Joel on Internet

Cool Video of Earth from Space

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:32:00 +0000

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:34:00 +0000

original here: http://www.clowncrack.com/2011/10/04/signs-of-the-times/

Just Add Loggins

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:48:00 +0000

This guys moves are at least 40% better than mine.

More Hilarity From the Wide World of Sports

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 18:13:00 +0000

Excellent Scenery

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:18:00 +0000

While googling restaurants near my place of employment, I came across this little gem of a review:

You heard it folks: when you want excellent scenery and calorie-dense foods, there is just no topping the Taco Bell on Western Blvd.

Google +

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:01:00 +0000

It hasn't destroyed Facebook yet, as some predicted it would, but it's here: Google +. If anyone wants an invitation, I have 150 to give out. Clicking the link should do the trick.

Golazo

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:41:00 +0000

Look, a Book!: Summer Reading List

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:06:00 +0000

One nice thing about quitting law school (by the way, I quit law school) is that instead of reading about strict liability, contract consideration and the rule against perpetuities, I have been reading good books! Here are a few of the good ones that I have read since my law school liberation:

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer -- An American writer (named Jonathan Safran Foer) travels to the Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis. His translator, a self-described "premium dancer" who taught himself English from a thesaurus, devises fanciful schemes for starting a new life in the States. The tour guide and driver, an old man with a personal stake in Jonathan's journey, claims to be blind and requires the help of his "seeing eye bitch", Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. Funny, insightful, tragic, and ultimately hopeful. Almost as good as "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," one of my favorite books ever.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell -- Why do some ideas become full-blown trends, while others disappear from our collective memory? In this book, Gladwell tries to explain how the attributes of the message, messenger, and audience combine to make an idea 'tip' and gain widespread acceptance. Take it with a grain of salt, as the conclusions appear to be supported by only a few carefully chosen examples; nevertheless, this book is well worth your time.
>Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez -- The story of Fermina Daza, her husband, Dr. Juvenal Urbino and Florentino Ariza, her first love, who has never been able to replace her in his heart for nearly half a century. I've heard people say that the book was boring; I enjoyed it, although the pace is admittedly slow. It is equally a story and a meditation on all of the distinct emotions that we group together under the name love.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond -- Why did Europeans conquer the Americas and not the other way around? In this book, Jared Diamond examines how environmental factors shaped the modern world. Factors from hundreds of thousands of years ago like the suitability of local plants for domestication or climate conditions that were favorable for growing imported crops led to food surplus, government, literacy, military technology, and religions to garner popular support for wars of conquest and so on. In this fascinating work, the history and environmental factors of each of the inhabited continents is analyzed with a view towards understanding the past, present, and future of the modern world.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman -- Take a dash of Harry Potter, a sprinkle of Narnia, and a pinch of hard-bitten New York City cynicism, mix well and serve chilled. If you always suspected that Hermione was relying on amphetamines to maintain her grueling study schedule, or if you yourself are experiencing a difficult withdrawal from the hardest of literary drugs--Harry Potter--then this might be one worth checking out.

Chime in with your thoughts on any of these books. And as always, I'm looking for book recommendations, so leave them in the comments section!

This Week's Success & Failure

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 19:45:00 +0000

Success: Held my breath under water for two minutes at the pool this afternoon. Should come in handy if I ever need to...hold my breath under water for two minutes or less, I guess.

Failure: Accidentally set off the fire alarm at work (with steam from lab equipment; no fire was involved), forcing everyone in the building to stand outside in the sweltering heat. At least it wasn't raining!

Trouble at the Durham County Public Library Southwest Branch

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 31 May 2011 18:47:00 +0000

After months of failed attempts to log in to the library website, I went in and asked the librarian if she could reset my PIN. "I've tried everything," I said. "Nothing works." She scanned my card and smiled as the information came up on her computer screen. "Did you try 1-2-3-4?" I guess I didn't try everything.

