The Noma Speedster: assembled on the Lower East Side.

The Brewster:  built in Queens.

The Durant: assembled in Queens.

From yesterday's NYT:

"NEW YORK CITY is known for many things — finance, fashion, tall buildings, high rents, yellow cabs, the Yankees and the Mets — but automobile manufacturing never seems to make anyone’s list of the city’s highlights. Yet, from the start of the 20th century until well into the 1930’s, more than 50 makes of cars were built in and around New York.

At that time, all the ingredients necessary to build cars — access to raw materials, cheap and efficient shipping, an inexpensive and skilled work force — were accessible. Towns with railroads and cities with ports were thought to have an advantage over areas without them, and a large population seemed to be a key to success."

Source:
Welcome to New York City, Motown of the Early 20th Century
DAVE KINNEY
NYTimes, July 30, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/automobiles/collectibles/30YORK.html

Posted at 06:54 AM in Automobiles | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Reunited after many years with tenor saxophonist Lester Young, Billie's visual reaction to his moving solo remains as eloquent as anything she ever sang; a touching finale to their historic musical partnership.

Introduced by Robert Herridge (producer/host of CBS' "The Sound of Jazz"), this is perhaps the single most famous "live jazz" performance in TV history. Other members of the all-star band seen here: Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Gerry Mulligan, Roy Eldridge, Doc Cheatham, Vic Dickenson, Danny Barker, Milt Hinton, Mal Waldron...



"We shall not see their likes again."

Posted at 08:41 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Very funny, via Independent Sources:   The top 10 unintentionally worst company URLs

Worst Company URLs

1. A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is
www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at
www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company…
www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales:
www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always
www.ipanywhere.com

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is
www.cummingfirst.com

9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website:
www.speedofart.com

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at
www.gotahoe.com

Posted at 03:58 PM in Humor, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Great clip compilation

Posted at 06:36 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Posted at 03:53 PM in Humor, Politics, Religion | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Randy George on the Theremin:

When will the madness stop?

via joshua blankenship

Posted at 06:57 AM in Humor, Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Like many TV shows, Lucky Louie started a bit shaky. The pacing was off, and some of the dialogue was awkward. Its nowhere near as slick as Entourage, and the (purposefully) tawdry production values made the 1st few episodes seem almost amateurish.

Then, the show seemed to have found its voice. The most recent episode, Disicipline, is utterly hysterical. Some of it is due to the brilliant writing (think Seinfeld), the rest of the appeal is in that odd, Curb Your Enthusiasm/Office car wreck vibe.  You want to look away, but you can't. The combination is devastatingly effective.

The real star of the show is the script, which starts out as standard sitcom fare, slowly goes over the top -- and then really takes a wild turn.

The show may initially look and sound like a typical sit com, but the dialogue is clearly anything but.  It very quickly veers wildly into new and uncharted territority.

It is simultaneously familiar yet unlike anytihng you've ever seen on TV. Oh, and the dialogue is scathingly funny.

Here's the opening sequence from last Sunday's show:
>

Louie and his wife Kim are in Bed, obviously post-coital. He has a rather confused look on his face.

Kim: So, what happened there?

Louie: What do you mean?

Kim: Well, why did you get all weird when I put my finger up your ass?

Louie: Lets, uh, lets back up: Why did you put your finger in my ass?

Kim: I don't know.

Louie: We been married for 5 years, you never done that.

Kim: Well, you know, people do that sometimes.

Louie: Have you done it before?

Kim: Yeah, alot.

Louie: Really?

Kim: Yeah, sure, I'm a nurse dummy, I do it to my patients. And today I was doing it and I thought, Hey! Maybe Louie would like this.

Louie: Well, I don't, so, please don't do it again, ok?

Kim: OK, so you don't want anything put up your ass, but you want to stick your dick up mine?

Louie: Wait a minute, who said that?

Kim: What do you mean? Don't all guys fantasize about fucking women up the ass?

Louie: I don't.

Kim: Really? You don't?

Louie: No. I never understood that. I mean you are a millimeter away from the greatest place on earth. Why would you want to go in someone's dried out little asshole?

Kim: OK, your kinda putting down my asshole here.

Louie: I'm sure your asshole's fine -- I never even seen it.

Kim: Yeah, well, you should.

Louie: Why?

Kim: Because I'm your wife you should see my asshole -- you should know everything about me . . .  What if you needed to identify me?

Louie:  You mean, You mean if have an accident where your teeth are destroyed but your asshole survives?  Alright, fine, I'll take a look (jesus).

