We've all heard of chatroulette, right? Well, recently a guy named "Merton" achieved internet fame by going on chatroulette and improvising songs on the piano to the people he would get connected with. (The real question here, I think, is what kind of name Merton is...)
Anyway, Ben Folds did a Merton at a recent concert in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pretty funny, and also very cool of Ben Folds. Check out the youtube video of his shenanigans.
(P.S. the title of this post does not have anything to do with how I actually feel about Ben Folds. It's a reference to the Ben Fold's Five 1997 album Whatever & Ever Amen)
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Talk Deeply, Be Happy
Check out this article about how substantive conversations may be linked to happiness...
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/talk-deeply-be-happy/?src=me&ref=health
Got the link from my brother.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/talk-deeply-be-happy/?src=me&ref=health
Got the link from my brother.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Five Awesome Webcomics
1. XKCD
http://xkcd.com
The guy who writes this comic is a programmer who used to work for NASA. So I think that gives you a pretty good idea of what we’re dealing with. If you’re thinking a webcomic comprised entirely of stick figures and crude renderings that somehow manage to illuminate life’s secrets in a way you never thought possible, then you’re right. Also, a lot of the time you will probably not understand what the comic is talking about, but you will laugh at it anyway because it’s probably funny to really smart people. And a tip—don’t skip the alt. text (the text that appears when you hover your cursor over the comic). One of my favorite strips: http://xkcd.com/231/
2. Dinosaur comics
http://www.qwantz.com
You wouldn’t think that a comic that has exactly the same panel layout day after day could be creative or consistently funny, but Dinosaur comics is. Written by Canadian Ryan Noth, Dinosaur Comics will appeal to those who enjoy dinosaurs, Shakespeare, time travel, exclamation points, Batman, Nintendo, the word ‘frig,’ God, tiny elephants and philosophy. One of my favorites: http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1545
3. Questionable Content
http://www.questionablecontent.net
For the hipster in all of us. This comic follows the life and times of a stereotypical meek indie boy named Marten Reed and his domineering, independent female friends. Mostly, they just hang out at a coffee shop (aptly named Coffee of Doom) and exchange snarky witticisms. Questionable Content does not actually have a lot of questionable content, unless you count awkward sexual innuendos made by anthropomorphized PCs or random acts of violence committed by emotionally stunted indie girls. Start from the beginning: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1
4. A Softer World
http://asofterworld.com/
Not so much a comic as a photo journal. Writer Joey Comeau and photographer Emily Horne team up to bring you this wonderfully imaginative, thought-provoking, sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartwrenching series of captioned pictures. With topics ranging from zombie boyfriends to atomic war, these captions have an absurdist sort of poetic beauty to them. And again—don’t skip the alt text. One of my favorites: http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=265
5. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
http://www.smbc-comics.com/
Odd situations, even odder interpretations. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal does not just update every Saturday—in fact, this is the only comic I know of that runs each and every day, weekends included. This comic definitely has the most “cartoony” vibe, but don’t let that fool you—they can be every bit as weirdly hilarious as the others. Usually executed in a single panel, SMBC is the type of comic that you read, wait a few seconds, and then start laughing uncontrollably. One of my favorites: http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=1761#comic
http://xkcd.com
The guy who writes this comic is a programmer who used to work for NASA. So I think that gives you a pretty good idea of what we’re dealing with. If you’re thinking a webcomic comprised entirely of stick figures and crude renderings that somehow manage to illuminate life’s secrets in a way you never thought possible, then you’re right. Also, a lot of the time you will probably not understand what the comic is talking about, but you will laugh at it anyway because it’s probably funny to really smart people. And a tip—don’t skip the alt. text (the text that appears when you hover your cursor over the comic). One of my favorite strips: http://xkcd.com/231/
2. Dinosaur comics
http://www.qwantz.com
You wouldn’t think that a comic that has exactly the same panel layout day after day could be creative or consistently funny, but Dinosaur comics is. Written by Canadian Ryan Noth, Dinosaur Comics will appeal to those who enjoy dinosaurs, Shakespeare, time travel, exclamation points, Batman, Nintendo, the word ‘frig,’ God, tiny elephants and philosophy. One of my favorites: http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1545
3. Questionable Content
http://www.questionablecontent.net
For the hipster in all of us. This comic follows the life and times of a stereotypical meek indie boy named Marten Reed and his domineering, independent female friends. Mostly, they just hang out at a coffee shop (aptly named Coffee of Doom) and exchange snarky witticisms. Questionable Content does not actually have a lot of questionable content, unless you count awkward sexual innuendos made by anthropomorphized PCs or random acts of violence committed by emotionally stunted indie girls. Start from the beginning: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1
4. A Softer World
http://asofterworld.com/
Not so much a comic as a photo journal. Writer Joey Comeau and photographer Emily Horne team up to bring you this wonderfully imaginative, thought-provoking, sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartwrenching series of captioned pictures. With topics ranging from zombie boyfriends to atomic war, these captions have an absurdist sort of poetic beauty to them. And again—don’t skip the alt text. One of my favorites: http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=265
5. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
http://www.smbc-comics.com/
Odd situations, even odder interpretations. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal does not just update every Saturday—in fact, this is the only comic I know of that runs each and every day, weekends included. This comic definitely has the most “cartoony” vibe, but don’t let that fool you—they can be every bit as weirdly hilarious as the others. Usually executed in a single panel, SMBC is the type of comic that you read, wait a few seconds, and then start laughing uncontrollably. One of my favorites: http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=1761#comic
Three Rules of the English Language
It is time you finally learned those grammar rules that never really made sense before.
