5.21.2010

da Vinci: You never know what's in the attic

This is one of the coolest things I've read (or seen) in quite a while; and, in a world apparently gone seriously haywire lately, we all could use a little good news, eh?

Per the Montreal Gazette (and, A Blog About History):


A dozen of scientists and David Bershad, an art history professor at St. Mary’s University College, agree. The image of a man with blue eyes, long greying hair and a moustache appears to be a self-portrait of the renowned Renaissance artist, inventor and thinker.
Coming to that conclusion brought together da Vinci’s own passions for art and science as experts used fingerprint analysis, carbon dating and even facial reconstruction software to answer three key questions:
  • Does the painting date from the right time period?
  • Is it a portrait of da Vinci?
  • And, was it painted by the master himself?
“I believe it’s a Leonardo,” Bershad said Tuesday, the day after returning from Italy, where he was able to look at the portrait in person. “It’s exciting to come to that conclusion.”
Bershad was the lone art historian — and sole North American — asked to help assess the authenticity of the portrait, which was discovered in 2009 by a medieval historian studying the art collection of a family in Acerenza, a town in southern Italy.


Now, do you want to see what the Master looked like? The face behind the consummate artist, scientist, tinkerer and the person who gave us the "Renaissance Man"?


Perhaps the smartest man to ever live...and this is what he thought he saw in the mirror.



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Sweet Jesus...people are deranged

Remember the good ole' days when batshit people stayed in their houses, or were placed on the short bus, or just wrote scathing, non-topical editorials to the paper? Those days are long past. Now, the crazies are in full bloom, thanks to the internet. With the 'net, persons otherwise socially shunned, ignored and/or incarcerated can hop online and be howl-at-the-fucking moon insane...It's like Gary Busey breaking into your bedroom at night and waking yo up with maniacal cackles and trou-dropping.



Like this, but with his penis wagging at you...



Such is the case as just happened to me. I was minding my own business, reading juvenile websites, when I stumbled across an otherwise innocuous article on Cracked While the article itself was about a concept I don't really get (Lost), the comments most definitely were...There is one person known as "Cracked Reader", who apparently signed up for the site so as to leave comments about life, blogging, the internet, and other miscellany: 

It is absolutely terrifying, and, they are worth reading in the entirety:

I am just starting a blog myself and it is important to learn from others.
0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 2/12/2010 1:13 AM
Cracked Member
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 2/4/2010 10:49 PM
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 2/4/2010 1:41 PM
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 2/3/2010 5:52 AM
I like your Lost theories video
0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/31/2010 2:52 P
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/31/2010 11:02 AM
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/29/2010 3:22 AM
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/29/2010 3:22 AM
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/18/2010 5:03 AM
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/15/2010 11:41 AM
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/14/2010 3:40 PM 
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/12/2010 11:15 PM 
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/11/2010 6:16 AM 
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0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/11/2010 6:15 AM 
im picking who to root for based on entrance music tonight..
0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/9/2010 3:22 PM 
stout will lose no doubt. stout is a level below a gatekeeper, lacks finishing ability and is very one dimensional.
0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/8/2010 7:39 PM 
Show your support, buy tonight's card. Some of weakest cards have turned out to be some of the best and most exciting. IMO all the fights tonight are great match-ups style wise and it could be a very exciting card.
0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/8/2010 6:20 AM 
Although I dont disagree with you im rooting Yvel because Im a PRIDE loyalist.
0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/7/2010 6:46 PM 
I have always enjoyed this story, because it's one of redemption, and there is no better time than Christmas to tell it. It shows people being compassionate, even in the face of someone as seemingly heartless as Ebeneezer Scrooge. I was first exposed to this story as a little boy watching the animated version with Mr. Magoo that came out in 1962 and is shown every year on TV. There are many such movies that define the season and I truly expect this to be one of them, along with Christmas Story, Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street, and It's a Wonderful Life.
0 Replies | Reply | Posted on 1/7/2010 3:52 AM


No, I didn't fabricate, edit or otherwise manipulate a single word: One lone madman, thanking the world, talking safe sex and anonymous sports, to himself, on a BB post...for a solid week.

My apologies to Gary Busey.


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The ugliest shoes ever: Libby Edelman

 Just a reminder: It's Rick Hunt's world...We're just living in it.
All hail His Hairness.


Sometimes, on the weekends, I zone out to the Home Shopping Network or QVC. It's a habit that began in art school; it was mindless patter, and occasionally entertaining. But, when burning the midnight oil, it was the closest to company that you could get.

Last weekend, however, after a session with MST3K on Netflix, I stumbled across the most ghastly collection of footwear known to man. Libby Edelman. If ever the DSM IV definition of histrionic could be synthesized into clothing, this is it. 

This collection is described as "organic"


which would be true...if your mixed up sandal weren't also gearing up for war.




