The Undecided American Voter

I saw this cartoon by Bruce Beattie via Digg and had to repost it here. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard friends back in the States say ‘If the Republicans win this time, we’re joining you in Canada’.

Pam would be thrilled, but I’d be worried about those left behind aboard the steadily sinking USS ‘America the Doomed’.

South Park Creators Get Zen (via Alan Watts)

Life is like a musical performance, suggested the philosopher and author Alan Watts. The cut-out animators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, known for their acerbic (if shrilly-voiced) cartoon South Park decided to animate his mini-lecture, to great effect:

What a remarkable little clip! I found this via the blog of another Matt,  Dancing Matt, whose YouTube videos I also admire. Good thoughts for a warm, summer morning in August.

Je pense, donc je suis un nerd

I saw this beginning to CBS’s sitcom ‘Big Bang Theory’ the other evening and absolutely cracked up in a fit of self-recognition. I’ve been messing around with X10 controllers and the Internet for years.

Yes, whenever anyone asks me why, ‘Because I can’ was the answer I gave as well. I never did any of the radio-controlled car/webcam creations, but that would be cool, too. Because I could.

WPIUSH*, the Continuing Story

I got a link to this video from The Onion from a fellow blogger, Peter Quily of Adult ADD Strengths, and just had to share it:

I particularly loved (and identified with) the line about some citizens evacuating safely to Canada. Thanks so much, Pete.

*WPIUSH, for those not familiar with the acronym that I often use, stands for Worst President in US History.

Am I Really a Sports Jinx?

Back when I was working at RIPE, I used to joke to my co-workers that I’m bad luck to any team that I root for. When the BC Lions were in the Grey Cup, some of them either discouraged me (or encouraged me, depending on their preference) from watching the game on TV, because somehow they would always win when I missed the game and lose whenever I watched. It was almost uncanny how the act of observing the game, like some sort of twisted Heisenberg Principle, made the team lose.

This year, I didn’t watch a single game that the New England Patriots played in, except for one: The SuperBowl.

After winning every other game they played during the whole year, they lost this one game I watched in the last 35 seconds. It was probably one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets in history. In fact, ESPN.com is now having people rank and vote what they think are the biggest upsets in history, and tonight’s Super Bowl XLII (42) is listed among the candidates: (here’s a screen capture for posterity:)

Oh, and by the way, after missing their regular season, I also saw that ball go through Bill Buckner’s legs in the 1986 World Series, when the Boston Red Sox lost to the New York Yankees, which is, naturally, in the list.

Note to self: If your team is playing, and you’ve not seen them play in any other game, and they’ve won every other game, be sure to watch them, and bet against them, big time, particularly if it’s any team from New England vs. New York. At least you can profit from the misfortune you seem to emanate.