hwork.org

Don’t Follow the Money. [NYT]

The Situation–personally I can wait. Everyone knows that this MSNBC show is going to be horrible; the title of the show is called ‘The Situation‘, and it’s on MSNBC. The article says that Carlson wasn’t owned by Jon Stewart; he already done his own ownage on himself:

“Before leaving the now-cancelled ‘Crossfire,’ Carlson sat through an on-air lecture by comedian Jon Stewart about how the argumentative show was doing little to advance the cause of democracy. The irony was that Carlson had privately concluded much the same thing. He had already decided to leave the show and CNN.”

Bullocks!

Firstly, there is an incredibly good article on Rouse’s vision with Columbia and how developments since his death have thrown Columbians into various states of outcry.

Secondly, Jim Rouse’s legacy is surprisingly parallel to Walt Disney’s. ‘What Would Walt Do’ is constantly harked floated by Disney critics discouraging new developments in the parks and the businesses as well as by the company itself to flaunt new promotions and ideas. Rouse is actually, to the non-biographer, the Disney that never was–that is, when you seep through the WEDway People Mover, or now what is stupidely called the Tommorrowland Transit Authority, you get to see one of the billions of things that Walt never built. The aspirations, represented by a cardboard model, to build some kind of ultimate community, a self-sustaining, 60′s futuristic and utopian city was never realized in EPCOT‘s form or anything else, with only today’s Celebration, Florida coming in as a post-legacy contributor. Rouse built something in his lifetime and gave it stewardship till he crooked. If Rouse and Disney’s iceboxed bodies were involed in some kind of superclone experiment, the world would truly kickass.

Rouse Expected Change in Columbia’s Future [Howard County Times]

Big praise for Baltimore County Fire Department. It sucks to be elderly and in a fire–trust me.

Dundalk fire damages four homes [baltimoresun.com]

Cool peek at the traditional Haka that the New Zealand Mixed Ultimate Frisbee Team, Manuka, performed before every game at World Championships in Turku, Finland last year. The cool thing is that I know approximately half of them, ranging from ‘played against’ to ‘skyed’, from tossed-with to shared a remarkable italian dinner, from shared a brew to gotten really smashed with. Manuka finished third, behind the USA and Canada–and they fully rock the house.

New Zealand Mixed Team’s Haka [Roadiefilms.co.uk]

I stumbled upon this blog for the Encinal Ultimate Club in Sunnyvale, California. They’ve got a really simple, cool setup: they let any of their players just register and blog whatever they want–articles about ultimate, comments about the last game, and even job offers to work at Yahoo!. This is the direction that groups of relative affliation are heading in this digital experiment of ours: a group of ultimate players, teachers at a school, or hell, even backseat drivers on the road, will all post on a group blog to their own mutual amusement and education. Personal blogs will be maintained. I’d consider forcing a group blog on the Clown, but then I have the interests of the world to consider.

Encinal Ultimate Club Blog [vangregory.com]

I just introduced Daniel to Jibjab, Qwantz, and EndOfWorld. He in turn introduced me to Weebls Stuff. Multi-culturalism, it’s a great thing.

Bill Bryson gets to judge scientific books for the Aventis Science Book Prize, winning it the year before. I’m densely in the middle of his Walk in the Woods, for the second time, because Theory of Computation is, well, worse. In case anyone actually cared for about the prize, Critical Mass wins.

Fascinating article about Diznee invasion — this time in Hong Kong. Ocean Park is a theme park full of “dolphin shows, cable cars, and thrill rides,” owned by the Hong Kong government, and now putting up a formidable defense to keep it profitable in the face of ‘Shark Fin Soup’ and the titanic Mouse Machine. The recipe involves real animals, subway lines, and theme-park experience. Here’s hoping they’ll survive–even if we all know that they won’t.

Hong Kong’s Theme-Park Clash [BusinessWeek]

For the liberal intellectual audience among my burgeoning base of folks so interested in New Zealand, frisbee, and juggling, check this NPR review of the second-season of The Wire, which was recently picked up for a fourth season. This is, unequivocally, the best show on television.

‘The Wire: Complete Second Season’ [NPR]