Spins Some Glass Any Size, Catches Geeks Just Like Flies...

If I could find a church with this for a stained glass window, I might bother dragging my butt out of bed on Sunday mornings.


Or maybe I could get something like that for my own private cathedral/man's room/geek cave. I might have to give the artist a call. When I have, you know, money for such a thing. Oh, and the room.

(via Cinematical)

The Speech We Should've Seen

When looking over the schedule for last night's speeches at the Democratic National Convention, I'm sure the cable news channels saw John Kerry set to speak after Bill Clinton and thought it might be anti-climactic. Plus, Kerry does have the reputation of being sort of a gasbag.

Had Kerry's speech been shown, I might have turned the channel. And that's surely why CNN and MSNBC opted to have their pundits jabber on instead. But I followed along online, and quickly realized I would've been wrong not to pay attention. The cable news channels most certainly made a bad decision in not showing the speech. Especially when they'd been criticizing the Democrats the past two nights for going into attack mode toward the Republicans. Everyone should've seen Kerry's remarks on TV last night, if they were already tuned into DNC coverage.

Fortunately, we have YouTube:



Had this guy shown himself in 2004, maybe he would've won the presidential election.

(via Andrew Sullivan)

Don Draper's Advice to Live By

"It will shock you how much it didn't happen."

Great line, great scene, and a great episode of Mad Men last night.

Bobbie Barrett finally became an interesting character after three episodes, Peggy Olson is a complex tangle of complexity, and Don Draper may have learned one of life's most important lessons. Infidelity could eventually prevent your food from tasting good.

Keeping My Olympic Torch Ablaze

I knew there was a reason I took a nap this evening. Whether I realized it or not, I wanted to stay up late to watch the USA Women's Beach Volleyball team!


(Courtesy of someecards.com)

Just supporting our young Olympians. Like our President.


(I'm also waiting for the Misty May-Treanor/ Kerri Walsh cereal box.)

U! S! A! U! S! A! Bring back some gold!

The Only Thing Michael Phelps and I Have in Common

Over the past week, I've gotten as caught up in this Michael Phelps thing as anyone. Besides the tremendous spectacle he's presented in Beijing (Friday night's by-the-fingertips win in the 100M Butterfly was incredible to watch), I dig him even more because he's been an Ann Arborite for the past few years. I think it's that Midwestern need to identify with "one of us" (even though Phelps is really a Maryland guy).

Besides the gold medals, Phelps has also gotten a lot of play for the voracious eating regimen that fuels the swimming machine. Anyone who's ever looked at me knows I can eat, but even I don't think I could put 12,000 calories away. (Unless I actually have, and didn't realize it during an evening at a Chinese buffet.)

Anyway, Phelps has to go somewhere to get all that food, which is what makes this video cool. Plenty of local Ann Arbor eateries can be seen here.



Yep. That's about the only thing Michael Phelps and I have in common. We both eat breakfast at Benny's Family Dining. (Well, sometimes - I'm more of a Mark's Midtown Coney Island guy nowadays.) Oh, and our favorite Chinese restaurant is Middle Kingdom on Main St. I was just in there last night, and the old man who owns the place was talkative and giddy over all the attention his place was receiving from its moment on TV. And he's not usually talkative or giddy. But he sure enjoyed telling anyone who asked what Phelps likes to eat.

You know, I used to swim a lot, too, when I was a kid. Which you might not guess by looking at me now. Even then, I didn't wear the Speedos, though.

(via MGoBlog, by way of MVictors.com)

Kwame: The Best Sitcom of the Summer

Up until now, I haven't paid too much attention to summer television because of baseball, but just before the Beijing Olympics begin, I think Kwame Kilpatrick has given us a fantastic sitcom to watch. Or is this more of a "dramedy"?

If you didn't catch the news - and this has gotten an embarrassing amount of national coverage - Detroit's joke of a mayor will be spending tonight in the slammer after violating the terms of his bond which prohibited him from leaving the city without first notifying the Wayne County Circuit Court. Kilpatrick said he was in Windsor, Canada on city business, and apologized like a teenager who trashed the family car, but the judge said he had to treat the mayor as he would any other citizen that violated bond. That led to the image that's provided most of my dinner entertainment this evening.


If that wasn't bad enough for Kilpatrick, the Michigan attorney general is set to charge him with at least one felony count tomorrow, connected to Kwame's alleged shoving of a Detroit police office. And if that charge leads to a conviction, it won't matter if the mayor chooses to resign or not because he'd be removed from office. (This would also relieve the governor from exercising her constitutional power to do so herself.)

None of this, by the way, is connected with the text message/perjury scandal that already had many Detroit citizens and politicians calling for his resignation. The Wayne County prosecutor is still working on that one.

Coffee is For Closers Only

I posted this over at Bless You Boys earlier today, but I think it'll play well here, too. Nothing is funnier than small children swearing. Even if it's bleeped out.



That's when you know you've written a classic monologue, when either Alec Baldwin or a kid can perform it to much the same effect. We salute you, David Mamet.

(Here's the real thing, if you want to watch it. Not safe for work, in terms of language, but you probably already knew that.)

Wilco Does Wrigley

This is more for my buddy Rob, but it's always fun when the worlds we love collide. Wilco singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley Field and Jeff Tweedy sitting in on the Cubs' broadcast booth definitely qualifies as one of those moments. (Kudos to him for admitting he grew up a Cardinals fan.)



(via Cable & Tweed)

When Superhero Movies Collide

I'd have to think if part of your job was to change the titles on a theater marquee, your mischievous side would sometimes creep in and you'd want to have a little fun. This photo of a Portland cinema switching from Hancock to The Dark Knight might be proof of that.


Although maybe the guy didn't realize what he was doing, and was just working his normal routine from left to right. In this case, maybe right to left would've been better. (And if the previous movie showing was Iron Man or The Incredible Hulk, there still may have been problems.)

Of course, working that way could also result in this:


Somewhere, Will Smith is smiling. I know it.

(via Hollywood Elsewhere)