Saturday, April 25, 2009
To Jump or Not To Jump...
Warning: It doesn't get good until about 45 seconds in. Stick with it. Trust me.
International Year of Stadium 110 - Day 11: The Clock Wall
This post is a little bit overdue, but last week Stadium 110 installed the first two clocks of our official clock wall.
The story of the inspiration for this said clock wall goes something like this:
On the eve of the second day of the international year of Stadium 110 the men of stadium 110 enjoyed a night on the island known as Mai Fete. There was much merriment all around. With a hunger rumbling in their stomachs they returned to their spacious abode and consumed gyro pizzas delivered to their very door by a local establishment specializing in the preparation of pizza pies. Having filled their stomachs, the men of stadium 110 proceeded to conversing on the important items of the day. In the discourse of their conversation a question arose. The question was not unique to the eve, and in fact it had been posited in several different forms during previous conversations. The question was: "I wonder what BK is doing right now." This question led, as it is prone to do, to the question: "What time is it in Moscow." The men of Stadium 110 pondered this question for a significant amount of time before discovering the answer. A short time after this exchange I, your humble narrator, was struck with an idea that could forever vanquish the aforementioned situation. This idea was the world clock wall. It was proposed that on the wall of the Stadium 110 clock room there could be placed two similar looking clocks. However, the time that could be read from the two clocks would not be identical. In fact, the time on one of the clocks would read the local time in Northfield, Minnesota. But the time on the other clock would read the local time in Moscow, Russia. With the local time in Moscow forever displayed on the wall of the common room of Stadium 110, the men of stadium 110 would no longer have to ponder in exasperation the answer to the question: "What time is it in Moscow right now?"
And so, approximately one week ago we procured two clocks and hung them above the likeness of Bob Dylan that is displayed in our room. An image of these said clocks follows as proof of our endeavor.
We hope that our clock wall will bring us closer to our absent roommate.
The story of the inspiration for this said clock wall goes something like this:
On the eve of the second day of the international year of Stadium 110 the men of stadium 110 enjoyed a night on the island known as Mai Fete. There was much merriment all around. With a hunger rumbling in their stomachs they returned to their spacious abode and consumed gyro pizzas delivered to their very door by a local establishment specializing in the preparation of pizza pies. Having filled their stomachs, the men of stadium 110 proceeded to conversing on the important items of the day. In the discourse of their conversation a question arose. The question was not unique to the eve, and in fact it had been posited in several different forms during previous conversations. The question was: "I wonder what BK is doing right now." This question led, as it is prone to do, to the question: "What time is it in Moscow." The men of Stadium 110 pondered this question for a significant amount of time before discovering the answer. A short time after this exchange I, your humble narrator, was struck with an idea that could forever vanquish the aforementioned situation. This idea was the world clock wall. It was proposed that on the wall of the Stadium 110 clock room there could be placed two similar looking clocks. However, the time that could be read from the two clocks would not be identical. In fact, the time on one of the clocks would read the local time in Northfield, Minnesota. But the time on the other clock would read the local time in Moscow, Russia. With the local time in Moscow forever displayed on the wall of the common room of Stadium 110, the men of stadium 110 would no longer have to ponder in exasperation the answer to the question: "What time is it in Moscow right now?"
And so, approximately one week ago we procured two clocks and hung them above the likeness of Bob Dylan that is displayed in our room. An image of these said clocks follows as proof of our endeavor.
We hope that our clock wall will bring us closer to our absent roommate.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Am I gonna have to go 1776 on yo ass?
Okay...
BBC, wtf? Last week, I was on BBC.com and looking at the news. I often glance at the Top 5 Articles most read/ most emailed to others. Its tells me a lil something about what the other people who are reading BBC.com think is important/think would be imperative to send to friends or family.
Ok, brace yourself. THIS was NUMBER ONE on the BBC's most sent article list...
Not news and its not worth sending to your friends or family. Plus if you look at the date, its from 2007! How did one night last week 1,000s of people decide to look at this article?
And this isn't a one time fluke...
Some other Gem's that Ted and I have collected in recent times of STELLAR NEWS ARTICLES POSTED BY THE BBC:
Man Trapped By Sofa Sipped Whisky
Cat Found Buried in Walls of House
Police Man Captures Giant Pet
US Military Pondered 'Gay Bomb'
So the next time you think "human interest" stories are just for the last 1.5 min of the news on TV, think again! And find your way over to BBC.com where the videos of British people talking about their farms and giant eggs reign supreme!
