I just found this. A remix trailer for The Big Lebowski, making it – natch – an entirely different film. Warning: Bad words be here.

I wrote some good stuff about the wall street mess today, as well as a story about a dog. I was going to post them here, but I forgot to bring them home. So – insh'Allah – I'll post 'em up tomorrow. Stay tuned!

One of my favorite classic SNL bits. Eileen is also a conehead. She is from France.

While we were watching the new Cohen brothers' movie Burn After Reading, I kept thinking: "Is it..? Nah, couldn't be." I suggested it to Diane after the movie, but she'd never watched it. I mentioned it to another teacher at school, but he seemed skeptical.

But it is! David Rasche, who plays "CIA Officer" in the movie, made television history many years ago by playing the glorious title character in the show Sledge Hammer! What a fantastic show. If you never saw it, then shame on you! In honor of that glorious program, I'm going to end every sentence in this paragraph with an exclamation point! And if you haven't gone to Sledge Hammer Online (see previous link), do it now! Exclamation point!

Enough talk. Sledge was a man of action. So here's some classic Sledge action! (1:15) Enjoy!



And here he is driving around! (0:18)



And here's the original theme song!



Today I'm listening to: Northern State!

Yesterday I realized that I have a strange need to – when playing video games – sip on a beverage befitting of the virtual environment I'm in. When shooting virtual terrorists (or virtual US imperialists) in Battlefield: Bad Company, for example, water is a must. Grizzled soldiers on the real battlefield don't drink apple juice or beer. Those are for after you're done fighting. During the battle, it's water if you're lucky. (This isn't some weird immersion obsession – I don't let the water ferment in a warm canteen or anything.)

When battling virtual demons and zombies over in Aardwolf, on the other hand, a spot of tea is perfect. Just the thing Samuel Vimes would have before setting out to battle the forces of darkness. (I suppose this contravenes the comment above, but I have faith that in Ankh-Morpork a number of people actually do sip tea while fighting.)

We recently got the very fun virtual-music game Rock Band. (Seems like such a pedestrian title for a game so devoted to virtual coolness.) It's kinda like Parappa the Rapper, only you're playing virtual instruments instead of pressing buttons. There's a mic, too, and whoever is on lead vocals really sings the song. Now I'm very excited about the potential for a new Parappa where the player really spits lyrics.

Anyway, Rock Band begs the question: What do rock stars drink on stage? Beer! But I hate beer. I really don't like any beers at all. At all. I do like cider, though, so I'll just pretend all my gigs are in Slough. Of course, the local Kwik-E-Mart only has Mike's Hard Lemonade, so I suppose it'll have to do. Rock stars drink mediocre hypersweet alcohol drinks between axe solos, right?

Drink responsibly and only if you're over 21. (I feel the need to include this sort of disclaimer lest an impressionable student of mine wanders in and sees me writing about the consumption of booze.)

TimeWaster™

Check out Captain Disillusion – he's a guy on YouTube who explains how all the "crazy supernatural" videos that freak everyone out are actually made. In this episode, he breaks down the glasses caught with face video (which is a really cool vid). I know, his makeup is really dumb. But everything else about the videos is great. I also like the one he did about the gas station ghost. Enjoy!



Today I'm listening to: "Minutes to Burn" (A guy from East Timor rapping in Tetum.)

I didn't really care for Sarah Palin before I read her speech, but now I really don't like her. Not long ago I read and enjoyed greatly a piece by Obama about the need for community organizing. I have a lot of respect for his work with the Developing Communities Project on Chicago's South Side. (There are many different ways to serve one's country, after all.)

So I was incensed and outraged when I read her speech, where she said:

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.

and

This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer.

I don't care about her being second place in the Miss Alaska contest. I don't care about her child with down syndrome. I don't care about her pregnant teenage daughter. She needs to show some respect for people working to organize the most devastated communities in our nation.