1. Fewer vs. less: This rule, for some reason, has become my absolute pet peeve. It’s not that hard, people. If you can count it, use ‘fewer.’ If you can’t, it’s ‘less.’ I’ve had teachers make this mistake before (though thankfully not any English teachers) and it takes all my willpower not to correct them. I hope in the coming years, fewer people will make this mistake, and I will lose less sleep over it. (See what I did there?)
2. Superlatives and comparatives: If you compare my sister and me, you will find that I am not the smartest. I am, however, the smarter. This is not so difficult to wrap your mind around—between two things, you use the comparative case (usually the adjective ending with –er, or in irregular cases, you would use “more ____”). With three or more things, you use the superlative (--est, or “most____”). Then you can be the best at grammar! Or if it’s just a contest between you and your brother, you can be the better.
3. Whose/who's: Obviously this error only pertains to written word, but it still bugs me. Guys, it's just like the its/it's rule. If you want to say "who is," then use "who's." If you're going for a possessive form of "who" then use "whose." Who's going to be my lab partner, and whose house can we work at?
1. Fewer vs. less: This rule, for some reason, has become my absolute pet peeve. It’s not that hard, people. If you can count it, use ‘fewer.’ If you can’t, it’s ‘less.’ I’ve had teachers make this mistake before (though thankfully not any English teachers) and it takes all my willpower not to correct them. I hope in the coming years, fewer people will make this mistake, and I will lose less sleep over it. (See what I did there?)
2. Superlatives and comparatives: If you compare my sister and me, you will find that I am not the smartest. I am, however, the smarter. This is not so difficult to wrap your mind around—between two things, you use the comparative case (usually the adjective ending with –er, or in irregular cases, you would use “more ____”). With three or more things, you use the superlative (--est, or “most____”). Then you can be the best at grammar! Or if it’s just a contest between you and your brother, you can be the better.
3. Whose/who's: Obviously this error only pertains to written word, but it still bugs me. Guys, it's just like the its/it's rule. If you want to say "who is," then use "who's." If you're going for a possessive form of "who" then use "whose." Who's going to be my lab partner, and whose house can we work at?
Two Shows No One Watches
1. Two and a Half Men on CBS
For some reason, this show is consistently ranked pretty high in the Nielson ratings, and occasionally it garners notice from the Emmys. But I have seen absolutely no evidence that anyone actually follows this show. Not to mention, the only reason it’s on my radar at all is because Charlie Sheen is in it, and apparently that guy is a nutcase (despite having a totally awesome, presidential father).
2. Private Practice on ABC
Okay, we all know how Grey’s Anatomy was all the rage a few years ago. It was the show to beat. But what’s with this spin-off series? From what I understand, they took the most disliked character from Grey’s and gave her her own hospital faux-soap opera set in Los Angeles of all places. Now we’re just confusing our universes. See, Los Angeles is where you set your gritty cop dramas, or your let’s-be-meta-and-poke-fun-at-the-our-own-industry comedies (See: Entourage and the short-lived Sorkin drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). Hospital dramas are better suited to places like Seattle, Princeton, or Chicago. You know, dreary places. Because hospitals are dreary.
One Wikipedia article you should NOT skip
It's the Wikipedia article list of Most Unusual Wikipedia Articles and it can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_articles
Basically, it's a bunch of random, strange anomalies of life that have been discovered one way or another, and are just waiting for you to find them.
Some of my favorites include the Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo article, and the Acoustic Kitty article.
Basically, it's a bunch of random, strange anomalies of life that have been discovered one way or another, and are just waiting for you to find them.
Some of my favorites include the Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo article, and the Acoustic Kitty article.
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