Kim gets on all fours, facing away from Louie, butt in the air. Louie lifts her teddy, looks at her ass, raises his eyebrows, cocks his head from one side to the other, nods  leans back and looks contemplative.

Louie: Well, now I'm ...

Kim: Never gonna happen.

Kim rolls over

>

Hysterical.

Posted at 04:09 PM in Humor, Television | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

amazing!

Posted at 06:55 AM in Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over."   
-President George W. Bush to England's Tony Blair, St. Petersburg, Russia July 17, 2006

Yeah, thats the irony . . .

Posted at 04:04 PM in Humor, Politics, War/Defense | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A somewhat unusual pro-condom anti-aids ad from France

Posted at 06:27 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

How gorgeous is this roof design?

Brilliant!

Mr. Puchkoff, who has developed half a dozen small commercial and residential projects over the past 30 years, acted as his own contractor and did much of the labor himself, resulting in a cost of $12 a square foot rather than the $17 a square foot it might have been.

The benefits of a green roof are many: the plants insulate the building from heat in summer and cold in winter, and they reduce storm-water runoff by absorbing rain.

The family lives in the first building Mr. Puchkoff ever developed. The building, a former wicker and basket warehouse built in 1906, is brick, with stout wood girders and joists.

To begin this project, he went to a green roof symposium in 2003, offered by the Earth Pledge Foundation (earthpledge.org), where he picked up the basic principles of design and construction.

His biggest concern was that the roof would leak. But the layered construction, with sealants and barriers to root penetration, guards against that possibility.

To make sure it wouldn’t collapse, he hired a structural engineer who calculated how much weight the roof could support. The answer was 35 pounds per square foot, dry weight, or 60 pounds per square foot, if saturated with rain.

That calculation limited Mr. Puchkoff’s green roof to no more than eight inches of soil, so he chose seven, just to be safe, even building a little crest of a hill, over a lightweight polystyrene mound, “because I didn’t want it perfectly flat,” he said.

He sealed the roof with a combination of polyethylene and woven polyester from the Andek Corporation, whose products he had used over the years to seal custom-built bathtubs. (Cost: $1,500, including labor.)

Then he was ready to install the four-layered system he chose from American Hydrotech.

The layers consist of a five-millimeter polyethylene membrane that keeps roots from penetrating the roof; then a spongy moisture retention layer, which absorbs any water that overflows the next layer of “Floradrains,” from a German company named ZinCo. These are cup-like plastic units that look like upside-down egg cartons; when laid together, they hold water that seeps down through the layer of soil, which is laid over a filter that prevents sifting and clogging of the drains.

The multilayered system establishes not only a reservoir of water for plants, but also a backup supply, held by the moisture retention sponge, which evaporates slowly, in dry times, to moisten plant roots.

At the final stage, drip tubes are laid down on top of the soil filter, before the soil medium is spread. These drip lines, plus some early top-watering, supplied water to the young plants — which arrived as plugs with three-inch roots, and were planted eight inches apart — until they were well-established. (The Hydrotech system cost $3,800, plus $800 labor.)

The arrival of 2,400 pounds of soil ($2,000), from Laurel Valley Soils, a company based in Avondale, Pa., was a family event. River Valley Organics, a company in Wrightsville, Pa., arrived with a truck and blew the soil mix up a five-inch tube snaked up the side of the building ($4,000 for the entire job).

Source:
A Porch and Flowering Meadow, 6 Floors Up
By ANNE RAVER
Published: July 20, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/20/garden/20roof.html

Posted at 04:13 PM in Art & Design | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Boys and girls, the movie of the year is going to be Borat, aka Ali G, aka Sacha Baron Cohen.  The early reviews are that it is funnier than anything put together on film.  Ever. 

Ali G is a genius.  He got Pat Buchanan to discuss the threat of BLTs:

And the trailer to Borat (quicktime) is here:

Genius.

