[reposted from a post on Digg]
Nine Inch Nails Concept Album Builds Story With Websites From The Future
A set of websites have emerged in support of the new Nine Inch Nails album "Year Zero". The first of the sites was discovered by fans who noticed highlighted letters on the back of a nine inch nails shirt for a tour that kicked off this weekend. This led to the discovery of various IP addresses and an entire story of the future built through sites.
more info from echoingthesound.org
a group called "42 Entertainment" was hired by Trent to do some marketing stuff.
They have set up the following web sites (so far):
http://iamtryingtobelieve.com
- first discovered. about some weird chemical or something. probably metaphorical.
http://bethehammer.net/
- appears to be a resistance site.
http://anotherversionofthetruth.com/
- click and drag. Has two audio files:
- http://anotherversionofthetruth.com/audio/opalo.mp3
- http://anotherversionofthetruth.com/audio/ballgameOver.mp3
-also has one forum: http://anotherversionofthetruth.com/forum.htm
http://105thairbornecrusaders.com/
- soldiers of God under the US Flag
http://churchofplano.com/
- Church site.
http://deadcop-opal.com/
- Yet to be set up
I was getting rid of the spam in my Gmail account when something caught my eye -
a link for Spicy Spam Kabobs.
Internet just freaks me out sometimes.
And I'm def inclined to hit up Recipe Source® again@
* Exported from MasterCook
SPICY SPAM KABOBS
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Main dish Meats
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/4 c Lemon juice
3 tb Minced onion
1 tb Olive oil
1 t Dried leaf thyme
1 Garlic clove, minced
1/2 t Whole oregano leaves
1/4 t Red pepper flakes
16 Pea pods
1 cn Pineapple chunks packed in
-light juice, drained (8 oz)
1 cn SPAM Luncheon Meat, cut into
-24 cubes (12 oz)
1 Red bell pepper, cut into
-1" pieces
4 c Hot cooked rice
Combine first 7 ingredients in 9x12" dish. Wrap pea pods around
pineapple chunks. Alternately thread SPAM cubes, pineapple chunks,
and bell pepper pieces on eight skewers. Place in dish with marinade.
Cover and marinade 2 hours, turning occasionally. Grill kabobs over
medium-hot coals 10 minutes, turning occasionally. Or, broil 5" from
heat source 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally. Serve with hot cooked
rice.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sword seized after man mistakes porn for rape
POSTED: 2040 GMT (0440 HKT), February 22, 2007
Story Highlights
• James Van Iveren says he feels "stupid" after breaking into neighbor's apartment• Neighbor says Van Iveren held him at sword-point, demanding proof he was alone
• Neighbor says he played part of the pornographic movie for police
• Van Iveren charged with criminal trespass, criminal damage, disorderly conduct
OCONOMOWOC, Wisconsin (AP) -- A man says he broke into an apartment with a cavalry sword because he thought he heard a woman being raped, but the sound actually was from a pornographic movie his upstairs neighbor was watching.
"Now I feel stupid," said James Van Iveren, who has been charged in the case. "This really is nothing, nothing but a mistake."
According to a criminal complaint, the neighbor told police that Van Iveren pounded on the door and kicked it open without warning February 12, damaging the frame and lock.
"Where is she?" Van Iveren demanded, thrusting the sword at the neighbor, the complaint said. "Where is she?"
The neighbor told police Van Iveren became increasingly aggressive as he repeated the question, insisting that he had heard a woman being raped. The complaint said that, with the sword pointed at him, the neighbor led Van Iveren throughout the apartment, opening closet doors to prove he was alone.
The neighbor later played for police the part of the DVD he believed Van Iveren heard downstairs.
Van Iveren, 39, of Oconomowoc, was charged with criminal trespass, criminal damage and disorderly conduct, all while using a dangerous weapon, and is scheduled to appear in court March 5. Together, the misdemeanor counts carry a maximum sentence of 33 months in jail.
Van Iveren said Tuesday that he heard a woman "screaming for help," grabbed the sword, bounded up the stairs, kicked in the apartment door and confronted the man who lived there.
"I intended to hold it behind my back and knock. But I froze and instead, what happened happened," he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Contesting his neighbor's account, Van Iveren said he didn't look anywhere in the apartment except the front room, and that he never threatened the neighbor with the sword.
"I had the sword extended, but that was all," he said.
Van Iveren, who lives with his mother in the downstairs apartment, said he did not call police when he heard the noises because he does not have a telephone. He said he barely knew the upstairs tenant.
Police seized Van Iveren's sword, which he said was a family heirloom.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The US government has a new website
The US government has a new website, http://www.ready.gov/. It's another attempt at scare mongering in the style of the old "duck and cover" advice after WWII.
