diesel sweeties: pixelated robot romance web comic

diesel sweeties: pixelated robot romance web comic

More hipster toons similar to the indietits.

Via The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

Epilogue

Beacon Journal | 06/05/2004 | Etched in their minds
It was a long, tiring, and of course sad journey, but it was filled with many silver linings. Thank you to all our wonderful friends who helped in so many ways (helping with things in Baton Rouge, lending us entertainment for our trip, talking to us on the phone, and especially the far away friends we got to see in person). We left BR at 7pm on Thursday night and arrived in Akron, Ohio around 5pm on Friday. That left us enough time to shower and head to the calling hours. The drive was not as bad as I had feared, thanks to the DaVinci Codes on CD and a travel DVD player. We switched driving shifts often, but did need to both sleep for an hour and a half around 5am on Friday.

The calling hours and funeral service were touching, with a mix of laughter and tears as we mourned together as family and friends. I had forgotten that Janet's grandfather, though named John, went by Jack. I had always known him as "Bonka" due to an unfortunate mispronunciation of Grandpa that stuck. Googling Jack Urbank instead of John pulled up the linked article which more directly tells part of his D-Day story. Here is the relevant text:

"Anti-aircraft fire at plane
John ``Jack'' Urbank can still wear his Army jacket and remembers D-Day like it was yesterday.
He remembers jumping into France on an empty stomach.
Sitting on a couch inside his Cuyahoga Falls home, Urbank, 81, remembers why, too: The night before, the colonel warned that the greasy pork chops might make them sick, which would make the aluminum floor of the plane slippery.
Urbank was drafted into the Army in November 1941, a few years after he graduated from Hudson High School.
He was trained as a paratrooper and was in the 501st parachute infantry regiment, attached to the 101st Airborne, late in the evening of June 5, 1944, when he got on a plane with his buddies and flew toward France from England.
Urbank saw the other two planes in his group crash in the early morning before his jump. Only three soldiers on the two planes survived.
``We hit the coast of France, and the anti-aircraft fire started coming up,'' he said.
``It was like you could walk on it. Tracers from machine guns. Red, yellow and green.''
The pilot flew to treetop level to get away from anti-aircraft fire, flew back to the English Channel and then flew back to France.
About 1:30 a.m. on June 6, Urbank stepped out of the plane and landed in a cow pasture seven miles from where he was supposed to land. Germans with machine guns were on three sides of him.
He made it out by crawling through the cow pasture, then slept a few hours in a wheat field, then headed back toward Pouppeville, near Utah Beach.
Later he connected with other troops, had wine with a grateful French family and by that evening, came to a French town hall where he slept using a Nazi flag as a blanket.
Urbank's story is told in a newly published book called D-Day + 60 Years by Jerome J. McLaughlin, published by Author House.
Urbank, who fought in Holland and later in Bastogne and Alsace-Lorraine, was wounded by shrapnel but refused a Purple Heart so that his wife, Edna, who worked for Goodyear Aircraft at the time, would not have to worry about her husband when she heard the news.
Urbank came back to Ohio where he worked as a lens grinder at the family business, Urbank Optical Laboratories.
The Bronze Star winner has never been back to France, but he remembers the Longest Day every day.
``Every day I wake up I consider myself lucky to be alive,'' he said."

Janet's grandmother is going to be moving to a new retirement community that is only a half mile away from Janet's sister and her four children and is only about 1 mile from Janet's parents. The new facility has several other benefits over the old one. So, a new beginning should help in this tough time. Janet's grandmother and whole family is excited about this move.

The trip home allowed us time to stop in on Sean and Jenny's post-elopement party in Columbus and Becca's birthday in Cincinnati. We left Cleveland around 1 in the afternoon on Sunday, stopping at Sean and Jenny's for a few hours, then driving to Cincinnati, where we also saw Mike and Christie. Mike gets a different thanks from the above for the Vya vermouth. We stayed in Cincinnati for the night.

We were on the road by 8:30am Cincinnati time and arrived in Baton rouge at 9:30pm. We polished off all 13 DaVinci Codes CDs (interesting story/ideas, but not that earth shaking, and definitely could have used an editor, perfect for the long trip) and generally had a pleasant drive with good weather, just a few showers here and there.

