A Japanese TV crew captured a record setting 45 second flight by a flying fish near Japan's southwestern Kagoshima Prefecture. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io3u7diLCfU]
Read more here.
Pan Asian cuisine restaurant Bun in Soho is offering free dinner for a limited time at nights in the last few days of May. You have to RSVP online beforehand.
[C]ustomers will dine for free if they make a reservation at the Website for between the hours of midnight and noon. And that doesn’t mean one lousy shrimp roll — it means anything off the menu (which will stay more or less the same), and as many dishes as you’d like, not including booze.
Let me know if anyone is interested. More details including RSVP link here.
[Thanks N]
Even the parrots in Japan are smart!
Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.
"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.
Read more here.
[Thanks Moudhy!]
Nothing screams vigraous romance for octogenarians like a cancer benefit titled "Celebration of Life," because they truly are celebrating the fact that they are still alive. And there's no better way to express that than the classic dance floor ass grab. Whether you're 14 or 84 it never goes out of style. Sir, you are an American hero.
Check out the couple on the right for the punchline. Man, he is really digging in there. AGGRESSIVE.
While taking the subway home last night after seeing a comedy show of my friend Dan Mintz and Dimitri Martin, I noticed that the train had the following notice that said "Priority Seating for persons with disabilities." Fine. But what does this sign mean when it's placed in an area with...no seating at all?! I'm so confused!
A ex-Starbucks barista who worked at one of the locations frequently haunted by the Olsen Twins is claiming that he used to replace the skim milk in their lattes with whole milk because he "thought the Olsens were too thin." Read more here and lose time you'll never get back and brain cells in process.
[Thanks N]
I think it's pretty sweet that the Times technology reviewer David Pogue was a question on Jeopardy the other night. Even he's pretty jazzed about it himself.
Along with every other website and YouTube surfer, a few days ago I posted a creative music video created by Dennis Liu for the band The Bird & The Bee which has created quite a "buzz" (har har) on the Internets in a short period of time. As a result, Liu is attracting a lot of attention as well. In addition to job offers from Yahoo, Microsoft, and HBO, here are other highlights:
- Head nods from several known Hollywood producers and directors.
- Talks to getting a manager/agent at a major talent representation agency.
- NYU, USC, and Berkeley requesting the video to show their film/new media students.
- E-mails from major corporations, including marketing directors and employees of Yahoo, Microsoft, HBO, Pixar, Disney, and of course Apple.
- Invited to screen at film festivals world wide, from the UK to Australia.
- An apple store manager in IL showed all her employees the video as an example to artfully show the power of the macs to customers.
- The author of “Stickies” wrote to congratulate, as well as a lead developer of OSX.
Read more here.
New York Magazine reviews new biography of Chris Farley starting with this hysterical summary of his childhood and young adult antics. Unfortunately these traits would later, the book suggest, result in his tragic but predictable death.
Farley grew up in a wealthy suburb of Madison, Wisconsin, where he was a local legend from childhood. In church once, on the way to communion, he filled his mouth with white Tic Tacs, fell face-first into a pew, and pretended to spit out all his teeth. In math class he crawled on his belly to the front of the lecture hall, hid behind a curtain, and—just as his teacher, a retired Air Force colonel, was delivering his customary terrible joke to end the session—mooned the class. (Farley’s parents were called in, but he wasn’t punished because the authorities laughed too hard every time they tried to talk about it.) In college he was famous for his naked beer slides down the bar and for his filthy room, which other students would visit just to marvel at the squalor. But even early on he exhibited the fatal Farley flaw: a tendency to seek approval at all costs.
Read more here.
Okay, it is settled. After reading this Times article on walruses who as a species are incredibly "smart, friendly and playful" they are now officially my favorite creature in the animal kingdom.
“Walruses are very gregarious, and they like to be near other walruses,” said Chad Jay, who heads the walrus research program for the United States Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center in Anchorage. “They like hanging out together, touching each other, socializing. Even when it’s hot and they have plenty of space, they prefer to clamber on top of each other and huddle together.”Walruses want so much to be with other walruses that if there are no other walruses around, they will make do with the next available large object.
Fuck Happy Feet. Those penguins are simpletons compared to the walrus.
Read more here.
Watch this clip around 1:00 minute for the payoff. As I've said before seeing someone getting smacked in the nuts is always funny so long as it isn't happening to me. And of course anything is even funnier when it's replayed in slow motion. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmIVSny4e2g]
[Thanks Chris--although I'm not sure why you are searching for nuts on YouTube.]
I'm alternately repulsed and intrigued by this.
[Thanks Clay]
An estimated 75,000 Oregonians, including "people in kayaks and small pleasure craft on the river," gathered on Sunday to hear and see Obama speak. Lets keep in mind this crowd is for simply the primaries. What are the crowds going to be like if and when he wins the nomination? GARGANTUAN. That is the answer.
I don't even know what to say about this story. In fact I was speechless from the moment it first hit the wires a while back but now there's an added twist that includes the wife of a MI5 (The British spy agency) officer. Suffice to say at this juncture this story involves the following: Nazi-esque S&M orgy with 68 year-old Max Mosley (the president of Formula One racing) and 5 prostitutes including the MI5 officer's wife. It's like the plot for bad porno spin off of popular movies, like The Porn Identity (You know, like The Bourne Identity) or James Boned: Try Another Lay. What's wrong with Europeans? At least our guys keep it simple and easy with saucy brunette escorts (1).
Not sure why you'd want to but you can read more here.
1. The Wikipedia entry on Ashley Dupre, the escort that former New York Governor Spitzer ran around with is absurdly comprehensive with 44 citations.
The latest Economist's Lexington section, which is where they discuss US topics, contends that "America is also one of the few countries to ban felons and, in some states, ex-felons from voting." 11 states currently deny ex-convicts the right to vote. The states are:
Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming.
These disenfranchisement laws impact male African Americans the most, of whom 14 percent have past criminal convictions: It's well documented that our criminal justice system is not race blind. It is pretty remarkable that we still have states in our union that disenfranchise ex-felons--essentially individuals who have served their time--and prohibit their participation at the voting booth.
So after reading the Economist I was curious to see what other countries are on this list. I did some research and came across this study that examined 45 "democratic" countries' voting restrictions for felons. The following 6 countries prohibited (with certain caveats noted) ex-felons from voting:
- Armenia
- Belgium
- Chile
- Finland
- Germany
- United States
Read more here.
I stepped out for a quick break and come back to find this horrible and offensive entry running amok at this classy establishment. I need to maybe make this a reservation-only place. Please accept my deepest apology.
I'd rather people dress in more respectable costumes, but what can you do in a great free country like ours? That feather boa is just a bit much, don't you think?
Titled "Muto" by Blu, I finally got around to watching this video of a stop-motion animation of a street art that comes ...alive (Watch with sound for full effect)! It totally exceeded my expectations and quite honestly is one of the coolest pieces I've seen. [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=uuGaqLT-gO4]
I completely expect to see this coopted by Creative Agency X into a commercial in the next three months.