Weekly Wrap Up

This was a pretty good week overall, both professionally and personally. And it was a bountiful harvest from the internets, starting with the big, beautiful bold graphic of Gina Carano for the ‘Body Issue’ cover pic of ESPN The Magazine - apparently MMA fighting does a body good, damned good.

Pack Smarter, Tastier Lunches for Kids (or Yourself)

Examine Hand Gestures and Smiles to Detect Lying - I've become a big fan of the show, Lie to Me, and have started to really pay attention to visual cues as a means of gauging truths or untruths being said. Fascinating stuff, really.

Partisan Political Contributions by U.S. Companies - an interactive site that lets you see exactly where companies sent their political donations.

Monsterlist of Halloween Projects Has Hundreds of Halloween How-To Guides - I will be spending a good chunk of time on this site for the next couple of weeks.

Who’s Your Boss? - Understanding Leadership Styles - I work in an educational bureaucracy, it is, on an operational level, a giant and neverending clusterfuck of rules, budgets and the Peter Principle on crack.

Kashiwa Mystery Cafe - this is a cool concept cafe in Japan. I don't know how well it would go over here but I really like the idea of it.

How to Build a Polished Concrete Desk - file this under things I'd like to do if I had the time, space and need.

12 Coolest Steampunk Gadgets - I love steampunk, I love gadgets. Put the two together and I might just nerdgasm on the spot.

Free MP3 Download of the Week: Dear God: Black Landlord - sort of a hip-hop punk ska sound like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones crossed with Dr. Dre. Very catchy!

Doing My Part to Help Out During the Writer's Strike

So alot of the shows on tv have gone into hiding with their writers on strike, including Saturday Night Live and, I'm guessing they have writers, MadTV.

Because the world needs a good laugh and sometimes even a pitying chuckle will do, I thought I'd offer what help I can.

So here's my idea for a couple of skits:
Dog the Bounty Whisperer - an N word spewing Cesar Millan uses passive dominance techniques to control the targets of his operations. He would have a flak jacket, tattoos and a mullet as well as a couple of tough looking leashes hanging from his utility belt. And, once he'd coerced the bail skippers into custody, he'd sit down and have a heart to heart with them about finding Dog.

The Britney Alert - Expanding on the Amber Alert, child abduction notification system, California is planning on implementing the Britney Alert, a system to alert drivers that Britney Spears is driving on public roads and your toes are not safe.

[Update: Another new skit.
Steampunk'd - A new show where people get tricked into thinking something they value has been lost or stolen and it gets a steampunking treatment. And no, Ashton Kutcher will not be hosting. For more Steampunk goodness, swing by the Steampunk Workshop]

Steampunk Keyboard

This is so cool that I might have to find out who built this and go steal it from them.

Check out the Steampunk Keyboard and, for more steampunk slickness, check out Technorati's Steampunk tagged blog posts.

I am just dying for that keyboard. Its so very 1984 and Brave New World-ish! I have steampunk lust!