Ploafmaster General

Check out this crazy dude playing the flute and beat-boxing at the same time, to the tune of the Inspector Gadget theme song (with a touch of Axel F thrown in there):
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59ZX5qdIEB0&w=425&h=350]

He also covers Super Mario Bros., and Sesame Street. Thanks to Elizabeth, my sister-in-law, for the tip.

Open it? If it had been that straight forward, I wouldn't have called Helpdesk.

EDIT 2/20/2007: Dang it, the video is no longer available. It was a funny medieval version of tech support though...

I have no idea why I never heard of this before, but the fellas at Aardman Animation (hello...Wallace and Grommet?) have created a series of short claymation toons that are available for viewing on YouTube.

For your viewing pleasure, here's one of the latest:
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWWuW_ce7jk&w=425&h=350])

...and funnier than many stand-up comedians. Guest-writing on Michael Ruhlman's blog, Bourdain pretty much nails down how I feel about the Food Network these days - and even shares many of my opinions about their cadre of stars.

I do believe I'll be scouring Da Webs for more of his writing. I have to force myself to stifle my laughter whenever I come across any of it.

You know, I'm sick and tired of seeing the following on websites:

"...So and so likes to [insert sarcastic italicized word/phrase here] (read: [insert true meaning of statement here])..."

A good example is on the otherwise excellent Daring Fireball:

"...but that Apple “seek” (read: “pay for”) a license..."

I know I've probably been guilty of it myself at least once, but I'm starting to see it EVERYWHERE. I've already seen it on two completely different sites today (including DF), with different styles, purposes, and audiences. There are a few things that bug me about it.

First, it's not really funny anymore. I'm sure somebody started using that device for the purpose of emphasizing the lunacy of a discussed topic. Now I see it at least once a day. Why did the chicken cross the road? To peck your eyes out for using a joke that stopped being funny the second time you heard it.

Second, I don't like the way this device functions. It assumes you didn't get the sarcasm in the first place. When you examine the contextual use of the "(read:)" element you see that it's at least redundant and at most presumptuous.

Finally, why on earth is it structured in such a way? Writers often use parentheses to contain explanations or extensions of preceding statements. Why, then, do we need to add "read:" inside the parentheses? It's as if the author is saying, "Just in case you don't know what to do with the following words, you should read them. And assume that's what I really meant." d00d, teh sux0rz.

I just read a fantastically interesting op-ed piece in the New York Times that explores the hypothetical possibility of California, among other states/regions of the US, splitting from the Union.

The reasons, implications, and related concepts are pretty fascinating both politically and economically. Worth a read.

I just found a website called indexed (yes, it's lowercase) that seems to have scans of index cards, each of which contains an info-graphic of some kind. There are x-y graphs, Venn diagrams and other such charts each illustrating a humorous concept.

My favorite so far?

Mugs is wound tighter than a 311 snare drum as he anticipates the decision of UDel's grad program.

Consequently, he's started venting his stress through highly amusing writing along with some poetry on his site.

Go read it now. Share in his stress with a good belly-laugh.

That's right...this sucker is post number THREE HUNDRED. Dang. I've been at this periodical writing thingy for around 2.5 years now, and I've found that I actually kinda like it. It's only fitting, then, that my 300th post has to do with music and The Web - a single entry which pretty well summarizes the general flavor of my past writings - a blog signature, if you will...

One of my staple reads is The Very Daily Weblog of Joshua Blankenship, and lemme tell ya - this guy practically oozes creativity. Ignoring the fact that his blog's structure borrows heavily from Kottke (to which he cops), this fella is a graphic designer, photographer, web designer, and musician. His latest post, in fact, is all about highlighting mind-blowing acoustic guitar players - something I've done from time to time on my own site. So rather than post a single embedded clip for each of the players Blankenship references, I figured I'd simply link to his post.

So go ahead and check out New School Acoustic Guitar Wizardry. Pay particular attention to Robert Taylor. Wow.

And stick around, you loyal 5 or 6 readers. I'm not going anywhere, and neither is this site. Even if I only add one new reader ever six months :-)

No, not the game series - an awesome delay/loop jockey with a mediocre voice but a great sense of timing:
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q02ompQhtY8&w=425&h=350])

Courtesy of McSweeney's:

A good source of vitamin E, which is otherwise hard to get into the diet. Especially if the "diet" is microwave dinners for one, seasoned with tears.

