Taizhong City

Echoes and the shadow of something faint moving underwater in the mottled riverbed. Rain showers on a distant town, a grey curtain bent in the wind. Fell swoons, jet black harbingers of dusk, the crowds amassing at nightfall, hawkers out with pretense. Mongers holding forth on street corners. Pedestrian clocks are ticking slowly on each and every, a yuletide traffic configuration throughout the city. Claybrick heat still and impenetrating. Pharaoh highbreds in spritzed fancy. Vague longing. Empty-eyed they noshing on sundries. Bloated bagfuls, all the spoils. Children importune. Back at old cottages what gathered moss as if pock gilt and hoary leaved banyans hung with pollen and soot from the chimneys. Therein, noon had the dull shape of all the neighbors pacing by the windows, and tall stalks of withered corn stood still, outside the blind testimony of heat bugs rung plain and shrill. Bootstrap Business

Dramatic Increase in Diabetes Believed to be Caused by “Icing” Phenomenon

Dramatic Increase in Diabetes Believed to be Caused by “Icing” Phenomenon

By BUNK LAMPOON

New York, NY. — A report last week showed an alarming increase in diabetes among the 20-30 year olds. Doctors are blaming this spike on a new fad called “Icing.”

The Icing tradition has become popular within the past few months. It is a game where if a person is presented with a Smirnoff Ice they must get on one knee and drink the bottle. One can counter being Iced by carrying another Ice with them. If this occurs, the original person who presented the Ice must now drink two.

A few helpless victims have fallen prey to the negative side effects of this twisted fad. One such case is that of Rob Jones. He never carried an ice on him to counter his fratmates love for the game. Because of this he was “Iced” a staggering 27 times in two days.  Rob was found confused, shirtless, and inebriated in a local Wendy’s. He was taken to the local hospital where he was informed of his pre-diabetic condition.

Rob’s fratmate, Tucker Richardson, stated, “it was really funny until his pancreas stopped working.” Rob and has now sworn off Icing as an “evil game,” while Tucker still continues to ice people, but “less intensely.”

Rob’s doctor, Julie Green commented saying that she’s “confused at why people are doing this to one another. They think it’s all fun and games, but the amount of sugar in these drinks is staggering. It’s like drinking four alcohol soaked pixie sticks.”

School officials are now proposing bans on the fad since several of these cases have sprung up around the country. Politicians seem to be taking sides too with an election year coming up. Republicans are refusing to support any legislation banning Icing stating that it is an attack on “traditional values,” while Democratic politicians are outraged and calling for a ban on Icing and a dramatic tax on all of Smirnoff’s products.

Spokespeople from Smirnoff refused to comment, but have been trying to curb the Icing phenomenon since it started becoming popular. For now, the fad continues but doctors are hoping to get ahead of it by labeling it as a public health crisis..

Private Dancer

Long time, no post… not sure how many readers we get, but I thought I’d say hello.

The title comes of this post comes from a graphic novel I have begun creating, which I hope to prove innovative in the world of comics. I reference Tina because the story is comes from the early nineties/late eighties mentality mixed with the blaxploitation trends with another twist that parallels that of my first feature film, Ser O Estar: a modern relationship to an ancient myth.

I started by compiling music that inspired me and wrote it as a musical, which will then be transformed into the graphic novel format.

I will keep you posted on the progress, but I’m going to have to keep it under wraps for a while…

The Like Button

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, check out Facebook’s new feature the like button. This allows you to add a simple feature to your site or blog and then have traffic generated through it. It’s also really cool to see what different people around the internet are viewing. You can check out an overview page here which gives a glimpse at what’s going on in your social network as well as around the web.

Tallest Man on Earth – Review

If you haven’t heard of The Tallest Man on Earth yet, he’s great. His voice is unique and was a bit grating to me at first, but after listening to him for a few weeks, it’s really grown on me. He uses a lot of abstract lyrics and unique tunings in his songs. He’s definitely worth checking out if you like folk music at all, or if you’re looking for something a little unique. I got tickets to the Tallest Man on Earth in a few weeks at the Independent Theater in San Francisco, and I’ll be sure to let all of you know about how the show goes.

