cell phones have hidden dangers

Sure, some folks say that talking too much on a mobile phone will give you a brain tumor.

But that might be less dangerous than microwaving one.

Club Jackson LIVES!

Update from Barney!

Just signed with an apartment here in Wellington. Very nice 2-bedroom studio. Based in a suburb called Petone (lance don't laugh). Petone is a cute suburb of Wellington, kind of like a Berkeley is to San Francisco (Romo, don't laugh). Lots of cafes and hip and young crowd based there escaping the expense of the city. Its a short bike ride to my job and also just 10 min down the freeway to the city. Very happy with it. I move in on Saturday and have a weekend of shopping planned especially for essentials like a bed. But would believe you know it, the apartment is situated on Jackson Street!! Too Funny!! I think it will be named 'Club Jackson Sud'!

l lost memes to meth

I know it's all over the internets, but I am still loving this Weezer video.

outrageous fortune

smart (ass) cookie.


Via xkcd.

Do it again.

Again and again!



Music video by Dennis for Again and Again by The Bird and the Bee. Last December the iTunes Music Store featured a cool Christmas track by The Bird and the Bee as the free single of the week. I loved it. It's nice to sample something else.

And this uber-cool Mac OSX viral video has totally put Dennis Liu in the spotlight, as it were.

How do you measure up?

From the WIRED gadget lab--


Measuring jugs that give you some food for thought whilst you measure out your ingredients.

Some of the gradations are equivalent to:

• as many grains of flour as people on the planet
• volume of one human breath
• amount of table salt in a large human
• volume of body cells that die on a good day

Click to embiggen.

burning sensation

Fires continue to ravage the Santa Cruz mountains.

For PeeDee's sake, let's hope it hasn't melted the bacon.

Is it insulting or is it funny?

I think it's funny.

Best Indiana Jones gay joke (is it really a gay joke though?) from the SF Metblog:

The Castro Theatre is showing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!
No, not that kind of crystal.

The clever Mark Pritchard continues:

Judging from the widely-disseminated publicity photo (left), the film “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” has something to do with a rugged older man initiating a pretty young boy in a leather jacket into the mysteries of a deep, dark hole, making it perfect for the Castro.

AT&T announces better 3G by iPhone 2 time

AT&T is also claiming that the improved 3G network will have speeds comparable to home wifi service, but Wired reports doubts that seriously:

AT&T Confirms High Speed Rollout In Time For iPhone 2.0

AT&T has announced that it will have completed a country wide rollout of its HSUPA 3G service by the end of June. We're guessing that a little voice from Cupertino might have been hurrying AT&T along. You know, just like AT&T boosted EDGE speeds last year on the iPhone's launch day. Just saying.

The network offers theoretical speeds of 1.4 Mbps down and 800Kbps up, which AT&T claims "will be as speedy as logging onto the high speed Internet service that many consumers enjoy at home."

We're not sure exactly who those poor customers are, or how they could possibly '"enjoy" speeds like that, but if AT&T keeps spending at the $5 billion-a-year rate it is now, we should expect to get a real mobile internet just in time for the iPhone 3.

By the way, I love that critics have swapped the AT&T globe logo for the Death Star.

Doctor Who?

Doctor JONES!

Just got the tickets for Friday. James and I will hit the Badlands 2-4-1 happy hour first. (God help him. He just got a haircut and is lookin' all hot and shit. The fags'll be all over him.)

So excited. I keep whilstling "Dah da DAH da, da da dah..."

Coco gets a new job!

I feel the need for an obligatory "job" joke here, like a "Coco gives a job that doesn't require a warm towel afterwards" sort of joke. But it's the end of the day and I'm all out of innuendo.

So congratulations to Coco! She needs more money to keep up with our socializing. I like a little sugar with my mama. M'kay?

Coco Flores, Co-Captain, Team Wilson

the ones under your eyes though,

those are free.

American Airlines to charge extra for bags.

The Bush Administration and TSA has screwed Americans and the airline industry so much more than any terrorist attack ever could.

whatever, boyfriend

News outlets are coving the announcement that George Takei (Star Trek's Mr. Sulu) is going to legally wed his partner now that the California Supreme Court has ruled that they have the right to do so.

I think that's great.

But "Mainstream" media never cover gay civil rights issues well, especially when it comes to equal access to marriage law. But even the coverage of a retro-popular actor's wedding announcement is bothersome.

Typical headline: Star Trek's Mr Sulu, George Takei, to wed boyfriend in Californian gay marriage.

Seriously, if the guy is in his 70s, and has been all but strictly-legally wed to his partner for more than 20 years, is "boyfriend" really the best word here?

It makes it sound like they are going steady and he just got pinned.

I thought there could be only one?

Are they really going to remake Highlander?

(from Alert Reader James Hass.)

Bi the numbers

James and I have just been IM'ing about last night's event. He invited me to the Farallon Literary Review launch reading, which was very nice and I'll blog about that later. James has a semi-regular lunch group at The G, all female, whom he refers to as "The Maidens," shortened from their original designation, "The Lunch Maidens." The Maidens made it to the launch/readings as well (James is an Associate Editor of The Farallon Review and was a reader last night.)

