I've been ill for the last few days, hence the lack of posting. So what does one do when plowed down by a virus? Watch stuff! And so I remembered, and found on You Tube, video clips from two most unique video games, The Neverhood and Skullmonkeys. They used claymation as the basis of game play, although the clips below are end-level "reward" sequences. Be warned as the humor is juvenile. Think slapstick, Three Stooges, and fart jokes. Typical male stuff that is great as long as it's not your kids saying it.
Also outstanding is the unusual music by Terry Taylor, available here for a nominal fee.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Scratching My Head
I just read an article on Yahoo news entitled Tax Rebates Deal Announced. The following statements left me a bit puzzled:
"Republicans, for their part, were pleased that the bulk of the rebates — more than 70 percent, according to an analysis by Congress' Joint Tax Committee — would go to individuals who pay taxes."
"Workers who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates."
Why would you get a tax rebate if you didn't pay any taxes?
They are estimating $28 BILLION dollars in "rebates" to individuals. 30% of this is... $8.4 Billion dollars (8,400,000,000) is being paid out to people who never paid taxes to begin with.
WWPRD?
"Republicans, for their part, were pleased that the bulk of the rebates — more than 70 percent, according to an analysis by Congress' Joint Tax Committee — would go to individuals who pay taxes."
"Workers who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates."
Why would you get a tax rebate if you didn't pay any taxes?
They are estimating $28 BILLION dollars in "rebates" to individuals. 30% of this is... $8.4 Billion dollars (8,400,000,000) is being paid out to people who never paid taxes to begin with.
WWPRD?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
I'm shocked and surprised
Our local paper just reported that the new Democratic mayer, Tom Henry, has hired Ozzie Mitson as one (of three) public information assistants. Mitson is a Republican precinct official and also the campaign manager for Nelson Peters, the party-sponsored Republican candidate that was beaten in the primaries by Matt Kelty.
This only confirms my earlier suspicions when the local Republican party failed to support their candidate... they knew they would get more graft and back scratching with a Democrat politician in office than a non-politician Republican. And they wonder why people are cynical.
This only confirms my earlier suspicions when the local Republican party failed to support their candidate... they knew they would get more graft and back scratching with a Democrat politician in office than a non-politician Republican. And they wonder why people are cynical.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Lunch, Crime, and Progress
I'm quite excited about lunch today and it's not because of the two hastily assembled PB&J sammiches (leftovers have been scarce as of late). No, it's because today I will most likely finish reading The Rare Coin Score by Richard Stark, a.k.a. Donald Westlake. Westlake's books are so enjoyable they almost read themselves. The man is one tight writer. The books under his Stark name are darker and more hard-boiled crime but no less enjoyable. Plus I've been known to ingest these pulp masterpieces.
On a secondary note, I've been reflecting a bit on a very early post about an odd video from an odd group. I had read a bit about their concept for the video and, although I don't pretend to understand Joyce's prose, re-watching their video was more enjoyable. The premise is that mankind is changes quickly compared to the natural world. There's also something about the downfall of mankind and slugs.
All in all it reminded me of a nifty animated short about the "progress" of mankind as viewed by some rocks. It's a bit eco and a bit evo but still enjoyable.
On a secondary note, I've been reflecting a bit on a very early post about an odd video from an odd group. I had read a bit about their concept for the video and, although I don't pretend to understand Joyce's prose, re-watching their video was more enjoyable. The premise is that mankind is changes quickly compared to the natural world. There's also something about the downfall of mankind and slugs.
All in all it reminded me of a nifty animated short about the "progress" of mankind as viewed by some rocks. It's a bit eco and a bit evo but still enjoyable.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
My Inner Librarian
Years ago I started keeping a list of each book that I read. Since this is a rather detailed list I can tell you that date was June 8, 1998. But until recently if I wanted to quickly find out how many non-fiction books I read in 2004 I had to start counting.
And so I modified my uber-dorky database that lists all of my CDs (along with styles, date obtained, rating and ISBN) and classical music compositions (because sometimes you just can't remember if you have two different versions of Prokofiev's Third Symphony). I'm working backward so I'm only through 2006 but at least now I can tell you that in 2007 I read four books by Donald Westlake and that 30% of the books I read in 2006 were non-fiction (I thought it would be much lower.)
When I finish this project perhaps I'll catalog all the books in our house and then our DVDs. After that it will be an exhausting listing of our cutlery followed by an extended stay in a very quiet and very padded room.
11733
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)