The fun thing is that these pictures are so ambiguous they could mean anything! Here are a few interpretations.
If you have set yourself on fire, do not run.
If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin
Diesel, yell really loud.
If you spot a terrorist arrow, pin it against the wall with your
shoulder.
If you are sprayed with an unknown substance, stand and think about a
cool design for a new tattoo.
Use your flashlight to lift the walls right off of you!
The proper way to eliminate smallpox is to wash with soap, water and at
least one(1) armless hand.
Michael Jackson is a terrorist. If you spot this smooth criminal with
dead, dead eyes, run the hell away.
Hurricanes, animal corpses and your potential new tattoo have a lot in
common. Think about it.
Be on the lookout for terrorists with pinkeye and leprosy. Also, they
tend to rub their hands together manically.
If a door is closed, karate chop it open.
Try to absorb as much of the radiation as possible with your groin
region. After 5 minutes and 12 seconds, however, you may become sterile.
After exposure to radiation it is important to consider that you may
have mutated to gigantic dimensions: watch your head.
If you've become a radiation mutant with a deformed hand, remember to
close the window. No one wants to see that shit.
If you hear the Backstreet Boys, Michael Bolton or Yanni on the radio,
cower in the corner or run like hell.
If your lungs and stomach start talking, stand with your arms akimbo until
they stop.
If you are trapped under falling debris, conserve oxygen by not farting.
If you lose a contact lens during a chemical attack, do not stop to look
for it.
Do not drive a stations wagon if a power pole is protruding from the
hood.
A one-inch thick piece of plywood should be sufficient protection against
radiation.
Always remember to carry food with you during a terrorist attack. At least
you'll be able to enjoy a nice coke and apple before you die.
Check out Regina Spektor's Fidelity.
Prince's halftime imagery questioned
By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer Tue Feb 6, 11:16 PM ET
NEW YORK - In the sensitive post-wardrobe malfunction world, some are questioning whether a guitar was just a guitar during Prince's Super Bowl halftime show.
| ADVERTISEMENT |
Prince's acclaimed performance included a guitar solo during the "Purple Rain" segment of his medley in which his shadow was projected onto a large, flowing beige sheet. As the 48-year-old rock star let rip, the silhouette cast by his figure and his guitar (shaped like the singer's symbol) had phallic connotations for some.
A number of bloggers have decried "Malfunction!" — including Sam Anderson at New York magazine's Daily Intelligencer. Daily News television critic David Bianculli called it "a rude-looking shadow show" that "looked embarrassingly rude, crude and unfortunately placed."
CBS spokesman Dana McClintock said Tuesday that the network has received "very few" complaints on Prince's performance. CBS last aired the Super Bowl in 2004 when Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's "wardrobe malfunction" sparked criticism and a subsequent crackdown on broadcast decency from the Federal Communications Commission.
But this time, it was the NFL that produced the halftime show (MTV had in 2004). Spokesman Greg Aiello said the league has received no complaints.
"We respect other opinions, but it takes quite a leap of the imagination to make a controversy of his performance," Aiello said. "It's a guitar."
The majority of the reaction to Prince's performance has been laudatory, including positive reviews from The Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today — all of which noted the lack of controversy in this year's halftime show. AP Entertainment Writer Douglas J. Rowe wrote: "He delivered one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows — ever."
For decades, the electric guitar, by nature, has been considered phallic. From Jimi Hendrix's sensual 6-string swagger to Eddie Van Halen's masturbatory soloing, the guitar has often been thought an extension of a male player's sexuality.
Was Prince's pose phallic?
"The short answer is, of course it is," says Rolling Stone magazine contributing editor Gavin Edwards, who points out that on Prince's "Purple Rain" tour in the mid `80s, he performed with a guitar that would ejaculate, squirting water out of its end during the climax of "Let's Go Crazy."
"All that said, it didn't seem like a sniggering little puppet show," adds Edwards. "I think it was one of those things because a guitar at waist level does look like an enormous phallus."
By enlarging his shadow, it's possible Prince intended to accentuate this aspect of his solo, but it's just as likely it was accidental. (You can find videos of the halftime show at YouTube.com.) A message left with Prince's publicist Tuesday wasn't returned.
The late-night shows have taken notice. On CBS's "The Late Late Show" on Sunday night, host Craig Ferguson said of Prince: "He was obviously very happy to be there, wasn't he?"
Stephen Colbert reacted with mock outrage on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" Monday night: "They knew that they were dealing with a lustful, pansexual rock 'n' roll deviant," said Colbert, who joked that the sheet hid (not enhanced) Prince's "demonic guitar phallus."
In recent years, Prince has scaled down his performances, which were once renown for their gymnastics. His mini-concert at the Colts-Bears game in Miami included parts of "Purple Rain," "Let's Go Crazy," "Baby I'm a Star," Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," the Foo Fighter's "Best of You" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary."
