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There is something about Hitler and Germany that somehow makes it difficult to feel sorry for them when they get slaughtered at football. You just think "Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler." - Swedish TV host Rickard Olsson discussing the German women's soccer team at the Beijing Olympics.
Me, I think "Haribo, Haribo, Haribo, Haribo."
US News & World Report came out with their annual ranking of US colleges and universities aka the list that Ivy Leaguers and Friends like to thumb our noses at but secretly obsess over, except for me of course. Does anyone even pay attention to this abortion of a magazine for any other reason besides their annual college rankings issue?
The always insightful professors (Seriously. One is a sociology and the other a law professor) at Poplicks brought this hysterical Times headline to my attention:
In my opinion that should be a bipartisan concern and not only limited to strictly conservatives.
Read more here.
Cats, the Internet meme that doesn't die has now been fused with the Sartorialist, the street fashion photographer. Behold: The Catorialist.
Great. This means that I'm going to run into more cats loitering in Soho hoping to be spotted by this self-trained photographer. This does not bode well for my allergy.
View more here.
[Via]
It has a decidedly UK tilt as it comes from the BBC, but they've collected a list of things that supposedly make men cry. It includes the predictables such as birth of one's children, having to apology for your infidelity on national television, losing a close and hard fought sports match, death of loved ones, and getting knee'd in the groin. But some of the ones readers wrote in are questionable:
"I often feel like crying when I'm reading some children's books aloud to our two; Floss and The Secret Garden can raise a few." Matt O, Forest Row
"My friend cried at a movie starring the former wrestler The Rock. He claimed it was too hot... we no longer speak." Neil Vallelly, Coleraine, N Ireland
"The strangest thing that has ever set me off was listening to the radio and hearing Concorde land for the very last time. I don't even like planes but it made me blub." Dave, Leicester
"Flying - the thin air and free G&Ts make people more emotional. I blubbed like a baby in business class watching Gloria and Mumbo shake it out in Happy Feet." Stuart, San Francisco
"The Paralympics - EVERY time. That and watching Muhammad Ali lighting the flame in Atlanta. It must be genetic, as my Dad turns into a sodden mess at the 'trunk holding through bars' scene in Dumbo." Will, Oxford
"Biggest culprit is Cool Runnings at the end. Have to look out the window so nobody seems me shed a tear. That or grab a pillow off my fiancee and hide my face in shame." Daniel, London
"Welsh male voice choirs bring a lump to my throat, also barber shop singers. Fortunately, you don't hear either much at the work place." Barry, Croydon, England
[Via]
Andrew Sullivan points out the hypocrisy between what McCain endured in Vietnam as a POW, which included "sleep deprivation, the withholding of medical treatment, stress positions, long-time standing, and beating," and the Bush Administration's definition of torture.
According to the Bush administration's definition of torture, McCain was therefore not tortured.
Cheney denies that McCain was tortured; as does Bush. So do John Yoo and David Addington and George Tenet. In the one indisputably authentic version of the story of a Vietnamese guard showing compassion, McCain talks of the agony of long-time standing. A quarter century later, Don Rumsfeld was putting his signature to memos lengthening the agony of "long-time standing" that victims of Bush's torture regime would have to endure. These torture techniques are, according to the president of the United States, merely "enhanced interrogation."
No war crimes were committed against McCain. And the techniques used are, according to the president, tools to extract accurate information. And so the false confessions that McCain was forced to make were, according to the logic of the Bush administration, as accurate as the "intelligence" we have procured from "interrogating" terror suspects.
The more you know.
Read more here.
I see that it's 1/2 part satire and 1/2 tongue-in-cheek with a wishful thinking garnish, but I still maintain it's stupid, however I'll go ahead and "reblog" Michael Moore...because well you know who he is and I'm, well, who the fuck is MRod? Exactly.
What Obama needs is a vice presidential candidate who is NOT a professional politician, but someone who is well-known and beloved by people across the political spectrum; someone who, like Obama, spoke out against the war; someone who has a good and generous heart, who will be cheered by the rest of the world; someone whom we've known and loved and admired all our lives and who has dedicated her life to public service and to the greater good for all.
That person, Caroline, is you.
Of course such a ticket would be superior to a McCain - [Anyone] duo.
Read more here.
With five blokes to every girl, I suggest the ‘beauty disadvantaged’ women should proceed to Mt Isa. - Mayor of Mt Isa Canberra (Australia) proactively trying to help out the single menfolk of his mining town.
