Sendai Quake
If you ever wondered what a massive earthquake feels or looks like up-close and personal, watch this video recorded in a house in Sendai while it happened:
And here’s what it was like inside a Tokyo supermarket about 250 km south:
Really Bad Taste.
OK, let’s allow for argument’s sake that they were the exception — that it was love, not (except in the eyes of the law) rape. It certainly wasn’t a passing fancy. But now they’re marketing their love (is it still love, then?) by promoting rape.
Don’t Fire Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes!
Ever wonder why you can see “the whites” of human eyes at all? File this under “Department of Who Knew”:
Human eyes are somewhat unique in the animal kingdom in that the sclera is very plainly visible at all times (except when the eye is closed). This is not just due to the white color of the human sclera, which many other species share, but also to the fact that the human iris is relatively small and comprises a significantly smaller portion of the exposed eye surface compared to other animals. It is theorized that this adaptation evolved because of our social nature as the eye became a useful communication tool in addition to a sensory organ. It’s believed that the conspicuous sclera of the human eye makes it easier for one individual to infer where another individual is looking, increasing the efficacy of this particular form of nonverbal communication. Animal researchers have also found that, in the course of their domestication, dogs have also developed the ability to pick up visual cues from the eyes of humans, making them one of only two species known to seek visual cues from another individual’s eyes. Interestingly enough, dogs do not seem to use this form of communication with one another and only look for visual information from the eyes of humans.
Wait, I forgot a Fox!
For Amba that Chicago Icon, Nellie Fox….here shown with the Awesome Minnie Minoso.
Fox….Fox….Foxx….Ah!, Fox!
Let’s see….is this post about Megan Fox, Current Flavor of the Moment?….no….but, we know how the Internet gets hits, eh?
So is it maybe about 20th Century Fox? (no, chickelit, not The Doors song either!) Nope…
Well, Ron writes about baseball…maybe it’s about Jimmie Foxx, great player of the ’30’s? Nope, again….
Ah, it’s about THIS fox, the Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel! Almost! It’s about his most famous campaign, the 3 year long war between Rommel’s Germans and their Italian allies versus, mainly, the British and their Commonwealth forces, and the subject of my most absurd game example of Board Game Gargantuaness, Campaign For North Africa. The Map!
5 connected maps, each 2×3 feet….The rules are 48 pages long….for The Land Game. You add the Air and Logistics Rules and that’s another 44 pages. Each side has about 24 pages of charts just for them, not to mention the 16 pages of Common Charts & Tables. But, hey, let’s look at that one shall we? “41.39 Mining Harbor by Plane Table” “58.5 Abstract Truck Loss Chart” “52.8 Poisoning and Sweetening Wells Table” Eyeball it yourself!
You keep track of the ammo, gas and water usage of every unit in the entire theater! You role for maintenance for every aircraft in North Africa! Needless to say, I can’t say this game gets “played.” But as a monument to folly, it’s hard to beat in boardgame history.
Let’s close by going back to foxes and let Bogey take us out!
The Mechanism of Modern Fame
This video of a good but routine cover band has gone viral — with good reason: its drummer.
Now watch: how long till you see this guy on Letterman or the Late Show? I’m out of the loop so for all I know he’s already been on. This is his chance to put his kids through college if he snatches it. If he’s got more up his sleeve it could be the beginning of a career. If he’s a one-trick pony he’s still good for a commercial contract. A beer brand, maybe.
Two thoughts:
1) Andy Warhol was a prophet. (Heh! I originally typed “profit.”)
2) Maybe this is what’s replacing work as a way to survive. YouTube as a giant, democratic audition, a do-it-yourself American Idol. We don’t get paid in samoleons or smackeroos anymore. We get paid in eyeballs. (Eww.)
Mommas, don’t let your babies be Westboro Baptists
I kind of liked this singing response to the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the right of the Westboro Baptist church to picket military funerals with signs bearing various vile and hateful messages. Like the singer, I agree with the Court’s decision, but find the Phelpsians quite vile.
h/t: Instapundit
Copy-editor Opening?
Headline for Sacramento Bee front-page article:
Embattled Southern California city of Vernon in a battle to survive
J Finds a Home
At Kyokushinkan Honbu, in the hearts of his fellow students of Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, close to his friend, Kancho Hatsuo Royama.
That’s one of J’s size 16s . . .
Ambiance 