Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Spot the Propaganda!
New game, guys. Go to this website and see how many instances of propaganda you can find in the page itself. All politics aside, it should be fun, considering this article criticizes the use of propaganda. The person that cites the most valid instances of propaganda wins a special mystery prize.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Links of the Day
Stuff that I found interesting:
Gossip Study
I automatically disapprove of this article's attempts to prove that gossip is exclusively a female trait, however the biology seems to make sense. Also, I can't argue with something that validates my favorite pastime.
Man impersonates mother for 6 years
Hmm... Too bad it didn't work out.
Stuff that made me want to throw up:
General Motors and the US Economy
STOP IT! stop it stop it stop it stop it!
Dorky Bike Safety Crap
Yes, let's LITERALLY draw a target around ourselves.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Links of the Day
Ok, today's list consists of only a single link. This REALLY made me want to throw up.
I could write a dissertation about why this link makes me want to throw up, but, well, I'd like to hear your reactions first.
I could write a dissertation about why this link makes me want to throw up, but, well, I'd like to hear your reactions first.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Ask Dana
Ok, so it's time to launch the advice column! Remember, if you need advice for anything, you can submit your question to DOsburn@Moore.edu and Dana (I) will answer it here on the blog!
Our first submission comes from an out-of-luck Hipogriff:
"Hi Dana,
I am a hippogriff who was under arrest and detained in a pumpkin patch. As a result, I have developed a fear of pumpkins. This fear has begun to adversely effect the quality of my life in that it disrupts and colors all interactions I have at semi-frequent family gatherings: Halloween is especially trying, as is Thanksgiving- albeit markedly less so. Also, my plume has lost some of its glossiness. What is your advice?
Sincerely,
Ruffled Feathers in Pennsylvania"
Dear Ruffled Feathers,
As an expert in clinical psychology with a focus in the treatment of advanced, trauma-induced phobias, I believe I am qualified to advise you.
Clearly, what is causing your problem has little to do with pumpkins themselves, but is actually the association of a traumatic experience with an ordinary, physical object.
In order to overcome this fear, I suggest that you embark upon a spiritual quest to re-orient yourself to your world and reacquaint yourself with your own goals and values. I feel that the best venue for such a quest would be Pete's Famous Pizza and Restaurant.
Thank you for submitting to "Ask Dana", and I wish you a speedy recovery.
Sincerely,
Dana O
Our next submission comes from the comment section of this blog:
"Dear Dana O:
Like any modern girl, I hook up with guys here and there.
Why can't I find lasting happiness?
Your friend,
"Brittney"
Dear Brittney,
I can't tell you how many times I get asked this question. (Probably because everyone knows that I'm an expert in finding lasting happiness.)
The reason that you're having problems is because your life lacks the single most important element necessary for a woman to be happy - Law & Order: SVU.
As emergency therapy for your problem, I recommend that you watch the entire 3rd and 5th seasons (they are clearly the peak seasons, as they debut Ice-T as Detective Tutuola and Diane Neal as ADA Casey Novak). The detectives of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit can teach you much more about true happiness than any crazy blogger, so get to the video store!
Thank you for submitting to "Ask Dana" and I hope you find lasting happiness!
Sincerely,
Dana O
Our first submission comes from an out-of-luck Hipogriff:
"Hi Dana,
I am a hippogriff who was under arrest and detained in a pumpkin patch. As a result, I have developed a fear of pumpkins. This fear has begun to adversely effect the quality of my life in that it disrupts and colors all interactions I have at semi-frequent family gatherings: Halloween is especially trying, as is Thanksgiving- albeit markedly less so. Also, my plume has lost some of its glossiness. What is your advice?
Sincerely,
Ruffled Feathers in Pennsylvania"
Dear Ruffled Feathers,
As an expert in clinical psychology with a focus in the treatment of advanced, trauma-induced phobias, I believe I am qualified to advise you.
Clearly, what is causing your problem has little to do with pumpkins themselves, but is actually the association of a traumatic experience with an ordinary, physical object.
In order to overcome this fear, I suggest that you embark upon a spiritual quest to re-orient yourself to your world and reacquaint yourself with your own goals and values. I feel that the best venue for such a quest would be Pete's Famous Pizza and Restaurant.
Thank you for submitting to "Ask Dana", and I wish you a speedy recovery.
Sincerely,
Dana O
Our next submission comes from the comment section of this blog:
"Dear Dana O:
Like any modern girl, I hook up with guys here and there.
Why can't I find lasting happiness?
Your friend,
"Brittney"
Dear Brittney,
I can't tell you how many times I get asked this question. (Probably because everyone knows that I'm an expert in finding lasting happiness.)
The reason that you're having problems is because your life lacks the single most important element necessary for a woman to be happy - Law & Order: SVU.
As emergency therapy for your problem, I recommend that you watch the entire 3rd and 5th seasons (they are clearly the peak seasons, as they debut Ice-T as Detective Tutuola and Diane Neal as ADA Casey Novak). The detectives of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit can teach you much more about true happiness than any crazy blogger, so get to the video store!
Thank you for submitting to "Ask Dana" and I hope you find lasting happiness!
Sincerely,
Dana O
Will someone please fix the economy?
I'm getting a little tired of ambiguous reports about the economy pretending to offer good news but really just grasping for something positive to say to cover up for the fact that, no, there really hasn't been much of a change. I mean, it's not the reporter's fault.
So, as unemployment mounts, could somebody please tell me how long we're going to be in this economic limbo?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Links of the Day
I figure since I skipped a day, I'll make up for my lax blogging by giving today's links a theme. We're doing politics, today. Here goes.
Stuff I found interesting:
This really old article about Richard Nixon
I think I ought to start employing this so-called 'madman strategy' to my own endeavors.
The Swedes strike again
These are my kind of politics!
Stuff that made me want to throw up:
Someone let Palin out of the house again...
When will they learn?
Oh, those feudin' senators!
Yes, let's trivialize human rights... AGAIN.
Stuff I found interesting:
This really old article about Richard Nixon
I think I ought to start employing this so-called 'madman strategy' to my own endeavors.
The Swedes strike again
These are my kind of politics!
Stuff that made me want to throw up:
Someone let Palin out of the house again...
When will they learn?
Oh, those feudin' senators!
Yes, let's trivialize human rights... AGAIN.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Links of the Day
Stuff I found interesting:
Derivativ.net
"Derivativ is a collaborative non linear storytelling engine" that a good friend of mine created (as part of a team) for his senior project at Drexel. Basically, it combines social networking with creative writing in some really cool ways. It's just a fledgling site now, but it has a lot of potential, so log on and start writing!
Interview Project
Speaking of cool new things, David Lynch's Interview Project is really worth a few minutes of your time. Though, we've become accostumed to these sorts of documentaries, the outstanding production of the short, web-based videos in this series really treats the the subjects with dignity.
Stuff that made me want to throw up:
Bill O'Reilly on George Tiller
For the past week, it's seemed that the only thing on the internet were stories about the murder of late-term abortion doctor, George Tiller. I've read quite a few of those articles, each saying about the same things, however, Bill O'Reilly's current column addresses the issue a bit differently, so much so, that it made my links of the day list. Though I won't disclose my personal opinions on the issue itself, O'Reilly's flagrant egocentricism and defensiveness in this column made me glad I already had a hang-over.
Schuylkill County strikes again
On the Purple Page, residents of Pottsville, PA can log on to a rather unrestricted forum to discuss the issues facing their lives. This thread demonstrates the stupifying level of racism and ignorance that pervades the region. Good thing for Alka-Seltzer, because there's a lot to read on this site.
Derivativ.net
"Derivativ is a collaborative non linear storytelling engine" that a good friend of mine created (as part of a team) for his senior project at Drexel. Basically, it combines social networking with creative writing in some really cool ways. It's just a fledgling site now, but it has a lot of potential, so log on and start writing!
Interview Project
Speaking of cool new things, David Lynch's Interview Project is really worth a few minutes of your time. Though, we've become accostumed to these sorts of documentaries, the outstanding production of the short, web-based videos in this series really treats the the subjects with dignity.
Stuff that made me want to throw up:
Bill O'Reilly on George Tiller
For the past week, it's seemed that the only thing on the internet were stories about the murder of late-term abortion doctor, George Tiller. I've read quite a few of those articles, each saying about the same things, however, Bill O'Reilly's current column addresses the issue a bit differently, so much so, that it made my links of the day list. Though I won't disclose my personal opinions on the issue itself, O'Reilly's flagrant egocentricism and defensiveness in this column made me glad I already had a hang-over.
Schuylkill County strikes again
On the Purple Page, residents of Pottsville, PA can log on to a rather unrestricted forum to discuss the issues facing their lives. This thread demonstrates the stupifying level of racism and ignorance that pervades the region. Good thing for Alka-Seltzer, because there's a lot to read on this site.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Elegy - Dylan Thomas
Too proud to die; broken and blind he died
The darkest way, and did not turn away,
A cold kind man brave in his narrow pride
On that darkest day. Oh, forever may
He lie lightly, at last, on the last, crossed
Hill, under the grass, in love, and there grow
Young among the long flocks, and never lie lost
Or still all the numberless days of his death, though
Above all he longed for his mother's breast
Which was rest and dust, and in the kind ground
The darkest justice of death, blind and unblessed.
Let him find no rest but be fathered and found,
I prayed in the crouching room, by his blind bed,
In the muted house, one minute before
Noon, and night, and light. The rivers of the dead
Veined his poor hand I held, and I saw
Through his unseeing eyes to the roots of the sea.
[An old tormented man three-quarters blind,
I am not too proud to cry that He and he
Will never never go out of my mind.
All his bones crying, and poor in all but pain,
Being innocent, he dreaded that he died
Hating his God, but what he was was plain:
An old man brave in his burning pride.
The sticks of the house were his; his books he owned.
Even as a baby he had never cried;
Nor did he now, save to his secret wound.
Out of his eyes I saw the last light glide.
Here among the light of the lording sky
An old blind man is with me where I go
Walking in the meadows of his son's eye
On whom a world of ills came down like snow.
He cried as he died, fearing at last the spheres'
Last sound, the world going out without a breath:
Too proud to cry, too frail to check the tears,
And caught between two nights, blindness and death.
O deepest wound of all that he should die
On that darkest day. Oh, he could hide
The tears out of his eyes, too proud to cry.
Until I die he will not leave my side.]
The darkest way, and did not turn away,
A cold kind man brave in his narrow pride
On that darkest day. Oh, forever may
He lie lightly, at last, on the last, crossed
Hill, under the grass, in love, and there grow
Young among the long flocks, and never lie lost
Or still all the numberless days of his death, though
Above all he longed for his mother's breast
Which was rest and dust, and in the kind ground
The darkest justice of death, blind and unblessed.
Let him find no rest but be fathered and found,
I prayed in the crouching room, by his blind bed,
In the muted house, one minute before
Noon, and night, and light. The rivers of the dead
Veined his poor hand I held, and I saw
Through his unseeing eyes to the roots of the sea.
[An old tormented man three-quarters blind,
I am not too proud to cry that He and he
Will never never go out of my mind.
All his bones crying, and poor in all but pain,
Being innocent, he dreaded that he died
Hating his God, but what he was was plain:
An old man brave in his burning pride.
The sticks of the house were his; his books he owned.
Even as a baby he had never cried;
Nor did he now, save to his secret wound.
Out of his eyes I saw the last light glide.
Here among the light of the lording sky
An old blind man is with me where I go
Walking in the meadows of his son's eye
On whom a world of ills came down like snow.
He cried as he died, fearing at last the spheres'
Last sound, the world going out without a breath:
Too proud to cry, too frail to check the tears,
And caught between two nights, blindness and death.
O deepest wound of all that he should die
On that darkest day. Oh, he could hide
The tears out of his eyes, too proud to cry.
Until I die he will not leave my side.]
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Advice Column
Dana O - One Night Only is starting an advice column. You, being hopeless and pathetic as I imagine most of my readers are, will send your problems to DOsburn@Moore.edu, and I, Dana, your gracious savior, will post them on the blog with my response.
So, start having some problems.
(Image: "Anxious Cragen" 2009, Dana M. Osburn, two color ink wash on board.)
Links of the Day
Stuff that I found interesting:
The Postmodernism Generator
I should probably explain this one a little bit... but... well... it would spoil the surprise.
Interactive State Budget Maker - Los Angeles Times
Go ahead, see if you can do any better!
Stuff that made me want to throw up:
Furry Fandom
According to a friend of mine (who considers herself a participant in furry culture), being a furry doesn't necessarily have to be sexual. BUUUUUUUUUUT, sometimes it is, so.... excuse me, while I purge my stomach contents.
CrushYiffDestroy:: A Not Very Thorough Look at Postfurry
Postfurry?! Good God...
(Postmodernism image found at this website via google image search.)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Where are you in the movie?
This stray link didn't make into the Links of the Day, but still deserves some attention.
The instructions are to enter your birthdate and predicted age of death into the form, then choose a movie from a list (I chose The Big Lebowski... of course).
I ended up RIGHT after that great scene when the Big Lebowksi (the other Jeffrey Lebowksi, the millionaire!) with the assistance of Brandt invites The Dude into his study to inform him of his wife's kidnapping and enlist The Dude's help in delivering the ransom money.
Links of the Day
Today, we're doing art links, so pay attention.
Stuff I found interesting:
Banksy
Who doesn't love Banksy? Though I missed his celebrated pet shop installation in New York this fall, I am always captivated by the tremendous wit in his drawings.
Larry Rivers
This website isn't totally functional yet, but Rivers' work is pretty effing fantastic, so you should check it out.
Stuff that made me want to throw up:
Eric Wilson
Sure, he's won awards. Sure, he is technically skilled in reproducing a detailed likeness. But... uh... what else is new?
'Catherine'
"...perhaps she does not want to see. Her sweet melancholy is almost saintly." Perhaps, I don't want to see, either. Sorry, but simple portrait artists that proclaim themselves to be visionaries with poorly-written, melodramatic-artist-statement-dribble automatically invoke the gag reflex.
(Image of dogs playing poker from TheVelvetStore.com)
Stuff I found interesting:
Banksy
Who doesn't love Banksy? Though I missed his celebrated pet shop installation in New York this fall, I am always captivated by the tremendous wit in his drawings.
Larry Rivers
This website isn't totally functional yet, but Rivers' work is pretty effing fantastic, so you should check it out.
Stuff that made me want to throw up:
Eric Wilson
Sure, he's won awards. Sure, he is technically skilled in reproducing a detailed likeness. But... uh... what else is new?
'Catherine'
"...perhaps she does not want to see. Her sweet melancholy is almost saintly." Perhaps, I don't want to see, either. Sorry, but simple portrait artists that proclaim themselves to be visionaries with poorly-written, melodramatic-artist-statement-dribble automatically invoke the gag reflex.
(Image of dogs playing poker from TheVelvetStore.com)
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Links of the Day
Stuff I found interesting:
So, I have this weakness for cute things. Cute boys, cute movies, cute animals... you know, stuff that one would expect might make me want to throw up. The following links are an indulgence of this weakness. I found these two separate links while surfing around, and I believe that they bring up one of the most important, yet unanswered questions of our age: is it cuter when a ferret does it or a kitten?
Stuff that makes me want to throw up:
Dick Cheney
(Photo of Dick Cheney Cat from DailyHaha.com)
Missed Connections
As a religious reader of craigslist.org's 'Missed Connections' section, I have become accustomed to the usual self-loathing, pathetic, and sometimes creepy, voyeuristic posts about the "Beautiful R5 Girls" or the "30th Street Adonis's," but every now and then, I read posts like this and get a renewed faith in humanity.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Links of the Day
Stuff I thought was interesting:
"Choose Your Own Health Insurance Adventure"
The comic pretty much says it all.
Free Classical Texts Online
I'm telling you, man, the Epic of Gilgamesh!
A Brief History of English
I find this sort of thing exciting. Does that make me boring? I think not.
Stuff that makes me want to throw up:
More of those stupid expensive dolls.
Why? Just... why?
Dumb images with superimposed 'inspirational' quotes
These are the internet equivalent to the dreaded "Grandchildren Spoiled Here" cross-stitched throw pillow.
Photos of women's lips with things between them.
Now, this one is said to be particularly unique and creative. Too bad that means it's trite and pointless.
"Choose Your Own Health Insurance Adventure"
The comic pretty much says it all.
Free Classical Texts Online
I'm telling you, man, the Epic of Gilgamesh!
A Brief History of English
I find this sort of thing exciting. Does that make me boring? I think not.
Stuff that makes me want to throw up:
More of those stupid expensive dolls.
Why? Just... why?
Dumb images with superimposed 'inspirational' quotes
These are the internet equivalent to the dreaded "Grandchildren Spoiled Here" cross-stitched throw pillow.
Photos of women's lips with things between them.
Now, this one is said to be particularly unique and creative. Too bad that means it's trite and pointless.
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