BBC, wtf? Last week, I was on BBC.com and looking at the news. I often glance at the Top 5 Articles most read/ most emailed to others. Its tells me a lil something about what the other people who are reading BBC.com think is important/think would be imperative to send to friends or family.
Ok, brace yourself. THIS was NUMBER ONE on the BBC's most sent article list...
Not news and its not worth sending to your friends or family. Plus if you look at the date, its from 2007! How did one night last week 1,000s of people decide to look at this article?
And this isn't a one time fluke...
Some other Gem's that Ted and I have collected in recent times of STELLAR NEWS ARTICLES POSTED BY THE BBC:
Man Trapped By Sofa Sipped Whisky
Cat Found Buried in Walls of House
Police Man Captures Giant Pet
US Military Pondered 'Gay Bomb'
So the next time you think "human interest" stories are just for the last 1.5 min of the news on TV, think again! And find your way over to BBC.com where the videos of British people talking about their farms and giant eggs reign supreme!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Funny Pictures
This literally says "Firearms Without a License." My God. If this were in my hometown, there would be largest communal ejaculation in all history.
Cowboys vs. Indians anyone? Like, with guns? So you can shoot replicas of Indians? If this showed up in the US, so many people would get sued soooo fast...
They sell musical instruments. And cats!
In this wax museum (located within the former central monument to socialism), you can see two-headed people, three-eyed people, Donkey (from Shrek), the woman with the world's largest breasts, and other "sexual fantasies." "Lenin is rolling over in his grave" just doesn't cut it.
Lots of Randomness
OK, first while I'm freaking out:
Yes. You see here The Big Lebowski, Pirates of the Caribbean, Don't Be a Menace, Battlefield Earth, The Fifth Element (at the top) and Doom 3. I just now found them in my host mom's tv cabinet. They are all dubbed over in Russian, but still have the English dialogue. So shitty, but seriously, Don't Be A Menace?
Second:
I went to two of the best art museums in the world. The Tretyakov Gallery has the world’s largest collection of Russian art, and the Pushkin museum has many ancient and Western works of art. So in addition to falling in love with several Russian works, I also got to see pieces by Picasso, Renoir, Monet, and Chagall. And in 2 weeks I’m going to the Hermitage, which is comparable only with the Louvre in terms of its collection.
Repin's "Ivan the Terrible and his son, Ivan"
Stadium, you should all recognize this as my desktop background. In reality it covers an entire wall. Surikov's "Execution of the Streltsy on Red Square."
Briullov's badass "Portrait of the Writer Nestor Vasilyevich Kukolnik."
Third:
ВВЦ (VVTs). The All-Russia Exhibition Center was built at the height of the Stalin era and is one of the best examples of Socialist Realist art and architecture in the world.
It’s basically the Russian version of Epcot. The main difference is that once the Soviet Union fell, no one took care of it, so most of the buildings are now filled with shopping centers. The main building has kiosks that sell musical instruments, bootleg music, and cats. The irony is staggering.
The Soviet Space Memorial is also close. They have a very cool monument in memory of being the first in space. I’ll be going to the Cosmonaut Museum later.
The giant monument.
Both sides of it.
Thank God the Motherland still thinks Pluto is a planet...
Fourth:
Park Podedy and Victory Gate. Park Pobedy is the Russian monument to WWII (or the Great War of the Fatherland) and is the most impressive thing I have ever seen. It is unbelievably huge and majestic, and my pictures cannot hope to do it justice. It is a huge square with small monuments to the commanders of each theater of war. Leading up to the monument are blocks that lead from 1941 to 1945. The monument has a statue of St. George slaying the dragon at the bottow, is decorated with images of war and the names of cities that fought, and the top is crowned with a statue of Nike. The WWII museum is behind it.
The church that was built in memory of victory over the Nazis is also on the square (Russians always build churches when they win wars).
Victory Gate was built to commemorate victory over Napoleon in 1812, and is also quite impressive.
Other than that, been having a good time. Went to this sweet restaurant called Luch with Christian. Still alive, going to the Bolshoy Ballet tomorrow, and St. Petersburg at the end of next week.