This is a recording of a Fort Hays State University (Where?) professor losing his mind in a profanity laced berserker rage at a debate session that includes mooning the audience (but not the camera thankfully). Professor Bill Shanahan, way to keep it classy. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPt8UVU7bXs]
Man, this news is a damn shame. Craig Phillip Robinson, the actor who plays Daryl, one of my favorite characters from The Office (One of my all time favorite scenes from this show is Daryl coaching Michael Scott on getting a raise), was arrested after being caught with possessing crazy drugs. Damn.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DegI_1zG2_8]
Thanks to Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev's successful takeover of Anheuser-Busch, Cuba might have gained a new ally or supportive voice in their contentious relationship with our US government, whose (anachronistic) attitude towards Castro and Cuba, that is economically isolating the tiny island from the rest of the world, might be one of the most consistent bipartisan policies of US over the past 40 some odd years. In spite of the growing availability of foreign goods in Cuba, banks and companies continue to receive reminders that the US government's stance towards Cuba is enforced, as UBS learned when in 2004, it paid a "$100m fine...for providing new banknotes to Cuba and Iran."
Against this background, The Economist notes that InBev:
...has a joint-venture with Cuba's government which claims 40% of the island's beer market. As a director of a European company with a big investment on the island puts it, the best strategy is to "try to stay under the radar and make damned sure you are here when the United States government finally sees sense."
A US policy change towards Cuba and ending the embargo is something I could drink to and would be almost as refreshing as an ice cold Stella.
If you've been wondering about the relative quiet from the Republican camp about the news of former presidential candidate John Edwards's affair with Rielle Hunter, The Economist (no fan of Obama) reminds us:
Republicans shouldn’t crow over the scandal. After all their own presidential nominee, John McCain, was still married to his first wife when he took up with Cindy.
A Cindy that was also much, much, much richer, younger, and not in a car accident.
A moral tit for tat on this issue isn't one that the Republicans are not going to win. Of course in a political vacuum marital fidelity or lack thereof wouldn't be an issue. Unless they start legislating the bedroom, in which case the guns of hypocrisy fire away!
Aside from his training, focus, et cetera, Michael Phelps also enjoys a distinct physiological advantage over his competitors.
Generally, a man's arm span equals his height but in his case it's 6'7" -- three inches more than his height. Naturally his arms work as powerful propulsive paddles, giving him a clear edge over others. His lower body, interestingly, is shorter than that of an average man of his height. His relatively short legs result in less drag or resistance. In short, Phelps has an upper body of a 6'8" person but his lower body seems to be of someone who is only 5"10", which also make the perfect plane in water.
His size 14 feet may not dwarf Ian Thrope's size 17 but Phelps' double-jointed ankles allow him to do a ballerina's 'pointe' standing on the tips of the toes. It allows him to whip his feet as if those are flippers and break loose.
I swear this is my last entry on this kid and his remarkable accomplishment. I really tried to avoid the buzz, but it is quite an astonishing story. I just hope he hooks up his relay teammates who helped him immensely the past few days on his record setting swims as Phelps is about to collect some very large paychecks from sponsors and such.
Lebron James and Kobe Bryant at Phelps' 8th gold medal winning race. When these three went out later that night in the Olympic Village and ran game at the Swedish bikini team and the Brazilian twins, Kobe and Phelps began to tease James about not having a championship of any sort on his resume. Allegedly.
Read more here.
[Via]
On this day in 2003, a massive blackout rolled across the Northeast resulting in one of the most memorable and dramatic 24 hour periods in the life of MRod.
Feel free to share your story if you were (un)lucky to live through that experience.
[Thanks Paul for the reminder!]
Update: Cool! The Village Voice picked up on this entry!
Bruno junior Alicia Sacramone (currently in Beijing as part of the US Olympic gymnastics team) apparently at the dude's request, delivers a SKRONG left hook and knocks him the fffffuck out! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QA6s7p-zU8]
I always knew the girls at my alma mater were strong women.
And of course no video or story of a guy getting knocked the ffffcuk out is complete without including this scene from Friday:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KSdZyvvhoM]
[Via]
I never was the biggest fan of his stand up, but I always enjoyed his roles in the Oceans movies and especially in Friday. This is probably my all time favorite Bernie Mac scene: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkpGBiSck20]
As a follow up to the previous conversation, the link that N sent me was about a Hong Kong 41-year-old man who was taken to a hospital after he tried to have some boom-boom time with a steel park bench and then discovered he couldn't extricate himself when he uhm, got stuck inside one of the gaps in the bench.
When doctors arrived on the scene they tried to release some of the pressure by removing some of his blood, but the penis was so swollen that they ended up having to cut the entire bench free and take it, with Xian attached, to the hospital.
Park bench sex FAIL right there.
Read more here.
I looked up irony in the dictionary and found this: During National Banned Book Week, a Texas high school 10 grade class was assigned the classic novel Fahrenheit 451. Well, one stupid student, after reading a few pages, found the book's content objectionable and with her father's help and are petitioning to get the book banned. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUq2d2OFRkk]
I then looked up "low brain function" and found this girl and her father there as well.