Check out his cover of Graceland:

and his takeaway show (The Gardner):

How to Make a Homemade Whey Protein Shake aka How to make Whey Protein

Ever wonder what the nursery rhyme means when Little Miss Muffett is eating her curds and whey? Well, a lot of the hardcore lifters and exercise folks out there should know; they’re drinking copious amounts of it after all their workouts.

The basics behind a protein shake is that they help your muscles heal and grow after you’ve been working out; it also is claimed to have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. So, it’s usually a good idea to have this after your workout routine.

Whey protein is actually surprisingly easy to make, a lot cheaper than the stuff you buy in the stores, and the leftover ingredients can be made to make fun things like cheese.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 quart or liter of milk (you can add more or less depending on how much you want to make… just adjust the ratios)
• a saucepan
• vinegar or lemon juice (about 2 tablespoons)
• strainer
• paper towels or a cheese cloth
• Any flavoring or spices you want

1) Get your milk and start to boil it on a medium to low heat. Keep a close eye on it because you don’t want it to get too hot.

2) When you start to notice a bunch of bubbles around the rim of the sauce pan add the vinegar or lemon juice and stir it around. The mixture should separate pretty quickly into curds and whey. If it doesn’t just add a little more vinegar or lemon juice until it does. The curds are the solid looking things and the whey is the liquid.

3) Get a strainer (cover it in paper towels or cheese cloth if you want to keep the curds and make it into cheese). Separate the curds from the whey. Let the whey cool down in the fridge for a while and then add any ingredients. Some suggestions for flavoring: Nutmeg, cinnamon, honey, chocolate… just test it out and see what works for you. The taste might be different for some people if it is, just dilute it with something else like water, or juice.

This is the same stuff you’ll buy in the store except it’s not dehydrated and probably won’t have any weird additives that’ll give you a gorilla back. Enjoy!

*Editors note: According to this blog post, “Whey is the fluid by product of cheese manufacture. It is produced in far greater volume than cheese, the ration of whey to cheese being about 10:1. For numerous reasons, whey is underutilized and not more than half of the United States production used. The rest, amounting to billion of pounds represents a waste disposable problem.

Considering the growing rate of cheese production and the ever-tightening constraints in the disposal of processing plant effluents, the problem of what to do with whey is one of major proportions. Whey comprises about 5% lactose, 2% other milk components and 93% water.”

So, a majority of the liquid is water and 2% of it is probably the proteins you would normally get from a whey protein shake. Still makes an easy drink, but it’s definitely not as strong as the concentrated form you can get at the store. According to Wikipedia (I know, I know…), “whey protein can be simply processed by drying…” There are other more complicated ways as well. Anyone have any ideas on the best way to make a concentrated form of this?

Links, Pictures, and Videos to Brighten your Week.

James Cameron’s Pocahontas… I mean Avatar.

Making College ‘Relevant’

Where the Jobs Will be this Decade?

2009 Darwin Award Winners

Staff resigns when Parker Griffith switches parties

Harsh Justice in China

Adult Learning: How to Train the Aging Brain?

Letters From London: My American Friends

Where are you moving to Joe?

That 1937 Feeling

Dissertations on his Dudeness (for you Big Lebowski Fans)

10 Words you Need to Stop Misspelling

Dolphins should be treated as ‘non-human persons’

World’s Tallest Building Opens Up in Dubai Amid Controversy

What’s changed this decade?

Beautifulpeople.com cuts 5,000 people from their site because they’re too fat.

Airline bomber – security fiasco

New Animation: Learn to Speak Tea Bag

source: http://i.imgur.com/LhROr.jpg

source: http://i.imgur.com/S6qU7.jpg

source: http://i.imgur.com/mg65Z.jpg

Copy/Paste: A Year In Review

As we march on into what seems like a futile attempt to keep the old standards alive… here are my “standards” for 2009:

So much great music came out this year, I decided to arrange my top choices in a new way… Here are two, 20-track playlists that I would say are a good distillation of what stood out… and yes, the order does matter.

