Tainted Donuts (Shakkazombie)

Song: Shiroi Yami no Naka (The White Shark)
Sung by: Shakkazombie
Anime: Trigun vs. Cowboy Bebop

The popular (and nearly seamless) mashup of Cowboy Bebop and Trigun characters and their premises. Two great tastes that go great together.

Free Bird (Kō Ōtani)

Song: Free Bird
Composed by: Kō Ōtani
Anime: Haibane Renmei

Trans Am (Lyrics & Video)

Lyrics:

Trans Am
Take me
Away.

Doesn't have to be far:
Skirt of the town or just circle around.
But fast,
Let's go fast.

One hour.
I was one hour late.
And I paid.
No exceptions made,
From a boss with a boss with line so bottom it's sad.

Square one welcomes
Me back.
Square one welcomes
Me back.

Trans Am
Take me
Away,

Where the light starts fading,
And darkness erases potential I've wasted.

Overdue.
Another payment late
And a part of me harbors a wish that they'd
Just come get it over with,
Take it all away.

Square one welcomes
Me back.
Square one welcomes
Me back.

This is not a great escape.
No miles to go.
No distance gained.

Foreground bends to let me by.
It knows I won't leave it behind.
The streets are wide that once stood still.
The highway signs blend with the hills.
The window frames the gentle blur
In all that is and things that were.

Ooooo....
Ooooo....

Trans Am
Take me
Away.

Doesn't have to be far:
Skirt of the town or just circle around.
But fast,
Let's go fast.

Trans Am
Nathan

(Emphasis mine.)



Video:

Obtain Bearing (Obokuri-Eemui)

Song: Obtain Bearing (Obtain Bearing)
Sung by: Ikue Asazaki
Anime: Samurai Champloo

Part 1 of the "I always liked this anime song/video" series. Ones I might want to remember some day.

Shark In The Water (VV Brown)

Via Dirty Russia.

Indian sitting style chair

The work of Darshan Nerkar. A chair designed for styles of sitting presumably common to India.

Aside from filling a cultural-posture niche, I personally think I'd find this chair comfortable and useful given the ways I tend to sit.


Via Core77.

Morning Glory Clouds

Weird, linear cloud formations, mainly found in part of part of Australia.

Details of this weather phenomena available at wikipedia.


Via Dirty Russia.

Isn't That What Friends Are For

You're as loved as you were before the strangeness swept through our bodies, our houses, our streets.
When we could speak without codes, lights swirled around like windblown petals at our feet.

I've been scraping little shavings off my ration of light, and I formed it into a ball. And each time I pack a bit more onto it.

And I make a bowl of my hands and I scoop it from it's secret cache under a loose board in the floor
And blow across it,
And I send it to you
Against the moments when the darkness blows under your door.

- Bruce Cocburn

Radiation Kings (Band)

Unfortunately all their video is pretty badly shot live stuff. But always loved this song:

Come Down

More music on their Myspace page. Not so much with the videos though.

Camera Obscura (Band)

If Looks Could Kill

Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken

Eighties Fan

More at the official website.

Sita Sings the Blues

Full version online.

Source files.


Via Boing Boing.

Plastic from castor beans

A form of apparently pretty useful plastic can be obtained from the oil in castor beans.

Note to self: If I have my druthers (and the material is applicable) specify this sort of renewable hydrocarbon source for future projects.

What Women Want in Gadget Design

The original article by Priya Ganapati is relatively unhelpful, devoting most of it's focus on the fact that most women don't just want pink sparkly things. The bit about what women actually do want is pretty much summed up as:

Real women want stylish products. They want products that are fashionable, competitively priced and easy to use.

Apparently a variety of (non-pink) colors is also appealing.

However, commenter "thorn" provided some more specific and useful design criteria:

i’m female, and prefer my stuff to look cool, and maybe a little bit rugged. i might be seen in a pink blouse, but will not be seen with a pink gadget. gadgets become obsolete quickly, it is true, but they are things that i will be staring at a *lot*. i therefore prefer sleek lines, but neutral colors (black. silver. army green.). my gadgets also tend to get knocked around a bit, so ‘not too shiny’ (which will become dull or get scratched), and no painted plastic of any kind (because paint gets scratched and/or wears off). also: i choose my gadgets according to these criteria in this order: 1. functionality and ease of use. 2. form design. then — once i’ve chosen my device — i pick the least-offensive color from among the choices offered. (this is also how i choose my glasses frames, in case anyone out there cares.)