Yes. You see here The Big Lebowski, Pirates of the Caribbean, Don't Be a Menace, Battlefield Earth, The Fifth Element (at the top) and Doom 3. I just now found them in my host mom's tv cabinet. They are all dubbed over in Russian, but still have the English dialogue. So shitty, but seriously, Don't Be A Menace?
Second:
I went to two of the best art museums in the world. The Tretyakov Gallery has the world’s largest collection of Russian art, and the Pushkin museum has many ancient and Western works of art. So in addition to falling in love with several Russian works, I also got to see pieces by Picasso, Renoir, Monet, and Chagall. And in 2 weeks I’m going to the Hermitage, which is comparable only with the Louvre in terms of its collection.
Repin's "Ivan the Terrible and his son, Ivan"
Stadium, you should all recognize this as my desktop background. In reality it covers an entire wall. Surikov's "Execution of the Streltsy on Red Square."
Briullov's badass "Portrait of the Writer Nestor Vasilyevich Kukolnik."
Third:
ВВЦ (VVTs). The All-Russia Exhibition Center was built at the height of the Stalin era and is one of the best examples of Socialist Realist art and architecture in the world.
It’s basically the Russian version of Epcot. The main difference is that once the Soviet Union fell, no one took care of it, so most of the buildings are now filled with shopping centers. The main building has kiosks that sell musical instruments, bootleg music, and cats. The irony is staggering.
The Soviet Space Memorial is also close. They have a very cool monument in memory of being the first in space. I’ll be going to the Cosmonaut Museum later.
The giant monument.
Both sides of it.
Thank God the Motherland still thinks Pluto is a planet...
Fourth:
Park Podedy and Victory Gate. Park Pobedy is the Russian monument to WWII (or the Great War of the Fatherland) and is the most impressive thing I have ever seen. It is unbelievably huge and majestic, and my pictures cannot hope to do it justice. It is a huge square with small monuments to the commanders of each theater of war. Leading up to the monument are blocks that lead from 1941 to 1945. The monument has a statue of St. George slaying the dragon at the bottow, is decorated with images of war and the names of cities that fought, and the top is crowned with a statue of Nike. The WWII museum is behind it.
The church that was built in memory of victory over the Nazis is also on the square (Russians always build churches when they win wars).
Victory Gate was built to commemorate victory over Napoleon in 1812, and is also quite impressive.
Other than that, been having a good time. Went to this sweet restaurant called Luch with Christian. Still alive, going to the Bolshoy Ballet tomorrow, and St. Petersburg at the end of next week.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Astronomy procrastination tool (for David)
Freho wanted more updating, so here's one that I know he'll appreciate.
I found this star formation game this afternoon while doing a little bit of procrastinating between some real hard work. It's a pretty quick and simple game, but it's based on some real science so it's a good procrastination tool for any physicist.
You start out with a cloud of gas in space. You then get to plant "seed stars" which supernova and blow the gas away in a shock wave. If you place the seed stars around the edges you can force the gas to become dense enough in the center to collapse under gravity and form a new star.
Once you get the hang of it you may find yourself distracted for a while as you go for a high score. I managed to score 11052 with a 45 star chain earlier.
I found this star formation game this afternoon while doing a little bit of procrastinating between some real hard work. It's a pretty quick and simple game, but it's based on some real science so it's a good procrastination tool for any physicist.
You start out with a cloud of gas in space. You then get to plant "seed stars" which supernova and blow the gas away in a shock wave. If you place the seed stars around the edges you can force the gas to become dense enough in the center to collapse under gravity and form a new star.
Once you get the hang of it you may find yourself distracted for a while as you go for a high score. I managed to score 11052 with a 45 star chain earlier.
The Vince Shlomi Legal Fund - Pt. 2
Happy 4-20! For a nice article about the origins of the term 420 and its connection to weed, check out this article over at the Huffington Post that Tim so graciously showed me earlier today.
And I also hope you all had a good weekend. But now is the time for business. Here we go:
I decided to do some research about what has been happening with our buddy Vince Shlomi... Or should I say Vince Offer. Turns out his real name is Offer. This led me to realize I knew very little about this American Hero. So I decided to get my hands dirty. Turns out they were gonna get REAL dirty:
Let's start from the beginning.
Vince Offer was born in Israel in 1964. (Older than you thought he was, eh?)
