Ha!

Hi-larious. Courtesy of the very cool extended album covers project here.

Thank You!

From a Boston Globe article, courtesy of Chris:

Sheer data, which Burke has compiled and stored like a librarian, argues the point. On average, an offense operating outside the red zone will make the first down on fourth and 2 60 percent of the time. When teams face the situation the Colts would have had if the Patriots failed - two minutes left, needing a touchdown, at roughly the opposing 30 - they score 53 percent of the time.

The Patriots would certainly win the 60 percent of the time they convert. They would also win the 47 percent of the time they’d stop the Colts. Overall, going for it gave them a 79 percent chance to win.

Now, what if the Patriots had punted? On average, the net punt would have been 38 yards, and the Colts would have taken over on their 34. Statistically, teams will score 30 percent of the time in that situation, meaning a punt gave the Patriots a 70 percent chance to win.

Burke is not the only statistically minded football source to draw the conclusion. The ZEUS program, developed by a pair of champion backgammon players, was made to simulate specific football situations and spit out probability. One of the developers told the New York Times that Belichick had made the right call, their numbers similar to Burke’s.

Critics of Belichick made two mistakes. First, they underestimated the chances of converting a fourth and 2 and overestimated the difference a punt makes. Playing with abandon against a preventative defense, an offense can typically pick up the yardage from a punt in a matter of three plays and 30 seconds, Burke said.

(Burke, it should be noted, did not wholly absolve Belichick. Burke believes Belichick, who knew he was going to go for the fourth down if necessary before third down, should have run the ball rather than pass on third down.)

“The one thing people aren’t looking at is that third-down call,’’ Burke said. “An unsuccessful pass on third down gives you fourth and 2. An unsuccessful run is going to give you a real short fourth down and make your chances of winning better.’’

I am not PEOPLE! I said this immediately after they went for it on fourth down. On Sunday night. Where's my extensive Globe article? Or my gold star / cookie / certificate? Huh?

Leave It There

In case you missed it, here are several more reasons to cry at your reality.

Shoutout: Kind of Bloop

So, normally I would save this for an epic link post (that is coming someday, I swear), but I really dug the above graphic and found the project enthralling. Some 8-bit music artists / jazz enthusiasts have blasphemed and created a bare-bones electronic version of Miles Davis's Kind of Blue. It's called, cleverly, Kind of Bloop, and you can listen to samples at that link. It really is an inventive step, not just a cheesy muzak / elevator music excursion, and while I won't be listening to it in the original's stead, it's cool to feel what hearing seminal music filtered through a disparate medium does to you. Check it.

NSFW Melody

Don't watch this in your cubicle or anything, as there's some mild sexual content within, but holy awesome BATMAN, and no, incredibly enough, it's not actually Batman, it's Miles Fisher and his thrilling take on Talking Heads' "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" in an homage to American Psycho and just wow it's good times, even if you've already seen this as it's been floating around the nets a few days now. (You can go to Youtube and watch it in HD, too, if you're into that kind of thing).

I'm Late on This, But Still...

The world really, really needs more of this overt acknowledgment of absurdity:

Let Us Now Praise Awesome Dinosaurs

A morning of dog-walking, a day of work (more reading - not quite done w/ RPfLB), a night of Ultimate... but it would all be for naught had I not read this:

Let Us Now Praise Awesome Dinosaurs by Leonard Richardson

Enjoy.

We sttin' here...

Trying to work from home today, reading a book about re-engineering philosophy with a Roomba whirring in the background and the dogs barking as they try to dodge it when I stumbled across this gem:

Jim Mora in AutoTune. My life is complete.

(No, seriously, that was pretty well done, if a little repetitive. Still, props DJ Steve Porter, whoever you are).

Revolution No. 20

This has leaked onto the interwebs in the past couple of days, and I suspect it will be taken down by Michael Jackson or Nike or Apple Records or EMI or whomever owns the rights to these things. Ladies and Gents, new music from the Beatles: studio take 20 of Revolution No. 1 / 9.

You can just listen to it online via this site, or you can also find it in mp3 format if you're a little crafty (or if you e-mail me and I, um, don't send you an mp3 link because that would be wrong).

Ha.

Saw this New Yorker cartoon in the hallway at SoLS and it made me laugh. It's no nun with a spear through her head, but a pretty solid entry in the sadistic comedy genre:

Combining President's Day And Darwin Day Nets You:

Gold, Jerry, gold.

The Times

They Are a-Changin':

New Simpsons intro for HDTV. I've been noticing that shows are filming in HD and not caring how awkward the shots look for those of us with the ol' 4:3 - cut off foreheads, uncomfortable zooms, half bodies, the whole deal. While the super sharp clarity of the new medium is dazzling, it's really the wider shot that's starkly altering the form. I suppose we'll have to cave and go for the new deal sometime in the next year or so, if for no other reason so that we can see both participants in TV conversations. Ugh...

Clap, Clap, Clap

Ha! I promise an update in the next few days, but this math nerd punnery achieved such transcendence that I just HAD to share. Props per usual to xkcd.

And Onto Interwebs!

The 11th Annual Independent Games Festival - Finalists & Winners
Also check the Offworld Guide to Independent Gaming.
Want to watch all of the episodes of TV Classic The Prisoner online? OKAY!!!
While away the hours with a word association game.
I can't believe no one got me this postmodern tome for my birthday.
William Zantzinger died a few weeks ago. (Metafilter)
Crazy Little Globulous Game. Fun puzzle-ish game called Evacuation. Cool download game called "GravityBone." Another online Game: "I Wish I Were the Moon."
Headline of the Year. And yes, I know it's only January.
Fantasitc Surreal Painting.
Potential gift for Godfather fans.
Princess Bride Trivia from Neatorama. And a cool Princess Bride cover in ambigram.
Cats that are ninjas, volumes One and Two. Cat that is not a ninja but just as violent: Three.
Play around with your blind spot.
Self-imposed hallucinations.
Video of MAC vs. PC. Not really the best video in the history, but notable for the ridiculous special effects that amateurs can pull off these days.
Hey, some wacky videos: Neil PH doing it up hilarious style, the best use of testbars in art, and the insanity of the near-miss:

The 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2008. Love the vitriol! And I especially love the comment:

"'Yes We Can' is the 'Just Do It' of politics."

Tyrone Slothrop's Map to Love-making (or, more exactly, a GoogleMaps account of where all German V2 rockets landed)
Awesome game (though you do have to buy it...): Crayon Physics Deluxe
Muppet Movie Posters. Honest Movie Posters. Star Wars Art. Yeah!
McSweeney's: The Elements of Spam.

So, microsoft made a program called "Songsmith" that will write backdrop music to your vocals, whatever they may be. For better or wrose, this also works when you isolate vocals from other tracks. Hilarity ensues: David Lee Roth or Sting, and be sure to follow the other youtube links for further awesomeness.

Buddhist tree protests tree abuse.
Yet another particularly funny one in a long list of hilarious Dinosaur Comics.
Someone, please get Beck this keyboard.
PINKBERRY CONTROVERSIES: One and Two.
More Games: Card Toss, Maze.
Dogs In Outfits
Even More Far-Side re-enactments, this time in photoshop.
A Bid to Convince that Watching TV Makes You Smarter. Prompted (sorta) by this week's article re: Keeping Track of Lost.
Famous Art, Simpsonized
Rollingstone out on Highway 61
The ecstasy of influence: A plagiarism, By Jonathan Lethem (Harper's Magazine)
Cool Lunch Bag Art
A very sad story from the Sports Guy about the death of his dog Deuce.

Photography Section:
----------------------
Life During Wartime (Photo Set of the Gaza Strip)
Crazy pic of a gunman who was shot down after a robbery. Very 70s bad guy.
Human-Animal Art.
Aurora Borealis Pictures and Videos.
Star Wars Pictures that make no sense: One, Two, Three. Others of the non SW variety.
Very cool shadows of buildings on clouds in Austin.
Cool Long Exposure Digital Photos.
15 Photographs by 100 Photographers
Bird Art Photography
Nice photography / drawing sketch style.


The Obama-Section:
---------------------
Cool pic (at the top) of all the living presidents in the Oval Office
New Official Portrait.
All of the Onion headlines pertaining to bush from the last eight years.
The Onion on the Inauguration: One and Two.
Ninja / Jedi Barack.
The Mall via Satellite.
GIGANTIC 1473 Megapixel shot of the Inauguration.
Cool Obama T-Shirts: One, Two.

And the Leavers
-------------------
Phew, a ton of links this time out. We'll leave you with some quality:

The lyrics of "Enter Sandman," told in LOLCat.
Something that got me called a dork, AGAIN, last night: the impossible physics of Back to the Future.
And finally, WEIRDNESS.

'ch!!!

From the always interesting Wall Street Journal Pics of the Day.

