I’m King Ghidora!

Now, come on - a three headed dragon thing looks pretty cool. But doesn’t he seem like he’d be top heavy? Just push you down on your butt, and you’d just flail around for a while.

Take the Which Japanese movie monster are you? Quiz at HeavyInk.com

Ghidora is my favorite Godzilla monster. If only I had arms!

My Explanation (Cross-posted from Digg)

For those of you who don’t get it. A “Bel-Air” is a story that starts out talking about something else, and then at the end, shifts into the ending of the intro to the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. It’s a prank.

In this case, a “Reverse Bel-Air” - you start by repeating the beginning of the intro to “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and then, partway through, you shift, and talk about something else entirely (in this case, she’s breaking up with him).

Earlier in the comments, someone posted an analogous situation - would you like to see a video of Rick Astley singing “Never Gonna Give You Up”, but instead it goes to a different song. This would be a “Reverse Rick Roll”

Favorite comment:

You win at Digg!

From
here
. These appear to be from Cosmo, and thus, mostly targetted towards women, but they are still interesting, even if you’re on the receiving end.

1. To seem like a team player at work …
Put up a picture of your dog (or even a friend’s pup) in your workspace

2. To appear more powerful in the office hierarchy …
Wear a chic all-black outfit to work, and don’t smile as often as you’re inclined

3. To bond with the boss …
Offer to get her a hot cup of coffee — even if you’re not her assistant

4. To have “the talk” without making your partner flip out …
Take him to a restaurant that has soft feminine colors and furniture with few angular lines.

5. To make your crush fall for you on a dinner date …
Subtly touch the back of his hand as you’re reaching across the table for bread.

6. To seem more alluring when you meet a guy …
Talk about a beach vacation you took using sensual terms (e.g., “The sun felt so fabulously warm against my skin”)

7. To impress a guy’s parents the first time you meet them …
Casually praise someone whom you’re certain his mom or dad holds in high esteem,

8. To make a friend out of an acquaintance …
Start mirroring her behavioral tics, like touching your hair when she touches hers.

9. Your slob roomie to clean up after herself more often …
Spray a bit of liquid all-purpose cleaner in the air right before she enters the skanky spot in question

If you missed it the first time around, you can find Dr. Horrible at Hulu.

Best Quote:

The world’s a mess ,and I just… need to rule it.

After browsing through the Olympic TV listings, the only thing(s) I’m intrigued by are the men’s and women’s triathlons (8/17 10pm and 8/18 10pm).

Apparently my 5 year old daughter is a major predictor of new fashion trends.

Oh my, this is pretty good.

But does it violate Godwin’s Law?

Hmmm.

When businesses are truly made of people, rather than impersonal monoliths, these conversations will be a lot more real and a lot more likely to result in positive outcomes for all concerned.

I agree! We must replace the obelisks, statues and dolmens that run our businesses, and replace them with living, breathing human beings who can feel emotion, make plans and love children.

(Hat tip: Gaping Void)

Note: Yes, I read the whole thing. He seems to believe that human beings lose their souls when they go to work for corporations, which I find to be an unfortunately all-too-typical bigotry of the academic elite. And what’s more, it’s not like governments don’t have their share of soul-crushing systems-over-people, institutions-over-ethics mindsets. And they have all the high-end military hardware to boot!

An amusing article from the Register. A British economist says that economic growth and CO2 emissions are inextricably linked, and in order to reduce CO2 emissions, the economy will have to shrink.

Money Quotes:

Asked if this wasn’t, in the end, going to mean a fairly hair-shirt lifestyle for us Brits - no cars, no tumble dryers, fewer showers and iPods and so on - Bond said that “economic wealth isn’t the same as happiness or directly linked to quality of life … It’s about a quantity lifestyle - more and more stuff - versus quality”.

And

“The idea of a technological fix is one we should be cautious about,” he said. “So often there are unintended consequences or trade-offs. Look at the ‘paperless office’ - there’s now more paper, not less. Look at biofuels. I’d be wary of believing that a technology solution will arrive in time.

Yes, unintended consequences of technological change…. As if gutting the economy has no unintended consequences at all.

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2008/7/30schmelling.html

Oh Glory of Glories. Oh Heavenly Testament to the Eternal Majesty of God’s Creation.

(Homer Simpson)

click through to see more

Apparently there’s a claim that you can’t “PR” (hit a personal record) in all three events in a given race. From a logical perspective, this is silly, and I blogged as such at BeginnerTriathlete.com:

Your logic “can’t PR in all three at once” is true if and only if you are already at your peak physical form. And in any other case, your post is far more discouraging than it might be to average “beginner” types.

For example, let’s say I’m a 36 year old man who has never done a triathlon, rarely runs, never bikes, never swims. I do some modest training, and during the race I struggle with the swim (have to backstroke for a while), do ok on the bike, and then struggle with the run (because I pushed too hard on the bike, and didn’t run enough intervals)

The next year, I do more outdoor running, a bit more biking and maintain my swimming. I do another triathlon and, it turns out, do better in all 3 events than in my first triathlon.

But still, I’m not satisfied. So I sign up for Beginner Triathlete, spend some money and put a lot more time and effort into my training - much longer swims, runs and bikes, at speed. I won’t know for a few weeks, but I expect that I will again beat my previous times in all three events.

But I’m still far, far below my theoretical maximum athletic ability. And as long as I’m not at my absolute 100% peak, there’s always a possibility of improving the times in all three sports.

If you’re at the point where you can’t seem to improve one event without sacrificing in another, congratulations - you are probably close to your physical maximum for the hours you are putting in.

Otherwise, you are absolutely capable of PRing in all three events in a given race.