Thursday, June 28, 2007

Greg Packer: Obsessive Queuer

Greg Packer is currently first in line at the 5th Avenue Apple Store, waiting to purchase an iPhone. He is an obsessive liner-upperer, and always arrives first. Among his "achievements":
"He was first in the line to see ground zero when the viewing platform opened at the World Trade Center site December 30, 2001. He was the first in line in 1997 to sign the condolence book at the British consulate when Princess Diana died. He slept outside in the snow in Washington in January 2001 to be the first in line to greet President George W. Bush after his inauguration."
I'm probably going to hell for quoting Anne Coulter, but she rightly points out that there is something amiss when Packer
"is apparently the entire media's designated "man on the street" for all articles ever written. He has appeared in news stories more than 100 times as a random member of the public."
The NYT describe him as "The Master of the Sound Bite". Frankly I'm jealous of his life affirming commitment to something so utterly vapid. (via)

// posted by Rufus @ 5:22 pm 0 Comments

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Links for 27/06/2007

  • Details of Federer and Sharapova's snappy new Wimbledon outfits, including matching bags and reworked Blazers (the shoes not the jackets) for lounging around off court. I should wear more monogrammed stuff.

  • Two articles 14 years apart (1, 2), about Agnes Munyiva, a Nairobi sex worker who is immune to HIV. Really serious ethical concerns about the researchers who profit from her ongoing destitution.

  • The Fantastic Mr. Fox script has leaked online. I'm buzzed about Clooney working with Wes Anderson for the first time. (via)

  • Merlin Electronic Wizard simulator, complete with ear splitting tinny sounds.

  • Suggestions for dirty jokes to tell your grandma:
    There are two statues in a park; one of a nude man and one of a nude woman. They had been facing each other across a pathway for a hundred years, when one day an angel comes down from the sky and, with a single gesture, brings the two to life. The angel tells them, "As a reward for being so patient through a hundred Blazing summers and dismal winters, you have been given life for thirty minutes to do what you've wished to do the most." He looks at her, she looks at him, and they go running behind the shrubbery. The angel waits patiently as the bushes rustle and giggling ensues. After fifteen minutes, the two return, out of breath and laughing. The angel tells them, "Um, you have fifteen minutes left, "Would you care to do it again?" He asks her "Shall we?" She eagerly replies, "Oh, yes, let's! But let's change positions. This time, I'll hold the pigeon down And you shit on its head."

    • .

    // posted by Rufus @ 1:02 pm 0 Comments

    Tuesday, June 26, 2007

    Postman Pat: The F***ing Short Version


    By rights this shouldn't be funny, but the Northern accents made me laugh even without the swearing.

    // posted by Rufus @ 11:24 am 0 Comments

    Monday, June 25, 2007

    Fun loving Swedes fly a model plane through a 3.9km road tunnel.


    This video is like Grand Theft Auto, only more awesome, and evidently more dangerous. (link for rss)

    // posted by Rufus @ 5:06 pm 0 Comments

    Wednesday, June 20, 2007

    A List of Places I've Been, Where There Were Subsequently Disasters, That Might Have Endangered My Life, Had I Been There Later

    1. The World Trade Centre
    2. Big Thunder Mountain
    3. The Lantau Cable Car

    I rode this cable car in December, and it looked newer, better maintained, and safer than any cable car in the Alps. Appearances deceptive etc etc. The Tian Tan buddha is certainly worth the trip, being the World's Tallest Outdoor Seated Buddha. It's 34 metres high, just bigger than Christ the Redeemer, so it ought to have made the cut, on this list of the Top 10 Highest Monuments.

    // posted by Rufus @ 3:23 pm 0 Comments

    Home to roost.

    I'm back to London, but not really back to blogging, because I have so much to catch up. Three quick links I missed while I was away:

  • First ep of the Ill Doctrine vlog.

  • Long New Yorker story on the controveries in linguistics regarding the Piraha tribe.

  • The tautological joy of godless dollars.

    • // posted by Rufus @ 12:24 am 0 Comments

    Thursday, June 07, 2007

    Links for 07/06/07

  • Interesting Harvard designed test assessing implicit racism. I "failed" miserably, with a strong automatic preference for white people over black people.

  • I'm sure I'm 3 months late with this: Google Video / Google Maps mashup of cult short film Le Rendez-vous. (via)

  • Photoshopped photos of french people french kissing themselves. (via)

    • // posted by Rufus @ 12:55 pm 0 Comments

    Wednesday, June 06, 2007

    2012 Logo vs Saved By The Bell


    // posted by Rufus @ 1:11 pm 0 Comments

    Tuesday, June 05, 2007

    Links for 05/06/07

  • The Explainer explain why mafia hitmen abandon their weapons at the scene of the crime.

  • An animated map showing the paths of human migration and settlement over the last 160,000 years. Much more complex and counter-intuitive than I expected. Not sure how robust all the data are.

  • Must know terms for the 21st century, an excellent list of concepts that preoccupy modern futurologists. (via).

  • Book of the month? Naked Girls Smoking Weed. NSFW, and therefore probably NSFCT (coffee table).

  • Two portmanteaus are my Words of the Day: talibangelist and isobarbarian. The latter is a Johnathan Meades neologism to describe angry weather fronts.

    • // posted by Rufus @ 5:42 pm 0 Comments

    Monday, June 04, 2007

    Links for 04/05/07

  • Exploring the Massive, Viscous Oil Blob That Lies Just Beneath the Streets of Greenpoint. At first glance I thought this was an article about hipsters, but it's actually about a century old ongoing environmental disaster engulfing 55 acres of Brooklyn.

  • The bestest Tower Defense yet? Can't start playing until I finish a massive backlog of work. (via)

  • Some unfinished David Foster-Wallace. Via crazymonk, who also link to some funny recent DFW interview excerpts on Youtube..

    • // posted by Rufus @ 10:08 pm 0 Comments

    Sunday, June 03, 2007

    Links for 3/6/07

  • Crazy Mammoths is a good single player game, but it's fantastic multi-player.

  • Total rave for Damien Hirst's new show from Waldemar Januszczak. It features a £50M diamond encrusted skull described as "most ambitious piece of British jewellery since the crown jewels".

  • Kobayashi's unbeatable hot dog eating record has fallen to a relative newcomer Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, profiled last year in the SF Chronicle.

    • // posted by Rufus @ 7:47 pm 0 Comments

    "What would you change in your life?"


    Best Channel 4 promo yet.

    // posted by Rufus @ 6:22 pm 0 Comments

    Grow Your Own House


    A two story wattle and daub treehouse made using the living tree as the wattle. Via popsci.

    // posted by Rufus @ 5:47 pm 0 Comments

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