Booyah Mon

Posted at 06:32 AM in Film, Humor, Politics, Television | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

I rarely lift entire posts from other sites -- but this October 2004 post from uggabugga turned out to be so prescient, that it seemed so appropriate this week, on the President's first veto -- on Stem Cell Research, no less -- that it needed to be reproduced in its entirety:



Slogans:

A number of bloggers have embraced the charge that Bush is not part of the reality based community (Yglesias, TPM, Atrios, TAPPED).  We agree that much of what Bush does is not reality based, but saying so does not give the listener an idea of what Bush is for.  A better charge, in our view, is calling the president 19th Century Bush.  It's a snappy phrase (matches the well known "20th Century Fox") and it discribes where Bush is heading this country.  Bush is trying to dismantle many of the developments that made the last hundred years The American Century:

><

Nineteenth Century Bush - President Bush and his party wants to take America back to the nineteenth century by undoing the following achievements of the Twentieth Century:

Anti-trust action: Applied with vigor by Teddy Roosevelt during his administration (1901-1909)

Roosevelt emerged spectacularly as a "trust buster" by forcing the dissolution of a great railroad combination in the Northwest. Other antitrust suits under the Sherman Act followed.

Opposed by 

Bush supporter and Club for Growth president Stephen Moore

2004: Now is the time for the Bush administration to lighten the enforcement burden of antitrust law and for Congress to do what it should have done long ago: repeal the Sherman antitrust laws.

Progressive income tax: Following the ratification of the 16th amendment (in 1913), the income tax was progressive from the beginning.

In 1913 the tax rate was 1 percent on taxable net income above $3,000 ($4,000 for married couples), less deductions and exemptions. It rose to a rate of 7 percent on incomes above $500,000.

Opposed by

President Bush

2004: President Bush reasserted his call Sunday for a simpler tax system, and aides said he is considering pushing for a flat tax, which would set the same income-tax rate for most taxpayers, as a major priority if he were to win a second term.

Direct election of senators: 17th amendment - ratified in 1913

Opposed by

Supreme Court Justice, and George Bush fave Anton Scalia	2004: While Scalia’s prepared speech—which lasted less than half an hour—was narrowly focused, his remarks in the 20-minute question-and-answer question spanned a broad range of topics. In one of the more bizarre moments of the evening, Scalia mentioned—in passing—that he thought the 17th Amendment was “a bad idea.”
GOP-approved senate candidate Alan Keyes	2004: "The balance is utterly destroyed when the senators are directly elected, because the state government as such no longer plays any role in the deliberations at the federal level," Keyes said at a taping of WBBM Newsradio's "At Issue" program.
GOP-approved convention speaker Zell Miller	Senator Miller ... introduced his own amendment to repeal the Seventeenth, contends that the direct election of senators “was the death of the careful balance between state and federal governments.”

Estate tax: Established in 1916 with the enthusiastic support of Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft

Roosevelt said in 1907 that an inheritance tax on "such enormous fortunes as have been accumulated in America would be one of the methods by which we should try to preserve a measurable equality of opportunity..."

Also: The Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives explained that a new type of tax was needed, because the "consumption taxes" in effect at that time bore most heavily upon those least able to pay them.

Opposed by 

President Bush

2002: "One of the worst taxes that we have on the books that we're trying to get rid of, and won't get rid of unless we have a senator and senators who vote to make it permanent, is the death tax. "

Regulation of energy: Began in 1920 as the Federal Power Commission (FPC), expanded to current scope in 1935 and 1938, reorganized in 1977 as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Not used to enforce its mandate to "ensure just and reasonable rates" by

President Bush	2001: California's electricity shortages should be solved "in California by Californians"
Vice-president Cheney	2001: "They've got a whole complex of problems that are caused by relying only on conservation ..."

Regulation of the public airwaves: Began with the creation in 1934 of the Federal Communications Commission

Not used to enforce its mandate to make sure the "public interest" is served by broadcasters by

Republican stalwart and current FCC chair Michael Powell

When asked in 2001 what he thought the term public interest meant in the FCC's mission, the current FCC chairman responded, "I have no idea...

Regulation of securities market: Federal role established with the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934.

Not used to crack down on Wall Street by

Bush appointmed SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt

2001: ... he pledged to make the SEC “a kinder, gentler place for everyone”.

Social Security: Legislation signed in 1935.

Current program opposed by

President Bush

2003/4: Wants to "overhaul" the program, privatize it

Bipartisan foreign policy: Firmly established by Truman and Vandenberg in 1947, leading to the success of the Cold War

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs (1947–49), Vandenberg was the leading proponent of bipartisan support for President Truman's foreign policy. He was instrumental in securing Senate approval of the Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Dismissed by

President Bush

2002: "... the [Democratic controlled] Senate is more interested in special interests in Washington and not interested in the security of the American people."

Separation of Church and State: One significant ruling in this matter was the Supreme Court's decision on school prayer in 1962.

