Mike's Blog

Dolphins

The dolphins at Sea World are making bubble rings and playing with them
John Aravosis (DC) · 3/17/2009 09:08:00 PM ET ·

And I thought it was cool when my dad did this with his pipe. I can't give a description that will adequately describe what you're about to see. It's amazing. And even more amazing, this is apparently something these dolphins didn't do before. A few of them somehow learned it, then the other dolphins in the tank learned from them. Absolutely positively astounding.

He would be 105 years old today

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Wiki

Pi Day

Several weeks ago I drove through a beautiful area in New Mexico and through a place called Pie Town - somehow I don't think it will be celebrating this or maybe they are.

Celebrate Pi Day!

Pi, Greek letter (), is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi = 3.1415926535... Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th.

(link Pi Day Official Web Site)

Pi Day ice-cube trays

Posted by Cory Doctorow, March 1, 2009 3:13 AM | permalink

Marylin sez, "Pi Day's coming up March 14 and here's an ice tray to impress your friends and colleagues at your Pi Day party."

Pi Symbol Ice Cube Trays (Thanks, Marylin!)

(link Boing Boing)

Marylin sez, "Pi Day's coming up March 14 and here's an ice tray to impress your friends and colleagues at your Pi Day party."

Pi Symbol Ice Cube Trays (Thanks, Marylin!)

Happy Monkey!!

It's finally Happy Monkey (Day)!! The greeting comes from an e-mail that PZ got that wished all of the non-believers a Merry Xmas at the end of his rant in a format that was an attempt to insult but which is pretty funny.

"Until then, happy monkey! (or what ever non Christmas evolution people say)"

Happy Monkey!

Category: Personal
Posted on: December 18, 2008  3:56 PM, by PZ Myers

Perhaps you have been pondering the meaning of the new traditional greeting, Happy Monkey! (important usage note: it is not Merry Monkey, nor is it Happy Monkey Day. It is simply "Happy Monkey", full stop. Trying to change the phrase means you are waging war on the Monkey, and you know how they will respond.) I haven't. I've been bogged down in the end-of-semester grind for the last week, writing tests, giving tests, grading tests, and there has been little room in my brain for deep philosophical thought.

But then, just a few minutes ago, I reached an end. The exams and papers were all marked and graded, and I filled out the forms and submitted them to the registrar. And I had an epiphany. Happy Monkey is not a day, not a greeting card, not just a phrase. Happy Monkey doesn't come from a store. Maybe Happy Monkey…perhaps…means a little bit more. And what happened then…? Well, my small Monkey grew three sizes that day!

Happy Monkey is any moment that you feel the burdens lifted, that you feel a lightening of the mood, that you feel puckish and prankish and like kicking your heels. Happy Monkey can strike any time, any day!

So Happy Monkey, everyone! And may you have many Happy Monkeys in days to come!

(link Pharyngula)

WhereTheHellIsMatt

I've watched this many names but always like watching it again. If you don't know what this is about - http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/about.shtml                

                  Thursday, November 27, 2008                                       
                  Not Thanksgiving, just nice                   
                  John Aravosis (DC)                   ·  11/27/2008 10:00:00 PM ET ·

                  

'GOOGLE COLLAPSES UNDER “WHO THE FUCK IS SARAH PALIN?? "'

SARAH PALIN WINS McCAIN VEEPSTAKES; GOOGLE COLLAPSES UNDER “WHO THE FUCK IS SARAH PALIN??” SEARCHES

By  Elvis Dingeldein • Aug 29th, 2008 • Category: Lead Story

Moose-eating, Pro-Life, Pro-Gun, daze-eyed ex-beauty queen and the nation’s #1 GILF¹ Sarah Palin, whose political experience includes unveiling Alaskan quarters while wearing unbelievably hot boots and a whorish little skirt, will be John McCain’s Vice Presidential running mate and possibly the Hot Buttered Ass for which he leaves his current wife once her political influence and money runs out or her many face-lifts explode like an overtaxed suspension bridge.