Thanks again for all your support through this difficult time.

In Memory of John Urbank

WWII Troop Carrier Story
Janet's grandfather, John Urbank, passed away early this morning. She and her family are doing as well as can be expected. We will be traveling to Ohio for the services and I'm not sure when I'll get back to this blog. Several years ago, during the 50th anniversary of D-Day celebrations, Bonka (as he was known to his grandchildren), told us the harrowing tales of his time as a paratrooper. I googled John Urbank in hopes of finding some of his story to share. He has been contacted several times to interview for books etc. I found the above site, which focuses on the story of the pilot of his plane and mentions John Urbank as the jumpmaster. As the jumpmaster, Bonka was standing in the open doorway watching planes and jumpers being shot down, knowing his turn was coming. His plane had to make a second pass, and he did jump and survive. He had several fascinating stories of survival, from using his farming knowledge to keep away from land mines, to his compassion for animals leading him to save a cow from a burning barn, which inadvertently led to saving his own life by getting him away from a bomb. He also survived Parkinson's disease for over 20 years. And that's how I'll remember him, as a survivor who had a wonderful family who he loved and who loved him.

The Cyborg Name Generator:

The Cyborg Name Generator:

I never use Donald, but it's better than Don in the cyborg world (Don = Device Optimized for Nullification). Not only can you play with your and your friends names, but you can also get a custom t-shirt or mug.

Via Eyebeam Reblog

Movies and Music on the Lawn Returns this Saturday'

27� Mostra BR de cinema
The Movies and Music on the Lawn Series at the Baton Rouge Gallery returns this Saturday night and will run on the last Saturday of the month through October. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs and sit under the stars viewing interesting artistic films with original improvised soundtracks provided by local musicians. Popcorn is free, and other concessions will be sold. Admission is free for gallery members (student memberships are just $20) and $5 for non-members. You might want to attend all the movies because this summer a new episode or two of a sci-fi serial, so the membership might be the way to go. This month's musicians are: Bill Kelley, Cheney Hotard and John Norris. BTW the musicians are not set for every month, so if you would like to participate leave a comment, or email me at experiment33@gmail.com (I sleep with the event coordinator). This month's movies include: American film shorts: "“Annabelle Dances" (1897), "“The Gypsy'’s Warning"” (1913), and "Petticoat Camp" (1913), as well as the first episode of "The Power God" (1925). Links go to the IMDB page for each film. I'm not certain about the Annabelle Dances link, there are several hits for Annabelle Dances with similar dates. Which leads to the main blog link which I found doing a google image search for Annabelle Dances (none of the other titles yielded any interesting results).

The image comes from Wildfire (2002) a

"Re-interpretation of Annabelle Dances, the film that Thomas Alva Edison colored by hand in 1894. Four ballerinas clad only in flames, dance to the sound of music by Philip Glass. Their movements are made with the assistance of digital IT."

Hope to see you Saturday night.

Back from the Beach

Seaside

Many thanks to Emily and Matt for inviting us to join them at the beach last weekend. Seaside Florida is just 6 hours away from Baton Rouge and is a very unique resort community. The architecture is planned such that all the buildings go together, but each is unique and interesting. Lots of variations on picket fencing, use of bright, pastel color schemes, and fantastic decks and patios. The town has everything you need or want within walking distance, though at a premium. The record store was well stocked with indie music to help on my quest for my album of the summer (more on that later). The house we stayed in was called Topisaw and you can see a virtual tour with 360 views by going through the vacation rental search part of the site. We were fortunate to stay in the tower, where we left the windows open and felt the ocean breeze as we slept each night. The house is a block off the beach so we could see the ocean as well as the interesting buildings of the town. Wish we could have stayed longer.

Thanks again, Emily and Matt for a wonderful weekend.

Wallpaper From The 70s

Wallpaper From The 70s

I don't want to even think about the price, but they are fun to look at. Besides, our walls are textured anyway.

Via TackyTimes

Rhizome.org is Open and Free

Rhizome.org: New Membership Policy

Rhizome.org is a non-profit dedicated to promoting new media art. It is affiliated with the New Museum for Contemporary Art in NYC. I have been to the site several time in the past in search of things to post about, however due to the subscription fee I hesitated. Now it's free and I'll probably begin posting more items from their expansive collection of web-art projects.

The Friday Cocktail - Beach Weekend Edition

Cocktail Times | Cocotini

Here's a beachy cocktail that doesn't use any fruit juice, though it still might be too sweet for some:
3oz coconut rum
1oz triple sec
shake vigorously with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass rimmed with coconut shavings. Garnish with lime.

Baton Rouge Art Hope and BFA show Tonight

The BFA show closes out Foster Gallery tonight. I plan to hit that early, then head to the Baton Rouge Gallery to check out the Mid-City Merchants Art Hop. The Hop includes businesses from the Gallery up to Circa 1867 on Government, then Down Government toward the Caffery Gallery which has Charles Barbier, and some places on Jefferson Highway. There will be shuttle service, so the BR Gallery might be a good place to park and ride, or walk and ride in my case. Here's a link to a story in the Advocate about the Art Hop.

Summertime Music

Guardian Unlimited | Arts Friday Review | Shine on
This article in the Guardian asks current people in the music world what music reminds them of summer and what music they'll be listening to this summer. Suits my mood just right as we head to the beach for a longish weekend tomorrow. I plan to listen to my collection of free legal downloads with an ear for summer music to take with us. I'll try to post a list of things that stand out at the end of the day. Feel free to share any of your suggestions.

A Work In Progress: Everything You Thought You Knew About Grilling Is Wrong

A Work In Progress: Everything You Thought You Knew About Grilling Is Wrong

Tuesday night, I came home from work to find a set of pork chops marinating and some spicy buttered corn ready for the grill. Janet had done all the prep work and I would just get to have the fun. The chops were well seasoned, but were oddly chewy. I think I didn't flip them often enough (I was trying to clean the house and do laundry at the same time).

"1. Flip Early, Flip Often. This is the big shocker. It was hard to imagine doing this at first, and when I told people, they thought I was crazy. Think about it this way: you want a juicy steak, right? Or juicy chicken, or hamburgers, or whatever. The juice is nothing more than the blood in the meat. When you put the meat on the grill, there is more heat below the meat than above. The heat forces the liquid up, through the meat. Ever see a big pool of liquid on top of the steak when you lift the cover off the grill? It's been on too long. You don't want it to come out of the steak, you want it to stay in the steak. So you flip every four or five minutes. Sometimes I flip every two or three, depending on what else I'm doing. Flip it before any liquid has a chance to escape out of the top. Repeat often. Flip, flip, flip. It really works. And if you think this takes a lot of time and concentration, you're right. There's time enough for socializing later. Do you want to grill an excellent steak or not? Okay, then. Concentrate."

BTW, the corn was awesome. I'll have to put the spice butter recipe up sometime. In the past I have always grilled corn in the husk, or husked but wrapped in foil. Turns out this isn't necessary (at least if the ears are covered in butter and then left in the fridge before grilling). They cook a lot faster that way also.

Going "Outside the Wire" with RC Cars

Going "Outside the Wire" with RC Cars

Who needs expensive bomb detecting robots when you can just send out a remote controlled car. Necessity is truly the mother of invention.

Via IFTF's Future Now

NaviGaze Hands Free Computer Control

NaviGaze Hands Free Computer Control

Available for free download. Control your mouse pointer by moving your head. Click by blinking. Blinks are set for 1, 2, or 4 seconds, so I'd guess the natural eyeblink is too fast for accidental clicking. Pair this with good speech recognition software and you'll be truly hands free.

Via FutureFeeder

Kinky shopper KOed by vibrating knickers | The Register

Kinky shopper KOed by vibrating knickers | The Register
A 33-year-old woman wore vibrating "Passion Pants" to the supermarket. Apparently, they worked so well, she passed out. Then, she hit her head as she fell, prompting paramedics, who discovered the buzz. The woman has recovered and her panties were returned to her in a discreet plastic bag.

The Top 10 filibuster falsehoods ... [Media Matters for America]

The Top 10 filibuster falsehoods ... [Media Matters for America]
Nice concise summary of falsehoods in the debate of the filibuster/nuclear option business going on in the Senate right now.

Find Cheap Gas

Cheap Gas - New Orleans
Fantastic Google Map Hack using the Gassbuddy.com database of gas station prices for both regular and diesel fuel. Unfortunately, Baton Rouge is not in their database, but many locations of Experiment 33 readers are listed.

Chris Palmer's Avoidance Central: Garage Hack: Hovercraft

Chris Palmer's Avoidance Central: Garage Hack: Hovercraft

A great Dad builds his son a personal hovercraft using a leaf blower and materials on hand. With detailed instructions and pictures.

How to avoid crying when chopping onions : Lifehacker

How to avoid crying when chopping onions : Lifehacker
I'll definitely try this next time I'm a choppin. Start by cutting a cone shape out of the end where the roots are/were. Make sure you don't put that part down the disposal and release the tear gas. That's it, you can cut away after that.

Image from Google Image Search for "Onion Cry"

Colombian town tells gossipers to shut up or else - Yahoo! News

Colombian town tells gossipers to shut up or else - Yahoo! News
It could be a matter of life or death in Icononzo (near Bogota), Columbia. In the midst of a guerrilla war, rumors of affiliations with illegal armed groups are extremely dangerous according to the mayor. Currently, at least eight people are in prison for the offense.

"Gossip" by Janet LuRu Multi-media Sculpture/Installation chattering teeth inside each head from LuRuArt.com

Whatever Happened to the baby from the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind

Inconceivable: The baby from the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind
Not much really, but he is 14 now. His parents just happened to be friends with the photographer, so that's how he got the job. He didn't get paid much, but he does have a platinum album. Here he is at 10, recreating the album cover for Rolling Stone magazine.

The Empire Strikes Bush

The Empire Strikes Bush
Scary parallels between our current president and the rise of the empire in the new Star Wars movie. George Lucas maintains that the story was written long ago, but does recognize the similarities and notes the cyclical nature of history.

the Phat Phree - 50 Worst Hairstyles of All-time

the Phat Phree - 50 Worst Hairstyles of All-time

"The Double Fault
Agassi popularized this variation of the mullet with its frosted tips and ever-receeding hairline in the early 90's."

Lots of celebrities and web infamous pictures with commentary.

Gumball 3000

Gumball 3000
The Cannonball Run lives on in Europe. Annoying flash site gives all the info. Lots of different cars and celebrity drivers (Quentin Tarantino and Johnny Knoxville to name a few).

Via Coolhunting

Inhabitat-source on the future of design

Inhabitat-source on the future of design

So many beautiful items and ideas at this site. I love the simplicity and look of this expandable table that doesn't use leaves. See more pictures at the site. Design sites can be overwhelming, but this one really seems to highlight the best.

The Friday Cocktail - Old Fashioned

Fish Club: Old Fashioned

I never did get a mint julep last weekend, my mint had been used up by Cytrus Ginger-Mint Lemonades and I couldn't find any at the store or via friends. So, now I'm thinking of another good springtime bourbon based cocktail, the Old Fashioned. This led me to the drinkboy and I just found out that he has a blog where he takes pictures of coctails he has at different bars and describes the drink and experience. I wish I could get paid to do that. The link goes to his experience at The Fish Club in Seattle with an Old Fashioned.

"I of course started out with an Old Fashioned. And to my surprise she made it almost perfectly. Out of a score of 1 to 10, I'd give her an 8, which is quite remarkable considering most O.F.s would be lucky to get up to a 5. She started off by placing two half-wheels of orange into the glass (I would have only used one), along with some bitters and a sugar cube. She then added an extra dash of simple syrup (I would have skipped the cube, and added more syrup), and then proceeded to lightly muddle the orange and sugar to dissolve. She then added the ice, followed by the bourbon, and then garnished with two small brandied cherries skewered on a pick. I was pleased to see that she didn't muddle the cherries in the drink along with the orange, and I was extra pleased to see that they were taking the effort to use "quality" cherries, instead of the artificially flavored/colored commercial maraschino cherries."

I'm sure I will have all of those ingredients.

Cheers

Wired News: Online Casino Hits PR Jackpot

Wired News: Online Casino Hits PR Jackpot

You may have caught the story a while back about the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich auction. It was bought by Golden Palace online casino for $28,000. You might have also heard about their streakers at sporting events who have goldenpalace.com written on their chests, or the boxers with golden palace temporary tatoos on their backs. Or, maybe you heard about them buying the naming rights to a new species of monkey. Individually it all seems odd, but together, these have all led to a huge amount of publicity stretching their advertising budget by millions. It has also garnered publicity for an online casino that would not otherwise legally be able to advertise. What do they do with these oddities that they collect? Whenever possible they use them to generate more funds for charity by putting them on display and other innovative gimmicks.

Kentucky Congressman Wants to Get His Hands on Fake Penis

Bob Reno's BadJocks.com - Where COPS meets SPORTSCENTER
Minnesota Vikings (that's pro football) running back, Onterrio Smith was recently stopped at an airport for carying the original Whizzinator kit. The kit contains a fake penis strap-on looking device and chemical pills to make "clean" urine. You can see a pic at the site, or more at a link to the Whizzinator official site. Note, the device does come in a variety of colors. Now, a Kentucky congressman has subpoenaed the company to learn more. He might even ask about other professional athlete clients, particularly with the recent steroid hearings. Lots of funny lines throughout the story.

The badjocks site also keeps a running tally of the highest blood alcohol content of athlete dui offenders, tracks coaching sex scandals across the country (right now they've tracked 83 for the year), and other stories from the backpages of sports. Quite a trainwreck to watch.

Oddly, Hillary and, Yes, Newt Agree to Agree - New York Times

Oddly, Hillary and, Yes, Newt Agree to Agree - New York Times
Up is down, down is up, cats and dogs living together, is this the seventh sign? Apparently, these two have been working together on health care (of all things) and defense issues. Must be friday the 13th.

TackyTimes Weblog

TackyTimes Weblog

Much retro fun to be found on the Tacky Times Weblog. Lots of posts about vintage pin-up art, but lots of other topics covered from architecture to futuristic vehicles.

Omnipelagos.com - Shortest Links to Anything

Omnipelagos.com
Type in any two things and this site will search the web and give you the closest linkages. Here is Mr. T to Mozart in just 3 links.

Mr. T
T also has a cameo role in the Nintendo video game EarthBound. A picture can be found here
Cameo appearance
Erik Satie and his artist friends in the silent movie Entr'acte (1924, see below). Mike Todd's film
Entr'acte
Mozart shows his mastery in the finale of the first act of Don Giovanni, where he mixes the divertimento-like dancing
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Art of Science Competition / Gallery

Art of Science Competition / Gallery

The quintessential Experiment 33 blog post. An online art gallery of the best entries in the Princeton University Art of Science competition. This competition elicited "more than 200 entries from nearly 100 individuals in 15 departments." They whittled the list down to 55 with 3 top prize winners. Pieces come directly from research and/or are inspired by scientific research being done at the university. Beautiful and Fascinating!

Red Dragon Tales

Red Dragon Tales

Short story readings in Baton Rouge Thursday night at the Red Dragon (former tatoo parlor on Government Street). "Short Story authors Whitney Lakin of New Orleans, Lisa Meaux of Lafayette and Sam Irwin of Baton Rouge will read three tales of Marriage: Good Love/Bad Love in honor of June, the month of summer nuptials." Not sure if this will really be my kind of thing, but I'd like to support anyone trying something new and cultural. There doesn't appear to be any admission, and there does appear to be free cookies so hopefully some of us can check it out.

Art Melt Entry Form Available

Art Melt - Forum 35
Deadline for entries is May 31. The show will be in the Shaw Center's Brunner Gallery on July 15. Prizes from $1,000. Good luck.

Police solve severed goat heads mystery - Yahoo! News

Police solve severed goat heads mystery - Yahoo! News

"A 19-year-old worker at a local slaughterhouse has admitted he took the two heads with the intention of having them mounted, but then changed his mind and left them at the school in hopes a janitor would dispose of them."

Why would anyone want a goathead mounted on their wall?
On second thought, don't answer that.

Mark Jenkins: Street and Outdoor Installations

Mark Jenkins: Street and Outdoor Installations

Washington DC street art. The babies are made of packing tape. More pics at the site.


Via Wooster Collective

Happy Orgasm Day!

Brazilian Town Declares Orgasm Day - Yahoo! News
Let the celebrations begin!

The History of Sampling

The History of Sampling
Interactive, visual map of music sampling through time. Dots at the top of the screen correspond to songs that use samples, dots at the bottom to songs that have been sampled. Clicking on dots on either side show the linkages. The height of the dots indicates number of times a song has been sampled or the number of samples used within the song. Could be useful for identifying samples. Generally fun to click around.

Via Coolhunting

Something to Listen to whilst sipping your Julep

The Rurals - A Rural Life
Lovely low key, downtempo, cocktail electronica from an act with a terrible name and a terrible album title. I'd expect alt country with that name/title combo. But, luckily for me it isn't. The album isn't out yet, but the mp3s are free at their site, so enjoy.

via Coolhunting

The Friday Cocktail - Kentucky Derby Edition

The Buckner Mint Julep Ceremony

In honor of Saturday's Kentucky Derby and the beautiful spring, I present to you, the Mint Julep. As with most classic coctails recipes vary and the site linked above tells a wonderful tale of one illustrious Kentucky family's history with the Mint Julep. I snippet from a letter from General Buckner dated March 30, 1937,

"My dear General Connor,

Your letter requesting my formula for mixing mint juleps leaves me in the same position in which Captain Barber found himself when asked how he was able to carve the image of an elephant from a block of wood. He replied that it was a simple process consisting merely of whittling off the part that didn't look like an elephant.

The preparation of the quintessence of gentlemanly beverages can be described only in like terms. A mint julep is not the product of a FORMULA. It is a CEREMONY and must be performed by a gentleman possessing a true sense of the artistic, a deep reverence for the ingredients and a proper appreciation of the occasion. It is a rite that must not be entrusted to a novice, a statistician, nor a Yankee. It is a heritage of the old South, an emblem of hospitality and a vehicle in which noble minds can travel together upon the flower-strewn paths of happy and congenial thought."

He continues to give a recipe with much room for interpretation and adaptation. This is also my approach. All mint juleps will have mint, sugar (or sugar syrup) and bourbon. Most recipes are some variation of muddling a few mint leaves with the sugar (maybe a drop or two of water to help the mix) then filling a tall glass or preferably a julep cup with ice, then bourbon and maybe a little more water. I will say that the best juleps I've ever made were during my PhD graduation party and of course my memory could be colored by the joy of the occasion, but I have replicated the procedure to similar results in other occasions. This is a great way to prepare for making several batches of juleps for parties, however it does take some of the "CEREMONY" out of it.

Infuse a bottle of bourbon with as much mint as you can fit in overnight. Make a sugar syrup. Allow each guest to choose their own mix of syrup to mint bourbon. Be sure to garnish with a fresh sprig of mint to enchant the nose prior to sipping. This approach to Julep preparation dovetails nicely with another story of the Buckner family, when Gen. Buckner was running for Governor of Kentucky and dealing with a delicate situation involving a prominent prohibitionist:

The General:

'I am a temperate man; was never intoxicated in my life, and never expect to be; but at the same time, sir, I live in a very remote part of this country from your beautiful bluegrass region here--down in the knobs of Green River, on the place where I was born, and which I love very much; but I am especially fond of a beautiful spring on my place,' said I. 'It has a large volume of water gushing out of the rocks and flowing over a number of little precipices, forming a series of beautiful cascades, until the water mingles with that of the brook that flows at the base of the hill,' says I. 'Around the mouth of this spring, growing in great profusion, are immense beds of mint, its roots watered by the cool spring, and diffusing its aroma in all the air around; and as I sit upon the banks of that stream, listening to its murmurings over the rocks, it does seem to me, sir, that it is clamoring for some other ingredient to mix with them. So I keep that ingredient at my house, and if I can induce a friend, by its intricate appropaches, to that sequestered spot, I invariably put these three elements before him, with a little sugar, and tell him to mix them to suit himself. And I have read in books of Oriental travel where the people of the East are in the habit of poisoning each other, it has the custom of the host to taste his own poison first, to convince his guests that it would not hurt them. I invariably follow that beautiful Oriental custom.'

