Dinner for One

I was going to post something else, but then I got reminded of the German New Years tradition of watching "Dinner for One."

For those of you who don't know German don't worry, the video is in English, (and I don't mean dubbed). It was recorded in Hamburg originally although it stars two British actors, and strangely enough it is almost unknown in the United Kingdom.

The premise is simple Mrs. Sophie has a dinner party every year, but as time went on the guests all passed away. Now her butler James impersonates them all rather then let tradition die, unfortunately (or fortunately if you like humor) this requires James to drink all the guests alcohol. Add in one horribly placed Tiger skin rug, and well you'll see.

So let your self be a little international this year and give "Dinner for One" a chance.

Also here is an article explaining the details of the video more in depth.

Vaguely technological related post

Some of my more eagle-eyed guests may have noticed I made mention yesterday of the next post being about PSA's. That post will happen once I can find a couple of ones I'm having trouble locating. For today we have some news that are all related to technology.

The Library of Congress wants to start streaming movies online. Sounds good to me.

The secret methods of progress bars...and I don't mean this place

Finally just sit back and enjoy The Beauty of Pixar.

Thanks for your time, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Fun videos and an important message

I wanted to give you guys some fun stuff to look at today. There's this guy on YouTube, JamesAtWar, and he's pretty awesome. Seems like a cool, geeky dude. Check out his YouTube channel here. It's full of hilarious parody songs and some of his own originals. There's also some parody songs that have a bit more depth and meaning, so it's not all fun and games. But seriously people, check these out:

Harry Potter - Parody of Train's Hey Soul Sister



A Dexter Omage: I Just Haven't Killed You Yet - Parody of Michael Buble's I Just Haven't Met You Yet



And finally, a song about fame and how it can become a plague on our society. It's cool to admire someone because you like their work or they do good things for others or they're just genuine or genuinely nice. But it's not okay to obsess about someone to the point of losing yourself. Being an individual is what makes you interesting - so be unique, just be uniquely you.

Celebrity - Parody of Owl City's Fireflies



Happy viewing!

People called Romanes they go the house

In 1979 Monty Python gave a humorous lesson in Latin.

I think this joke maybe having a resurgence. (Don't call it a comeback Monty Python has been here for years.) From Fallout: New Vegas to Champions League Soccer. (Who says Germans don't have a sense of humor?)

I'll be back with a longer post tomorrow.

My dog is an angry racist

I think my dog might be a racist. This past Christmas, spoiled little thing that she is, she received several presents. My husband and I bought her Christmas-y ones: a red squeaky bone that has snowflakes on it and a red, green and white rope toy. Rope toys are about the only thing she can't tear up in half a day, so we thought those were good choices. She also received gifts from my roommates mom ( a green sock monkey), my mother in law (a black stretchy dog), and my boss's dog (a squeaky bear). Why my boss's dog got my dog a present is beyond me.

Anyways, my dog barely glanced at the toys we gave her. First, she wanted to play with bear. Bear happened to be an American Kennel Club toy and she had him tore up within an few hours, so he had to be laid to rest. But I thought 'Good for her, tear up that snobby toy'.

Next, it was sock monkey, and sock monkey is British. You can tell by the accent he has when my husband brings him out for the dog. At first it was 'oh a toy' and she was happy just to run around and chase sock monkey. However, when the accent came out she went crazy, biting him all over and tugging on him trying to pull his legs off. It was a hard time for sock monkey. Eventually she tore a hole in his back and started pulling out his stuffing, so he had to be hospitalized until reconstructive surgery can be scheduled.

Now she's moved her terrifying jaws of death to black dog. So far black dog has held up nicely, so I have some hope that maybe my dog has finally met her match. I'm cheering for you black dog.

And all you Brits out there - watch out for Dixie.

Why Germany thinks we're crazy.

I spent three years in Germany with the U.S. Army, one thing that was surprising was how often Germans would come up and ask our opinions on issues that were unfolding in America. Honestly most of the time they were more well informed then most American's I knew.

So it shouldn't have been any form of surprise when I got back and was annoyed at the apathy I found. No one followed the news, and no one seemed to be trying to influence anything for the better.

This article summarizes a lot of the feelings I felt in 2003, even if it is dealing with issues of 2010/2011. Yes I know it's not identical, but it's the closest I've found in resent years, even if I don't agree with it fully.

See you tomorrow.

Hopefully with a much more cheerful post.

Holidays, New and Old

I was going to make mention of the fact Kwanzaa and Boxing Day were yesterday, but I forgot to include it in yesterday's Link Dump post.

Happy Boxing Day everyone.

I have yet to nail down when these next two holidays exactly are but I think these will catch on soon.

