“Tonight I Have to Leave It” by Shout Out Louds
Month: December 2010
Tuesday various
- That recent NASA study has gone from “discovery that will shake the foundation of all that we know” to “just some arsenic-based microbes — but kinda neat” to “probably crap science” in record time. [via]
- Speaking of record time, that AIDS fundraiser I briefly mentioned yesterday is already over. Which is good news for AIDS research and prevention, I guess, but bad news for everyone who just wants Kim Kardashian to go away.
- You know it’s funny, Fantastic Four made me wish Jessica Alba would quit acting too!
- All Of Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits Played At Once. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Don’t ask me why. [via]
- And finally, along the same lines, but actually really fascinating: a deconstruction of the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”. Well worth a listen. [via]
Signal failure and snow
I arrived at the train station this morning only to discover that my train had been unceremoniously canceled, thanks apparently to signal failure in Farmingdale. Which of course happened on what was the coldest day of the year so far, the first time it has actually snowed — just flurries, but snow nonetheless — and it was much too cold to be standing out on the train platform. There’s a single shelter on the platform, but it’s small and not very effective at keeping out the cold, sometimes missing windows, and this morning it was already full.
Another train arrived some ten or fifteen minutes later — either the train that was scheduled to arrive then, or one the Long Island Railroad squeezed in just before it. Either way, that train was packed, ridiculously packed with people, and I only barely found room to squeeze on. At the next stop, it looked like lots of people weren’t so lucky. The only good thing about commutes like that is, if you happen to not yet have a ticket, you’re riding for free, since the aisles are too full of people for the ticket collector to move from one car to another.
Me, I have a monthly ticket, so it’s really neither here nor there.
The rest of the day was pretty dull by comparison. It promises to be something of a quiet week, with half of our team traveling to the office in England, but also something of a busy week, for those of us who are only in for this and next.
I think tomorrow, though, I need to wear a heavier coat, or maybe a sweater.
Song of the day
“Big Rock Candy Mountain” by Harry McClintock
Monday various
- You know, I’m all for preventing the spread of AIDS and everything, but I’d pay good money to keep a lot of these people off Twitter.
- The New York Times‘ 100 Notable Books of 2010 looks like an interesting list. I’ve read — count ’em — one of the books on the list.
- I may have discovered a reason to use Facebook as something other than a Scrabble-delivery system: supposedly there’s a Monty Python game coming soon.
- Swede broadcasts music from his stomach. Apparently he was disappointed by the sound quality, however. [via]
- And finally, Scott McCloud on comics [via]: