Oh no they di'int!

Neat trick

This video was created by overlaying 1000 plays of a racing video game, to show the range of possible play sequences all at once.

Home sweet Kwik Trip

There's a Kwik Trip about two miles north of our place on 494. It's only the 2nd one I know of in the TC Metro - the other being down in Eagan or thereabouts. They're all over Rochester, and they have no-fee ATMs, so finding one so nearby was nice. What I didn't expect was that sort of nostalgic feeling one gets when experiencing a familiar comfort that one has lost. It kind of creeped me out at first, but then I just figured, wtf, I'll just roll with it.

What!?

I'll be brief:
"UFO Hunters" on the History Channel (which has pretty much hit the same quality of programming the TLC achieved long ago)....
Two people, allegedly contacted by aliens.
One of them has a rare blood abnormality.
How can we prove that there's a connection between them, and therefore they really are being contacted by aliens?
... wait for it:
Blood tests for both. If both people have the same blood abnormality, BAM! Aliens are real, and they're visiting Earth to conduct anal probes.

Oh, and even better: Close the show with a reference to Voyager I.

And then, a program that opens with the following (I paraphrase):
The following program provides theories about an historical event that is shrouded in mystery. We use reenactments, dramatizations, and old tyme footage (can you tell which is which?) to provide information, and then you, the American public, with your 5th-grade education and your pear-sharp wit, can draw your own conclusions.

[EDIT]
I'd like to add that Stanton Friedman is one of the freakiest looking guys I've ever seen, and may serve as evidence of an alien-human hybrid operation.

[EDIT]

I'm trying to visualize...

a Jehovah's Witness dressed up like a blood transfusion.

Seen on a t-shirt

Saw a girl on campus yesterday wearing a t-shirt that said:

Don't make me think
it hurt's too much

Srsly.

Six word stories? Not so much.

A while back, Wired asked a number of writers to follow in Hemingway's footsteps. (No, not with the suicide thing - besides, Abercrombie & Fitch doesn't sell guns anymore.) The backstory is included in the article, but I'll recap: Hemingway once wrote a six-word story ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn."), and according to legend claimed it was his best work. So Wired decided to see what other authors could do in six words, and asked for submissions from a variety of writers in the fields of sci-fi, horror, & fantasy.

I remember seeing this piece in Wired when it was originally published. It's interesting that very few of those submitted to Wired have the same power that Hemingway's piece does. Hemingway's example uses specific details to force the reader to imagine the story behind those six words, and creates characters for whom we can have some empathy. Thinking about the tragedy of a child's death and its impact on the prospective parents made me realize that as much as I don't really enjoy much of Hemingway's work, he clearly had talent. So many of the pieces submitted to Wired lacked that. Meretzky's "I win lottery. Sun goes nova." and Lee's "Automobile warranty expires. So does engine." generate a momentary chuckle, and Moore's "Machine. Unexpectedly, I'd invented a time" is clever, but so few of these offer that deeper meaning that Hemingway provided. Even the writers I love (Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman, David Brin, Margaret Atwood) didn't quite get there, although I did enjoy "Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so."

Spluh

So I haven't posted for a long time. A looooong time. Ages. As my readers know, Ben & I have moved. We are now living in Minnetonka, renting an apartment while we wait for our house in Rochester to sell. One of the most frustrating things about the apartment is that the bathroom has too many doors. Sounds weird, but trust me - there are too many.

Also annoying: The fridge has about two dozen little egg holders in the door. I've seen fridge's with them before, and never realized how useless they are until I'd gotten used to having functional space in the door.



In the history of refrigeration, nobody has EVER used those things. Who came up with that idea? Eggs are sold in containers. Why would I take them out of that container and put them in these stupid little cups? WTF?

What's the poop?

No, really.

Mitt says the darndest things

Mitt Romney is out of the running for the Republican presidential nomination. His rationale is that if he stays in, he would "forestall the launch of a national campaign and frankly I'd be makign it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win. Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."