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GOOGLE: MAN VERSUS TIGER

In today's themed Google homepage they feature a tiger engaging in what appears to be tae kwon do, a Korean martial art, against a human competitor. This is dumb.

While humans sit at the top of the food chain thanks to our technology, in a battle of brute strength we are but mere delectable meals to many animals, especially the tiger. Tigers are skrong ferocious animals with skin piercing sharp claws and teef. Tigers are aggressive, no doubt about that. They can effortlessly leap 12 feet into the air and weigh in at 350 lbs.

So a tiger doing tae kwon do? Stupid. Go back to what works, son. Use them claws and teef.

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AQUAMAN TATTOO

Holy crap! As regular readers know, I'm a fan of Aquaman, but this guy takes his fandom to another level. Like on a permanent level. This is one hell of an aggressive tattoo.

I wonder where this falls on the scale of pop culture fanaticism. On one end (the least extreme side I guess), we have the waits-in-line-for-new-Star-Wars people. And all the way over on the other end, the event horizon if you will of extremist fans, we have the furries who have sex only with other furries (is that redundant?).

[Via]

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MIND THE GAP

The latest fall season merchandise at the Gap is the first big test for their new and much buzzed-about head designer Patrick Robinson, whose arrival at the Gap has been welcomed by analysts as well as the fashion peanut gallery where a fashion magazine recently eye-rollingly anointed Robinson a "megabrand messiah."

Reinventing Gap, the nation’s largest specialty apparel chain, has been fashion’s equivalent of Merlin’s stone for much of the last decade, as sales and profits have dipped, along with its image among young consumers. Mr. Robinson, 41, is the third designer to attempt to pull the sword since Gap began to publicly acknowledge its creative personnel in 2003, and the most closely watched because of his popularity with industry insiders and his finesse with casual American sportswear. His fall designs have generated promising reviews, but also concern about whether a single designer — one with a mixed track record — can revive a brand with 1,155 stores in the United States in the midst of an economic crisis.

The next time I pass a location, I may stop in to see what all the buzz is about. Maybe with Robinson at the helm, this iconic yet problematic store will fill a gap in my apparel needs.

Read more here.

Update: Color me very unimpressed. The issue of fit still hasn't been resolvedL their "smalls" fit me like a medium. Dear Gap: I am not built like Howie Long.

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NEW FAVORITE WORD: CHIMPING

You ask, "What is chimping?" Wikipedia answers:

Chimping is a term used in digital photography (especially when using a digital single-lens reflex camera) to describe the habit of checking every photo on the on-camera display (LCD) immediately after capture.

Experienced photographers often use the term in a derogatory sense to describe the actions of wannabe photographers (often called newbies).

Usage behaviour varies depending on context and the person using it, but common uses include:

* When a photographer’s sounds and actions of reviewing frames on-scene appear similar to the actions of an excited primate (Oooh! Oooh! Aaah!) * When the photographer is completely absorbed in the act of analysing, admiring or proudly showing a photo off to others

While I've done this on more than one occasion I have reduced my chimping (chimpiness?) over time, and only when I REALLY want to make sure I get a specific shot do I check it on the LCD screen. For party pictures, I actually get annoyed at the tendency of many subjects who want to take a look at their photo right afterwards and I become even MORE annoyed when I hear them say "Ewwww, I hate it. Delete it. Take another."

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ESPN MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL NYC STREET AD

I passed by this street billboard today that was made from turf and advertising Monday Night Football on ESPN. It actually made me pause to take a closer look and snap a photograph of it. Nicely done, NFL.

I wonder how long before someone splashes some paint on it.

[Via...ME!]

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THE CATORIALIST

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]

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JOHN VARVATOS SAMPLE SALE

Gents, take advantage of John Varvatos' summer sample sale beginning this Thursday, August 21, through Saturday, August 23, where the designer's signature sportswear, classic suits, footwear, and accessories are up to 75% off. Items include his signature tailored suits (now $450), jeans (now $55), and boots (now $200), as well as select items for the ladies. Thursday and Friday, from 8 to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, from 10 to 5 p.m. John Varvatos Sample Sale, 260 Fifth Avenue, (between 28th and 29th streets); no phone. Update: I went today after work to this sale. Brilliant. I got three shirts at the following savings.

$198.00 $35!

$145.00 $35!

$167.00 $35!

Ah, comfort.

Yippee.

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LIST: 90 THINGS THAT MAKE MEN CRY

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

First list of 10 here.

Second list of 80 here.

[Via]

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SULLIVAN: BY BUSH ADMINISTRATION LOGIC MCCAIN WAS NOT TORTURED

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.

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BEERFEST 2008

Hey beer fans, how does the following sound to you? Three evenings of...

...unlimited one-ounce samples of your choice of more than 1,800 beers.

Hey Octoberfest: E A D, because each year over 46,000 beer enthusiasts arrive in Denver, Colorado, USA to attend the Great American Beer Festival (Oct 9 - 11). Held every year since 1982, this is a three day public tasting and beer competition, where 1,800 different beers from over 400 breweries from around the nation are available for "sampling."

Glug, glug, glug.

I never thought I'd ever say this, but man I really want to go to Denver.

Get more information from their website.

[Thanks Clay -- who will be attending this event this year.]

RELATEDLY

Here's a clip from the surprisingly solid movie Beerfest. What? It's a good movie. It's about how America prevails over the evil Germans. You got a problem with that?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Ak4nW1Rg8]

RELATEDLY II

How to draw a glass of beer in Photoshop.

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NEW RAMEN RESTAURANT TO OPEN ACROSS FROM MROD DOMICILE

I am very excited to read the following development in my neighborhood:

South Brooklyn's first ramen restaurant will open in the storefront vacated by a Chinese take-out joint. The owners of Aussie-themed gastropub Sheep Station, which is a block away, are behind the planned restaurant. The menu will be "all ramen," according to one of the future restaurant's proprietors, and they're hoping to open sometime in November.

This is GREAT news because 1) I love Ramen, and 2) this place is practically across the street from my apartment. I'm a tad skeptical considering the ownership but I mean, it's pretty tough to mess up Ramen. I hope they will have super tender beef and perfectly boiled eggs.

This place will be handy come winter when I am in need of some warm comfort food.

[Thanks Chris!]

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