Capital Steps

I went to see the Capital Steps when they were in town this past weekend. This is the second time I have seen them and they were as good as ever. The only disappointment was that the guy who did Lirdy Dies this time wasn't as good as the guy who did it last time I saw them perform. The Capital Steps are a rather liberal political comedy group based out of D.C. If you live in the United States and aren't holed up in a cave you will find them funny. There website has a ton of free audio clips that you can listen too and I promise you will be hooked. Most of what they do is parodies of songs so just listening is enough to appreciate it. They travel all over the country and are often on NPR so keep your eyes and ears open for a good laugh.

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

Over Thanksgiving break I was sitting around with my family looking for a movie to watch On Demand through Comcast. The recent movies they were offering that we hadn't yet seen didn't look any good so we decided to take a gander at the free movies which are mostly older stuff. I was scrolling down the list and my aunt suggested we watch this thing with a really long title. She has excellent taste in film so we went with it and I was blown away.

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is a British film made in 1995. It is categorized as a romantic comedy but it is really a work of art. The photography is unlike anything I have seen in recent movies. Set in Wales, the scenery reminded me of a recent trip to Devon, England. The acting is really quite wonderful especially Tudor and Hugh Vaughn who play twins Thomas Twp and Thomas Twp Too. Despite being a romance this film is really a strong anti-war story, set during the time of WWI. It shows soldiers coming home shell shocked and in pieces from the trenches of France.

There is really little more that I can say. This film is so jam packed with amazing photography and great acting that everyone should really see it. There were shots of the mountain that gave me chills and quite a few moments that split my sides. When it came out in 1995 it wasn't a big deal because there was no sex or violence but this is by far one of the best movies I have seen since then. Best of all, its family friendly. The rating is PG-13 for mild language but due to the strong dialect most of the "bad words" wouldn't be understood by young ears. For a feel good film that shows why movies are made, this is the one to watch.

Walk for Diabetes

For the past three years I have captained a team for the American Diabetes Association's Walk for Diabetes. The team, made up of my friends, raises around $2000 every year before participating in the 7 mile walk. The American Diabetes Association is doing a lot to help with diabetes research. The cause is especially important to us because one of my guy friends has diabetes. As the holiday season approaches, I urge you to choose some cause you support and donate either time or money to it. Its the right thing to do and is absolutely necessary if we want to make the world a better place. The New York Times ran this article on the ADA, but theirs is just one fight among many. Its easier than you think to spare a little time or to write a check, so give back for the holidays this year.

View of Columbia River Gorge

This was a picture taken by David F. Gallagher and featured on his site lighteningfield.com. I was trying to choose my favorite from the shots on the front page of his site (and having quite a hard time of it) but this one kept on catching my eye. It was taken at Bonneville Dam, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon. He does great work and as an avid amateur photographer I really appreciate how he captures the feeling of a location. Check out his site to see more great photographs taken all over the country.

Busted

Discovery Channel runs a show called Mythbusters that I am absolutely in love with. It is very educational but without trying to be. I remember watching episodes in physics class freshman year. I think the teacher enjoyed it as much as the students. The New York Times visited the set and ran this cool slide show about the filming of a new episode. You might have to create an account to view it, but it's free and you should have one anyways. For some of the myths they use a test dummy named Buster who usually ends up getting mauled. I must say, any show where things get legally blown up is a show I want to watch and I think this one tops the list.

The picture is way more interesting than the article it accompanies in the New York Times

See article here.

Lego my Eggo

My beloved Lego's are finally leaving Denmark and going to bigger and better places. Production is moving to Mexico and the Czech Republic in order to lessen manufacturing costs. Read the article and fondly think back on childhood memories.

Science for ya

Discover Magazine has compiled a list of the 25 greatest science books of all-time, which I found through kottke.org. More on that coming later.

Choo choo

This is a really artistic piece of video about trains. Obviously it is not professional and the quality could be a little better, but I think somebody could do something really amazing with the idea. See Train Surfing for yourself, at Glumbert.com.

Ha ha...it's funny.

The caption in The Onion reads "Skywriter Trailed By Skyeditor."

Global Village

As someone fascinated with learning languages and traveling, a global village is a very appealing concept. This is partly identified by Concordia Language Villages, a program for high school students to live in an intensive language environment in the United States, which I attended. Someone has compiled statistics about the world and presented them in the form of a global village containing just 100 people. All the percentages stay the same, but the numbers say a lot more on a smaller scale. You can see studies like this here, here, here, or here.

Soda POP

This is so incredibly cool. Well worth the five minutes it will take to watch. I think Diet Coke and Mentos make Dominos might have to be my project for next summer. To the evil mega corporations who sponsored this little experiment, you are my heroes.

Top 10

In case you have yet to notice my t-shirt fixation, here's a list of my top ten favorite places to find t-shirts online:

1. Threadless
2. Mission Playground
3. Imaginary Foundation
4. Octopus Ink
5. Fullbleed
6. Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
7. Commune
8. Monsieur T.
9. THE QUIET LIFE
10. Owl Movement
    

Beautiful Minds: A Voyage Into the Brain

This guy is a fascinating artist. I would think his skills could provide scientists with some insight into the autistic mind.