They are Apathy Day and Sophisticus

As far as funny things for Kwanzaa...yeah I got nothing. I guess it's fair in a weird way. I didn't post anything for our Jewish friends who celebrate Hanukkah, but they're probably sick of Adam Sandler anyway.

There's nothing like link dump for the holidays.

Dr. Who's season started yesterday with their annual Christmas episode. So to celebrate the Doctor's return here is What happens when geekdoms collide.

New Years resolutions are coming up and I'm pretty sure one of mine is to never end up on one of Failblog's the worst of the year videos.

Burglars break in to a house tie up the woman who's there, and then let her free when they find out who her husband is.

Rumored Choices for casting of Roland in Dark Tower. Can't they just digitally de-age Clint Eastwood and be done with it?

The future of beer serving. Hopefully soon it will serve actual beer instead of beer flavored water.

US Soccer star Landon Donovan files for divorce. What's weird about this is he's asking for alimony. I'm told this is because she makes more money then he does. Although they have no kids. I also cannot confirm their net worths.

A while back we reported about the Army wanting to give every soldier a smartphone, here's one soldier it can't get here quick enough for. AT&T hands soldier $16,000 phone bill. At&T has decided to credit the bill, so that's been taken care of, but still an important story.

In case you are still confused...Why Net Neutrality is important.

New Steampunk movie called 1884. Will be a mixture of CGI and puppetry. The trailer at the link is just of test footage, the final edit would look better.

Rep. Barney Frank answers questions about the Don't ask, Don't tell repeal. If you don't watch this whole video at least watch to the 1:00 minute mark.

Rep. Barney Frank lets the world know there is a Secret Homosexual Agenda. ZOMG!!

Christmas in a galaxy far, far away....

No I'm not posting a link to the Star Wars Holiday special. I want people to continue reading this blog.

The Star Wars Special they should have made. Finally a movie that answers why Darth Vader's handwriting looks suspiciously like Santa's.

Have a great Christmas, I'll see you tomorrow.

Christmas? Christmas!

Stolen from Uncle Tom How to Deal with Zombies on the Holidays.

And since the holidays are here, it's almost time for the Dr. Who Christmas episode.

News, politics, and other words that make people's eye glaze over

Don't Ask Don't Tell repealed. I've been waiting to post this until the paperwork was actually signed. That happened last night, so let me tell you a quick story. Years ago when I was in the Army, I saw several people get kicked out of the army on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". I saw several people who were hard workers and good soldiers get discharged just for being gay. Meanwhile several lazy or incompetent soldier stayed in the entirety of their contracts and got out with an honorable discharge.

People have asked "But won't they be a distraction?" I doubt it. It didn't distract us when we knew who was gay or straight. We got the job done and for the most part we respected each other.

So if you'll excuse me I'm going to go crack open a beer for my friends who got kicked out of the army, and for the fact their fate shouldn't happen to anymore decent soldiers.

SMART Treaty and 9/11 First Responders Bill get through Congress.

Teenage Pregnancies hit a low.

Wait, Pat Robertson wants marijuana decriminalized? Did I go to another dimension, do I have to grow a goatee now?

Pilot films TSA checkpoints, points out flaws, and posts it to Youtube. You can bet the TSA are not happy about this.

Things for your bedroom

While searching for a really awesome dinosaur bed/tent that I had when I was a kid I found this page. I've got to admit the Murphy TARDIS bed would be better if it were not a twin bed.

Also thanks to James...Eva Mendes' s.ex tape. If its on here you can assume it's not what you assume it is.

When I find that awesome dino tent-bed I'll post it. See you later.

Net Neutrality?

So the FCC ordered Net Neutrality instituted. However people on both sides aren't happy with it.

One side says it will hurt businesses and gives consumers too much power.

The other side says it has "too many loopholes", the rules "fall far short of what they could have been", also it is being called "Fake Net Neutrality".

Sorry I don't have more time to flesh this out for you, but you can read an article on it here. I knew this was going to be our news for the day, and I was hoping it would have been annonced a little sooner, so I could write up more before work.

Well see you tomorrow.

Webcomics!

Mondays kinda suck for most people, so here's a little pick me up: Webcomics! Or, more correctly, Ginger's favorite webcomics:

Questionable Content. Nothing really questionable about this content, except for maybe Pintsize. But it's mostly funny, sometimes sad. Pretty much an 'everyday life' sort of comic. Only more awesome. Updates every weekday.

Eerie Cuties. A chocolate addicted vampire? A shy succubus? A tomboy medusa? What!?! Updates Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

Girls with Slingshots. Also an 'everyday life' sort of comic. Has a more even ratio of male to female characters than QC, but focuses more on the two 'title' female characters. Also awesome. Updates every weekday.

