Category: Thoughts

This weekend’s MotoGP in Jerez was the source of one of the most incredible near-misses I’ve ever seen on video. The second or third replay in this clip is from the bike’s onboard camera, and you can see it go completely horizontal. The rider’s elbow has got to be totally destroyed. (Via The Biker Gene.)

“The possibility that a black hole eats up the Earth is too serious a threat to leave it as a matter of argument among crackpots…“

Prayer instead of insulin: Child, 11, dies after at least 30 days of ketoacidosis.

There was a brief period in the UK at the beginning of the sixties when mods (scooters, pills, fancy clothes, The Who) fought violently with rockers (motorcycles, beer, leather, Elvis). These days in Mexico, it’s emo versus all the other subcultures. When I first saw the headlines on BoingBoing I figured it was some kind of prank, but no, it’s serious:

These days, motorcycle and scooter enthusiasts get together and have mods-and-rockers parties together. There is no rioting; it’s more of a get-together with talk about restoring old machines. Hell, there’s a clothing line named after the US equivalent, the Hollister riots. I wonder whether the emo vs. everyone else riots will have a similar nostalgia in 2038.

A Bentley parked illegally in a handicapped spot.
A car-wash sign saying WHEN MY CAR LOOKS GOOD I FEEL

I wonder if they are somehow related: The Bentley owner’s only opportunity to feel anything is to have a shining symbol of their financial status.

Ride 2 Die, a motorcycle site aimed to promote safety by posting horrible accident photos (and horrible graphic design – man, they could use a blog format on that thing) has been circulating around the various motorcycle sites I read. And let me tell you, if those road rash pictures don’t sell armored riding pants, nothing will.

Anyway, after rubbernecking through all their gory crash pictures, I switched to YouTube for more motorcycle crash videos on YouTube. My favorite so far illustrates the hazards of putting a raw novice onto a 140-horsepower supersport motorcycle… and yes, that’s Masshole motorcycling at its finest:

When Slate.com calls BoingBoing a national treasure, you can be pretty sure it’s all downhill from there. It’s like a glowing profile of your innovative energy-trading outfit in a national business magazine– you can be sure there’s a corruption scandal or bankruptcy soon to follow, or at least a major slide in stock prices. Yes, they’re all debating the nature of truthiness in the internet age, but I’ve grown tired of that debate. My more revealing insight: Everybody sucks.

Here is a film clip for your edification, illustrating my point:

When I was in college, “another round” always referred to beer. When I began to work in startups, it referred to venture capital. This happens to a lot of words and acronyms and such. Today’s example: The phrase “The N Word.”

It seems that to some people “the N word” refers not to the expected racial slur, but to “nationalization.” It’s still a dirty word in US politics, but it’s not yet used with enough frequency to warrant the euphemism, really. Still, we are hearing talk of federal bailouts with greater frequency, even among those who are otherwise inclined to natter on about small government policies.

Are we in a recession? Yes.
Did I tell you so? Yes.
Did wiser folk than I say the same? Yes.
Were we all roundly ignored? Yes.
Do the folks who didn’t see it coming insist that nobody saw it coming? Yes.
Is this just like the Iraq war? Yes.

Adm. Fallon, the guy in charge of the US military in the Middle East, Africa, and central Asia (that is, CENTCOM), just resigned. Crooks & Liars was pretty sure he was on the way out, although they’re somewhat surprised he left of his own volition.

The story is that he’s out because he’s stated the obvious fact that invading Iran would be a terrible idea.

This is not good news for anyone opposed to quagmire, empire, or bad ideas.

It makes sense that there would be a baby simulator for the Nintendo DS. I mean, it’s just like a virtual pet. Only it’s a baby! And you can customize the color and gender! There are challenges like changing and diaper rash. It’s the same as any other sim game. And yet… creepier!

At least it doesn’t include simulations of exhaustion, post-partum depression, colic, vomiting, or shaken-baby syndrome.