This is one of the most lethal (and cheap) looking shoes ever manufactured...


I know cross-dressers who wouldn't be caught dead in this...But, props to Libby for bringing back green  CZ and snakeskin





This item seems as though it would be a good fit on the Pro Bowling circuit

Ironic considering it seems to be manufactured out of both bowling balls and the hopes and dreams of the 1980s



Finally there is this piece brought to you straight from the dumpsters of Philadelphia



Seriously I have no idea what the hell this is: Cheap straps, bronze rivets, hard rubber sole, but the nightmare is that this shoe seems to have kidnapped a turquoise and rust bandana. I'd like to say that no one would wear these, but, sadly, I can see a dirty Eurotrash Earth muffin wearing these on the plane from Munich. She's on her way to the U.S.  to visit a rez sundance, learn Indian Coyote Spirit Magic and possibly be adopted by the tribe.
Otherwise, not a clue....




Remember kids, we're all Rick Hunt's bitches.
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TGIF: Have some Beethoven...

There is a dirty little secret. Piano music is hard as shit to play on stringed instruments. Lucelli's version here is outstanding; probably the best version of this piece I've ever heard on a guitar.



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5.20.2010

This Week's Internet Winner

This is the most awesome, and obviously uncomfortable Hallo'eve costume ever...
The Aluminum Foil Luchadora.
Thanks Internet!



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Congress out of touch? Absolutely.

You mean this isn't Afghanistan?




We all lament how Congress is out of touch with the concerns of regular Americans. It's as if the American people have some ideas what we want, and how to accomplish it, then Congress will do the exact-damned-opposite. And, in the rare cases when they do get off their asses, the sausages they tend to crank out have ridiculously long implementation times, they sunset or terminate, and -usually- only half ass the job.




 Member of Congress listening to his constituents' concerns....



It's one of the many reasons why I've supported a basic Common Sense test for prospective members of congress:
  • How much is a gallon of milk
  • What is minimum wage
  • How much is a gallon of gas
  • What's the difference between ground round and ground chuck
  • Name two fast food restaurants with a dollar menu
  • What is the name of your community public school (magnets not included)
  • Is it cheaper to buy a whole chicken or cornish hens
  • What's the best commercial barbecue sauce
  • If you don't bake, what kind of bread do you use
  • How many miles is it to your public library
  • Does your neighborhood have a used book store
  • What is the internet

The Candidate's inability to answer  of any of these questions automatically disqualifies him/her from representing "the people"...



 Can't we just form a committee to investigate these troubling issues?



However, we didn't know how pitifully, painfully out of touch these knuckleheads were until the Senate began debating a cap on fees for ATM transactions. As anyone in America with a bank account knows, if you go to get cash from another institution's ATM machine you are charged $2-3 bucks for a $.36 transaction...on top of what your own bank charges you. 

Are you sitting down? Please, I hope so, because this is what  United States' Senators had to say about ATMs. Per the Omaha World Herald


Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., who said he has used ATMs five or fewer times in his life, likened the Harkin proposal to government price controls -- and he opposes it. “I just worry about that kind of entry into the private sector,” said Johanns, a member of the Senate Banking Committee.
“I've never used an ATM, so I don't know what the fees are,” Nelson said, adding that he gets his cash from bank tellers, just not automatic ones. “It's true, I don't know how to use one.
“But I could learn how to do it just like I've . . . I swipe to get my own gas, buy groceries. I know about the holograms.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he hadn't thoroughly reviewed the proposal. Asked outside the Senate chamber whether he uses an ATM card, he said, “I've got a credit card, but I don't use it for cash.”



 Pictured: Senator Ben Nelson's version of grocery stores...


So, there you have it. One Senator doesn't know the difference between a fucking credit card and an ATM/debit card; another one (on the Banking Committee no less) has used an ATM card less than five times in his life; and, yet another thinks bar codes are holograms...and, more damning, is going to vote on ATM fees, when he's never used an ATM card, and has no idea what these fees are. 

It's definitely time to wipe the slate clean folks.




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Thursday is deluged...

I can't tell you the last day it's been warm and sunny, and rain free...After 6 months of winter, this is no kind of reward. BTW: If you don't like Concrete Blonde, then I cannot help you, other than to suggest a  remedial Rock School for some make-up sessions.



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5.19.2010

Stoya, I'm going to keep posting these until you email me...

This is my latest obsession; on par with my 20-year fixation with Winona Ryder, and far outpacing my lust for a combined hoagie of Scar Jo, Halle Berry, Catherine Zeta Jones and Salma Hayek (yes, it's serious, people).


Anyway, Stoya...shoot me an email :)


If you email me, I'll think of a dozen ways to tell you that you have the
Best. Tummy. Ever.





If you'd like, we can IM, but I won't be creepy, I'll talk about your hair...





 Dear lord...
Did I mention I'm a lawyer? And far prettier than Marilyn Manson?
That I'm moving to Hawaii?
Anything working, yet?





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News from the Homeland: Nothing seems to change edition

Angles and trajectories...not just for Lee Harvey Oswald kids!!!



You've heard of this incredibly idiotic geometry teacher in Corner, AL (whoo hoo, Birmingham!!!), who decided that it would be a great idea to teach children the concept of angles and triangulation by imagining shooting the President of the United States.


 This story needs more "what the fuck"?



wish I were joking, but alas, it really did happen. Naturally, the Secret Service investigated the matter. Perversely, the teacher was cleared, and no action is being taken for this idiotic nonsense. Leave it to my home state though to corner the market on crazy. But, maybe it's not so crazy after all.

Given our illustrious history and past experiences with black people, maybe there are other areas (besides assassination) that present  perfect teaching moments, especially in the sciences.

For instance, have children calculate the pounds-per-square inch of the water used by the Birmingham Police department:





Or, have the Vet Students at Auburn University name this species of animal and the hazards associated with it.







Perhaps, we could calculate the foot-pounds of pressure the atmosphere generates from a short 6-8 foot drop?







We can't leave out the future entrepernuers, so why not a mock business scenario on the cost-benefits of having an "exclusive" business model? 






How about mapping exercises featuring certain demographic characteristics? Bonus points if you include a railroad track!






C'mon Alabama, as a proud resident for the better part of 30 years and a home-grown product, I have faith that we can turn that pesky 20th century around, and give our children the education they deserve. Let's do this (with Jesus''s help of course...a White, Baptist Jesus, naturally).




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A tale of two countries...Canada wins.

What a juxtaposition. On the same day, two large, North American centrist democracies weighed environmental legislation...




In this corner, is Canada, with some of the Earth's most beautiful virgin forests. Long a haunt of commercial logging, Canada has finally stepped up to the plate to protect its wetlands, open range and forests. Per the BBC:


Timber companies and environment groups have unveiled an agreement aimed at protecting two-thirds of Canada's vast forests from unsustainable logging.
Over 72 million hectares are included in what will become the world's largest commercial forest conservation deal.
Logging will be totally banned on some of the land, in the hope of sustaining endangered caribou populations.
Timber companies hope the deal will bring commercial gains, as timber buyers seek higher ethical standards.
The total protected area is about twice the size of Germany, and equals the area of forest lost globally between 1990 and 2005.
"The importance of this agreement cannot be overstated," said Avrim Lazar, president and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC).



  Tar balls coming ashore my native Alabama.



In this corner, is the United States. For some ridiculous reason having solely to do with protecting some of the largest corporations on Earth, the U.S. has a cap of a paltry $75 million dollars for oil spill liability. To put it mildly, the clean up of the spill in the Gulf could easily cost $10 billion. That limits BPs liability to less than 1/100th of a percent. The rest is to be shouldered by the taxpayers.
Naturally, this absurd limitation needs to be removed, or the cap raised, a matter Congress was to take up yesterday. But, per NBC News:

WASHINGTON - As an Obama administration official acknowledged lax regulation prior to the Gulf oil spill, Senate Democrats on Tuesday were foiled in their bid to dramatically lift a cap on oil companies' economic liability for spills.
President Barack Obama said he was disappointed that the proposal had stalled in the U.S. Senate, and blasted Republicans he said had stopped it.
"I am disappointed that an effort to ensure that oil companies pay fully for disasters they cause has stalled in the United States Senate on a partisan basis," Obama said in a statement.


So, there you have it. As Canada is trying to create sustainable forestry and ethical business practices to prevent an ecological collapse, American Republicans are shielding the 5th largest corporation on the planet; a company whose profits in four days could pay for the entire clean-up and mediation of the mess that itself created. Winner: Canada. Loser, the Gulf ecosystem, the Gulf economy, and the taxpayers.



What the fuck are you people doing down there, anyway?




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Wednesday wants to know how Jim Morrison could be conscious?


The surreal Doors stoner classic, "The End".  I must admit, as far as 60s songs go, this is a really good one to make out to --provided you are really fucked up. And, it's a good bet that you've never been this fucked up. I don't think anyone has been this stoned since the 70s. The tangential bridge about grasshoppers is a cautionary tale about using acid, kids.





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5.18.2010

How to tell that Americans have more money than sense...

Just the way America's oligarchy likes it...9/10ths underwater.



Ta-Dah! Chef Michael's Canine Creations, a "gourmet" dog food that goes for roughly $3 a pound at Petco. In a nation where one in four children go to bed hungry and one in five families live on less than $10,000 per year, this is just absolutely a disgusting, shameful hallmark of the broken capital system that increasingly divides the haves from the have-nots.



Eat up, Fido...There are almost a million children who cry at night with hunger pains...