For the Casual Neuroscientist:

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:58:00 +0000

Cat Massage!

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:04:00 +0000

What do you think? This has to be a joke, right?

Shatnered!

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:29:00 +0000

I am intrigued by the thought process that preceded this performance. Could it have gone like this?

Let's have William Shatner sing a song on television...but he can't sing so we'll either need to find someone else who can, or we can stick with Shatner and just let him do something besides singing...well, what can William Shatner do?...I know! He can speak and smirk; let's have a speaking and smirking performance set to music!

One Semester Down...

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 23:47:00 +0000

Having just taken my third and final law school exam of the semester, I would like to share the following passage from the 1980 New York Court of Appeals case, Derdiarian v. Felix Contracting Corp:

Although plaintiff's body ignited into a fire-ball, he miraculously survived the incident.

Yep. That pretty much sums it up.

Is This Kid Too Cool 4 School?

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:32:00 +0000

...yes. He is absolutely too cool 4 school.

The best thing is how his helmet makes him look like a small--but rad--alien.

GOOOOOAL!

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 04:03:00 +0000

Wow...

It's Like An Optical Illusion

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:46:00 +0000

The Dumbest Woman On The Highway - Watch more Funny Videos

A Sad Day For People Who Hate Walking To Places

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:32:00 +0000

I still don't know how to react to this headline:

Tycoon who took over Segway firm dies in freak accident after riding one of the machines off hillside and into a river

Read more:here.

For now, I intend to assuage my grief by watching youtube videos of segway crashes.

PS -- I swore I had a post long ago about segway crashes, but I couldn't find it to link to.

War on Terror?

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:02:00 +0000

It's hard to say how accurate these figures are, but even if we grant a huge margin of error...the effect is still sobering.

Originally found here: All That Is Interesting

Also of interest: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

If I'm Honest, I Sort of Hate Pennies Too

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:03:00 +0000

Something your probably didn't know

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 01:50:00 +0000

"Do not put false fingernails on an opossum. I cannot emphasize this enough."

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 02:25:00 +0000

This made me cry.

Book Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:38:00 +0000

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I experienced something strange while reading What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Raymond Carver's style has been copied by so many mediocre writers that my initial reaction to the stories in this collection was slightly dismissive. How many slice-of-life stories have been written about despairing blue-collar alcoholics enduring relationship problems? Answer: too many.

What sets Carver's writing apart from his emulators is the absolute precision of his writing. There are no superfluous sentences. There is no pretense in his style. Much like Earnest Hemingway, Carver has a knack for meaning more than what he says. Something as simple as a yard-sale or a trout pond embodies some great existential dilemma.

For the most part, the stories are bleak. Carver's vision of the world is not a particularly uplifting one. Nevertheless, Raymond Carver is a true master of the short story.

View all my reviews >>

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This novel got a lot of positive publicity and favorable reviews, winning the National Book Award and nominated as a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Unfortunately, the book didn't have the same impact for me as it apparently did for the judges of these prizes.

The novel takes place during the Vietnam War, over the course of several years and with several point-of-view characters. Due to this organizational structure, the novel jumps around a lot from one character (and storyline) to another. Some characters disappear from the narrative for long stretches of time, before suddenly re-emerging, as if from the jungles of Vietnam. Every time I started getting interested in a character, the novel jumped to whatever character I happened to be least interested in. It was sort of amazing how this worked. At the end of each chapter, I could predict who I would read about next by asking myself who I least wanted to read about.

While there are some moments of great suspense and intrigue, on the whole, the book falls slightly flat. My score of two stars is probably a little bit harsh, but I had high expectations for this book, due to the acclaim that it has received, and I ultimately did not feel particularly impressed with the novel.

View all my reviews >>

Banana Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:33:00 +0000

Big Ideas # 001

noreply@blogger.com (Joel) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:50:00 +0000

The other day while trying to prevent the cat from escaping through the front door it hit me: House-cats are just wild animals with Stockholm syndrome.