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In an upcoming interview with Katie Couric to be aired this week, Sarah Palin is unable to name any Supreme Court Case other than Roe v. Wade.
The Rules: Post info about ONE completely fictitious Supreme Court decision, modern or historic, to your lj. The more spontaneous, the better.In Pecan Tree vs. 12, Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled on a lawsuit in which a pecan tree from Oklahoma was suing the number 12 for copyright infringement. An appellate judge had awarded 3 billion adverbs to the tree in punitive damages. But lawyers for the number 12 appealed, indicating that it was 1957 and the notion of limerence had not been invented yet, much less by the pecan tree, so how could they be suing 12 for using it. The tree's lawyers argued that limerence existed--in fact, the pecan tree felt it for Warren. The defense claimed that no one would recognize the concept without having a word for it. Felix Frankfurter wrote a powerful dissenting opinion invoking the Sapir-Worf hypothesis, but Warren, clearly touched by the pecan tree's affections, ruled in favor of the tree and even added a thousand prepositions to the award. Tags: memes, silly
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So people are doing this thing involving a list of "the 106 books most often marked 'unread' by users of LibraryThing (as of today)." Some versions of the meme specify "today" as September 30, but others seem not to bother taking "today" literally. They post a copy of the list, marking up the ones they've read, the ones they started but didn't finish, and the ones they couldn't stand. I tend to view top- N lists with skepticism, and this one seems particularly odd to me. Why 106? And what's so significant about being marked 'unread' by users of LibraryThing? I'm guessing that it just happened to produce an interesting and eclectic list of books. I think my biggest complaint is that the "read it/didn't finish/couldn't stand it" information says very little about a person. My favorite versions of the meme are ones where the blogger has additional annotations, such as " saw the movie version." I won't actually copy out the 106 books myself, but I would like to suggest some other (overlapping) markup categories. They are probably suited for a different set of books, but they might make for more revealing/confessional blogging: - Books that I thought were great in school but now do nothing for me
- Books that I hated in school but now like
- Books that I read the Cliffs Notes for
- Books that make me feel smart for having read them
- Books that make me feel dumb for having read them
- Books that make me feel dumb for having not read them
- Books that make me feel smart for having not read them
- Books that are supposed to be Deep and Important, but I read them like I would read a romance novel
- Books that I read but missed the point of entirely
- Books that I read and that everyone else missed the point of entirely
( It goes on ... )
Tags: books, memes
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- Went to Duluth this week for a short, early Labor Day trip with my girlfriend. Our lodgings were just on the other side of the landmark Aerial Bridge, a drawbridge of sorts that I always found eyecatching but had never crossed. ( details ) Specifically we stayed in a Kandinsky-themed loft room at a B&B, which was very nice. ( more details )
Miscellaneous links from various sources: - Portable Fabric Keyboard. Another step closer to wearable computers?
- A re-imagining of The Trouble With Tribbles, in the style of Edward Gorey.
- On
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) ifmud I am quoted as asking: "Is it only the scale difference that makes us say Aww when we see a cat, but not when we see a tiger or lion?" A video of a lion reunited with its human caretakers would appear to address that question. Someone commented that part of the video appears to be speeded up. Still, this is an affecting little scene. I wonder whether the men's Euro-mullet-ey hairstyles affected the lion's attitude towards them? (joke) - Speaking of ifmud, if you're interested you've probably already seen this, but: More than you'll ever need to know about Bedquilt Cave in Kentucky.
- Jenny Holzer is a conceptual artist best known for posting short, yet compelling, "truisms" in strange and unexpected places. Appropriately enough, someone (not, I'm guessing, the artist herself) created a Twitter account for her.
Tags: interactive fiction, memes, minnesota, music, travel, visual arts
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-
You're Dune!
by Frank Herbert
You have control over a great wealth of resources, but no one wants to
let you have them. You've decided to try to defend yourself, but it may take eons before
you really get back what you feel you deserve. Meanwhile you have a cult-like following
of minions waiting for your life to progress. This would all be even more exciting if you
could just get the sand out of your eyes.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid. -
PINE
You are angelic and dreamy. You are the kind of
tree that likes to dream big and live your life
openly, no matter of the criticism. You love
things that a magnificent and quiet. The cold
is your favorite thing because you never change
when faced with a difficult situation or
inquiry. A quick thinker, and a philosopher,
you spend your afternoons trying to solve world
hunger. You love testing yourself to new limits
and being faced with new challenges to
overcome. You aren't much of a risk-taker, and
you always try to do what's right. You fear
being helpless and faced with a situation you
have no control over. You value endurance of
the body and the mind. When you leave this
world, you hope that you can inspire those
after you to do something better for the world,
and be remembered for something great.
What's Your Inner Tree?
brought to you by Quizilla -
You are Billy Campbell, supportive heterosexual rooommate. Usually
it seems like you're just along for the ride, surrounded by a bevy of
chicks with problems. Don't let that make you evil, and try to find a
balance between misplaced ambition and love.
Which Melrose Place Character Are You? -
You are thoughtfully opinionated. You hold strong views
on the war in Iraq, gay marriage, abortion, affirmative action,
the death penalty, The Passion of The Christ, animal rights,
globalization and Ralph Nader. Unlike all of those
troglodytes out there, however, yours is a considered opinion.
You've done your homework. You've read up on these
issues and engaged in passionate yet respectful debate
with people who hold opposing views. You've considered
the terrifying possibility that you're wrong ... and you've
made it through. The right opinions happen to be the ones
you've held all along! Lucky you.
Take the What flavor of opinionated are you? quiz
consistent worldview? insensitive to criticism? surrounded by a bevy of chicks? "cult-like following of minions"? if only! Tags: memes, you right
Current Mood: baaaaaaaa
Current Music: house of love, best of
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in college years ago, i read and enjoyed ``the nose,'' a short story by gogol. and now that story is in the news. highlights from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2291483.stm : A statue of a giant nose in St Petersburg, inspired by Gogol's story of a man's pursuit of his escaped nose, has also vanished.
Police in Russia's second city are hunting the thieves responsible for the removal of the 100kg marble piece.
It was erected eight years ago to honour Nikolai Gogol for his popular but surreal 19th Century short story. In it a civil servant's nose detaches itself and he has to pursue it all over the city as it conducts a bizarre walkabout.
"The nose seems to have gone for a walk," said its sculptor Vyacheslav Bukhayev.
... Mr Bukhayev said he was already considering whether and how to craft a replacement for the stolen nose. "Maybe it's for the best. In Gogol's story, the nose has a birthmark which I omitted in my sculpture.
"In my second nose, I will be more faithful to the story and add the birthmark," he said. Tags: books, memes
Current Music: lloyd cole, _don't get weird on me babe_
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
fmi_agent's journal
thoughtful
impressed
giddy
serious.
wtf