Candi. An everyday life/college story. Light and sweet, good for laughs. Updates Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.

Punch n' Pie. Another 'everyday life' comic. Interesting characters, heavy female interest. Much more realistic plot than some comics. Updates Tuesday, Thursday.

School Bites. Cool art, a monster school, music influence and secret romance. What's not to love? Updates Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

Hope you enjoy these and happy Monday!

Total eclipse of the...moon.

In case you hadn't heard there will be an eclipse tonight starting at 11:27pm central time. Keep in mind that's only the very beginning of it. The total eclipse will last from 1:40am to 2:53am with the total eclipse happening at 2:17am central time (so if you work second shift like me this is perfect.) The last traces of eclipse will be at 5:06 central time. So if your an early riser for work, or you have insomnia, then you can see the end as well.

This will be only the 2nd total lunar eclipse to happen since the beginning of the common era (the birth of Christ/1AD.) I assume they found this out by asking Doc Brown*.

You can get more information then you ever needed from Wikipedia or NASA.

As I mentioned I'll be up due to work so we may have some pictures to post tomorrow.

This post seems kind of short so to tie things together here's something silly in related news.

*By the way the good doctor is supposed to be part of an announcement on the 22nd.

The weekly Link Dump lives on

Stolen from Liz, Dear University Alumni Office

Christmas is coming up, and this is probably the closest your going to get to Christmas themed links.Potter Puppet Pals Christmas Cards.

The Wii Didn't Start the Fire. Stolen from Courtney, because it's awesome.

More on wikileaks, and why it's important.

Bundesliga is the best league evidently. Cool.

An article I wish I would have found when it was new.America finds it's soccer culture in South Africa.

Sports from around the world.

Yeah I know my last post was about politics and this post is about sports. And this is supposed to be a geek blog now. The sports thing will eventually make sense, and as far as politics go...somebody has to keep an eye on that stuff, it may not be fun but it's important (if only so you know who to vote out when the time comes.) Also we're in a transitional phase here, so bear with me. Thanks for your patience.

From Germany: Stuttgart wins the 1st German National Roller Derby Championship. They've only been playing this sport for 4 years and there's already a national champion? Hey America time to get on the ball.

From Qatar: World Cup maybe moved to Winter in 2022. From the World Cup that is being dubbed "The FAIL that keeps on giving". So when in Qatar Don't be gay, don't be drunk (outside the stadium), don't be improperly dressed (if your female), we may need our neighbors to help us pull this off, and now they might not be able to get the climate controlled stadiums they promised? Might I suggest that if they can't get it together we just move the event to America.

UPDATE: I realized after I wrote this I should specify why a winter world cup is a problem. The problem is that a winter world cup will disrupt Europe's leagues (I'm not sure about other continents.) Granted they do have 12 years to deal with this problem and the others I mentioned above, but it seems like this wasn't thought all the way through when FIFA voted on who would host the World Cup.

From Canada: In 1995 Quebec lost a hockey team, 1100 fans of this team invaded New York last week in order to send a message that they would like a team again. You can read the aftermath here.

Not bad though a team that hasn't existed in 15 year getting 1100 people to go to another country for a single game. Especially when the game is being played by two teams who can't seem to draw a crowd to save their teams. (This statement maybe literal quite soon.)

Keeping with hockey, two goals that will make you say. Holy Crap.

Oh yeah tommorow is the last batch of games in European soccer until the new year so if you want to see some games go to ESPN3 (even if the games are too early for you, you can watch them on replay all weekend.) See you tomorrow.

Politics...again, but I don't want leftovers.

We have a new poster at Geek Streak so please welcome Ginger Wright her first post (that went up yesterday) can be viewed here

A bill to provide help to the first responders of Ground Zero killed in Congress...because tax cuts for the wealthy were more important. Here's a recap from the Daily Show. First Responders Debacle.

In the continuing wikileaks saga, Julian Assange's bail is posted by...spins wheel...Michael Moore sure, why not?

Pitching to the dogs

In the spirit of giving, here's a story to warm your heart: White Soxs pitcher Mark Buehrle stepped up to pay veterinary bills for a stray dog this week after reading the dog's story on facebook. The dog, Shelby, was found in Godfrey IL this past week with a hunting arrow though her side. Shelby's vet bills are currently at $3000 and still climbing. Buehrle also volunteers with Midwestern Dogs and started a monthly adoption progam for U.S. strays called "Soxs for Strays". I know $3000 is not a lot for a major league pitcher who makes $14 million a year, but I do know that would be a lot to me. I'm happy there are people out there who have the money to make a major difference and are actually doing it.

