Mom: "So, what do you want for Chistmas?"

Kafkaesquí: "I want to reach the highest level of intelligence and self-awareness. I want the ability to fully discern right from wrong, truth from deception. I want to see things as they are without prejudice or subjectivity. I want to know how to bypass the false, irrelevant, and corrupt. I want total consciousness."

Mom: "I can't afford it this year. How about that new Tom Clancy novel?"

 
I've always believed that listening to Barry Manilow can lead to insanity. Now I have proof!

 
Has anyone noticed that an anagram for "blogging" is "glib gong?" Even worse, "weblogging" gets you "egg bowling." This means something!

 
I went shopping for a xmas gift to you all, but as I'm short on cash this year, this will have to suffice.

(Delivered by way of Tom Cheng. Needs Flash stuff to view; and it's close to 3 megs in size, so dial-uppers may want to assume it's cute and just move along.)

 

"Beer chan is a beer fairy!! Barm on its head come off when it gets surprised. Eating Green soybeans faster is its specialty."

Yikes. Actually, I'm a fan of this little guy:


"Chibi Beer chan is too young to drink and wants to grow up to drink these days."

Get 'em while they're young, Chibi Beer chan!

(Gulped down from Tom Tomorrow.)

 
First, baby Jesus gets pinched, and now Santa! Will Christmas never come?!

 
His excuse? There was no room at the inn.

 
*sniff sniff* - Mr. Cerf?

 
It's kind of sad when you begin to like a new music artist, and then you read something about them that immediately puts you off. Yep, kind of sad, all right.

 
I hope they're working on a film script. Suggestion for title: Unsolicited Evil.

 
Robert over on Notes from Pure Land Mountain notes that Americans make their zeros starting at the top; Japanese start at the bottom (this is the post of long links).

Sorry to screw up your facts Robert, but one American starts his zeros at center left (which sometimes make them look like a dyspeptic lower case 'a'). This could be a leftie thing, but I suspect it's more a Kafkaesquí one.

 

Choo choo trees? (There's just not enough news coverage about Nordstrandischmoor island.)

 
Interesting observation by Bruce over on Flit about the varying militaristic threads of current myths, albeit SF and fantasy fiction derived. Also, Bruce looks at how The Lord of the Rings sort of relates to a specific current event, which I found less interesting - you can find connections in almost any work to almost any event if you seek it hard enough.

Anyway, the rundown goes like this:

Air Force = Star Wars
Navy = Star Trek
Army = Lord of the Rings
Marines = Starship Troopers (Heinlein - not Verhoeven's interpretation)

This is especially appealing in how it connects the authors of the different fictional worlds with the different military viewpoints (somewhat and a bit crosswords, excepting George Lucas who never served; one might look at his fondness for car racing, though). The only question I have is, what story/myth covers the Coast Guard? Hopefully not A Wizard of Earthsea.

 
Um, this is either a sign of crass political shrewdness, or modern capitalism at it's most depressing. Or both.

 
Health care in Canada must be overburdened, having to rely on airport security and all.

 
For those who can't communicate a sexual interest to their significant other, there's always e-mail.

 
The dreams of youth. (You'll need Quicktime for this one)

(Found by way of riley dog. I usually don't link adverts, but I liked the original *edited* version of this, too.)

 
"In short, what concerns me is the marketplace has discovered -- surprise, surprise -- that, let me be blunt, shit sells, and this is what's happening," McGillis said.

"That seems to be the downside of it."

It's not a downside to the shit sellers.

 
One more reason why the elephant should always be made the designated driver.

(By the way, what the hell is this? And yes, Flash is required.)

 
The subject of an e-mail found in my inbox tonight:

"Want to meet girls in your area for sex?"

Now, at least while I happen to be single, the answer to that question would typically be "yes." However, having it asked of me in this way puts me in a bit of a quandary, since my reply to the sender (not being a friend merely offering advice or a trip to the local pub) would have to be a "no thanks."

I think you can see my philosophical dilemma.

 
Googling random words for the number of times they show up on guff:

random (1)
bobblehead (2)
jesus (5)
idiot (2)
fun (7)
win (3)
internet (6)
blog (lots)
fuck (0 - until now)

 
Please note that they'll be retaining ".idiots" for ICANN related uses.

 
I dunno - sounds to me like he wasn't lying about them being business trips.

 

"We didn't want to shock people but just wanted to show the other side of a nice Christmas dinner."

I'm not sure what's worse: the picture above, the cheek behind that comment from the Dutch Animal Rights Organisation's spokesman, or simply the idea you can be sued for blasphemy. Anyway, there goes my idea for a "Jesus Is All About Jizzum" campaign in Amsterdam.

 

Anyone else find an unintentionally automated sense of humor inherent in this Google News screenshot?

 
Away from a manger, the crib was his bed,
The little Lord Jesus, kidnapped and feared dead...