So there's this thing called The Facebook. It's like any other social networking site, except it's been designed exclusively for students. In order to gain membership you must have an email account from a participating institution. After that little hazing, it's really no different than Friendster (except perhaps for the slightly less-than-overwhelming number of Asians). Boring right? Well there is every once in a while, a glint of brilliance from the mound of crap that is the Internet. In this case it takes the form of a dedication to one of Hip Hop's premier icons. Needless to say I am exceedingly proud that my brother is a member of this special collective. The photo below is proof that you can still 'find the funny' on the web.

Here we have another installment of the STAFF COMMUNICATION LOG:

27 APR 05 The ducks swim calmly, but the elderly whine endlessly about water temperatures. Nevermind all that shit though, because the wolves are growling deep in my stomach...they're hungry for blood...Los Charros blood. I'll fight with my fists and fingernails until the fools at the bar of genius have had their fill. God help me, and God help Harold.

This entry should have been longer, as the day featured multiple attacks from the elderly, and those sort of things are always deserving of extreme detail.

Joss Whedon made a fantastic show a while back called Firefly. This show was a brilliant space cowboy serial with the classic dialogue flair that is Whedon's trademark from Buffy and Angel. Firefly was picked up by Fox, and in predictable Fox fashion, they fcuked the show sideways. The episodes were aired out of order, with the character/story-establishing pilot last. And let's not forget that Firefly's time-slot jumped around quicker than a coked up squirrel. Well the show managed to make it to DVD even after Fox put the final nail in the television coffin, and the sales were so successful and the audience outcry so loud, Whedon managed to role up the show to feature courtesy of Universal. 100% of the cast was retained, and the story-line looks to pick up where the serial left off. So everyone get psyched for 30 September. It feels good to know that they'll be another shot in the arm for the sci-fi geeks after EP3 slaps us all silly. Watch the trailer.

I'm currently life-guarding an empty pool, and thus I am confronted with doing menial tasks like taking phone messages and checking the membership cards of the elderly. While I sit here in the guard hut, I casually page through the STAFF COMMUNICATION LOG. Such a big name really doesn't do justice to the purple-backed spiral notebook, which seems to be full of things like, "...pool needs to be vacuumed...sit facing the pool...PM guards turn off the locker room heaters!" As you can see, this is extremely important information and all us guards do well to read it daily. It should also be obvious that I felt compelled to add my own moments of wisdom and reflection to this log, so without further ado I give you a peek inside the Greenmeadow STAFF COMMUNICATION LOG:

26 APR 05 LIKE horatio alger, i came west to this place in search of something magical...something terrifying. Anything this pool could offer would be an improvement over the oppressive state of heat and mexico that is mountain view. WAS i wrong to think my demons would leave me at the border?! foolish to pin my hopes of psychological peace on a little sunscreen and the acrid smell of chlorine and duckshit? and the lawn chairs on the concrete like groups of silly polish supermodels on ecstasy, lying around mocking authority...even decency. BUT as if by papal decry, pecan pie smiles at me from inside the cold tundra of the refrigerator. someone's fork, still crusted with pieces of a final bite before death, is a useless defense as i tear through the nutty goodness and run into the light once more...

So over the last 48 hours, PDN and I have seen The Wildbunch twice! Wednesday at San Francisco's Independent was the scene of the first show, and it was fantastic. When Goober and the Carrots were done with their set they broke down their own gear, which earned them some serious points. Then While the other Cure rip-off act played, we got to talk to Dick Valentine, as well as get his autograph and the signatures of him and the guitarist of The Sex Stars of 1977. Yesterday we got in the car in Mountain View after fueling, oiling, and soaping up PDN's Scoobie wagon and hit 101 south like a ton of bricks aimed straight for The Street Girls. Hours later we dropped the car in UCLA and caught a cab to El Rey theater (that's Spanish for 'The Rey.') on Wilshire. Inside we met ESJ and her friend right before Mutual of Omaha's Wildbunch fired up their axes. The second show was amazing, with the same fantastic on-stage antics as the previous night. Black Guy played their hearts out, and after mentioning the next night's gig in San Juan Capistrano, Detroit Pythons played a 2.5 song encore to close out the night. All told it was one of the most entertaining nights in Rock n' Roll history. Fuxedo is one of the greatest acts of their time.