Don't make major league money but still want to help? Your local animal shelter is always in need of supplies - pet food, pet beds, toys, animal friendly cleaning supplies, examination gloves, blankets, leashes and collars are great ideas and very inexpensive. No donation is too small! Shelters are almost always looking for volunteers too, so if you have time - donate it.

News?!?

Pair of superheroes calls it quits. Nerds and Geeks (of all genders and persuasions) looking to pair up with these two.

FIFA says that come 2022 homosexuals need to go be gay somewhere else.

Meanwhile in serious news.
German scientists may have cured HIV with stem cells.

Reasons to Stay in the Army?

On the old blog I used to have a section called Reason not to re-enlist, here is a reversal of that trend...maybe.

Monday the army announced that they would be giving ever soldier a smart phone. The soldiers either get their choice of an iPhone or an Android phone. And they are going to pay for the unlimited data plan. Wow!

Well that's cool and all, but my question to the army, and our government in general is why? Maybe it's for morale, maybe it's so it will be easier for the army to communicate with their unit. But in a time when the armed services are taking a pay freeze, and nobody seems to have a good answer on how to reduce our deficit, spending like this seems to be confusing at best.

We may soon be having posts more like this and less link dumps soon. Let me know what your opinions are.

Not safe for..

A quick post because I don't have much time. On a positive note, we've finish Christmas shopping.

This link not safe for people who are afraid of heights.Russian bungee jump.

This link is not safe for Blu team.Sentry gun from TF2 created.

Things Nobody Wants

It wouldn't be the Christmas season if people weren't putting together lists of horrible presents...that said this list is amazingly bad.

Nobody wanted to play in the Metrodome this weekend. I wonder...HOLY! You'd think someone would have expected Minnesota to get a lot of snow and built accordingly.

I was going to save this for a sports related post, (it'll be coming up later) but I decided these work better with today's theme. Sports jerseys no one wants to wear. I think I would ask for more money if I had to wear either of these, or get traded. Our first example is a holdiay jersey for the Florida Everblades a minor league hockey team. At least this thing only comes out once a year.

This sick dog is the year round jersey for a Parisian Rugby Team. It's hard to be a tough Frenchman, so sign up for Rugby, then we'll make sure no one will take you serious by putting you in a Pink and Blue Leopard Print jersey. Also WHO PAYS 100 EUROES FOR THIS? This is an enlargeable picture of the French Rugby teams jersey.

Sunday link drop

Coming soon Time to Make the Donuts might change its format. So keep your eyes peeled.

Evidently someone dug up Bea Arthur's records from the military.Evidently she was a truck driver for the Marines. I'm not going to lie, I'll be kind of pissed if this turns out to be fake.

Even Batman was upset at some of the plot points in Dark Knight. Stick with this video it gets funnier towards the end.

Evidently some people can't walk across snow.

Electromagnetic Canon? Check. Firing something 110 miles without gunpowder? Check. Technology that one day maybe used to get us into space without rocket fuel? Check.

States labeled as the country their GDP is closest too. Oh look Qatar is represented. *Shakes fist at Qatar*

By the way, Fifa is okay with Qatar's neighbors hosting a few games. But I'm not bitter or anything.

Your WTF for the Month. They're made out of meat. This movie is based of this short story. And yes that is the guy from Cash Cab.

Woman documents her child's birth on facebook, unfortunately she also documented her own death.

UPDATE: Due to a mistake this was posted wrong Dr. Who book for children. Not actually a real product.

Revenge of the follow up

Ron Paul gives a speech defending Wikileaks. More then worth the price of admission.

A summery of what was released by wikileaks. Be prepared for a lot of this guy, this thing.

Asia?

So South Korea has a new weapon

New automated Robotic Turret Gun.

You can read a short interview with the inventor here.

So far North Korea, Joanna Dark, GlaDOS and ohters have refused to comment.

Oh and while were on Asia.The Taiwanese animators show us the latest on Wikileaks.

Odds and Ends.

Derezzed by Daft Punk.

More on what to get nerds for Christmas, all 11 Doctors as action figures.

Wikileaks in the comic book world.

One step closer to the Minority Report Computer. Hacked Kinect makes for an awesome mouse.

Epic
Rap
Battles of History.
For those of you who ever wondered who would win a rap battle Vader vs Hitler, Chuck Norris vs Abe Lincoln, John Lennon Vs Bill O'Reily.

Well for some reason Blogger is having trouble with this link. So here is the link you should read

Wikileaks vs the World.

The internet, for more then porn...sometimes.

We'll start off with out silly links and move to the more serious.

A map that shows what Google Autocomplete thinks of your state.

Software piracy, even the Vatican is in to it.

An article dealing with last weekend cartoon character craze. Well hopefully the NSPCC will get some good press out of this at least.