Finally. The world of science fiction is merging with our world. Within the past couple of weeks, two awesome science fiction stories have made their way into major news.
Up in Lake Champlain (straddling the borders between New York, Vermont and Quebec), two “respected, not crazy”
fisherman caught video footage of their encounter with Champ, the Lake Champlain Monster. ABCNEWS aired the story. According to my Field Guide to North American Monsters, by W. Haden Blackman, the lake serpent was originally known as Chaousarou by the early Native Americans living by the lake. Europeans first recorded seeing the creature in 1609 and the first grainy film footage was taken in 1977. Apparently, Champ is even protected by the laws in New York and Vermont. Check out the video. Ain’t it cool? (Mr. Knowles, may I say that?)
And in Los Angeles, a mysterious black ooze bubbled out of the streets of the city’s downtown. According to reports, though the weather was in the cool 60s that day, the sidewalk registered over a 100º F. I first heard about it while walking past a newspaper vending machine for the LA Daily News. I think the front page headline was the same as the one on their website: “Mystery Blob Eating Downtown”. How awesome is that? I haven’t heard yet if Kevin Dillon was anywhere nearby.
- Buy The Field Guide to North American Monsters.
- Buy Champ merch.
- Buy The Blob (the Steve McQueen version though, please).
I guess this is the week of sibilance.
Ssssssorry ’bout that.
This is the most incredibly awesome car commercial I have ever seen.The car leaping alone is enough, but cars riding down the stairs on only two wheels? C’mon!
I WANT one of these cars.
Problem is, I think you are required to buy at least two. I mean, have you ever seen one alone?
I have a love-hate relationship with iTunes. It really is the most effective, robust music player out there, but I hate that it’s so ubiquitous. Everybody uses it. Everybody’s got an iPod. Well I have much more midwestern stubborness than Apple could penetrate and I want something different.
It seems that my prayers have been (or are being) answered.
The good folks over at DAPReview.net, a great resource, by the way, for digital audio player news, clued me into what they termed the “iTunes killer”: Songbird. Others have called it merely black iTunes, but I have high hopes for this little beast. It’s currently being beta-tested, but you can download the Proof-of-Concept version now.
What appeals to me about this player, besides its not being iTunes, is that you can open any webpage in Songbird and the player will find all available mp3s on a page a
nd give you the chance to play, download, or add them to your playlist immediately. I tried it out last night opening WithoutSound in Songbird and plucked the two Tapes singles Seamus posted a few days ago. It was pretty cool. However, I also tried opening Team-Love’s website to download some of those Jenny Lewis tracks, but Songbird couldn’t find any mp3s. This has more to do with the way Team-Love has scripted the page, though.
So there are some bugs to pick out of Songbird’s feathers, but it’s to be expected with a beta version. Songbird is open-source, based on Mozilla (like Firefox), so expect a wealth of improvements. Also, Songbird plays almost any audio format, including Ogg Vorbis and FLAC. Whoo-hoo! If you find the time to download and test-drive the player, let us know what you think.
Contrary to popular belief, Love is not just the two of us. Nor is it leaving the phone off the hook.
Love is, in fact, a drowsy retarded turtle.
It’s also a seasick hedgehog having undergrown his captain clothes and a hapless fireman whale with a history of depression and a broken blowhole.
At least according to The Fish in the Nice Sweater.
- Read Love is a Drowsy Retarded Turtle by Fish.