Opposed by

President Bush	2001: Established White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
House Minority Leader Tom DeLay	2004: ... Tom DeLay has announced plans to remove the federal courts' jurisdiction to rule on the constitutionality of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Right to privacy: Significant development in this area established in Griswold vs Connecticut (1965)

Opposed by

President Bush's nominee to the court: Bill Pryor

2003: Pryor believes no right to privacy exists in the Constitution

Abortion rights: From the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973.

Opposed by

President Bush

1994: "I will do everything in my power to restrict abortions."

Operate within multi-national framework: Promoted by Woodrow Wilson, fully adopted by Franklin Roosevelt (1945) and subsequent administrations.

  Opposed by

President Bush: Withdrew from the ABM Treaty (established in 1972)	2001: "America is withdrawing from this almost 30-year-old treaty ..."
President Bush: Opposed the Kyoto Protocol (established in 1997)	2001: "I oppose the Kyoto Protocol"
President Bush: Refuses to participate in the Internation Criminal Court (established in 1998)	2004: "I made a decision not to join the International Criminal Court in The Hague"

posted by Quiddity at 10/20/2004 01:31:54 AM

Posted at 02:45 PM in Philosophy, Politics, Science, War/Defense | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Totally amusing:

Posted at 11:42 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

This will be the funniest f^&*in' thing you will see all week!

via Infectious Greed

Posted at 06:27 AM in Film, Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

too funny --

Holla at me!

Posted at 02:17 PM in Humor, Politics, Television | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Another very funny Vader parody:

I wonder what movie this dialogue is from?

via joshua blankenship

Posted at 06:32 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

How cool is this?

via Wicked Cool Stuff

Posted at 02:35 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Hey Now!

via boing boing

Posted at 06:20 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

too funny!

Posted at 02:10 PM in Film, Humor | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Posted at 09:24 AM in Film, Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Now that's a hell of a GoogleBomb:

Its the number one hit on Google for "Santorum."

Posted at 04:30 PM in Humor, Politics, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Gorgeous Disney "outake" from Cars:

Via Disney

Posted at 01:35 PM in Art & Design, Automobiles, Film | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The unbelievably amusing Ninja review of "Pirates of the Caribbean"

Posted at 06:01 AM in Film, Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Great photo

The kid's eleven . . .

Excerpt:

Sliding along ledges, curbs and railings on his skateboard has been mere child’s play for 11-year-old Nyjah Huston, skateboarding’s youngest professional. For his next trick, however, Huston, a sixth grader from Davis, Calif., must negotiate the demands of sudden success and attention, obstacles that have derailed several sports wunderkinds.

Soaring on his board, his long black locks trailing, Huston resembles a small plane pulling a banner ad over the beach. The message is likewise hard to miss.

“The kid is special,” said Don Bostick, president of World Cup Skateboarding, the sport’s main sanctioning body. Bostick, who has seen scads of top skaters during a career spanning three decades, said: “When I watch Nyjah, I’m amazed at how good he is. It’s mind-blowing.”

When asked to forecast Huston’s future, however, Bostick offered one caveat: “If he can make it through his teen years, I think he’s the future of street and park skateboarding.”

At the Dew Action Sports Tour’s second stop Friday night in Denver, Huston placed second in the park finals, an event in which competitors perform maneuvers — like flipping their boards while in midair — on a course consisting of ramps, rails and other obstacles meant to mimic urban terrain.

He turned pro this season so that he could compete on the Dew Tour. Skating against boarders twice his age, Huston has earned enough points to rank third in the season points race with three events left.

Although park and street skaters have tended to be somewhat younger than other action sports athletes, Huston’s swift success has raised eyebrows.

“We haven’t seen anything as young as we have in skateboard park, with Ryan Sheckler at 16 and Nyjah at 11,” said Wade Martin, general manager for the Dew Action Sports Tour. “In other disciplines, like BMX vert, the average age of the athletes is probably 30 years old.”

Source:
Navigating a Pro Career and the Preteen Scene, Skateboarding
MATT HIGGINS
NYTimes, July 17, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/17/sports/othersports/17board.html

Posted at 03:29 PM in Photo Caption Contest! | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

How freaky is this?

Posted at 06:22 AM in Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Via the NYT comes this picture slide show of hot circa 1960/70s Muscle Cars:

A '63 Shelby Cobra topped $1 million

A 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda convertible with rare options sold for $2.2 million at the Barrett-Jackson auction in January

More after the jump

Source:
Muscle Cars Now Worth Millions
DON SHERMAN
NYT, June 4, 2006   
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/automobiles/04MILLION.html

A '65 Shelby Mustang came close to topping $1 million

A '69 ZL1 Camaro came close to topping $1 million

A $1.2 million 1970 Chevelle

Posted at 06:25 AM in Automobiles | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Amusing bit of street theater:   Improv Everywhere stages a fake hypnotism performance complete with audience plants. Inspired by Andy Kaufman and Bob Zmuda.

