Bullet in the Head
Amazing and shocking footage from a group of Turkish journalists covering the conflict between Georgia and Russia. One reporter took a bullet to the head. Simply astonishing that no one else was injured. This makes my time in behind the pen seem like a cakewalk. (via gruber)
This reporter was also very fortunate.
In case you're interested, my parents are selling my childhood.
My uncle Eric is in Beijing, ostensibly for work, but here he his, telling you about his adventures, including watching USA basketball take on Angola.
How to Engage Beautiful Women
(In TEN easy steps.)
1. Pick one you like.
2. Pick somewhere with stunning scenery, in this case, Vermilion Falls.
3. Ask her dad, both for permission and assistance.
4. Appear inclined, but not too excited, to go to the aforementioned location on a beautiful Saturday afternoon — when really, you could be on the lake — because her dad wants to "take a family Christmas picture."
5. Laugh inside because NO ONE in the family wants to go.
6. Hide the ring in your camera bag.
7. Steal her away for some alone time. Appear inclined, but not too excited, to take "smoochy pictures."
8. Hope that she hasn't broken her toe climbing down the rocky hill to the bottom of the Falls.
9. Say the four magic words. Struggle to get ring out of camera bag.
10. Laugh, cry and take a picture to commemorate.
Now who wouldn't want to have one of these?
The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady came to Fargo last night, and even though the show wasn't close to being a full audience, a group of enthusiastic and inebriated Winnipeggers made up for the empty seats in the back and the balcony. I hadn't heard any of their new album so several songs were entirely foreign and combined with the less than stellar sound in the house, a few tracks ended up being quite disorienting. Nevertheless, Craig Finn's stagejoy and Tad Kubler's very excellent guitar work made for a very enjoyable show.
Openers The Loved Ones were solid and played a very enthusiastic set — and they ought to have, being that the wheels literally fell off their vehicle on the way to Fargo from Minneapolis.
NPR has a Hold Steady concert available here if you'd like to listen.
Things Gizmo has captured today: mouse, baby squirrel.
I had been contemplating a project whereby I would wear a different t-shirt every day. Leave it to Google to ruin your fun. Still, pretty impressive. I'm waiting for the video — it'd be Matt McAllister meets Noah Kalina.
Living with Gizmo
First things first. I don’t own a cat. But he is my cat.
Technically, I suppose no one owns him being that Emily picked him up for no charge, and now he justs hangs around for the free food. Let the record show, though, that I picked him out. Coming soon: championship cat picking, by Than, at your local county fair.
Meet Gizmo.
For the past week, Gizmo has been living with me in Fargo — his first big adventure away from home and his two other cat companions, Mila and Zuki. I was worried that Gizmo would have trouble adjusting to the new environment, but he soon found a handful of new activities to occupy his waking hours, of which, apparently, there are approximately three on any given day.
Gizmo discovered fishing pretty quickly. Watching him fruitlessly paw the glass was amusing for a little while, until he made it even more interesting two days into his stay when I nearly caught him on top of the fish tank. Nearly, because he heard me coming and jumped down before he could get into trouble.
Ol’ Grizzly Bear is kind of curious in that regard. A few days later, after I let him sit on top of the tank with the cover open to feed the fish, I stepped out of the room, only to here a slight thud of something falling. “Gizmo?” I inquired. “Merrreooww?” He jumped down, meowed some more and brushed up on my leg. This, I took it, was cat for, “I’m sorry, I just knocked the fish food down. I didn’t mean to, honest.”
Gizmo, however, is not as apologetic when it comes to digging in the houseplants.
All in all, Gizmo is a phat sweet cat. He’s a decent conversationalist when he feels like it, has tons of great skills — such as bringing home live snakes and cuddling with them — and will stay out of your way all day hiding in the furthest reaches of the dark, cool utility closet.
Gizmo, I hope you’ve enjoyed your vacation, because tomorrow we’re heading back home to cat mayhem.
Quote of the day: “It's difficult to come up with a faux urine.” - NASA Systems Manager Jim Lewis.
How rich are you? And now I feel bad for whining about my previous job's compensation.
Paul Jackson profiles the eephus for ESPN. I do enjoy the pitch, having thrown a few eephuses eephi of them myself. I also had the pleasure of being in attendance at the Metrodome when Bob Tewksbury lobbed 44 to 48 mph balls at Mark McGwire in 1997.
A few other notable pitchers made use of the eephus, often renaming it to suit their needs. See: Dave LaRoche's LaLob, Steve Hamilton's Folly Floater, and an interesting take from around the world.