Punk Night at The Interzone

Friday, October 9, 7:30 PM. $3.00 suggested donation. Featuring:

• Tourist
• The Taxpayers (from Portland)
• The Wobblies
• Angries
• Bad Terms

I don't deal well with loud music, nor especially with crowds, so I will most likely not stick around. But from what I hear, this should be a fun show.

Unwise Mining Practices and Their Consequences

Don't build large open-pit mines on the shoreline. Water tends to push downhill, and it's not good to be downhill from the ocean, unless you're many miles inland.

I just found out that Dave's Landslide Blog posted this video clip nearly a year and a half ago, but I hadn't seen it before today, via TYWKIWDBI.

There is also a Wikipedia entry for this event with a little more information, and a link to the Google Earth Map of the area.

A Pick-Up Line for All You Lonely Guys

I'm certainly not going to use it, so I may as well pass it on.

"So did you hear that scientists have discovered that a chemical in human sperm may slow the aging process by 25%? I can give you some, if you'd like..."

And in case you're wondering, yes I did think twice about posting this. In the end, my pleasure with blatant bad taste overrode my disdain for sexual politics.

Happy Barcode

This is the Google Doodle today. The Barcode was patented on October 7, 1952, according to sources that claim to know. Hunh. Who'da thunk?

The Aftermath in Sumatra

The Big Picture has a set of 40 photos from the aftermath of last week's earthquake in Sumatra. Warning: several pictures are disturbing photos of dead victims. The above is a landslide (or set of landslides) triggered by the quake.

Paleozoic Amber

Chemical paleontology didn't really exist when I was an undergrad, or if it did, it was in its early stges of development and didn't get much attention. Various kinds of chromatography can separate organic molecules left over from dead organisms and preserved in rocks, to give us clues about how those organisms related to each other and to things alive today. Some organic molecules don't last very long, but some are extremely persistent. The New York Times is reporting that amber that appears to have a composition characteristic of flowering plants has been discovered in a coal seam. Said coal seam was deposited 200 million years before flowering plants are thought to have appeared. Abstact from Science here, but the terminology would have meant little to me without reading the news article first.

All Dinosaurs Go to Heaven

So dogs go to heaven, rocks go to heaven, is this really a surprise?Tee from Threadless!

Something Just Dawned on Me

Yeah, he pisses me off regularly, but this is now an established fact, for three weeks and counting.

There IS Such a Thing as Too Cute

This doesn't quite get there, but it's close.

I've never heard of Lulu and the Lampshades before, but I love well-done acapella music. This works for me.

Sunday Funnies

see more Political Pictures
I sense a potential meme here. Skull Swap
(Some assembly required) LOLTheist
I would have never suspected... Criggo
Automated ads can be very funny. Or very creepy. Or both. Probably Bad News
Criggo Real Estate is bouncing back, and the rental market is improving too!Awwww... Urp! Skull Swap
Pundit Kitchen
The Onion
And meanwhile, the poodle was getting a blue perm... Don't Judge My Hair
Skull Swap
Waitaminit... which one's Paul? Probably Bad News
epic4chan
Problem Solved. Skull Swap
I've always been suspicious of the people who drive around in big boxy trucks. Criggo

see more Political Pictures, Via Library Grape.

see more Political Pictures. This is what happens when a nice young Jewish Boy decides to grow up to be a holocaust denier.
Norah O'Donnel doesn't trust TV news any more, either. Skull Swap.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Luke Surl
Misery Loves Sherman
My First Dictionary
Next time call the... Oh. Those are the professionals? That Will Buff Out
Groan alert. Skull Swap
The ammonites didn't go extinct! See, that one's eating a young lady's head. Don't Judge My Hair
Halloween is coming up... I expect there will be lots of pictures like this in the weeks ahead. But few as disconcerting. Picture is Unrelated.
Skull Swap. This is just how mammoths look in science museums.
Skull Swap
Yes I am. OregonLive
Truthdig
Nicely photographed, too. I Can Haz Cheezburger
Skull Swap. I want this as a sticker on my computer.
Swisswich A La Mode: Nestle tollhouse cookie ice cream sandwhiches stuffed with Swiss Rolls and Nutella, smothered in hot fudge. Quite frankly, this would probably kill me... but that doesn't stop me from drooling. I could make it healthy by putting some banana slices in there too, right? This is Why You're Fat
With Bill Clinton, no less. What a trip! Criggo
Skull Swap
Saturday Bulletin

Saturd80's

Joy Division: She's Lost Control

Depeche Mode: Personal Jesus

Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer

Mein Kampf, Also, Too

Hitler finds out... now with new footage!

LOL Softly, But Carry A Big Font

This is a sentiment which, as a geology person, I whole-heartedly endorse. But I was inspired to recaption; no disrespect intended, Mr. Roosevelt.
Oh, the humanity...

IMHO

Stole Ohman's title, too. One of the perks of spending much of my time on the busiest street adjacent to the OSU campus, especially at the beginning of the school year, is the numerous close-call non-accidents I get to witness. Most days, the number is 2-4, and that's just during the times I'm outside smoking or chatting with friends; I'm sure the total is much higher.

One of these days, it won't be a close call, or a non-accident; someone will be seriously hurt or killed. I really don't want to see it.

Sometimes the driver's not paying attention, sometimes it's the biker or the skateboarder, or the pedestrian. But texting drivers have been much in the news lately, and given recent studies showing that texting impairs driving ability as much as drunkeness, I'm all for banning it.

Just pay attention, take it slow on Monroe, and be careful, folks. I don't want to have to apply my rusty first-responder training on any of you.