Lunch Date

ATTACK II

Incredible images by Steve Winter. Don't believe me? How about this:


Got some close-ups of bugs for ya if that's more your thing.
Or, you know, ping pong with nunchuks:

NASA - Saturn's Polar Aurora
100+ of Nature's Strangest Animals and Plants
National Geographic 2008 Photography Winners
Charlie Brown and racial politics
Creative Architecturaland Graphic Illusions
AND NOW, SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY:

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo

A Chinese Democracy Timeline, because I KNOW you care.
Via Metafilter, a ton of links on our bad boy neighbor town to the north, Jerome.
Also via Metafilter, everything you ever wanted to know about the NYT Xword.
Roger Ebert's response to Ben Stein's TERRIBLE film.
Another funny SNL digital short for those who enjoyed "Richard in a Box." And here's Justin Timberlake being hilarious.
The addictive passive aggressive notes blog.
Another of my favorite images from 2008 (Cary Conover):


SUPERCUTE: ZooBorns
Supercuter: this photo (check story here):

Cool Book Review Site The New Canon focuses on books from 1985-present.
Real-life Far Side Re-enactments
It’s a Miserable Life!
Cool art project involving 1000 blocks.

If you only check one link: Creative Grooming

Game time: SPY HUNTER! YES! Other old school games. Indie best-of-2008 games. Still others.
Top 1000 films. Perhaps we can use some of those for our Netflix. Ah, who am I kidding. Miss Congeniality it is.
This is what happens when you freeze bubbles.
This Year's Edge Question
The guy who brought you "Ultimate Frisbee" brings you "Soccer Ball in the Face."He has mp3 downloads, too.

Unbelievably, that empties my "links to post" folder. To cap it off, here's a mash-up of the top 25 songs of 2008, followed my muppetonian brilliance:

ATTACK

A cool essay on "Tom's Diner," aka the doo doo doo doo doo doo song, both by Suzanne Vega.
Old news, but maybe the reason the Cubs lost in the playoffs in 2007 is the usual culprit: bad luck.
Of course, there are other takes - an elegy, or a declaration that this was the WORST LOSS EVER.
What's the baddest stringed instrument in all the land? DAMN STRAIGHT.
On the other hand - and I am serious here - if you really want to get fired up, try this.
Internet Classic: Top 100 Things I'd Do if I Were an Evil Overlord.
Just for sheer weirdness, this is my favorite webpage of 2008.
The 150 Best Online Flash Games
If you think you have a Mad Men / Conquistador obsession, check out this guy's comments on the show's use of fonts.
Get yer dork on: funny story about Tron.
And you don't even like boys?
I love this picture:

That's Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips; here's the article about his house in OK.
Nice site of photos (lotsa jazz people) from recently deceased William Claxton.
Science myths perpetuated by grade school textbooks.
Yet another interview with DFW, this time discussing the role of the (post)modern author.
Some cool illustrations on the topic of music lovier crate digging.
Newspaper goofs or, if you prefer, the "blog" of "uneccesary" quotes.
Not real, but funny.
Can you name all 30 NHL teams in five minutes?
Best microscopic images of 2008. Or, an awesome macroscopic shot of the recent eclipse. Or hummingbirds! Or gorgeous feather shots.
Pretty entertaining CARTOON-OFF!
A model of Fenway.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
The usual genius of dinosaur comics.
Andy Kaufman documentary "I'm From Hollywood."
The unbearable cuteness of upside down dogs.
Simpsons references next to their movies.
Test your rxn time! Mine was .201 seconds. Wahoo.
Or take this quiz on greatest hits collections. I got 100%!
Straight up genius: Twin Peaks, then and now.
Some commentary on the logic of obscene language.
Mini-games! Check Tasha in particular.
Did I post this already? David Sedaris's piece on the election. Even funnier in person.
For any interested anatomists: Godzilla.
Okay, this is pretty awesome:

François Macré - Thriller (reprise A'cappella 64 pistes)

Derrida discussing something stunningly everyday.
An exceedingly fun dodging game.
Dia de los Muertos pics.
And you know this is great (click pic for story):


Okay, that's enough for now. I'll leave you with a pair of videos - the first I will not actually post here for reasons that will become apparent (a lot of faux nudity and some bad language, but trust me, used for comedic artistic effect. And it involves David Byrne, so check it out). The second is existential angst at its furriest:

Nano And Ohno

Hey, I'll get back on track with some posts about our Rochester Thanksgiving visit and another stellar GPGDS show in the next couple of days. In the meantime, big congrats to Katherine, fellow blogger and frisbee-er who finished her NanoWriMo novel, 50,000+ words in 30 days. Huzzah!

So that's the Nano. Here's the OH NOES!!!

Seriously. Oh, no.

Get Psyched for DISC!

The tourney tomorrow is serving to be very distracting. Ah well. To get fired up, here are some videos that serve as a proper response to "What's Ultimate frisbee?" or "You guys wear cleats, really?" or "Do your dogs play?" or "Hippies!" Forgive the stupid music, and keep an eye out for MAZ.