Posted at 06:58 AM in Humor | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

I'm really enjoying many of Amazon's streaming video. Yeah, I know its just an advert for a DVD or CD, but this is still a way cool source of rare videos I wouldn't get to see otherwise:

click for video

I already have this CD, but I would consider the DVD, as I am big a Fogarty/CCR fan .  . .

Posted at 05:34 AM in Music, Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Yes, I know its only a viral ad -- but its amusing and well done, and that's why its spreading.

Be sure to check out that "extra optical inch," as well as the testimonials.

Norelco
http://shaveeverywhere.com/

Posted at 07:48 AM in Humor, Television | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Improv Everywhere stages a fake U2 concert on a rooftop across the street from Madison Square Garden, hours before the real U2 would play there. Hundreds are fooled and/or amused. The band is playing live with amplifiers and a PA system.

Posted at 07:04 AM in Humor, Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Pink Floyd has lost its "crazy diamond."

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett the brilliant, erratic catalyst for Floyd's early success, "died peacefully at home" last Friday at 60, according to his brother. The musician had been in ill health for years, battling type 2 diabetes, as well as stomach ulcers.

• Guest Book | Express your condolences
• Audio | 'Arnold Layne' by Pink Floyd
• Audio | 'See Emily Play' by Pink Floyd
• On the Web | Syd Barrett discography, photos, lyrics
• On the Web | The Syd Barrett Archives
• On the Web | Pink Floyd timeline

A singer and guitarist, and originally the band's principal songwriter, Barrett masterminded Pink Floyd's breakthrough album, Pipers at the Gates of Dawn, before being sidelined in the late 1960s by LSD-induced behavioral problems.

In a statement, the surviving members of the seminal band, said they "are naturally very upset and sad" at the news of Barrett's passing. "Syd was the guiding light of the early band lineup and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."

Barrett teamed with bassist  Roger Waters, drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright to launch Floyd in 1965, deriving the name from two bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

Barrett fronted the band during its initial rise to fame, culminating with the 1967 classic The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which mixed jazz, rock and R&B with psychedelia--a template for the prog-rock sound the band refined in its 1970s heyday--and propelled Floyd to stardom.

But Barrett couldn't enjoy the band's triumphs. He began to suffer from increasingly severe mental problems brought on by his heavy use of LSD and mood-altering drugs, frequently faltering during concerts.

In January 1968, his Floyd mates invited friend and fellow guitarist-vocalist David Gilmour to take over playing Barrett's parts during live shows, but with the understanding that Barrett would continue writing and recording songs.

Ultimately though, as Barrett grew increasingly unpredictable and his musical output dwindled, he was booted from the band. Only one track he wrote, "Jugband Blues," made it onto Floyd's second album, 1968's A Saucerful of Secrets.

With Waters assuming band leadership, Floyd cemented its legendary status with a string of masterpieces, including 1973's Dark Side of the Moon, the 1975 tribute to Barrett, Wish You Were Here, which featured the epic track "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," and 1979's The Wall.

The post-Barrett Pink Floyd sold over 200 million albums and became one of the most mesmerizing live acts in music history. The band, Barrett included, was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

>

Sources:
Pink Floyd Founder Dies
Josh Grossberg
Jul 11, 2006, 10:00 AM PT
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,19468,00.html

Syd Barrett: a true rock legend
Joe Boyd
Guardian, July 11, 2006 07:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jon_dennis/2006/07/syd.html

Pink Floyd Timeline
http://www.pinkfloydonline.com/timeline.html

Posted at 05:37 PM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Is this what the Future of Music looks like?

I sure hope not.

Excerpt:

"When Robin Antin, a Los Angeles choreographer, decided 11 years ago to assemble a burlesque-inspired nightclub revue, she called it the Pussycat Dolls as a nod to her vision of "making everyone look like a real, living doll."

Interscope Records is taking her words literally.

The record company, which along with Ms. Antin revamped the act as an R&B-influenced pop group and released its first CD last year, has struck a deal with Hasbro, the toy maker, to create a line of fashion dolls modeled on its six members. The toy line — which aims to mimic the act's playfully risqué style — is expected to be on sale by this year's holiday season. Hasbro executives estimate the dolls, intended for children aged 6 to 9, will be priced around $15, with the label receiving a royalty on sales.

