I'd draw your attention to the sidebar, under the "Media" heading.Eric Fischl is fantastic. His subjects are decidedly adult (but it ain't p0rn, or anything).

Looks good for his age, doesn't he? More Thanksgiving photos here.

I woke up this morning and I was unable to breathe due to my chronic coughing and stuffed nose, my body ached, and my head hurt so baaad. I am convinced I have the bird flu.

I don't watch "reality shows" anyway, but this is the worst idea I've ever heard. Unbelievably cruel.

Good Stuff from the Mt. Wilson Towercam Tonight

And here's a daytime picture from yesterday with labels as to where things are.

A knitter reviews Harry Potter.

This is just one of the reasons that unlimited free booze on international flights is a baaaad idea.

Weird toothbrush art. Very interesting. I've been quiet for a while b/c I'm working like a madman on trying to finish a paper.

Here's a good argument for leaving my asymmetrical nose just the way it is. Says Scott Adams, of deviated septum correction surgery:

Apparently doctors shove a starving wolverine into one nostril, where it scratches and eats until it hits brain. Then they pull him out by his tail. Nurses stop the bleeding by packing each nostril with a queen size mattress that is carefully wrapped around a wino.

Via geekpress, interesting article about language development.

Susan's review of the song "Jumpers,"

It has more of an impact when you know the lyrics.

(emphasis added)

Partial list of songs that are played on the radio at work every single day and are one day going to make me snap:

Horse With No Name

Groovin' (on a Sunday afternoon)

Play That Funky Music, White Boy

Oye Como Vas

Brown-Eyed Girl

The Empire Carpet jingle

Crocodile Rock

Tiny Dancer

Candle in the Wind (yes, somebody at the station must have a serious appreciation for Elton)

She Loves You

Can't Buy Me Love

A Day in the Life (ditto Beatles, but only about 5% of their total catalog...the same handful of songs)

Under the Boardwalk

You've Got A Friend

Dreams (Thunder Only Happens When It's Raining)

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Really, Each Song's Perfectly Evil & Crap-Tastic)

Thank goodness for my iPod. If I weren't able to drown out the other crap at least part of the day, I'd have gone postal long ago.

When the eyes of the ranger are upon you....he'll roundhouse kick you in the face. http://www.4q.cc/chuck/index.php?topthirty

Here's a really cool song. It isn't exactly roses and candy, but it is nevertheless super evocative, and rather clever.

Jumpers- Sleater-Kinney

I spend the afternoon in cars
I sit in traffic jams for hours
don’t push me,
I am not OK

the sky is blue most every day
the lemons grow like tumors they
are tiny suns infused with sour

lonely as a cloud
in the Golden State
“The coldest winter that I ever saw
Was the summer that I spent…”

the only substance is the fog
and it hides all that has gone wrong
can’t see a thing inside the maze

there is a bridge adored and famed
the Golden spine of engineering
whose back is heavy with my weight

lonely as a cloud
in the Golden State
“The coldest winter that I ever saw
Was the summer that I spent…”

be still this old heart
be still this old skin
drink your last drink
sin your last sin
sing your last song
about the beginning
sing it out loud
so the people can hear
let’s go!

be still this sad day
be still this sad year
hope your last hope
fear you last fear
your not the only one (4x)
let’s go!

my falling shape will draw a line
between the blue of sea and sky
I’m not a bird, I’m not a plane

I took a taxi to the gate
I will not go to school again
four seconds was the longest wait (4x)
four seconds was the longest

Awww...squirrel adopted by a dog...

This is pretty great. The US Government has unveiled a new non-lethal laser gun, appropriately called the Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response rifle. Yes, that's right. PHASR gun. Ha! Looks like something straight out of Farscape, too.

A partial list of the animals I've had the pleasure of feeding on:

• alligator
• ant (chocolate)
• bison
• chicken
• clam
• cow
• crab
• crayfish
• deer
• duck
• elk
• frog
• game hen
• goat
• goose
• grasshopper
• jellyfish
• sheep
• lamb
• lobster
• mussel
• octopus
• ostrich
• oyster
• pheasant
• pig
• pigeon
• prawn
• rabbit
• salmon
• scallops
• sea urchin
• shrimp
• snail
• squid
• trout
• turkey
• whitefishes

"let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth..."

Genesis 1:26 (KJV)

Says the woman who used to write erotica and books about vampires:

"I [want] to write only for Jesus Christ...My hope is to live long enough to finish the life of Christ."

Funny way God has of repaying this new-found devotion.

Though some popular preachers claim faith produces good fortune, Rice has faced serious problems since rejoining the church: the death of her husband, a diabetic coma and burst appendix (both life-threatening), gastric bypass surgery to counter a dangerous weight gain and surgery for an intestinal blockage.

Ouch.

People want some strange things at Craigslist:
I need turkey and stuff (Portland)
Curly Hair model wanted! (NYC)
I need milk crates...wicked bad (NYC)
Dreads for Art (Cleveland)
11/06 West Wing episode (Los Angeles)
WTF Andrew Earp (L.A.)
Rusty or not...items (Seattle)

What's this, the return of the Middle Ages?

An Open Letter to Whatever Dastardly Fiend Put an Empty Pasta Container (Containing a Wadded-up Paper Bag) into our Freezer, and to Our Cats, Whom I suspect of Taking Diuretics Without Our Knowledge;

I will catch you. And stop peeing so damn much.

According to this article, the army dumped chemical weapons into the ocean for about 30 years. Not the deep ocean mind you, but, for example, 20 miles off of Atlantic City.

This is insane:

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) - For 40 exhausting minutes, Wayne Goldsberry battled a buck with his bare hands in his daughter's bedroom. Goldsberry finally subdued the five-point whitetail deer that crashed through a bedroom window at his daughter's home Friday. When it was over, blood splattered the walls and the deer lay dead on the bedroom floor, its neck broken.

Matt Yglesias has a funny post up:

After all, 22 percent of Americans say they've personally seen ghosts, so you can probably get 20 percent to agree to anything.

Boy, how much would this suck?