The Prohibitionist:

'I think that is allowable.'

Now, the best Mint Julep I've ever had was prepared by my good friend Hunter, and I think the keys to his Julep "CEREMONY" were the use of a true silver julep cup and completely filling it with finely crushed ice to keep the drink perfectly cold on a hot summer afternoon. The setting of first sipping it on his parents expansive porch, then taking it on a horse drawn buggy ride around St. Francisville probably also enhanced the already fantastic cocktail.

Cheers!

Howstuffworks "How Lightsabers Work"

Howstuffworks "How Lightsabers Work"

Excellent detailed description of how lightsabers work and how to use them.

Why is the assailant wearing his poncho over just one arm? It won't protect that arm from the "victim's" lightsaber.

Another Friday Night Art Show

Welcome to the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge!

As if we weren't completely full allready, another great looking show has a reception Friday night. "New Images": Three Artists will show their works at the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge.

"The Arts Council will host an exhibit of contemporary paintings and mixed media pieces by three local artists: Mark Cannariato, Demond, and Jeffrey Graham. The exhibit will be on display May 3rd-31st. There will be an opening reception Friday, May 6th, from 5:00 pm – 'til, with spirits and appetizers. Mark Cannariato will be the DJ for the reception. The exhibit is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., during Arts Council business hours. The Arts Council is located at 427 Laurel Street in the Robert Bogan Fire Museum."

I always dig Mark's spinning, so we'll be checkin that one out as well, just gotta figure out the order of things.

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de mayo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hope you have the opportunity to sip a margarita and eat some fine Mexican food this evening in honor of the Mexican army defeating the French forces. The interesting thing in this Wikipedia post is that Cinco de Mayo is not really that big of a in Mexico. They celebrate their independence day in September. It turns out that Cinco de Mayo was popularized by college students of Mexican heritage who wanted to promote their student cultural organizations. September is too early in the school year to get events organized, so they chose the less important, but infinitely more planable Cinco de Mayo for their events. Of course any excuse to drink margaritas and eat mexican food is fine with me.

Via boingboing where the original post was about porn themed pinatas I think (it's in Spanish and I'm at work).

Side Arm Gallery New Orleans

Side Arm Gallery New Orleans

As if Saturday wasn't busy enough, I just found out about a performance at the Side Arm Gallery covering everything from burlesque to ballet. I doubt we're going to be able to fit it in, but the gallery's way of being is really interesting so I wanted to post about it.

"Sidearm Gallery is a community-based, not-for-profit gallery and performance space in New Orleans. We're here to nurture art in all its forms. Admission to shows is by sliding-scale donation and almost all the money goes directly to the artists. The Gallery is open during performances and by appointment. Sidearm is not in the business of selling art, but visual artists are welcome to show, sell and keep any money they make."

The Prior-Art-O-Matic

The Prior-Art-O-Matic
"It's like a normal hi-fi, but it can communicate with your candle." Silly invention generator. Put your name in and you might get something like this "don is a samurai sword that shoots laser beams and comes with its own storage kennel."

via The Surrealist via Eyebeam Reblog

Captured! By Robots

Captured! By Robots

Coming to the Parish Room at the House of Blues this Saturday night, a band of robots who have gained control of their once master, forcing him to humiliate himself onstage nightly. I think we can hit the beginning of the Clay Tigers Art show at the Shaw Center in Baton Rouge, then hit the road, hopefully making it in time to hit the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery for the opening receptions for “Clay, A Compelling _Expression” and “Moment.” Clay is a group ceramics show that includes friend Christopher Brumfield. Of course we'll have to make sure we get to the Parish room in plenty of time to see Liquidrone. I actually found out about the Captured by Robots show because I wanted to see Liquidrone on Friday in Baton Rouge, but there's an opening (posted previously) and a post show party that I'd prefer not to miss. Now I'm all set, just gotta get through 2 1/2 more days of work.

Is IQ improved by Video Games?

