McSweeny's Internet Tendency

Some of my Literary Friends Dislike McSweeny's But I Like it Very Much Thank You

You know, Dave Eggers's thing, McSweeny's. Here are a few funny articles for your splendiferous enjoyment this evening:

In-Progress Ideas for New Yorker Cartoons (Scott Underwood)

The iPod Zepto: Inconceivably Small (Jon Fitch) (I wonder if Matthias reads this blog. Hello, Matthias, do you read this blog? If you do, you will notice that the aforementioned humor piece employs the word "otolaryngologist," and I know you will appreciate that.)

Butterball Help-Line Help-Line (Alysia Gray Painter) (The winner of tonight's "best title for a humor piece" contest. Go find it yourself.)

Artwork, You Hoser!
At last! Kids drawings of famous people from Calgary! (due to memepool)

How Creepy; I Mean, How Interesting
One of my favorite finds on the Technorati 100 Popular Blogs list is (currently #2): PostSecret, in which artists write on postcards and, well, take a look.

If Blogger were a bar and I were in it, the bartender would cut me off right about now. G'night.

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Girl with Peanut Allergy Dies After Kiss

An article on CNN Online.

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Brights

Are you a Bright?
"Huh?" I can hear you say. Philosopher Daniel Dennett's article "The Bright Stuff" explains.

So does Richard Dawkins, who writes:

Bright? Yes, bright. Bright is the word, the new noun. I am a bright. You are a bright. She is a bright. We are the brights. Isn't it about time you came out as a bright? Is he a bright? I can't imagine falling for a woman who was not a bright.

Playing Atari 2600 on Thanksgiving Break

Pitfall is still fun, proving again that it's not all about processing power, resolution, or color depth.



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Great Indie "Craft Fair"

Bazaar Bizarre: It's Coming!
As they say, "This isn't your grandmother's craft fair." Far from it. This is a wild, punk, indie, artsy, edgy craft fair held in Boston, LA, and Ohio.

When: The Boston one will be Sunday Dec. 11th, 1:00pm to 8:00pm.
What: Crazy! Incredible! Wonderful gifts perfect for the holidays (and yourself).

Holy smokes, G-Fav, I'm so interested, tell me more! Well, see the vendors of Bazaar Bizarre here.


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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day to y'alls!

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+ eddie

The Game

The Game
Off to "The Game" I go, the ironically pretentious name for the Harvard/Yale football game. (Ironic because people tell me it's a poor specimen of football.)

It's down in New Haven this year, where the prospect of 5 Kelvin weather is offset by the existence of real seats. (Unlike the little red brick school up here, whose stadium has hard concrete ledges packed twice deep with people.) Man I hate football. Wish I had that sports gene so I wasn't such a stick-in-the-mud.

Portable Gaming
Which game system would you ask Santa for - for business trips: the PSP or the DS?

Art, Books, and Thoughtful Design
Visited Douglas Coupland's website recently?

MIT Media Lab Prof. John Maeda has a delightful blog about the role of simplicity in good design.

MASS MoCA has new exhibits (in their fantastic art-gallery-in-a-former-factory in the Berkshires.)

Graphic design: the book jackets of Alvin Lustig.

Colorful Bubbles
Mad props to Prof. B for telling me that some scientist made colorful bubbles!


Well, off I go to the tundra of New Haven, clothed eight layers deep, with a scowl.

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Cool Music Video Illusions

Michael Gondry directed a new music video - with creative illusions in it - for the White Stripes song "The Denial Twist."

(You may know Michael Gondry's other videos, like the one portraying a rock band as an animated Lego set.)

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Houston (Day 3 of 6)

I have been in Houston for an oil exploration (discovery) trade show called the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

Just in case you were wondering.

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Prof B's Factory

Here is a pretty lavish, bizarre, loud, looping GIF that... well, see it for yourself. Someone called it the "Next Hamster Dance." Is that a good thing? This is what I picture when Prof. B. tells me about the lab he's setting up.

(Oh, don't worry about the URL, it's not NSFW, it's "SFW.")

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Bioengineering competition

I am getting old very quickly. Here is a snippet of a recent MIT press release:

Teams gather for genetic engineering competition

More than 150 students and instructors from 13 universities across North America and Europe will convene at MIT this weekend to unveil their biological designs at the 2005 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition.

The teams worked all summer to design and build engineered biological systems using standard interchangable biological parts called BioBricks. BioBricks, originated at MIT, are made of biological materials that work as molecules inside living organisms.

The competition is part of the new field of synthetic biology, which involes taking apart the stuff of life and refining it so it can be reused easily in potentially useful ways...

Here is the press release. The Endy lab at MIT.

Good night from Houston, TX.

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