Events this weekend! Creatures of the Night 3 and Rally to Restore Sanity

We've both been very busy, so this will be a quick update.

For all of our Bos-Wash followers, this weekend has a few awesome events for this Saturday!

If you are near Washington, D.C., you CANNOT miss Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear"!

This event is for all of us who are tired of the venomous partisanship in the U.S., where the loudest and most extreme voices are the ones that are given all the attention.

Here are the respective facebook pages for the joint event:
Colbert- http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154317524597618
Stewart- http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118856078167623

 Also, if you are unable to make these events, there are dozens of satellite rallies being held across the country in cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago. Maybe there's one near you!

And, after getting your political muscles all fired up, or if a party is more your thing, you can go to New York's Halloween Massive rave, Creatures of the Night!

(Open in new tab to view in full.)

(Open in new tab to view in full.)

The rave is just outside of New York City, in Elmsford, so if you have a car, you should definitely drive. Tickets are still on sale for $35 (plus a $3.26 service fee from Fla.vor.us) but this rave is gonna have a LOT of things--Haunted house,bumper cars, billiards, and a live performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Michael Jackson's Thriller! And lots more.

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153076704708033

And, of course, it's Halloween!! I would really love to talk a bit more in detail, but as I said, I'm short on time. Hope you guys enjoy!

-Feel.

(P.S. If you're in New York City and don't feel like paying for the rave, then go to the Village Halloween Parade! It's free, and it's a lot of fun.

Cheers!)

Letters to an Absent Father

If you're older than 14 or have some grasp of popular culture over the past decade, then you've heard of Pokemon. You know, that show featuring 150 different pocket monsters (get it? That's why they're called "Poke-Mon") and revolving around the lovable trio of Misty, the fanboy fantasy; Brock, the only minority in all of Kanto; and Ash Ketchum, the loyal if incessantly clumsy protagonist.

I refuse to acknowledge anything beyond 250 Pokemon.

Growing up this was one of my favorite shows and probably the first anime I watched, except for maybe Dragon Ball Z. I was so dedicated to watching a bunch of glorified prepubescent slave owners force their Pokemon to fight to the brink of death that I would get up at 6:50 just to watch the show at 7:00. Kudos to YOU fellow reader if you not only remember those bygone days, but did the same.

But I digress.

Going back to my list of characters, one might even add Ash's mom to the mix since she's practically a recurring character throughout the series. We learn that she's an amazing cook, that she loves Ash, and that she has no problem sending her 10-year-old son to wander the world on his own without even Chris Hansen's protection. And she does all this as a single mother!

None of this to protect Ash's virgin ass.

 But wait..So where's Ash's dad?

Truth be told it is never revealed in the series; but as any child without a father can tell you, the question is constantly whittling away at you, even if they were too young to remember that father. As a boy, the absence of a father figure must have been doubly pressing to a young Ash growing up and the argument can even be made that his quest to become the best stems from his feelings of rejection from an ever absent father.

(click on the image if it gets cut off)

This is the premise behind Maré Odomo's project "Letters to an Absent Father," wherein a fatherless Ash writes letters to his absent father (which he may or may not send). My brother found these comics (there are 16 total) scattered here and there on the Internet before finally finding the original page, which is the link I have shared above with you. Hope you enjoy this read as well.

Cheers,
Touch

Stumble Findings: Dex-Starr Origin story.

I didn't actually find this one on stumble, but I'm sure it's out there somewhere (you guys could also put it on stumble by liking this blog post with stumbleupon *wink wink*).

Anyway, this is the origin story of Dex-Starr, one of the DC Universe's most brutal Red Lanterns. He was originally created as a joke by comic book artist Shane Davis, but he was fleshed out into a full-fledged character due to positive feedback from writer Geoff Johns and the Green Lantern fan community.

Here is the origin story of how Dexter the stray kitten became Dex-Starr, the feared Red Lantern. I will admit, I am a total cat person, but if this story does not melt your heart and bring a tear to your eye..well, nothing against you, but you have no soul.

Story (1-6):

1.

2.

