s Barbecue Bible: 1 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 4 chopped scallions, 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 Tbsp minced ginger, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white vinegar, and 2 Tbsp dark rum).  Then on to the famous Mrs. QD’s triple-berry cobbler - blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries - topped off with some excellent ice cream.