» On 1/29/2010 09:55:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
iPad learns to fly.

[02:23 below] Balliol Brothers Pharmacy--boys, I think you might be interested in this--they're celebrating their annual Fire Insurance Sale. Bill and Dill invites everyone in the Pittsfield, Doomstown and Tri-Color area to come on in and share some of their outstanding artificial values that the Balliol Twins are putting up for ya. Pico, you'll be interested in this: for your wife and your mistress, in Cosmetics, cases of Revolutionary Venus Envy Hair Spray, Legett Hair Fastener Heat Bags, Lady O' Spain Self-Blinding Eye Shadow with Magic Puncture Pencil, Sanitary Napkin Rings in Little Miss, Moon Maid and Stuck Pig strengths, Deported Italian Napa Gel Balls for soaking or eating. And they're all slash priced with the lady in mind.

--Firesign Theatre, Dear Friends: I Was A Cock-Teaser For Roosterama!

[00:26 above] I was working with chickens. I was a cock-teaser at Roosterama. I used to enrage the bantams before the big bouts. Not an easy thing. Ask Pedro, here. Pedro you used to work down there. [Yeah, sure man, you were the best cock-teaser. How did you enrage those little buggers?] I used to sit on them. [See, man, that's hard.] I would dress up like a big egg, man, and then I would sit on them. And that freaks them out. Those chickens are really confused. They got mad, angry... into the cockpit, what a fight! [That is how we used to enrage them, too. That's a good job. Tio here used to pick on them.] Yeah, but they outlawed that now, man. It's not allowed no more. You have to do it silently.

 
» On 1/28/2010 08:00:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Re³tweeting in the Twittersphere.

I decided to tweet about the iPad yesterday. Today, I discovered that four people had re-tweeted my tweet. So, thanks: ACanseco, masanaminori, mscarron and ysbee.

And one person even re-re-tweeted. So I re-re-re-tweeted her re-re-tweet.

Twittersphere fame is like... totally rad.

[Update: it turns out that Mad TV already satirized the iPad... over two years ago.]

 
» On 1/27/2010 03:05:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
iPad.

Apple's newest toy.

Super-absorbent.

With optional belt and wings.

Coming soon: the iTampon.

 
» On 1/26/2010 03:50:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
In other S&M/B&D news... we all know that Devo whipped it.

Now it seems that Pope John Paul II whipped it, too.

 
» On 1/25/2010 05:05:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Egyesült Államok... is the Hungarian phrase for "United States." I'm guessing this is their revenge, since we renamed their country from Magyarország to Hungary.

 
» On 1/21/2010 06:50:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
California tornadoes?

It seems to be true. How come they never happened when we lived there? We would have thrown caution to the winds by staging a dinner party and serving Tornado Tournedos. On a Lazy Susan. With Whirling Dervish music. While watching the Twister DVD. Followed by a postprandial game of Twister. Spin, baby, spin.



Evening Update: did my stupidity call down the wrath of the Tornado God upon us?

 
» On 1/17/2010 05:30:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Sremska. Can't wait. I'll be enjoying some yummy Hungarian sausage in a few hours. The wurst is yet to come.

 
» On 1/16/2010 04:40:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
NYC/PHX. Decades after leaving the NBC-NY Page staff, I find myself in the quiet outskirts of Phoenix. My God, what have I done? How did I get here? What kind of person would trade the City That Never Sleeps for a Suburb That Often Naps?

 
» On 1/11/2010 06:55:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Főnix Magyarország (Phoenix Arizona Hungarians).

For every person living in and around Phoenix who has a Hungarian heart:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=250192031929



Keywords: Budapest Hungary Magyars

 
» On 1/09/2010 10:50:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Avatar or Pocahontas?

Evidently, DGA nominee James Cameron himself has said that his "Avatar" film was based on Disney's "Pocahontas."

That became evident, when Dan Oles did a mashup of the Avatar trailer, overlaid with the Pocahontas trailer's soundtrack.

It became even clearer last week, when some guy named Matt Bateman uploaded this crudely-revised Pocahontas synopsis.

But you can judge for yourself, by reading Cameron's original script.

[Anything to avoid watching the movie.]

 
» On 1/05/2010 11:55:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
December 2009 Northern Lights Gallery... here, from SpaceWeather.com.

Below: A Geminid meteor streaks through the Northern Lights, by Bjørnar G. Hansen, taken on December 13, 2009, on Kvaløya, an island near Tromsø, in northern Norway. Do yourself a HUGE favor, and click the image to enlarge it...

 
» On 1/05/2010 11:30:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Jason flies to within 10 feet of an erupting volcano!

Oceanographers using the remotely-operated vehicle "Jason" have filmed the deepest erupting volcano yet discovered. The West Mata volcano erupts nearly 4,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, in an area bounded by Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

Imagery includes large molten lava bubbles approximately three feet across bursting into cold seawater and glowing red vents explosively ejecting lava into the sea.

Since the water pressure at that depth suppresses the violence of the volcano’s explosions, Jason could maneuver to within 10 feet of the active eruption. On land, or even in shallow water, such a close view would never be possible.

Water from the volcano is very acidic, with some samples collected directly above the eruption measuring between battery acid and stomach acid.

Clip 1 is a sequence of explosive degassing events as bubbles of gas-rich magma burst, spewing lava fragments into the water. At the same time, lava is being extruded out of the vent and down the slope. In both clips, the area in view is about 6-10 feet across in an eruptive area approximately 100 yards that runs along the summit.

Clip 2 is a closer view of the eruption with violent magma degassing events producing bright flashes of hot magma. Lava is blown up into the water before settling back to the seafloor, and large plugs of lava flow rapidly down the slope. In the foreground is the front of Jason, with sampling hoses.

Ref: National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

 
» On 1/01/2010 07:50:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Web toys.

Testers: Java, Shockwave, Flash (2, settings).

Other toys: W3C, iWeb and... (click images for more info):