3. (this one cuts off towards the right; open in new tab!)

4.

5.

6 (Fin).

Note: For you non-comic fans out there (myself included--I learned this after researching the different Lanterns due to my curiosity about Dex-Starr) Red Lanterns are powered by rage. In Dex-Starr's case, the red power ring was attracted to him by the rage he felt towards the thugs that tried to throw him over the bridge and the robber who killed his owner. As a Red Lantern, he makes it his mission to hunt down and kill this man. Dex-Starr is also able to form rudimentary sentences in the last panel because the Red ring bestows him with a limited sentience and projects his thoughts.

Further, according the wikipedia, Dex-Starr "is currently traveling with Atrocitus on earth, in search of the Red Entity known only as 'The Butcher.' " Not sure what this means, but there you have it!

Enjoy!

-Feel

Stumble Findings: BMW Used Car Ad

Now, I know how some people feel about used cars: it's never as good as new. And, of course there's the horror stories of getting a lemon or finding a dead body in the trunk (or was that just me?).

Though these things may be true, they do not mean a used model can't still awesome as hell. In fact, if it's a good enough car--like, say, a BMW--then the fact that it's used may not matter much.Why, you might ask? Well, here's a nice visual analogy:

No, I do not care one bit.

Sexism aside, this ad has definitely convinced me to give used cars a second look. Especially if they're as hot as this nice piece of...automobile.

Of course, the lemon equivalent for this would be her having an STD--or AIDS.

...Hm.

Cheers!

-Feel


source: http://www.eligr.com/2010/04/great-bmw-used-car-ad/

Stumble Findings: Proper Graffiti

I don't actually remember where i found this one (it has been on my photobucket account for a while) but I still laugh every time i read it. The irony of an educated, well-spoken man tagging a city wall like a gangsta is just..too rich.

Veritably so, fool. 

If anyone knows the origin of this funny little work of art, don't hesitate to let me know! (Yes, I'm aware that there's a mark on the left margin, but it's completely illegible in the saved copy I have, so it basically does me no good).

Enjoy!

-Feel

Edit: According to follower DDX, the copyright reads:  "the rut. 2008"  "http://bigeyedeer dot wordpress dot com." Well, it's better than nothing!

Music: Classic '77 punk rock--"Kiss my Deadly," by Generation X

 Billy Idol with his mates, playing music because music is awesome

Most of you certainly know the 80's hit, "Dancing with Myself," by Billy Idol. What many of you probably DON'T know is that before he became an embarrassing 80's pop star caricature, he was a member of an AMAZING '77 punk band called Generation X. This band was so amazing, in fact, that Billy Idol flat out stole their songs and re-released them as his own. "Dancing with Myself," in fact, was one of Generation X's most awesome hits before Billy Idol sold out and took all of the credit for it. (The song is also an allusion to masturbation, by the way).

 Billy Idol once he sold out and came out of the closet.

I would highly recommend to anyone that they listen to Generation X's greatest hits, like "One Hundred Punks," "Ready, Steady, Go," "Untouchables," and basically anything else on their band anthology.

"Kiss Me Deadly," however, is is far and above my favorite Generation X song. Why? Because unlike most punk songs, and most of Generation X's own songs, this song connects with you on a deeper, more personal level. You won't exactly get a philosophy lesson out of listening to it (and, truth be told, it would suck if you did), but I have yet to find another song which I feel captures so perfectly the essence of being young and reckless, and not giving a damn about anything else but being alive.

And, without further ado..



Enjoy!

-Feel

Stumble Findings: How to Make Skittles Vodka

What's more awesome than skittles and vodka? Skittles IN vodka, of course!

Here is the helpful guide to this Elixir of Awesomeness in its entirety (the file was broken up into three parts for this blog post because it was too damn huge to fit properly):

 source: http://www.funlol.com/15882/Skittles_vodka.html

Cheers!

-Feel

Stumble Findings: Permanent Mission to Mars

How would you like to go to Mars? Explore a new frontier, brave the unknown, discover a new world, never see your old home or acquaintances again...

Wait, what?