INSIDE
Bracket, WI – Bon Iver
Fine For Now – Grizzly Bear
Malibu Gas Station – Sonic Youth
My Girls – Animal Collective
Ghost Symbol – Zero 7
See The Leaves – The Flaming Lips
Lover’s Carvings – Bibio
Useful Chamber – Dirty Projectors
Batty Boyz – DOOM
Natures Uplifting Revenge – Prefuse 73
Surprise Stefani – Dan Deacon
DDMMYYYY – Soap&Skin
New Tricks – Great Northern
Star Eyes (I Can’t Catch It) (with David Lynch) – Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse
Amuse Bouche – Fischerspooner
The Fun Powder Plot – Wild Beasts
I’m An Animal – Neko Case
Infinity – The xx
Roses (ft. Georgia Anne Muldrow) – Mos Def
Marrow – St. Vincent

OUTSIDE
Drown In The Now (ft. Matisyahu) – The Crystal Method
Shock Doctrine (Eskmo Remix) – STS9
La Niña Rica – Bomba Estéreo
Not Your Average Girl (ft. Shareefa) – Ghostface Killah
1901 – Phoenix
On To The Next One (ft. Swizz Beatz) – Jay-Z
Hope You’re Happy (ft. Billy Danze, Nikki Wray & Q-Tip) – Blakroc
Sabali – Amadou & Mariam
Horsey Noisers – Venetian Snares
Jumps The Fence (ft. Connan Mockasin) – The BPA
One Above One – Vitalic
Ghosts N STuff (Nero Remix) (ft. Rob Swire) – Deadmau5
Pulls Me Back – Rhymefest
Evil Deeds – Wu-Tang Clan
TheMark (ft. D-Styles) – Themselves
Escape Me (ft. Cc Sheffield) – Tiësto
Tonight – The Big Pink
Take Me To The Hospital – The Prodigy
Don’t Hold Back, Feel A Little Longer – The Most Serene Republic

… and for film: Top 10
(granted, I missed a lot that sound like they would bump these around):

01. Antichrist
02. My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done?
03. A Serious Man
04. Where The Wild Things Are
05. Inglorious Basterds
06. Whatever Works
07. Broken Embraces
08. 45365
09. Collapse
10. The Informant

Happy New Year!

Links, Pictures, and Videos to Brighten your Monday

The Big Zero

Rain Man Passes Away 😦

17 Body Hacks

Shame on hunters

Protests in Iran spark up Again, several protesters killed.

5 Things you probably didn’t know about mustaches

America with reform vs. America without reform (health, pic)

A still darker Russia.

Harrison Bergeron – Short story by Kurt Vonnegut

If you ever get attacked by a bear…

View from work (pic)

Evolution and Religion; a new take

It’s better to pretend you don’t know anything about computers

Photos captured with great timing

Movies that should die with the decade.

Gravity wells of the solar system (xkcd)

source: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3157/2901313378_d48f8e4d57_o.jpg

source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2603/3927930428_0829676232_o.jpg

source: http://i.imgur.com/uLizv.jpg

source: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4219293984_b3a901ba90_o.jpg

Chrysalis

This is long overdue because I finished it on Nov. 5, but here is the film that I worked on for 3 months while I was in Germany. It’s a story about two friends who learn that not everyone grows up at the same time or in the same way, but that no one gets left behind in true friendship. The assignment was for everyone in the class to come up with a proposal of a story with some visuals and a schedule, present it to a panel of visiting professors, and after a vote 4 stories would be chosen. After we picked the stories, the students who proposed the winning ideas could pick teams and let the school know what resources they would need. I picked two students who luckily worked really well together and didn’t mind forfeiting sleep for 2 months. We spent about 1 month on storyboarding and layout, 2 months on animating, and 2 weeks on sound, editing, and troubleshooting. Nick recorded all of the music, but he also went uncredited for waking me up in the morning when my alarm clock didn’t do the job and making oatmeal and coffee every morning- probably the only real meal I got every day for those three months. On Nov. 6 the school premiered all of our films in a movie theater in Halle, Germany. The school threw a big catered, open bar party- but they might as well have just rented a room full of cots because we were all so tired we could barely keep our eyes open! Back at Conn, with a little determination you could always pull an all nighter and pass in a project with a sliding finish. You’d lose a night of sleep and your brain might short circuit a little the next day, but heck you’d gotten less sleep on party weekends so it didn’t really matter. I wasn’t used to 3 months of all nighters, and suddenly I understood why all of the film majors at Conn looked like zombie-vampires. Anyway, I’ve recovered since then and now I have more time than I know what to do with as I sit at my job-hunting command station (Not unemployed though- as my mother likes to remind me, “Honey you’re not unemployed, you never WERE employed!) I hope you enjoy the short.