The 'Lost' Intro Done 'Buffy'-Style

I didn't watch 'Buffy the Vampire' - shame on me - but I do watch 'Lost', so I thought this was pretty funny.

The Yes Men Fix the World - Trailer

'The Yes Men Fix the World' is a documentary about one of the biggest hoaxes perpetrated in the country, all done in the name of fighting the PR battle against giant corporations from the inside...sort of. The two men - Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno - pose as ostensible PR execs from "evil" corporations like Exxon Mobil and Dow Chemical and go on television to expose the companies' shady business practices.

You can read more about the story by going to the movie's web site.

The Pixies - Where is My Mind? Piano Cover

YouTuber Maxene Cyrin takes pseudo-pop songs and then covers them on the piano, with often hauntingly beautiful results. Here, the pianist covers The Pixies' 'Where is My Mind?' (which, as well all know, closes out 'Fight Club') with scenes from the 1928 Greta Garbo flick, 'The Mysterious Lady'.

Dr. Dre vs. Class Act - Nothin' but a Journal Thang

Anyone who reads the blog knows I'm a fan of mash-ups, and this is a top-notch one, though I'm not sure what the song underlying 'Nothing But a G Thang' is. 'The Class Act Actress' implies that its from the Kid N Play movie from 1993. Still, it's worth a listen.

Christopher Hitchens Interview

Christopher Hitchens Interview from Anonymous on Vimeo.

Preaching Hate in Uganda

Within the next century, when historians are able to accurately (or at least with some amount of objectivity) label these decades, they may be able to deem them "The Second Dark Ages", or, more ironically, the "Evangelical Enlightenment". There exists today such a religious fervor in fiery American evangelicals that they cannot help but spread the love. They have learned, perhaps, that a direct brand of Old Testament intolerance may not work in America, so they have taken it elsewhere to places like Uganda, where vitriol against homosexuals can be openly, freely, and violently expressed. "The gay movement is an evil institution. The goal of the gay movement is to defeat the marriage-based society," says Scott Lively, an American evangelical working to stir up anti-gay sentiment in the country. As the video suggests, outright homophobia is at an all-time high in Uganda (and, I imagine, other places in the world where there is a strong evangelical presence). A recently introduced Anti-Homosexuality Bill would require "some" homosexuals to be put to death - how they will be able to decide who will be executed, we may never know - and the bill is supported by American and Ugandan evangelicals alike. Take, for example, Ugandan minister Martin Ssempa, who is the local figurehead for this seemingly grassroots movement to rid the country of "sodomy". The video pretty much speaks for itself, but let's hope that the rhetoric that demagogues like Ssempa spews does not stir up the kind of biblical wrath in Uganda over homosexuality that, well, the Bible advocates.

Now, for those who think this borders on being ludicrous, it does, especially if one considers that, not only does Martin Ssempa accuse gays of gaining sexual gratification from eating feces, but also that Mr. Lively readily equates homosexuality with Nazism (His book is entitled The Pink Swastika. I do not believe I have to create a straw man here. What lengths would I have to go to in order to mischaracterize their argument? How much more depraved an accusation would I have to make in order to top coprophagia and Nazism? I can't argue in any fashion that any of this is mainstream Christianity, for it is not, but we are also not discussing the American political stage either, where statements are often simultaneously grandiose and tame at the same time. The greatest difference is in the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which outright proposes the execution of a person for confessing an alternative sexual preference to their own, based entirely on the writings of men - certainly men - who believed that spitting on a wound may cure it. Thankfully, there has been a great outcry from mainstream Christian leaders, such as Ugandan Anglican minister Canon Gideon Byamugisha, who says that passing the bill would amount to "state legislated genocide".

The denouncement of the bill is heartening. However, what should be focused on in this matter is not that some have taken a stance against the bill but that a stance need be taken at all, or that the bill even exists. How much longer can such ignorance be disseminated to the people for petty religious gain? The ostensible purpose of the sentiment in Uganda is not to rid the world of homosexuality but to manipulate people into confessing the Christian faith based on simple knee-jerk reactionism. Thankfully, the bill has been revised to omit the death penalty for homosexuals, and yet the bill itself still remains. This is a depressing and altogether horrifying development in two thousand and ten, and I sincerely hope the bill gets shut down altogether.

Source: Ugandan church leader brands anti-gay bill 'genocide'

The Evolution of the Eye

The eye is a controversial organ, indeed. It is one of the main body parts creationists point to when espousing the "evidence of a designer," and the argument over its development has persisted for nearly two centuries. Creationists propose that the eye could not evolve in a vacuum, that no discernible transitional phase has ever been observed, and that its complexity is irreducible (meaning ostensibly that, due to its complexity, the eye could not have evolved whatsoever). To make a simpler analogy, which "scientist" Michael Behe uses in his book, Darwin's Black Box, how could a mouse trap evolve independent of creation? You can find numerous supposed refutations of evolution in man-made examples. Has a house ever been constructed which has not been designed by man? Could a jumbo jet be made from a whirlwind sweeping through a junkyard? And so on.

The affirmation of the eye's evolution is rather simpler to explain than I would have thought, actually. It need not even get too bogged down in scientific jargon in order to be convincing. The above video shows in detail how the eye developed into what it is today and also how different creatures bear differing evidence of eye development. It is basically a process of gradual development, with light-sensitive cells turning into a minor recess in what will become an ocular cavity, after which the gathering of cells become the eye itself, able to manipulate light into the objects we perceive.

Race You There

Here is an interesting video, and it may or may not look familiar. That's because the video consists entirely of images taken from Google Streetview. It's sort-of stopmotion, sort-of not stopmotion, but either way it looks nice, and it really fits in with the song, which is pretty good in and of itself.

If you're interested in how the video was made, the band has posted a full explanation on Facebook.

Leapin' Lizards!

This is an older video from the internets, but it's a great one. JOAJ reminded me of it, and I couldn't help but watch it five or so times in a row. It's that funny. This is what can potentially happen on live television when a dude brings snakes on the show.

Worlds of Hurt: Expert

I know that talking about the original BioShock is "so two years ago", but screw it, I'm still hooked on it. The last trophies are up in the air for me, and all I have to do now is beat this hellacious level in under 15:00, which nigh impossible. That is my goal for the weekend, since the weather is precluding any fun activities.

BTW: Today I beat the game on Survivor Difficulty w/o using Vita-Chambers. If you've never played BioShock before, this will all seem so confusing as to render it basically foreign. For that, I apologize...

Chewbacca Cabinet

I know and realize that my posts have been few, far between, and entirely random, so thank you for sticking with me until I'm in the mood to get my blog back on...

Alan Moore on Audiences

It is not up to the artist to give the audience what they want. If the audience knew what they needed, they wouldn't be the audience; they would, in essence, be the artist. It is up to the artist to give the audience what they need.

~Alan Moore
(From The Mindscape of Alan Moore)