You heard me correctly. NASA and DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a branch of the Defense Department)  have joined forces to create a plan which will take humans to Mars--and leave them there for good.

Here's an excerpt of the article linked above in case you want to glance through before committing a whole new tab to this topic:

"NASA and DARPA have joined forces to build something called a Hundred-Year Starship, according to the director of NASA’s Ames Research Center. Simon “Pete” Worden said NASA contributed $100,000 to the project and DARPA kicked in $1 million.

“The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,” Worden said, according to a Singularity University blog that covered the event. “Twenty years ago you had to whisper that in dark bars and get fired.” (Worden added that he was fired by President George W. Bush.)

Beyond that, there are no details. But the prospect of a DARPA-NASA spaceship collaboration for Star Trek-esque exploration sounds thrilling — even if by definition, a 100-year ship means leaving Earth and never coming back" - Popular Science

Interesting stuff. I recommend you read the article (and click the links there, as well) if this topic tickles your fancy. Hopefully someday soon we'll live the future the past thought we'd be living by now.

Make it so!

Someday..

Enjoy!

-Feel

Stumble Findings: Parenting Tips

For all you future parents out there, here's a helpful list of parenting Do's and Don'ts to keep you in the know on how to raise a healthy, happy mini-you!

All in all, it seems like very sound advice! (The only one I don't agree with is the exercise one. I don't want no little b*tch for a child..).

Enjoy!

-Feel

Stumble Findings: POKEMON EXTRAVEGANZA!

Well, followers, as my brother has informed you, I have been analized by midterms...AND SURVIVED! At least until next week when I have two more, that is.

But Anyways!

As I'm sure anyone who isn't a loser will know, Pokemon was THE SHIT back in the day. They were all awesome as hell, and everyone thought being a pokemon master was the next best thing to being God himself.

 Being the Glorious Leader of Best Korea comes pretty close, too.

Sadly, they had to screw it all up by creating an orgy of hideous, half-assed monstrosities that don't even come close to the first 150 (who else could name them all at one point in their lives? If you couldn't...you had no childhood). Even the show sucks now (is it even still on?). C'mon, how often can Ash win THE ENTIRE LEAGUE, then go somewhere and be completely unknown? Seriously.

 

Pokemon then.

Pokemon now.

Being the lazy bum that I am, however, I never took the time to collect my thoughts and write down which of these pokemon I particularly loathed--but luckily for me, Steve Bogda at damnlag.com did! And I have to say, I have to agree with him for the most part on his top 10 choices. Except with Jynx. Jynx was hilarious.


Bogda further wrote a FANTASTIC article on the nerdgasm that would be a hypothetical Pokemon MMORPG. How awesome would that be exactly?

 This could be you.

And these could be your pokemon.

Wow. That's pretty goddamn awesome.

Cheers!

Feel.

OH SHIT (Also, funny video)

Hey guys, so sorry we haven't updated in so long. I personally got analized by exams and my brother is currently getting analized in turn. It's hard out her for a pimp, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do when a bitch gets out of line.

Anyways, to keep you coming back for more and cleverly disguised as a peace offering, here's a video that some of you may or may not have seen:

The Jersey Shore RPG - CollegeHumor video

Here's the link:http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1942081

Cheers!

Touch

Edit: Added embeded video!

Stumble Findings: Simpsons intro by Banksy taken off Youtube by Fox, allowed back up.

For those of you who don't have a TV or don't watch TV, then this is a must see intro to the Simpsons made by British graffiti artist Banksy. Think what you want about the Simpsons or of Banksy, but you have to admit that this is one thought-provoking intro--and frankly, I'm surprised the let it go on air in the first place.



To add another twist to this story, Fox apparently had the videos of the intro taken down on youtube, only to post them back up later.



What?



It seems Mr. Murdoch  hasn't heard about the Streisand Effect...


Anyway, here's the video, along with a link to TechCrunch's article about the whole fiasco:




http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/12/after-shooting-itself-in-the-foot-fox-allows-banksy-simpsons-intro-back-on-youtube/

Stumble Findings: Remember my Gingerness?

