Boundary Layer

The best way to find a line is to cross it

Monday, July 28, 2003

The Big Darkness


Hunter S. Thompson's column is back. And, as usual, he can barely restrain his optimisim.
The American nation is in the worst condition I can remember in my lifetime, and our prospects for the immediate future are even worse. I am surprised and embarrassed to be a part of the first American generation to leave the country in far worse shape than it was when we first came into it...
The Stock Market will never come back, our Armies will never again be No. 1, and our children will drink filthy water for the rest of our lives.

Wednesday, July 23, 2003

The Viper is Coming


Working my way through dm's list of links I found a page of inexcplicable objects. The guy that came up with that page has a blog as well, which seems to revolve around difficulties with his digestive tract and the antics of his cat, Kill Kill. But despite the subject matter and the circa 1995 web design, it is some pretty entertaining reading.

He's also got reviews of some terrible movies including the steaming pile of crap known as Gymkata.
I don't get the Olympics. Or more precisely, Olympians. Train all twenty to twenty five years of your life to compete in a game that doesn't pay anything? Even if you win the Gold, how impressed will people be ten years from now when they see you wearing the medal with your McDonald's uniform?
It is possible to build a gold medal into a post-Olympics career, but you'd better already have the movie star looks if you want more than your picture on a Wheaties box. Mark Spitz, the '72 gold medal swimmer, made a lot of endorsements. Unfortunately, he had all the acting skills of an Olympic gold medal swimmer.

Sunday, July 20, 2003

The Longest Fall


This is what falling from 20 miles up looks like. In this HALO jump, the guy actually fell faster than the speed of sound.

The Fake Detective


Ed Lake is known as the Fake Detective for his website which exposes fake celebrity nude photos. But he has another site, which delves into the mystery of the anthrax mailings of 2001. He was profiled in a recent LA Times article and in a piece in Time from last year.

Wednesday, July 16, 2003

Science Toys


This page details how to make some neat science toys at home. Even if you have no inclination to build anything the site is still pretty cool. (via Metafilter)

Saturday, July 12, 2003

Hit and Run


RPG tactics.
Even though the back-blast of an RPG was pretty hard to miss (a flash of light accompanied by a cloud of grayish smoke), you could make it less prominent by wetting down dust and sand for 6-10 feet behind the gunner. This made it harder for enemy troops to immediately fire on the RPG gunner, and hit him. The Afghans also learned that you always move after you have fired an RPG rocket, for an opponent with any brains at all will fire at the RPG gunner. Thus in ambushes, the Afghans were careful to pick out firing spots for RPG gunners that gave them a clear shot at the targets, and a quick route out of there to a second, and even third, firing position.

Representative


They're Latino-Jewish rappers. They're the Hip Hop Hoodios. They aren't a novelty act although you might think so after listening to their song Havana Negila.

Friday, July 11, 2003

We Are The Family


This story seems pretty far fetched. How could a secret organisation have been working for the past 70 years to recruit world leaders, important politicians, and influential businessmen country by country in an attempt to rule the world. A writer spends three weeks living with them and uncovers a startling group of people hiding in plain sight.

I'm not sure which is more unbelievable, the twisted form of jungle ball they play that they say brings them closer to Christ or their crypto-fascist agenda. There are two interviews (1,2) with the author online that are worth reading after checking out the article. The author was also interviewed on WNYC. There is also an LA Times article from last year which seems a great deal less sinister. (via GNN)

God was just what Bengt desired Him to be, even as Bengt was, in the face of God, "nothing." Not for aesthetics alone, I realized, did Bengt and the Family reject the label "Christian." Their faith and their practice seemed closer to a perverted sort of Buddhism, their God outside "the truth," their Christ everywhere and nowhere at once, His commands phrased as questions, His will as simple to divine as one's own desires. And what the Family desired, from Abraham Vereide to Doug Coe to Bengt, was power, worldly power, with which Christ's kingdom can be built, cell by cell.

Wednesday, July 09, 2003

The Art of Mear


From graffiti to acrylic, album covers to illustrations, this is some fantastic artwork by Mear.


Saturday, July 05, 2003

Great interactive eye and ear candy. The resulting music has a Sun Ra feel to it. They have a huge gallery of similarly engrossing Flash toys. (via Metafilter)
 
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