The Minnesota native has attracted controversy before. Tipper Gore launched a campaign to place a warning sticker on his 1984 album "Purple Rain" because of the lyrics to the song "Darling Nikki." Though his musical style has been expansive, he's best known for funky, sexually charged songs like "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Get Off."
Prince's previously most talked-about performance came at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards, where he donned yellow, butt-baring pants, (a stunt later spoofed by Howard Stern). Always eccentric, he famously changed his name to The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, then to simply a symbol and finally back to Prince. He also became a Jehovah's Witness in the mid-`90s.
But Prince's halftime performance, though celebrated, came in a much different cultural environment, where even the fleeting outline of a man and his guitar could, for some, suggest shaded depravity.
"If people want to be hypersensitive, they can be hypersensitive," says Rolling Stone's Edwards. "Those trombones are phallic, too. What are you going to do?"
___
On the Net:
Anna Nicole Smith Wikipedia
You haters can go on hatin', but I will forever remember Anna Nicole Smith as one of the best Guess models EVER. Sure she had a lot of $$$$, but the woman has gone thru some serious shit...losing a son ain't no joke; battling drugs ain't either. Hopefully there's a great Betty Ford clinic in Heaven...
Toyota's Scion parks in Second Life
POSTED: 3:24 p.m. EST, February 8, 2007
Story Highlights
• Toyota offers Second Life users virtual Scion cars• Second Life Scions will cost 300 Linden dollars, or $1
• Customize options include real-world and fantasy accessories
DETROIT, Michigan (Reuters) -- Toyota Motor Co. Ltd. has launched two new models of its Scion brand -- in two lives at the same time.
Toyota launched a redesigned Scion xB and a new model called the xD in Second Life -- an online community with 1.2 million "residents" -- and at the Chicago Auto Show Thursday, holding simultaneous press conferences in both the real and virtual worlds.
Second Life, run by Linden Labs, is an electronic universe where people's virtual representations, called avatars, can fly, teleport, chat and buy products and services.
Second Life users can log into kiosks in 'Scion City' and buy a Scion for 300 Linden dollars, or $1. They can then customize it with real-world and fantasy accessories.
"We developed Scion City to connect with the trendsetters," Adrian Si, Scion's interactive marketing manager, said. "That's our target demographic -- people who do things first. Trendsetters are instrumental in promoting brands."
This is not Toyota's first tryst with online communities. Last year, the automaker also launched Scions in Whyville -- a virtual world created for tweens, mostly aged 8 to 15.
"These aren't direct money-making ventures for us," Si said. "But of course, if we can make a positive influence on the tween citizens of Whyville and they think of us when they get to a driving age, we would consider that a success."
Once purchased, a virtual Scion owner can cruise around Whyville, picking up friends for a ride. Since the launch in May 2006, Whyville users have gone on close to one million rides in their Scions.
In Second Life, Scion is looking to sell the empty space and buildings in Scion City to young entrepreneurs. "We also plan to have cultural events, like music concerts and movie screenings, as we grow in the community," Si said.
The Japanese automaker, expected to challenge General Motors Corp. for the top spot in global sales this year, sold about 173,000 Scions in 2006, up about 11 percent from a year earlier. Toyota launched the brand in 2003.
The option to customize your car and the offerings of an audio system that plays MP3 CDs and allows iPod connectivity as standard equipment has helped make the vehicles popular, especially to a tech-savvy demographic.
"I feel the xD will sell much more than the xA did. If we sold 2,000 xA units per month, I think we'd sell 4,500 xD units," said Steve Haag, Scion corporate manager.
The xD's optional audio system will have the ability to download images, video clips and eight-second movies from Pioneer's Web site. Owners will be able to burn their own images and movies and upload them onto the available head unit.
Haag said he does not expect Scion sales to rise in 2007 because the brand ended production of the xA and the older xB in December. "We'll sell less Scions in the first and second quarters because of a production gap."
"So we will lose some volume in 2007 but we should be back up in 2008," he said.
But Toyota Motor North America president Jim Press last year said he is not worried about Scion sales, calling the brand the automaker's "incubator."
Haag said, "What he said is true. We want to capture customers who would not have considered the Toyota brand. We don't want to necessarily sell them Scions. We want them to get to know our brand, and hopefully consider something in the Toyota family because they like who we are."
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
I found this old skool wooden box with a latch [probably used to hold some sorta tasty liqueur] sitting atop a pile of garbage. I decided to rescue it and hand it off to someone that would truly appreciate it's fine wood nature - the Drage.
I designed the outside of this thing using black, white, and punk rock pink vinyl type, as well as black transfer type.
Enclosed you can find some mighty excellent Slim Jim products.