According to unverified sources that couldn’t possibly just be shitting into their hands and throwing it at walls to see if they can distract the Vast Corporate Barbeque Media from saying nice things about Barack Obama’s ass-kickery in Denver last night, McCain will in fact forego all the “qualified,” “advantageous” and “politically intelligent” choices for Vice President and instead lock up Alaska’s crucial 3 Electoral Votes “with a really hot piece of ass.” ...(link)

Chinese nerd goodness

Moon-cake USB sticks

   

      Posted by Cory Doctorow, August 30, 2008  2:25 AM     | permalink

 

                      
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival -- celebrate in nerd style with one of these moon-cake-shaped USB sticks -- 4GB for $28. USB Mooncake Flash Drive (via Neatorama)              

              

                      
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival -- celebrate in nerd style with one of these moon-cake-shaped USB sticks -- 4GB for $28. USB Mooncake Flash Drive (via Neatorama)              

Smile

I dare anyone not to smile and bit and feel better after watching this. I've seen this a number of times and came across it again on a blog I read almost every day.

Where the Hell is Matt: a silly dance in 42 countries that will make you grin like a fool

      Posted by Cory Doctorow, July  1, 2008  6:48 AM     | permalink

Matthew Harding spent 14 months visiting 42 countries in order to produce "Where the Hell is Matt?", a four-and-a-half minute video featuring Harding (and anyone else he could rope into it) doing an incredibly silly, high-energy dance in some of the most breathtaking scenery around the world. This may be the best four minutes and twenty-eight seconds of your week.

Matt is a 31-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he'd saved to wander around Asia until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.

A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt an idea. They were standing around taking pictures in Hanoi, and his friend said "Hey, why don't you stand over there and do that dance. I'll record it." He was referring to a particular dance Matt does. It's actually the only dance Matt does. He does it badly. Anyway, this turned out to be a very good idea.

A couple years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on. Now Matt is quasi-famous as "That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I'll send you the link. It's funny."

The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride gum. They asked Matt if he'd be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they'd be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.

Link to video, Link to Where the Hell is Matt site (Thanks to everyone who suggested this!)
(link  BoingBoing)

English translation of the words to the song from the poem Stream of Life

Stream of life by Rabindranath Tagore    

 

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

                

 

Matthew Harding spent 14 months visiting 42 countries in order to produce "Where the Hell is Matt?", a four-and-a-half minute video featuring Harding (and anyone else he could rope into it) doing an incredibly silly, high-energy dance in some of the most breathtaking scenery around the world. This may be the best four minutes and twenty-eight seconds of your week.

Matt is a 31-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he'd saved to wander around Asia until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.

A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt an idea. They were standing around taking pictures in Hanoi, and his friend said "Hey, why don't you stand over there and do that dance. I'll record it." He was referring to a particular dance Matt does. It's actually the only dance Matt does. He does it badly. Anyway, this turned out to be a very good idea.

A couple years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on. Now Matt is quasi-famous as "That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I'll send you the link. It's funny."

The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride gum. They asked Matt if he'd be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they'd be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.

Link to video, Link to Where the Hell is Matt site (Thanks to everyone who suggested this!)
(link  BoingBoing)

English translation of the words to the song from the poem Stream of Life

Stream of life by Rabindranath Tagore    

 

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

                

Paraiz Jaysus!

Monday Late Nite - McCain 3:16                     By: watertiger Monday May 19, 2008 8:00 pm

         

Dashboard McCain

Via McJoan, the latest attempt to deify St. John McCain:

Columbus — Georgia Republican Party chairwoman Sue Everhart said Saturday that the party's presumed presidential nominee has a lot in common with Jesus Christ.

"John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross," Everhart said as she began the second day of the state GOP convention. "He never denounced God, either."

Everhart was praising McCain for never denouncing the United States while he was being tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

"I'm not trying to compare John McCain to Jesus Christ, I'm looking at the pain that was there," she said.

Let us pray. 

We look to Chapter 7, Verse 23, of the Book of Lieberman, in which it is written:

"Woe unto the man of little intellectual or physical distinction who should be beset by tribulations, wherein he layeth in shackles for a number of years not exceeding five, the number of God, and who hath not a father of great import nor a trollop of limitless wealth by his side, for that man shall never gain a seat in the Congress of Heaven."

(link Firedoglake)

A little humor for the day

"I'm sorry, could someone translate

'Garrrrrrrrrr! Garrgarrrr!' for me?"

Mohammed Jalil/AFP/Getty Images

(link Dependable Renegade)

'Garrrrrrrrrr! Garrgarrrr!' for me?"

Mohammed Jalil/AFP/Getty Images