Daily Archives: October 17, 2006

101 most influential imaginary friends

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my imaginary friend can beat up your imaginary friend. No, really he can.Having read this USA Today list (which I came to via Fark) I must say it’s pretty solid, even though they leave off, through an entirely understandable wish not to be firebombed, the names of a lot of imaginary religious characters. One correction, however, seems absolutely neccessary:

Big Brother is no longer imaginary.

1. The Marlboro ManBush doublespeak

2. Big Brother

3. King Arthur

4. Santa Claus (St. Nick)

5. Hamlet

6. Dr. Frankenstein’s Monster

7. Siegfried

8. Sherlock Holmes

9. Romeo and Juliet

10. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Read the rest of the list here. But know that they will be watching you…

Big Brother

my new anthem: Bowie and Reznor: I’m afraid of Americans

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pushed tin pushes back

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you call that control?

Fabulous cast, horrible movie, fabulous anecdotes.

Airtraffic controllers versus pilots, via Fark. A sample:

Allegedly the German air controllers at
Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-
tempered lot. They, it is alleged, not only
expect one to know one’s gate parking location,
but how to get there without any assistance
from them. So it was with some amusement
that we (a Pan Am 747) listened to the following
exchange between Frankfurt ground control
and a British Airways 747, call sign Speedbird
206.
Speedbird 206: “Frankfurt, Speedbird 206
clear of active runway.”
Ground: “Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha
One-Seven.”
The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway
and slowed to a stop.
Ground: “Speedbird, do you not know where
you are going?”
Speedbird 206: “Stand by, Ground, I’m looking
up our gate location now.”
Ground (with quite arrogant impatience):
“Speedbird 206, have you not been to
Frankfurt before?”
Speedbird 206 (coolly): “Yes, twice in 1944,
but it was dark,…… and I didn’t land.”

SETI totally harshing our screaming, giggling high

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 stop smiling, you smug bastard!

Bummer, dude.

from SETI.org Spaceref.com which if I’d realized back when I posted the first one, I’d not have posted them at all. So much for trusting Fark. I knew there was a reason I hadn’t blogrolled them.

Here is the actual Tuesday announcement. And below is the hold-your-boosters post from Spaceref.com.

Major SETI Institute Announcement

Editor’s update: For all of you out there who have been waving your arms around and speculating, this is not an announcement about finding a signal from ETs, the face on Mars, or anything else. It is far more mundane. Details of the announcement were released – under press embargo – to reporters last week. A press release about the announcement will be issued on Tuesday by the SETI Institute.

Editor’s update: To those of you who have been speculating about what will be announced tomorrow: The original calendar posting on this page simply had date, time, and location. Nothing else. It was posted here a week ago – on 9 October. A detailed – but embargoed – media alert was sent out at the same time to reporters by the SETI Institute in which no mention is made of signals from outer space. Yet, the announcement is indeed a major one for the SETI Institute.

Please ask yourself this: do you (1) really think that the SETI Institute would issue some sort of major announcement i.e. detection of a signal from another civilization – a week ahead of announcing it formally – and then (2) expect the media to sit on such amazing news – for an entire week? The next time y’all start to whip up a frenzy – out of thin air – use a little common sense before you hit [send].

10:00 – 11:00 am PDT

Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Location: SETI Institute, 515 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View, CA, US

Web Site Address: http://www.seti.org/

Christopher Walken’s mother on GooTube merger

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DC Lugi is back, and he’s got Christopher Walken’s mother:

“It’s a nice little thing we got here.
You mess it up, I take your eyes.”