snap culture: July 2005

  1. Not for the faint of heart... William, 7/31/2005 2 comments
  2. Cruisin' for a Bruisin' William, 7/30/2005 0 comments
  3. a life aquatic sucked ben, 7/28/2005 0 comments
  4. do it yourself ben, 7/27/2005 0 comments
  5. R.I.P. Gerald Thomas William, 7/22/2005 0 comments
  6. pop it and lock it ben, 7/20/2005 0 comments
  7. Winnie Cooper, math nerd? William, 7/20/2005 1 comments
  8. Democrats, Transform and Roll Out! ben, 7/19/2005 0 comments
  9. Morgan Freeman Buys a Pop-A-Shot Machine. William, 7/18/2005 0 comments
  10. Easy-to-mock journalism William, 7/18/2005 0 comments
  11. Graffiti Bridge William, 7/15/2005 0 comments
  12. Thank you, William, 7/14/2005 0 comments
  13. The Misspokings of the Bush Administration William, 7/14/2005 1 comments
  14. Cure for canker? William, 7/13/2005 0 comments
  15. Detroit is the new Hollywood, and that's a bad thing William, 7/12/2005 0 comments
  16. Teach me! William, 7/10/2005 0 comments
  17. i pity the fool ben, 7/07/2005 0 comments
  18. Lance Lance Revolution ben, 7/03/2005 0 comments
  19. keep your pants on ben, 7/01/2005 0 comments

7/31/2005 Add a comment

Oh no. Ammunition for Rick Santorum. William

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  1. Anonymous Anonymous: Imagine Thousands Of Links Back To Your Web Site From Other People's Blogs! 10/29/2005  
  2. Anonymous Anonymous: Would The Thought Of Thousands Of Other Web Site's All Displaying Your Content, 11/01/2005  

7/30/2005 Add a comment

Angry Norwegian Cruise Lines passengers are suing the cruise line for injury, damages, etc., when the cruise ship they were on braved a storm with 25-foot waves in order to make it back to New York City on time. The underlying reason for the rush back to NYC? The boat was due to be a backdrop for an episode of "The Apprentice." NCL had paid $1 million for a product placement deal on the upcoming fourth season of the show. The boat didn't make it in time because of a trip to South Carolina for repairs to ship damage caused by the storm. William

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7/28/2005 Add a comment

compared to Wes Anderson's first three films. What was the problem with it? I mean the fundamental problem, not the stupid CGI crap?

This Slate article argues that it was the absence of Owen Wilson in the writing credits. And you know what, I believe it. The plot really fell apart midway through and never picked itself back up, and the "action" elements were neither particularly funny nor exciting.

The author strengthens her case by citing the DVD commentary of Anderson's earlier movies, which Owen and Wes co-narrate. There's a certain je ne sais qua that Owen brings to the table in these conversations, both hilarious and knowledgeable on film at the same time. If you love the Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, and Bottle Rocket like I do, go listen to the DVD commentaries. ben

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7/27/2005 Add a comment

Generate your very own Computer Science Paper with the automatic CS paper generator. Here's the title of mine: "On the Emulation of B-Trees." I have no clue what that means.

A similar thing went around on post-modernism a while back. Here's a link to the Postmodernism Generator; hit reload a few times and see what B.S. pops up.

(Thanks for the link, John!) ben

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7/22/2005 Add a comment

Who? The man who gave us the TV Dinner. At once responsible for "chang[ing] the sociology of the American family, encourag[ing] the feminist movement, ignit[ing] the obesity epidemic and introduc[ing] countless Americans to something called Salisbury steak." William

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7/20/2005 Add a comment



I don't care how literally his dad reads the constitution, this kid can get down. ben

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7/20/2005 Add a comment

Danica McKeller, who played Winnie Cooper on the Wonder Years, turns out to be a real math scholar, including having co-authored a math proof, entitled "Percolation and Gibbs states multiplicity for ferromagnetic Ashkin–Teller models on Z-squared." Um, yeah. William

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  1. Blogger C-dot: what in the blue hell?

    that is soooo random     8/02/2005  

7/19/2005 Add a comment

The eerie similarities between the Republicans and the Decepticons from Daily Kos. Disturbingly accurate. If only we had a giant robot that could turn into a semi-truck when necessary.

(Thanks for the link, John!) ben

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7/18/2005 Add a comment

Another great McSweeney's piece. William

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7/18/2005 Add a comment

The anecdotal lead (or "lede" in journo-spelling), is an overused device that tries hard to bring a reader into a person's life to illustrate something of broader significance. The writer hopes you will identify with the person like you would a fictional character and read the story all the way through. But it's the particularly breathless, severe, and even end-of-the-world quality of the anecdotal lead that makes this McSweeney's parody work so well. All of you journalists out there will laugh hard, then realize that you yourself have written bad anecdotal leads about the hardship of bad traffic or hot weather. It's okay. The first step to recovery is recognition. William

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7/15/2005 Add a comment

Who is Borf? Now we know. Click here for a gallery of his work. William

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7/14/2005 Add a comment

Sarah Vowell. William

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7/14/2005 Add a comment

A wonderful column by a wonderful writer (and wonderful guy, by all accounts), the Washington Post's Gene Robinson, who takes the Bush administration (esp. messers. Bush and Cheney) to task for the way they talk to and about the American people. William

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  1. Anonymous Anonymous: Bush re. propaganda -- Sam 7/14/2005  

7/13/2005 Add a comment

No, not cancer, canker. Citrus canker. And no, the miracle cure championed by U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris when she was Florida's Secretary of State, didn't work. William

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7/12/2005 Add a comment

Detroit and Hollywood are linked by two floundering products that face stiff competition. For Hollywood, it's TV, Internet, and video games. For Detroit, it's the Toyota Prius, the Mini Cooper, and the like. William

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7/10/2005 Add a comment

I want to grow up to make the air guitar championships! William

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7/07/2005 Add a comment

who calls these Mr. T memorabilia collectors "ironic". They have quite a website devoted to the man. Now go drink your milk, sucka! ben

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7/03/2005 Add a comment

The Tour de France is underway, which can mean only one thing: Lance Mania. Online, the New York Times has a whole online section devoted to Lance.

On the airwaves, the Outdoor Life Network has begun its programming of the so-called Cyclism II. And now that he's teamed up with the Discovery Channel and their array of t.v. networks, we get to see his car overhauled on TLC.

And I bet these are selling like hotcakes. I'll take 1200, please.

But cynics, have no fear. As always, Slate is there with two contrarian viewpoints. ben

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7/01/2005 Add a comment

Germany, FIFA, or somebody is going to fine streakers heavily during next year's World Cup. Consider yourself warned. Currently Germany has NO PENALTY for running naked across the pitch. I bet they even give the guy a blanket or something. Time to pass a tough anti-streaking measure, Gerhard.

Nike needs a new ad campaign. ben

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