It's a nice, quiet laid-back Sunday afternoon -- so we've got a nice quiet laid-back SynCast for you this week.

Enjoy!

Oh, I need more text here to take up the space forced open by the picture. Hmm, well, there's the Wake & Bacon from MoFi.

And does Philip K. Dick dream of electric sheep?

TimeWaster™

This thing looks cool, but they're using to make some pretty lame beats.

Today I'm listening to: Scorn!

Here come the bastards! (Thank you, Primus.)

Today the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that city governments may seize and destroy homes for business development, vastly expanding the formerly public-use-only definition of eminent domain.

But what really surprised me about the case was the gang who dissented:

• Sandra Day O'Connor
  
• Clarence Thomas
  
• Antonin Scalia
  
• William Rhenquist

Wha!? What's this? A Scalia decision I agree with? What is this, Bizarro world!? I'm more used to agreeing with O'Connor, and she nailed it this time:

"Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random," she wrote. "The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms."

Go, Sandy! (I may call you Sandy, mayn't I?)

Wow, lookit me. Three posts in one week. That summer air is doing me good. And look -- I've been studying Tetum! I can count to ten without peeking!

1. ida
   
2. rua
   
3. tolu
   
4. haat
   
5. lima
   
6. neen
   
7. hitu
   
8. walu
   
9. sia
   
10. sunulu

Hau aprende Tetum! Huzzah!

TimeWaster™

Check out William Shatner in SE7EN (RealPlayer, 4.1 MB). Formerly at MilkAndCookies; their site seems to be down.

Today I'm listening to: Primus!

Hey, look -- I found the tint control on RealPlayer. "Don't show me the New York Times. You wouldn't like me when I'm reading the New York Times."

There's actually a funny story there, told by Christopher Hitchens (back when he was cool). It seems Chomsky's dentist learned he was grinding his teeth. He asked the good professor about it, but he wasn't aware. So Chomsky tried to catch himself doing it; his wife Carol stayed up all night to see if it did it in his sleep; nothing. After about a week, they realized that he grinded his teeth (without realizing it) whilst reading the New York Times.

Clearing Out the Ol' Bookmark File

Time to clean out the ol' bookmark file. Let's start with ATMs in the cemetery. "Oh, damn! I didn't bring any singles to tuck into grandma's flower pot. I better hit the money machine."

Have you seen this SuDoku thing? Apparently it's buzzviralmarketworthy at the moment. I was obsessed with them for about a week last month.

Get yer illegal Harry Potter book right here! (TPCQ: "Hey yo, man. I got two pages. Two pages.")

Remember Interface, that carpet company in The Corporation that said it was trying to "climb mount sustainability"? Well, here's how they're doing.

Thanks to Rich for LegalTorrents. I hope I get some time to check them out soon. (But first I gotta finish the album I'm almost done with.)

Thanks to Garrett for letting me know about Bart Simpson Elected Mayor.

I think maybe Diane led me to these ArtOfScience pix. It was Diane or MonkeyFilter.

But it was certainly Diane who sent me this story about the strawmato. (TPCQ: "Mom, the potatoes are eating the green beans.")

I've posted this guy's pavement chalk art before. But there's a few new ones I hadn't seen. I really like this one.

Catfish!? Who eats catfish? I think this was from Mark. Or maybe I just thought of him as soon as I saw it.

Thank you for not vomiting on your Spanish teacher.

This looks like an interesting idea (in theory, at least). Where's George for books.

Anyone need some miscellaneous sound effects? I think I BM-ed these when I was doing Fred III.

I expect Garrett (and maybe Christie too) will sign on to this Open Letter to God. (One of the Google Ads I got was "God's Existence Proven!")

Everything you always wanted to know about how to survive being eaten by a whale.

I was stunned by this BBC story about Romanians crucifying a nun.

"God has performed a miracle for her, finally Irina is delivered from evil," AFP quoted the priest as saying.

"I don't understand why journalists are making such a fuss about this. Exorcism is a common practice in the heart of the Romanian Orthodox church and my methods are not at all unknown to other priests," Father Daniel added.

TPCQ: "Could be worse."

Ooh! Ooh! I know what I'm getting Christie for her birthday -- some Michael Jackson Not Guilty Toast!

These look like quality ear bud headphones. The clip-on thing I've got is a pain after about fifteen minutes, and the earplug I've got right now keeps falling out. Also I've begun bleeding from the ear. (TPCQ: "Aaron, it's you." "Aw, what is this?")

Wow, what a bunch of random junk. Well, enjoy. Sorry if I got any attributions wrong. Now go away and leave me alone.

TimeWaster™

Have fun with this Java Mandelbrot explorer.

Today I'm listening to: REM! (From back when they were cool.)