The deal is just one example of how record companies are seeking revenue-sharing arrangements that encompass far more than CD's. With sales on the decline, record label executives are pressing for a cut of artists' concert earnings, merchandise sales and advertising fees. Last year, for example, EMI agreed to pay about $25 million to buy an estimated 30 percent stake in the business generated by Korn, an established rock band."

Bleeccchh. I guess New Kids on the Block were unavailable . . .

Source:
As Pop Music Seeks New Sales, the Pussycat Dolls Head to Toyland
JEFF LEEDS
NYT, April 17, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/17/business/media/17music.html

Posted at 07:16 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

World Cup 2006:  Early Round Goals

8 strikes

Closing ceremony: World Cup Montage (U2)

Italian Training Camp (diving)

And of course, Babes FIFA World Cup Germany 2006

And even more Babes (from the audience)

Posted at 06:15 AM in Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Ben Sargent via Yahoo!

Posted at 07:10 AM in Humor, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Who woulda thought?

The Many Uses of Bounce Fabric  Softner
The US Postal service sent out a message to all letter carriers to put a sheet of Bounce in their uniform pockets to keep yellow jackets away. The yellow jackets just veer around you. And all this time you've! just been putting Bounce in the dryer!

It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them.

It also repels mice. Spread them around foundation areas, or in trailers, cars that are sitting and it keeps mice from entering your vehicle.

It takes the odor out of books and photo albums that don't get opened too often.

Repels mosquitoes. Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season

Eliminates static electricity from your television (or computer) screen. Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling.

Dissolve soap scum from shower doors. Clean with a sheet of Bounce.

Freshen the air in your home. Place an individual sheet of Bounce in a drawer or hang in the closet.

Put Bounce sheet in vacuum cleaner.

Prevent thread from tangling. Run a threaded needle through sheet of Bounce before beginning to sew.

Prevent musty suitcases. Place an individual sheet of Bounce inside empty luggage before storing.

Freshen the air in your car. Place a sheet of Bounce under the front seat.

Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let sit overnight, and sponge clean. The antistatic agent apparently weakens the bond between the food.

Eliminate odors in wastebaskets.. Place a sheet of Bounce at the bottom of the wastebasket

Collect cat hair. Rubbing the area with a sheet of Bounce will magnetically attract all the loose hairs.

Eliminate static electricity from Venetian blinds. Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.

Wipe up sawdust from drilling or sand papering. A used sheet of Bounce will collect sawdust like a tack cloth.

Eliminate odors in dirty laundry. Place an individual sheet of Bounce at the bottom of a laundry bag or hamper.

Deodorize shoes or sneakers. Place a sheet of Bounce in your shoes or sneakers overnight.

Golfers put a Bounce sheet in their back pocket to keep the bees away.

Put a Bounce sheet in your sleeping bag and tent before folding and storing them. Keeps them smelling fresh.

Posted at 05:42 PM in Science | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Here's a truly bizarre collection of photos (circa 2004):  Ten guitars shaped like guns

Peter Tosh

via Music Thing

Posted at 07:44 AM in Art & Design, Music, War/Defense | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Posted at 06:00 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

This looks like a total blast:

Posted at 10:48 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

I love the idea of this:

Hey, what should we do with this billion dollar aircraft carrier while we await orders?
I know! Lets catapult a Ford into the sea!

Via Oops:

Posted at 06:15 AM in Automobiles, War/Defense | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Here's a great photographic trick I discovered by accident trick:  You cannot normally shoot into the sun --but, staterooms have a gaizy black partial curtain.

If you put the camera right against the screen, it acts as a mild filter:

See the last photo for the reveal:

click for larger photos

Same effect via clouds:

One more:

Here's the cheat shot reveal:

Posted at 05:35 PM in Photo Caption Contest! | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Posted at 05:52 AM in Humor, Politics, War/Defense | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Blender looks at the 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born -- a recent history of rock.

Its pretty pathetic.

What is with Blender and their lists? Are they purposefully shit in a desperate plea for attention? Out of all the songs written in the past quarter century, they really cant think Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" is the greatest.

Is it a self esteem problem?

That choice is so absurd, it cannot be serious. I suspect they have deep problems that can only be cured by heavy doses of narcotics and blunt head trauma. 

There are people who will tell you that all the best rock songs come from the 1960s and '70s, the Golden Age of Genius-Level Hall of Fame Rock Immortals. These people are called baby