I had only met one Maiden before, Michelle, who totally hat and sundressed it up and looked fab for the Kentucky Derby. It was nice to meet two more of the foursome. I liked them. They liked me. I feared I would be a let down as they have been eager to meet me for months. James tells typical stories about me, and they think my name, Wilson Hardcastle, is so dramatic I must enter rooms with declarations. Or perhaps a cape (I've done both).

From the IM:

J: -they all loved you
Me: - they are all sweet
J: -it was sweet them all to come
Me: - James' Maidens
..... - sounds like a band
...... - or some sort of cult
...... - polygamist
J: -that's what they wanted me to do for b2b with them, as you may recall
Me: -right!
J: -apparently there were a lot of them at the race!
..... -a lot of polygamist themed running groups
Me: -how many tigers?
J: -tigers?
Me: -like the zoo mauling
J: -ah!
Me: -I saw a photo of one and thought that was clever
J: -man, you've been going for dark lately, what with the SoCal costume and all
..... -good idea tho
Me: -it's a result of gay+age=clever/dark
..... -or bitter/dark (clever but overly dark, or bitter over dark)
..... -it's just the math
J: -is that the equation?
..... -good to know
Me: -don't even start me on our 'square' roots
..... -(i.e. most of us were geeks)
..... -and the 'imaginary numbers'
..... -would those be the drag shows?
J: -prime #s are booze
Me: -or the happy hours
Me: -only in queer math are the prime numbers 2-4-1


I'm thinking there could be a whole riff on gay math. Feel free to submit your own.

Me + Jack(Daniels) = Fun • 4ME/guys+N!(thedark)

Me plus Jack Daniels equals fun times for capital ME all over guys in the dark.

tips for drag queens

I should not be surprised that there is a blog for every topic.

From The Reverse Cowgirl, a post about stripper shoes, and the one-stop web shops for all of your stripper footwear needs. I imagine if they make such shoes is large enough sizes, they are hits with the drag queens.

These in particular should appear on a drag stage near you as soon as possible:

You've seen goldfish in the platforms before. These have a slot for tips.


The Reverse Cowgirls's post:

The other day, Dacia had a post on Naked City featuring Vegas themed stripper shoes with a stack of dice for a heel and a bunch of poker chips rattling around in the hollowed out Lucite platform underneath the toes. That sent me wandering around Funky Pair, your one stop shopping spot for stripper shoes. There, I found a series of seven-inchers that transfixed me. These ones have a slot in the hollowed out part under the toes. For men. To put their tips in. I find this fascinating and genius. The ones pictured here spell it out for you. There's others with a mouth for a tip slot, a money slot if you're really thick skulled, a butterfly slot for the romantic. I love the thought of the women walking around on money. Of course, if that's not your style, there's always the mudflap girl who lights up or disco balls.

suburban outwitter

It seems that the alternative/slacker/hip youth chain Urban Outfitters is actually owned by a super-conservative right wing billionaire who donates to all sorts of nasty anti-freedom, anti-gay, pro-war causes, donated/donates heavily to Rick Santorum and his ilk, and is compared to Dick Cheney.

Via Towleroad, an article in This Is Money that reports that his business plan basically depends on his hipster youth market never finding out who he is.

It's time to pass this little tidbit on to college campuses.



(Image ripped from junglescene.com.)

bring on the popcorn

The new Indiana Jones movie opens this weekend, and it will be showing at the beautiful Castro Theater. The Castro rarely shows first runs, and this renovated Victorian theater is just the most freaking awesome venue to relive the Indy experience (note my eighties tone coming out). The James and I are getting tickets—provided it's not already sold out.

I love films. I love movies. Hell, I got a master's degree in the hopes of landing a gig as an archivist for a film studio. And for every Citizen Kane, I love the "stuff your face full of popcorn while shit blows up for 120 minutes" movies too.

Sweet.

And loved the Iron Man debut. Might have to take that one in again.

To wit:



Bring the summer movie season ON.

better than a thousand words

I don't know where this originated, but it just speaks volumes. It's like an entire tragic novel in one snapshot. Say it with me now: WTF?


Via Why That's Delightful, who adds: Cracked ran a caption competition and the winner made me laugh out loud: “A threesome’s a threesome.”

To me, it looks like what Kevin describes as a typical family gathering before his grandmother passed.

For all I know Kevin took this photo. Kev?

Final thought: I love how granny is cooling her head with a beer can as she vomits into the trash can-- in the middle of room no less. (And I am guessing this is a motel room.)

Shai-Hulud, Great Maker

Via Neatorama, YouTube footage of what some are calling a "sand geyser" in Saudi Arabia:

...a 9-meter (~30 feet) tall sand fountain or geyser near the city of Al Ahsa. Notice that the sand doesn't mound up, as if there is a giant hole underneath that just churn up the sand particles.

Obviously, it's a spice blow.

Send in the harvesters.

And walk without rythm while you're at it.

Blessed be the Great Maker.