That's Alright

A nice rockin groove, and a video that would make Robert Palmer proud. What more could you ask?

Couldn't have put it better myself

Image via Wikipedia

Like that grand piazza, which Bernini designed in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, the enormous marble sculptures for which the artist is best known are for all practical purposes untransportable.
What does that leave? As it happens, a significant body of work: especially the portrait busts, a genre in which the young Bernini demonstrated that he was head and shoulders above the competition.

(link)

A Scotsman Who Can't Watch A Movie Without Shouting At ...

This is totally me.

Domain names

Image by fmc.nikon.d40 via Flickr

Domainr helps you find a domain name outside the usual .com, .org field, using lesser-known TLDs (like their own .nr).

Which means there are some unexpected results. For instance, sourgrap.es might be available in Spain. Wanna.be is definitely not available in Belgium. Arseband.it might be available, as might fucksta.in.

On a more elevated level, you might try tonybla.ir, or vladput.in, but don’t bother with sarahpal.in or johnmcca.in. oba.ma might be available or it might not. They’re not saying.

Hours of fun for a dreary winter evening.

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• Domainr, Helping You Explore Top Level Domains

Scab

Brilliant, and disgusting. Challenge yourself.

X Factor 2008 - Live Show 1: Laura White (HD)

The next big thing. Wait and see. You heard it here first.

Manatee Squash

Crumple zone.

Mashup

Image via WikipediaSomebody had the brilliant idea of illustrating the comedy of Eddie Izzard with some animations done with Lego peeps. What could be more appropriate?

Start here with James Bond, and take it from there.

Zadig

In Zadig, the Book of Fate, written by Voltaire in 1747, the hero is an admirable man, and adviser to the King of Babylon. The Queen, Astarte, develops a fondness for Zadig, which shocks the loyal man. He confides in his friend Cador, who advises him thus:

Cador said to him; ’tis now some considerable Time since, I have discover’d that secret Passion which you have foster’d in your Bosom, and yet endeavour’d to conceal even from your self. The Passions carry along with them such strong Impressions, that they cannot be conceal’d. Tell me ingenuously Zadig; and be your own Accuser, whether or no, since I have made this Discovery, the King has not shewn some visible Marks of his Resentment. He has no other Foible, but that of being the most jealous Mortal breathing. You take more Pains to check the Violence of your Passion, than the Queen herself does; because you are a Philosopher; because, in short, you are Zadig; Astarte is but a weak Woman; and tho’ her Eyes speak too visibly, and with too much Imprudence; yet she does not think her self blame-worthy. Being conscious
of her Innocence, to her own Misfortune, as well as yours, she is too unguarded.
I tremble for her; because I am sensible her Conscience acquits her. Were you both agreed, you might conceal your Regard for each other from all the World: A rising Passion, that is smother’d, breaks out into a Flame; Love, when once gratified, knows how to conceal itself with Art.

In other words, both Zadig and Astarte are in danger, he because he has done nothing wrong, and she because she doesn't recognise the wrong she's doing in being infatuated by Zadig. Were they both guilty, and felt guilty, they'd do a better job of covering their tracks, Cador explains.

There's a lesson there for all of us.

Hitchens on form

"What are the main principles of a banana republic? A very salient one might be that it has a paper currency which is an international laughingstock: a definition that would immediately qualify today’s United States of America. We may snicker at the thriller from Wasilla, who got her first passport only last year, yet millions of once well-traveled Americans are now forced to ask if they can afford even the simplest overseas trip when their folding money is apparently issued by the Boardwalk press of Atlantic City. But still, the chief principle of banana-ism is that of kleptocracy, whereby those in positions of influence use their time in office to maximize their own gains, always ensuring that any shortfall is made up by those unfortunates whose daily life involves earning money rather than making it. At all costs, therefore, the one principle that must not operate is the principle of accountability."

America the Banana Republic: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com

Ronettes - Be My Baby

"For every kiss you give me, I'll give you three."

Species name

Which bird is known in Hungarian as Kengyelfuto Gyalogkakukk?

For the answer, click here. (SFW)

Speaking of SSCs

Image by Tonyç via FlickrSpeaking of SSC's (see previous post), here are two great sites for confessions:

Post Secret receives anonymous postcards from all over the world, with people communicating things they'd rather not confess out in the open. Some of the submissions are painfully honest, and honestly painful.

The Experience Project aims to put short, shameful confessors in touch with others like themselves, which is a bit odd, as if closet gays or adulterers are looking for contacts with others like themselves. I can see the value of knowing there are others out there going through what you're going through, but I wouldn't necessarily want to get in touch with them.

And then, for the rest of us, there's the secret blog. Something about posting your wickedness to the Internet makes it more cathartic than simply keeping a journal. There's the constant danger of being caught, slim as the chances may be. And a journal, even a beautiful Moleskine, won't allow you to post hyperlinks, photos, audio and video.

Short shameful confession

This blog is number four on a Google search for the term "short shameful confession".

Also 24th and 45th. Miz UV is at 46. I guess I just have more shame to confess.

That one

This could be the slip of the tongue that goes down in history. I'd heard about it before I saw it, and even then I was stunned. He really did say it.

I say "slip of the tongue" not to suggest he didn't mean it. I use it in the Freudian sense: he did mean it, he just didn't mean to say it out loud.

It would have been catastrophic against a white opponent. Now, he may as well start calling Obama "boy".