Unrealized Soviet architecture from 1930-1950. My father is headed to Moscow next week, so this is both timely and fascinating. Kenmore HE4T washer and dryer. 23 large bath towels at once! Yamaha electric scooter. Little bastard weighs 100 pounds, goes 25 miles, and has a built in iPod dock, amp, and speakers! More info here. Trent Reznor has released a GarageBand 2.0 version of The Hand That Feeds. If you think remixes and mash-ups are rampant now, wait until we get whole albums like this. Australian developer created Chaos, an OpenMosix application that harnesses spare network CPU cycles to crack passwords ;)

This picture is a little small, so you'll have to click on it to see the larger version: Some guys have all the luck. Then again, I'm not sure I want this sort of luck.

Live from Greenmeadow

Glad to say I mastered GPRS modem functionality with the V600 and I'm online poolside. Bring on the super-slow porn browsing! Listening: One Way Ticket To Paradise

"Get Perpendicular"

I laughed, I cried, I danced, I learned something. This film should be mandatory viewing for new MP3 player owners. It explains beautifully why data corruption is something that, "just happens." Watch the movie from Hitachi!

Looks like my idea of $2s and $20s isn't so smart

AnandTech - More proof that Best Buy is actually "Worst Buy": Man arrested for paying in $2 bills:

PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta's place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher's car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta's idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too. For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest...

Google Fights a Cat!!

Google Fight. Pit search results against each other to see what is the more popular search string. Perfect Quake levels at hyper speed. Absurd what some people choose to document in with their time. Disneyland in Lego. I wonder if there's a Lego Club 33? Design without reach...for the your next apartment. Great art from a guy named Shawn Wolfe. Hard to really explain this stuff, it just looks great. Kaneda's motorcycle...soon to be mine motorcycle. I'd kill to rock this thing down Alma.

R.I.P. Funny Muthafcuka

Mitch Hedberg died on Wednesday, and it totally didn't make it across my radar until just now. I would have gone to sleep if I hadn't seen this on Serg's profile (thanks big man). Hedberg had fantastic sketchy delivery of wonderfully original material. His observations were fantastic, and his shaggy hair made him look like the Johnny Depp of standup. And here I thought only people I didn't really care for were dying.

Stanford Links Day ??

I'm giving up on keeping track of how many days I've worked here, so from here on out these posts will have random names (or perhaps none at all): Specialized Sirrus Sport. Put a deposit down on this bad boy yesterday. Looking forward to getting out on the asphalt and learning to fly. Junro XEN men's accessories. If anyone feels like hookin' a brutha up with some links and clips, I promise I won't object. Icon magazine's 21 most influential. Great list of things affecting the modern design landscape. Rock and roll. Change the NBA forever. Hey you dipshits trying desperately to psyche out people at the line. Swing your balloons in unison and you'll do far more damage.

Stanford Links Day Three

Preview of new Morcheeba album. Very exciting to see influence from Aphex Twin and My Bloody Valentine making it to record through one of my favorite groups. Morcheeba is a rare band that's been able to transcend Trip-Hop. Jesus Is Magic trailer. Sarah Silverman is the funniest woman working today. She's the hot, jewish David Cross UPDATE: Swords has pointed out to me that in all likelyhood David Cross is jewish, and thus Sarah Silverman is just the hot David Cross. If you think I'd actually research that enough to be spot on, well you just don't know me very well. LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. There's something sort of sick about paying to clean yourself with something someone else made by hand. I'd rather invest in having someone wash me directly ;) Dust To Glory. A film about, "a 24 hour plane crash," a.k.a. The Baja 1000. I just watched the last Dana Brown documentary tonight, and that was simply because I couldn't see this one yet. More rants soon, I promise.