Awesome blend of Daft Punk's "Around the World" with some mighty old-school dance footage:
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=339ixMtHrVk&w=425&h=350])

Google Video just go a whole lot cooler by doing something I was eager to see after Google bought YouTube...

You see, I love YouTube, but I HATE their search capabilities. Google, on the other hand, lets you search by phrase and other excellent modifiers. Google Video now includes YouTube videos in the search results.

Thanks, Google, for making my work day THAT MUCH MORE unproductive by making it even easier to find those wacky video clips I crave so much :-)

To all my dog food gangstas:


This delightfully succinct card can help you avoid direct vocal confrontation, and comes to you courtesy of the folks at Orange32.

Dang, there really is some cool music coming out of Japan these days. An article in Slate Magazine explains how to sample some of the Asian hotness through iTunes, and after checking some out myself, I agree: it's a real shame that certain elements of the music bidness prevent simple international music distribution - especially in this digital age!

Aight, this is totally nerdy, but even Mugs can get into this one.

Just noticed an announcement on my site's WordPress dashboard that they've upgraded to version 2.1, and fittingly named the juicy new joint after the finest Jazz vocalist ever to push air through vocal cords, Ella Fitzgerald.

Peep the link to see the new features, and perhaps a few of you (Patrick, Chris, Mugs) will understand why this bears mentioning.

Now if only Dreamhost (my hosting company) would update their one-click upgrades so I could do the do here at work :-)

My boss sent this clip around the office this morning, and I thought it looked supremely awesome:
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sd5G2EcOvQ&w=425&h=350])

Any Fortune 500 company worth its salt wouldn't rest on its laurels when a competitor unveils a hot new toy, right?

Ladies and gentlemen, the ZunePhone.
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRLRjKCGHek&w=425&h=350])

Today from about 12 pm to 2 pm EST, I'll be pretty much useless as I sit glued to my monitor at work, repeatedly hitting F5 to refresh my browser.

Today, Steve Jobs delivers his keynote address at Macworld Expo in San Francisco, and like many Mac nerds, I'm champing at the bit to see what new Apple hotness will be revealed...

UPDATE:
Keynote over, we have two sweet devices. First, the pre-announced media streaming box is officially unveiled as the Apple TV. That's all well and good, but really...

THE iPhone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apple's new phone is tiny (for a smartphone - more like a GENIUSphone), has a wide screen, gesture/touch input, bluetooth, and WAY more. It comes out in June, and it's the first thing I've seen that makes my HTC Wizard look like a steaming pile.

Oh yeah, and it runs a fairly feature packed OS X as well, with real applications. There's so much more to say about it, but I think Apple, Inc. (not Apple Computer anymore) says it best.

Peep this slick video of the first test flight for Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGWk_rfq_bM&w=425&h=350]

Space travel fascinates me, but it's one area where I feel it's hurtful for our US Government to spend money, particularly when there's so much else that needs attention.

I say leave space tech to private industry for now, where the investment doesn't take money away from environmental programs, education, and social programs.

With people like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson throwing lots of money into space flight, we're not far from an age where space travel becomes as attainable as air travel.

Peep this dude's incredible cover of Hendrix's "Little Wing":
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31QQ1gNpAaY&w=425&h=350])

I just hit an excellent link off Kottke's site for the DrawerGeeks. These folks create clusters of illustrations depicting fictional characters and themes. They've covered everything from Harry Potter to childhood nightmares, and below is a fine example from their Santa Clause set:

I noticed a change in The Weather Channel's website. There are new icons for the different types of weather on the forecasts.

I suppose they were attempting to be more stylish; certainly not more realistic - the new icons are still somewhat cartoon suns and clouds.

What bothers me is that the new icons are actually less clear than the previous versions. If you're using any screen resolution over 800x600, then the differences between "partly cloudy" and "mostly clear" are meaningless. One gray blob versus another? Please.

Yeah, yeah, I could just read the words. But in my opinion it's poor design. Not that Weather.com is going to win any design awards :-)

I have to link to this hilarious post on my friend Alexis' site...SO funny.

Here's a ripe ol' commercial from 80s land:
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lO4j3wbpZM&w=425&h=350])