Little is known about his early years, but in 1999, he decided to write, direct, and act in his own movie, The Underground Comedy Movie. Critics hated it, and it was pretty much a box office failure. If you can't seem to understand why by just looking at the movie poster, maybe watching the trailer will help you. The movie looks absolutely terrible, yet one youtube viewer says, "It's better than the reviews say it is. It's got the Asian guy from MAD TV, the black dude from The Green Mile, and the white chick from that one beer commercial." Hm.. do I trust a random stranger on youtube or my own good judgment?
So the movie, which he had funded completely on his own, was a disaster. How would he make his money back? According to an interview with CNBC, Vince was inspired by GIRLS GONE WILD (I kid you not) and decided to sell the movie VIA INFOMERCIAL... finally... the pieces are all falling into place... Girls, Offer, Infomercial...
He then decided to go a lil more mainstream, and that is where the ShamWow came into being. And the rest is history...
Except for the whole beating of a hooker. Let's go more into that, shall we?
According to the Smoking Gun, "Shlomi told cops he paid Harris about $1000 in cash after she "propositioned him for straight sex." Shlomi said that when he kissed Harris, she suddenly "bit his tongue and would not let go." Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tongue." The police reports tell a similar story.
Imagine this guy beating up this girl, all while using this thing. Okay, so maybe it didn't happen like that exactly. But still.
The dirty ass man who played Batman, Fetus Salesman, JJ Cool, Flirty Harry, and Vincenzo Bulafungu (all according to IMDB) beat up a hooker and got away with it! For now... According to Huffington Post, "Harris is reportedly considering a lawsuit against Shlomi, though prosecutors 'declined to file formal charges' against him."
As for the legal fund, KEEP THE CONTRIBUTIONS COMING! Even with these new developments, the name of the fund will continue to known as the Vince Shlomi Legal Fund.
Right now, I'm... um... holding on to the money now. And the next time I see Vince I'll give it to him. Or maybe I'll just buy a shamwow, or booze.
And I also hope you all had a good weekend. But now is the time for business. Here we go:
I decided to do some research about what has been happening with our buddy Vince Shlomi... Or should I say Vince Offer. Turns out his real name is Offer. This led me to realize I knew very little about this American Hero. So I decided to get my hands dirty. Turns out they were gonna get REAL dirty:
Let's start from the beginning.
Vince Offer was born in Israel in 1964. (Older than you thought he was, eh?)
Little is known about his early years, but in 1999, he decided to write, direct, and act in his own movie, The Underground Comedy Movie. Critics hated it, and it was pretty much a box office failure. If you can't seem to understand why by just looking at the movie poster, maybe watching the trailer will help you. The movie looks absolutely terrible, yet one youtube viewer says, "It's better than the reviews say it is. It's got the Asian guy from MAD TV, the black dude from The Green Mile, and the white chick from that one beer commercial." Hm.. do I trust a random stranger on youtube or my own good judgment?
So the movie, which he had funded completely on his own, was a disaster. How would he make his money back? According to an interview with CNBC, Vince was inspired by GIRLS GONE WILD (I kid you not) and decided to sell the movie VIA INFOMERCIAL... finally... the pieces are all falling into place... Girls, Offer, Infomercial...
He then decided to go a lil more mainstream, and that is where the ShamWow came into being. And the rest is history...
Except for the whole beating of a hooker. Let's go more into that, shall we?
According to the Smoking Gun, "Shlomi told cops he paid Harris about $1000 in cash after she "propositioned him for straight sex." Shlomi said that when he kissed Harris, she suddenly "bit his tongue and would not let go." Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tongue." The police reports tell a similar story.
Imagine this guy beating up this girl, all while using this thing. Okay, so maybe it didn't happen like that exactly. But still.
The dirty ass man who played Batman, Fetus Salesman, JJ Cool, Flirty Harry, and Vincenzo Bulafungu (all according to IMDB) beat up a hooker and got away with it! For now... According to Huffington Post, "Harris is reportedly considering a lawsuit against Shlomi, though prosecutors 'declined to file formal charges' against him."
As for the legal fund, KEEP THE CONTRIBUTIONS COMING! Even with these new developments, the name of the fund will continue to known as the Vince Shlomi Legal Fund.
Right now, I'm... um... holding on to the money now. And the next time I see Vince I'll give it to him. Or maybe I'll just buy a shamwow, or booze.
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