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Some mornings, it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. I’m in no shape to come up with anything original to write, even if my life afforded me with interesting stories to relate, which it doesn’t. Later tonight, I meet with the Penn State Monty Python Society to begin planning our night of original sketch comedy in April, and maybe tomorrow I’ll finally share with you my “A Pocketful of Penis” song, which I suspect I’ll have to perform once again. For now, though, you’ll have to content yourself with some interesting things from other people’s websites, found on my excursions online.

First, from Stewart Butterfield at sylloge, an mp3 of the by now infamous Terry Gross/Gene Simmons interview from NPR’s Fresh Air. A little over a week ago, I quoted an excerpt from this interview, which, for legal reasons (apparently Simmons wouldn’t give written permission), has not been archived at npr.org. As Stewart writes:

The interview is a great study of conversational breakdowns and awkward pauses. Simmons was obnoxious and seemed profoundly insecure about talking to an intellekshual like Gross, while Gross seemed extremely threatened (and flustered) by Simmons’ sexual attitudes and history.

Stewart also shares some pretty pictures, the winners of the 2001 Visions of Science Photographic Awards. Neat, huh? Leslie Harpold uses one of my own photographs for inspiration for a story, which I think is just as neat even if my photograph isn’t half as cool. It’s interesting to discover what other people see in what you take for granted and see around you every day.

From Jonathan Leistiko, a bizarre depository of ideas called Halfbakery. It begs the question, why hasn’t science delivered on its promises of amnesia pills and pocket squids? Don’t we deserve better?

From Metafilter, proof that I’m not the only one who takes Buffy the Vampire Slayer seriously.

From Rebecca Blood, an interesting assortment of words for which there is no equivalent in English. Last week, I wrote that the Germans seem to have a word for everything, and now I know it’s true. They even have a word for what I’m feeling right now — bettschwere, a weariness too deep for anything but sleep.

And finally, even though I know in my heart that online personality tests are meaningless wastes of my time…

I am ELMO.

I’m cute, cute, as a button!

Which Sesame Street Character Are You?

It’s so rare that Ben Affleck actually has something interesting to say, I had to stop and write this down. Earlier tonight, I finished watching the final episode of Project Greenlight on HBO (taped earlier for my amusement), and I like what Ben had to say at the close of the program:

Movies inherently are like this. You have all these fights, you get outraged, you get furious at people, you have all this drama because a lot is at stake and you really care about it. And then, you know, you’ve all gone through it together so you’re sort of all buddies at the end. If the kind of time you had was a direct correlation to how good the movie was, then Smokey and the Bandit would be the best movie of all time.

My question to Ben: it isn’t?