You Are Chinese

You are a bit old fashioned and deliberate. You take your time and do things the right way. You have an eye for craftsmanship and quality. You cherish and appreciate beautiful objects. You are interested in the past. You consider yourself to be a student of history, and you are always learning. You are also naturally quite artistic. Even if you aren't an artist by trade, it's likely that you have perfect penmanship.

       

I want to be at Pennsic, but not enough to drive there or fly there and set up. Does that make sense? Or am I babbling?
In any case, I'm too busy at work to take the time right now.

We went to see Transformers 2 today. No, it's not a good movie, and there are plot holes big enough to drive Optimus Prime through. But it wasn't supposed to be an enduring legacy -- it's a summer movie, and that's enough.
As I watched it, though, I was struck by its similarity to most modern action movies. By which I mean stunning violence displayed as a marvelous acrobatic ballet, beautifully graceful even in slam-bang action sequences punctuated with flaming explosions. All human death is portrayed as instantaneous and bloodless, and in this movie the only mourning is for Optimus Prime, a monster of steel and glass.
What does it say about us that we love the sparkle and glare of explosions, the portrayal of disaster and human danger, and ignore the cost that would follow in real life? It would be too disgusting and distasteful to market a summer movie that showed human suffering in any detail, so we have these tremendously expensive blockbusters that are the equivalent of pure sugar candy.

http://xkcd.com/593/

Small, fat, furry, squealing baby otters! WANT!

Speech by Nate Phelps to the American Atheists Convention in April. It's a very interesting story, but what makes me so sad is Nate's description of what living with his father was like. Those poor people.
http://natephelps.com/10801.html

Worldwide unseasonable cold, famine, and death: 1816 had no summer, and it's all because of the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia.

http://volcanoes.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_year_without_a_summer_1816

The video is SERIOUSLY weird. Shrink the window and just listen to the audio -- you'll be glad you did.

Via loltheist: