iBike Rider iPhone
It’s a bad idea, but I want one.
Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize?
Who else is confused by this?
President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, a stunning decision that comes just eight months into his presidency.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it honored Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
The decision appeared to catch most observers by surprise.
The president had not been mentioned as among front-runners for the prize, and the roomful of reporters gasped when Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee, uttered Obama’s name.
levi’s gran fondo | miles 0 – 25
We rolled our bikes across the grass, walking with the steady stream of cyclists. A voice told us the time and talked about the course. I didn’t listen. The voice said to make sure we started with the right group, “be conservative” he said. We steered our bikes through the crowd and found a spot in the intermediate group, “top 35%,” the sign said. It was as far back as we could get.
People shuffled, straddling bikes. Cleats clicked in and out of pedals. I munched on a cliff bar, more anxious than hungry. The count down started, “…three, two, one, go.”
We waited.
Hey, Sheila
Did you see this?
quote out of context
‘We’ve had a moment’s silence for him though, because he was no doubt blown to smithereens in the explosion.’
levi’s gran fondo | really?
On Friday night we sat in camp chairs and contemplated blowing off the ride in exchange for a weekend of carefree camping (crappy photos below the fold).
dear clusterflock
How much water do you drink?
Maybe silence is better
The Cat Piano
American Homicide
It’s especially interesting on how the South evolved to be the most murderous region of the United States. “There’s just a whole lot of people there who need killin’,” I recall one man (in another book) opining about Texas and its high murder rate.
Please forgive me, y’all
But it’s not every day I celebrate the natal anniversary of someone I’ve known for more than forty years. And we ain’t even related.
world’s tallest dog?
Boomer may be a buster: Measuring 3 feet tall at the shoulders and 7 feet long from nose to destructive wagging tail, he might be the world’s tallest living dog. Owner Caryn Weber says her 3-year-old Landseer Newfoundland keeps all four paws on the floor when he drinks from the kitchen faucet in her family’s eastern North Dakota farm house.
outside magazine asks photographers about their toughest shots
I took this picture the moment we realized we were sinking. It was 1999 and I was in the hold of a 25-foot handmade sailboat with 44 Haitian immigrants. Water started pouring in and David, the man looking at the camera, said, “Chris, you’d better start taking pictures, because we only have an hour to live.” I was 29, trying to capture a journey of immigrants who risk everything to reach America. That I could die here hadn’t registered until this moment. All I could do was take photographs as a reflex, a way to deal with my fear, even though I assumed the pictures were going to die with me. We were saved by a Coast Guard cutter that happened upon us. It made me understand that taking photographs is as much about explaining the world to myself as it is about explaining it to other people.
(via Ainsley Drew at kottke)
BMW’s safety scooter
spam name
Cora Mock
honey, I’m home!
I’m here to discuss the curatorial interest in his work as of late—his opening at the Lower East Side gallery Invisible-Exports, the films about his life, the Tate’s acquisition of his archives. But what I see, when he sits down on his bed, is that his potbelly props up his C-cup breasts. As we speak, his thick fingers brush away strands of his platinum bob from bloated lips slicked pink with gloss. He looks like a funhouse version of Courtney Love. More accurately, he has refashioned himself to look uncannily like his late wife, the woman with whom he has come to share an identity, a profile, even beauty marks.
(via marginal revolution)
The Life Of The World To Come
I am really impressed with their new album. You can stream it at Colbert Nation in the upper left hand corner.
after farting
You can take that to the bank.
A Day Like Today, 25 Years Ago
I was driving Flannery to the zoo. We stopped at a red light, behind a dirty and dented car. A boy and a girl were in the back seat, facing backwards. They looked to be six or seven. They appeared to be sitting on their knees, so as to get the best view out the back window. I remember thinking of Cormac McCarthy’s Outer Dark. The children were pale, dark-haired, dirty. They looked neither happy nor sad. They looked empty.
The light changed, but the car ahead didn’t move. I could see the woman driver’s face in her rear-view mirror. She was very large, frowning and smoking. After a while, I gave the horn a little toot, to let her know that she could go. Simultaneously, the woman and both kids vigorously shot me the finger. The children finally looked happy.
Swiss Cheese Makers
Some striking, playful photographs of swiss cheese makers. via swissmiss
Ivor Cutler | The Shapely Balloon (For Renner)
On a Revox A77.
Cooper
Happy flocking birthday, sir.
You’re no barcode, but we’re still proud to know you. (Except Sheila, I think.)
Tweetle Dumb
I live in the city of stupid.
Recommended by Sheila
I shoot primarily with a battered LG VX11000 camera-phone, when I am not using the waterproof version of the Fisher-Price KidTough Digital Camera.
Open a Master Padlock With a Beer Can
Idiotically easy. I was shocked.