Wired 13.05: Dome Improvement
This is a great article about increasing IQ scores over the past 50 plus years. It touches briefly on the controversy of measuring IQ at all, then documents the research showing that IQ has indeed improved over time using several different measures. The big question is why is IQ improving. It's unlikely that we are evolving at a pace that matches the IQ increases. However, there is a clear genetic component as evidenced by studies comparing twins, siblings, non-related siblings, raised in the same and in different environments. The author then poses an elegant explanation that merges the whole nature/nurture divide. The argument is that very small genetic advantages lead to new environmental opportunities (showing a slight aptitude for something often leads to encouragement and further training). This hypothesis seems reasonable, but is not supported by any research in this article, and it certainly could be tested further. At this point, the author finally gets to the 'sexy' subtitle, "Stop reading the great authors and start playing Grand Theft Auto." He suggests that today's interactive media (particularly the internet and video games) train people to problem solve. Again, an interesting hypothesis that is not yet supported. Think about it though, it doesn't take much to learn to read a book (after the learning to read part, you just need to know how to open the cover and turn the pages) compared to reading the web (again the reading, but then the opening the browser, connecting to the net, navigating, etc.). Maybe there's more in his book "Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter."

U B U W E B - Avant Garde Film, Video, Poetry, etc.

U B U W E B
You could spend years scanning the material at UBUWEB. I'm particularly interested in digging into the 37 Fluxus Films they recently posted.

Via Veer, which I think Casey sent me to Veer in the first place.

Strokes Guitarist's Dad is a famous songwriter

Guardian Unlimited | Arts features | Like father, like son
Nice story of father and son musicians. The father wrote many pop hits from the 60s on, but had stopped performing when the son was born. Now, after prodding from the son, the father has a new album. The best part of the article is at the end where they talk about the son quitting school to be in his band and how it was really the father's fault:

Many stories. One of my first gigs was in a strip club in Morocco: 22 beautiful women stripping all around me and me singing Johnny Cash songs. I was 16. I'd tell him stories like that. I guess I wasn't too surprised when he said he wanted to play guitar.

This Week in Baton Rouge Art - May 1-7

Lots going on this week, so I'm combining it all into one super post:

Wednesday May 4, 7-9pm Baton Rouge Gallery presents Jim Burke "Recent Paintings" Jacqueline Dee Parker "Re-Sighting the Alphabet: Poems and Mixed Media Paintings" and Sam Corso "Dreamscapes"

Thursday May 5, 6-8:30pm The Studio dei Leoni and Michael Crespo present an Exhibition of Watercolors by LSU Art Students

Friday May 6, 7-9pm The LSU School of Art Gallery in Foster Hall presents MFA shows by Chris Hutson "In the Garden" and David Smith "The Chemistry of My Affections" (BTW this is the final MFA show for the season. However, there is a BFA show on the horizon)


Saturday May 7, 6-8pm The LSU School of Art Gallery at the Shaw Center presents Hot Stuff/Clay Tigers LSU Ceramics 1975-2005 a traveling exhibitions of works by LSU alumni and former and present faculty. Proceeds from this exhibition will benefit the LSU Joe Bova Ceramic Art Award.

Looking forward to them all.

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things
Had a fantastic long weekend with family and friends including multiple birthday parties, a fabulous art show and post-party, one of the best ever weather days at the jazzfest, and the new Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie. Thoroughly enjoyed the movie, though it was nothing special, just a perfect retreat from reality on the one rainy afternoon we had while I was off.

I try not to post things that have been posted on boingboing (and several of the other sites in my list in the right column). However, since I've been gone and am now catching up both at work and on the blog, I thought I'd highlight several recent posts that I know some of you will find interesting:

"Exquisite Crops" project - take the surrealist exquisite corpse game and update it via photoshop and the "crop" tool.

Time Traveler Convention at MIT - instructions on how to inform time travelers of the coming convention and how it will surely grow to woodstockesque proportions as more and more time travelers get the word

The President sings "Imagine" and "A Walk On The Wild Side" - surreal mash-up of words clipped from W's speeches to sing both "Imagine" and 'A Walk on the Wild Side". I have gone to the site and downloaded the whole album and am listening to it as I post.

7m-high electrical garbage statue made from one Briton's lifetime's waste - The average Britton throws out 3.3 tons of electronic waste in a lifetime. This amount of electronic waste was used to make a really intrigueing sculpture.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled postings.