On Thursday of last week, at 2:30 PM, my friend Nate Osborn died from complications related to cancer.

I met Nate through work with the East Timor Action Network, and he was one of the most devoted activists I've known. He was a "long hauler" -- he was involved for as long as I've known about East Timor; he served with the International Federation for East Timor's Observer Project; and he constantly gave his time to the endless list of tasks facing ETAN/DC.

Nate was also an indefatigably positive person (I can't recall a single instance of his having bad feelings toward anyone), and radiated a calm reassurance. He had a deadpan sense of humor, and took delight in the little things of life. After several hours of discussions and "decision making" in a conference room, Nate would lead the assembled ETANers through Tai Chi exercises to help us relax. Even after Timor Loro Sa'e won its independence and many ETAN activists turned toward other pressing concerns, I knew I could expect to see Nate at our national meetings, and I always looked forward to seeing him.

Nate was also one of the only ETAN folks who ever gave me feedback on my music. At one ETAN gathering back in the day, I brought copies of my album Viva Timor (now out of print), and sold them for $1.00 each. Nate grabbed one up right away and the next day (it was a 2-day gathering) told me how much he enjoyed it. He asked about the process I used to make the tunes, and every time I saw him, he asked about my latest work.

It's remarkably regrettable that, after nearly 10 years of working with this superb human being, the blurred, grainy photo-of-a-photo here is the only picture I have of Nate.

Good knowing you, Mr. Nate O. May you be at peace wherever you are.

TimeWaster™

Take the "Jew or Not?" Quiz. From JewsRock.org. (No, I'm not making this up.)

Today I'm listening to: Bill Hicks! (Only the good...)

Hey there, everypeoples -- and a special Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there in DSLand. Check out the pictures: The one on the right was done by Chelsea, a young girl -- and the one on the left is artist Dave Devries's painted interpretation. Cool, eh? Check his site for many more.

Also be sure to check out today's SynCast. Special shout-outs to Mark, who will especially appreciate some of these bits.

I'm still recovering from being sick yesterday, so I'mma cut this short. But enjoy the show and hopefully I'll have more posts up soon.

TimeWaster™

Here, play with CubeBuster. Via MiniClip, via RadioPrank.

Today I'm listening to: Spirit Feel!

Well, it's finally done. After many many months of delay and two solid days of finishing, I have at long last completed Fred's Escape: Episode 3, the final installment in the popular series.

I haven't had a chance to post it on GMM, so you'll have to watch it on Newgrounds. Apologies in advance for any popups and/or misogynist ads.

TimeWaster™

What did I just say? Go watch Fred's Escape: Episode 3!

Today I'm listening to: Common!

Well, I made it through another school year. It was fun, but the break has arrived just in time.

To celebrate, this week's SynCast features some of my favorite basslines of all time. I'm sure I've forgotten some good ones -- well, that's what comments are for, right?

TimeWaster™

Finally, an online quiz that will make Josh and Garrett equally happy: Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer? Via MoFi.

Today I'm listening to: Dead Prez!

Well, it looks like a storm system is on the way to Madison. So perhaps it's cosmic freakin' order that today's SynCast is a chaotic jumble of stuff. Enjoy! (That soft music is from Primer.)

Can you believe this? What a hoser! Thanks to Diane for the link.

Speaking of un-freaking-believable: beware of flying urine!

On March 25, a detainee complained to guards that "urine came through an air vent" and splashed on him and his Quran. A guard admitted he was at fault, but a report released Friday evening offering new details about Quran mishandling incidents did not make clear whether the guard intended the result.

All I know is that I'll be closing all the air vents before I turn in for the night.

TimeWaster™

This is how I do some of the voices on the SynCast. Happy now, Garrett?

Today I'm listening to: Iron Sheik!

We finally posted the pictures from this year's Tour de Timor. Thanks to everyone who rode and/or gave money -- we raised over $1700 for our sister city project!

As Heard on NPR

Lately NPR has been irking the crap out of me. Today, as you may have heard, Amnesty International recently released a report about human rights around the world (like they do every year). During the release, the group referred to the US prison at Guantanamo Bay as "the gulag of our time."

But instead of interviewing someone from AI, NPR today spent valuable airtime on the comments of a university professor responding to the hotheaded reactions of the Bush administration to the report. I sure hope I just missed an interview with AI from earlier in the week or something.

But I did get a laugh from NPR this week: At the halfpoint of the show "Fresh Air" (pause now and say it -- go ahead, you know you want to), an announcer always comes on and says: "Major funding for 'Fresh Air' comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting" or wherever it comes from. Well, somehow there was a small audio snafu which cut off the F, the R, and the E sound. So what we heard was: "Cher comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."

Oh, so it's their fault!

TimeWaster™

Watch The Face. I dunno. Weird.

Today I'm listening to: Lewis Black!