Seems like a good set of parameters to keep in mind.


Via Core 77.

Excerpt from Adaptation

KAUFMAN: I admire you, Donald, y'know? I spend my whole life paralyzed worrying what people think of me and you - you're just oblivious.

DONALD: I'm not oblivious.

KAUFMAN: No, you don't understand. I say that as a compliment. I really do.

There was this time in high school. I was watching you out the library window. You were talking to Sarah Marsh.

DONALD: Oh, God. I was so in love with her.

KAUFMAN: I know. And you were flirting with her. And she was really sweet to you.

DONALD: I remember that.

KAUFMAN: Then when you walked away, she started making fun of you with Kim Canetti.

It was like they were laughing at me.

You didn't know at all. You seemed so happy.

DONALD: I knew. I heard them.

KAUFMAN: How come you looked so happy?

DONALD: I loved Sarah, Charles. It was mine, that love. I owned it. Even Sarah didn't have the right to take it away. I can love whoever I want.

KAUFMAN: She thought you were pathetic.

DONALD: That was her business, not mine. You are what you love, not what loves you. That's what I decided a long time ago.

Adaptation
by Charlie & Donald Kaufman

Legend of Zelda Tunes

Legend of Zelda Medley
Sung, shot, and edited by Diwa de Leon
A capella voices and violin.

Wind Waker Unplugged
Fredde Gredde

MP3 here.

Cello Rondo - Ethan Weiner

The artist's website.

MP3 of the piece.

Like U Crazy - Mates of State

Man I love this song. And the video.


Official site.

Song meanings stab at it.

Swords & Wizardry

"Old School" gaming kind of intrigues me. I love the trappings, the sketchy artwork, the sketchy, gritty artwork, "kitchen sink" monsterous compendiums, how the original authors were just trying to throw in random stuff they thought was cool, whatever house-rule mechanic they thought would best model a concept.

I haven't looked over Swords & Wizardry enough to know if it captures all of that (they claim to be an old-D&D clone, so that's that). But at very least their cover art really does it for me.

Personally these days I'm more interested in the idea of playing small, elegant, generic systems which are easily customizable. But for ideas and ambiance I still look to the classics.

Swords & Wizardry Core Rules

Swords & Wizardry White Box


Via The Dice of Life.

Nick Vuijicic

Nick Vuijicic has no arms or legs (mostly). It seems there are a fair number of folks with some disability who will emphasize that difficulties in life aren't the end of the world.

But I was just impressed with the cut of this guy's jib in particular. His authenticity, humor and the way he comes across.

The Tor - Map

This map is a plug-and-play piece of setting, intended for use with various roleplaying-games.

Personally though I'm just intrigued by the design and the lone, free-standing nature of the "stone tower" in the setting. It's solitary nature seems mysterious and makes me want to know more about it's history and origins. I wonder if there's a similar structure anywhere in the real world.

Link to product website here.

My Humps - Morissette version

Alanis Morissette - MY HUMPS from Alanis Morissette

Original Black Eyed Peas version here.

Papercraft Necromancer

Free here.

Car Rental Advice

Types of car insurance, etc.

Link here.

The Wall House

An ungainly but beautiful combination of traditional building and tent.

More at FAR.

Y colorín colorado, este cuento se ha acabado...

"Y colorín colorado, este cuento se ha acabado," has been a favorite phrase since I learned it in Spanish class lo' those many years ago.

More details on it can be found here.

One variant I've come up with, which would be great if it occurred to me to use in the correct context would be:

"Y colorín colorado, este baño esta ocupado."

Ice Cream: Oatmeal Stout & Heath Bar flavor

Recipee for oatmeal stout and heath bar flavored ice cream.

Boing Boing link.

Geodesic Greenhouse

Basically an article pointing out instructions on how to build a geodesic dome for growing vegetables in cold climates.

Boing Boing link.

Build Your Own Paper Robots

On sale at Amazon.com.

Via Boing Boing.

Folsom Prison Blues - The Cowsills

This is a good song and these guys do a pretty good rendition of it. But the thing I really love about this video is how much fun and enthusiasm the girl on the guitar seems to be showing.

Via Bedazzled! Via Boing Boing.

Joker's Daughter - Lucid

Via Dirty Russia.