Nice fro, Jack

About the nicest thing I can say about this website is that the author clearly has some familiarity with game theory. I wish I could say the same thing about American television shows.

The Jack Bauer generation

Andrew Sullivan has become so much more fun ever since he became disillusioned:

Much ink has been split over what torture means. It isn't the first time. The original White House memo outlining the boundaries drew the line at death or failure of a major bodily organ. Hey: it's compassionate conservatism.

Fatigue

Here's the lyrics to the new Rufus Wainwright tune, "Going to a Town".

Going To A Town
by Rufus Wainwright

I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down,
I’m going to a place that has already been disgraced,
I’m gonna see some folks who have already been let down,
I’m so tired of America

I’m gonna make it up for all of the Sunday times,
I’m gonna make it up for all of the nursery rhymes,
They never really seem to want to tell the truth,
I’m so tired of you, America

Making my own way home, ain’t gonna be alone,
I’ve got a life to lead, America
I’ve got a life to lead

Tell me, do you really think you go to hell for having love,
Tell me, enough of thinking everything that you’ve done is good,
I really need to know, after soaking the body of Jesus Christ in blood,
I’m so tired of America

I really need to know,
I may just never see you again, or might as well,
You took advantage of a world that loved you well,
I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down,
I’m so tired of you, America

Making my own way home, ain’t gonna be alone,
I’ve got a life to lead, America
I’ve got a life to lead,
I got a soul to feed,
I got a dream to heed,

And that’s all I need,
Making my own way home, ain’t gonna be alone,
I’m going to a town,
That has already been burnt down

Mmm... horseradish

I felt a little silly a couple of weeks ago, and decided to try something new at Einstein Bagels.

I ordered the Cheese Steak Panini on Ciabatta, and holy cow, is that sandwich good. I don't know if I'll ever give up ordering Nova Lox & Bagel, though.

Impeach him twice!

I saw a couple of good political videos this morning.

The first is from Bill Maher, calling Bush out on being a traitor.

The second is the delightful Stephen Colbert, challenging (nay, daring) the Democrats to impeach Bush.

How to convert an atheist

Ooh, I love this article: it's called "The Theist's Guide to Converting Atheists", and even better, it's written by an atheist.

If you look at the article from a bottom-up perspective instead of a top-down perspective, it's really an article teaching you how to critically evaluate a claim and its associated evidence. But either way you read it, it's great.

Twit

Holy crap, does Dave Winer blog about Twitter a lot.

I wonder if his plan is to talk about it every day until eventually people think he invented it. (It worked for RSS.)

Gilligan's Island, but creepy

As a public service, I'm going to link to this clip from the Lost Experience, since I don't think many people have seen it. Yay, now you know what the numbers mean.

When is that show going to finally come out and reveal that it's called Lost because the island is actually the lost city of AtlanQ8C2*V%MFD(*@JH

+++ NO CARRIER

Astochastic

I happened to watch last night's Jeopardy, where for the first time, the contestants ended with a three-way tie.

I feel the need to link to this commentary:

Also silly:

CBS Television Distribution, which syndicates the show for Sony Pictures claims a statistician they hired calculated the odds of a three-way tie on the show as one in 25 million.

One in 25 million? How do you determine the odds of something that's not random? The final scores aren't determined by flipping a coin, they're determined by bets. And today's end result may have been partly due to luck (the contestants being in scoring position for a tie, everyone knowing the correct answer), but mostly it happened because Scott made it possible for it to happen.

Note to CBS: this was your chance to use the term "game theory" without sounding like a schmuck, and you blew it!

I think you need to re-examine your assumptions

Ok, this is one of my favorite blog comments evar.

(What makes it even more fun is that it's got the same pattern as most anti-evolutionist rants. I wonder how many Linux deniers are out there...)

UPDATE: My brother adds, "Windows is irreducibly complex, doncha know? What good is half an operating system?"

Man, that old Cheney really makes sense

Aw crap, someone swapped out our Cheney when we weren't looking.

The second term I dreamed of

Andrew Sullivan on the big controversies surrounding the Bush administration.

It's actually worse than Andrew makes it out to be: see this list for more info.

Dereliction of duty

This just in: Barack Obama doesn't pay his parking tickets. I can't wait to hear about Hillary Clinton's overdue library books.

(The article notes that Obama recently paid up; when is Bush going to make up his missed military service?)

Worms!

If you'd like to play Worms on Xbox Live, my gamertag is geekable. Add me as your friend. We can even play UNO together.

That is all.

That'll teach ya to play chess

Thursday's show with Ze Frank featured a 10-minute long concert with Jonathan Coulton. I think it's the coolest geek-culture mashup since the 2001 album McSweeney's vs. They Might Be Giants.

Unfortunately, unless you've been watching Ze Frank regularly, you won't be able to fully appreciate it. Therefore, I've assembled a list of all of the references you'll need to truly laugh your ass off.

Fun winter
How do you spank a giant baby?
Poop poop
I knows me some ugly
If the earth were a sandwich
Why does everything have to change?
Hindsight is 20/20
Who's that baby trading walnuts for gold?
How do you work this thing?

Pussy-whipped

Why did school administrators approve a production of The Vagina Monologues, but refuse to allow students to say the word "vagina"?

I think the principal must have some sand in his hoo-hah.

[Via Pharyngula]

Is this song about Jesus?

I hope everyone thinks I'm just being emo by posting these song lyrics. I wouldn't want anyone to realize my ulterior purpose of trying to increase my post count....

It's Not My Birthday
by They Might Be Giants

Well, the rain falls down without my help, I'm afraid
And my lawn gets wet though I've withheld my consent
When this gray world crumbles like a cake
I'll be hangin' from the hope
That I'll never see that recipe again

As I walk, I think about a new way to walk
As I think, I'm using up the time left to think
And this train keeps rolling off the track
Tryin' to act like something else
Tryin' to go where it's been uninvited

It's not my birthday
It's not today
It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me?
When the word comes down "Never more will be around"
Though I wish we were there
I was less than we could bear
And I'm not the only dust my mother raised

So I'm rattlin' the bars around this drink tank
Discreetly I should pour through the keyhole
Or evaporate completely
But there'd be no percentage and there'd be no proof
And the sound upon the roof is only water

And the rain falls down without my help, I'm afraid
And my lawn gets wet, though I've withheld my consent
When this gray world crumbles like a cake
I'll be hangin' from the hope
That I'll never see that recipe again

It's not my birthday
It's not today
It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me?
When the word comes down "Never more will be around"
Though I wish we were there
I was less than we could bear
And I'm not the only dust my mother raised
I am not the only dust my mother raised
I am not the only dust my mother raised

Hooked on heroin

Ok, I find this video fucking hilarious.

I'm trying to figure out if it's because I have a visceral dislike of the Reagans, or whether the editing is utterly brilliant.