beancounters

Any way the wind blows

Friday fun: historical popping

Visualizing empires' decline - a cool video. Just wait until the bloated British empire balloon finally pops!

World's luckiest train track inspector

A journalist tries to tell his son the worst swear word in the world. This story was very similar to the way Bunny learned it. She asked, "If there's an a-word, an' there's a b-word, is there a c-word?" Um, NO, I replied, with almost no authority in my voice. She didn't believe me, but I refused to crack. Months later, of course, she learned it at preschool. I was actually relieved.

What's my name? A Metafilter thread sent to me by non-blogging Daisy. Heh.

Jesus Venn diagram

Stunning paper animation to advertise the New Zealand Book Council. "Books come to life," indeed!

Finally, for my mother: Catherine and Heathcliff audition for Twilight.

CATHERINE: Wilderness of furze and whinstone—your bliss lies, like Satan's, in inflicting misery!

HEATHCLIFF: (to HARDWICKE) This lamb of yours threatens like a bull! It is in danger of splitting its skull against my knuckles.

HARDWICKE: Cut. Okay, that was, you know. Messed up. Catherine, Edward's the one whose speech is supposed to sound like it's from a different time. Heathcliff, the lamb stuff was good, and you've got the whole I'm-fighting-the-bloodlust thing going. But can you give me a little more tenderness?

CATHERINE: He's not a rough diamond, a pearl-containing oyster of a rustic. He's a fierce, pitiless, wolfish man. An unreclaimed creature, without refinement, without cultivation ....

HARDWICKE: Wait—have you even read Twilight?

The Matrix as a silent movie

Friday fun: Great Scott!

Doc Brown Day was yesterday. Did you fire up your flux capacitors in celebration?

Roland Emmerich really doesn't like the world. But he says he likes television. Would you watch '2013'?

Buy a Snuggie, get a Weezer CD. No! Buy a Weezer CD, get a Snuggie! Gosh, I just don't know which scenario is more appealing.

Meet Liu Bolin, the camouflaged artist

What rich people eat

VERY COOL movie narrative charts by xkcd.

And for Jennifer - Here's a great reason to join Twitter. And another! (Okay, not really. But I'll keep at it.)

THIS JUST IN! Yesterday, we gazed in horrified awe at this collection of sci-fi themed velvet paintings.

I'll wait while you catch up on your horrified awe-gazing. Right. Moving on ...

It turns out a painting, depicting Star Trek: The Next Generation's young Wesley Crusher in all his smarmy glory, is already owned by actor Wil Wheaton. AND it was a gift, commissioned by sci-fi writer John Scalzi.

I know, right?

Let us pray. O internet, we thank you for showing us this day such a mighty but evil confluence of geek awesomeness. Amen.

Basil's evil twin

Basil's evil twin, originally uploaded by ApplesInMyBra.

No reason. Just wanted to share.