You know what they say about gingers...(I'm surprised I never thought of this.)

Cheers!

Stumble Findings: Triforce Latte

IT'S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE!

DRINK THIS!

Just a quick update this time..
-Cheers!

P.S. You are the most badass person I know if you can do this.

Music: Kalashnikov

Because not everything on this blog can be about stumble finds, here's some more music for y'all. So just sit back, relax, and have yourself a cancer stick or two if that's your thing.

Not? That's okay too because at the end of the day it's all a matter of whether or not you read all of the nonsense I'm writing here to take up space anyways.

Smoking kills.

Backtracking to the whole point of this post, Kalashnikov was an old school punk band from Denmark and the song I'm sharing with you is called "Schluter's Kabinet" (about the then Danish Prime Minister Poul Schlüter). In my opinion, this song is one of the best examples of the "UK '82" movement going on at the time; UK '82 personally being one of my more favored styles of punk rock.


For those of you that aren't familiar with UK '82, it is often confused with "hardcore" since both are loud, fast, and usually brief, leading to UK '82 sometimes being (in my opinion) mislabeled as UK hardcore. To be fair, instrumentally there isn't much difference between hardcore and UK '82 but unlike hardcore, for which vocals are characterized by scream-singing, vocals in UK '82 are not yells but (very) loud singing. 


There's a difference. The difference being a melody you can follow.


Now, while I could go into soporific explanation for what melody is, a better rule of thumb to keep in mind is the humming rule. Basically, if you can hum the song, it has melody; if you can't, it doesn't. So applying this to our situation, a "hardcore" song you can hum is actually UK '82.


Anyways, I found this gem on the 1984 punk rock compilation P.E.A.C.E./War, which featured punk bands of all styles from all around the world. If you like punk rock or are just curious,  I can't stress enough how highly I recommend you buy/torrent/steal this compilation, it is golden.

Cheers,
Touch

Stumble Findings: Wild Pacman

For anyone who ever had a childhood, Pacman was the shit. I could waste quarter after quarter at the arcade on this game (or on Street Fighter). However, I would sometimes find myself wondering what pacman would look like in real life; after all, he's just a ball of pixels in the game itself. I know, I know, there was a large illustration of him at the side of the machine, but that thing was shit (he had LEGS in that--seriously?). 

Anyways, I shall wonder no more...

I do not know what to think of this (creepy? disturbing?).

Nonetheless, thought I'd share it with you guys.

Cheers!

Stumble Findings and return!

Hello everyone! Sorry for not updating over the weekend, my other half has been busy with his mathematical 

mumbo jumbo, and I came down with a fever. But fear not! We are both alive and well, albeit swamped with homework, and come bringing something yours truly came across on Sunday! I don't have time to explain more, but this image pretty much speaks for itself (and leaves me at a loss for words, anyway).

And, without further ado...

The connection shall forever be seared into my mind.

Cheers!

Stumble Findings: 19 of the Greatest Science Fiction Book Series

Along with Fantasy, Science Fiction is one of my all-time favorite genres. Maybe it's the badass future technology, or the wide-arching storylines that can span millenia. Or maybe its the fact that the future, by its nature, cannot be known, so the creators of sci-fi works essentially have a no-rules sandbox in which to do their world-building. 


It is difficult to describe why Science Fiction gives me such a sense of exhilaration and awe, but Tim at PopCrunch's description does a noble job of doing just that:


"Science Fiction writers—much like their cousins over in Fantasy—are renowned for being able write volume upon volume of prose, great tracts of novels, seemingly without end. Often these tomes are filled with nothing so much as overly lengthy location descriptions and predictable plots. However, some of the true greats of Science Fiction have surpassed the limits of the form, and created vast inter-twined plots set across multiple novels, and multiple time periods."


Admittedly, I have not read a few of the series on this list (to my shame, Asimov's Foundation Series is amongst them) but I will definitely sink my teeth into all of them, and many more, before I kick the bucket. 


And, without further ado, here is Tim's list of the 19 Greatest Science Fiction Book Series.




Enjoy!