[This is an archived version of eclectica, a weblog. Click here to view the latest version.]

Tuesday, April 30, 2002 --> comments?
I like this idea: Lifetime Reading List. I think I'm going to start one of my own.

Atkins diet author home after cardiac arrest. Well, well, obviously his diet wasn't as beneficial as he claimed.

Starting in May, The Vocabula Review will be charging a $4.95 yearly fee; which is very reasonable, I think.

Monday, April 29, 2002 --> comments?
Well, I finally made a new layout. Two months of blue was quite enough! I've archived the March entries here, and will be archiving April's entries soon.

I've noticed that a lot of people are still looking for Apolo Ohno information. I'm still updating the Apolo Portal regularly, so if you're looking for Apolo info., that's where you should go.

I didn't watch "The Bachelor," nor do I plan on watching the "Bachelorette" or "The Bachelor 2."
[via pcjm]

Oh, great: What's in your green tea?

Always good to know: 10 Big Myths about copyright explained.

Random word: boffo. Heh, I like silly sounding words.

Sunday, April 28, 2002 --> comments?
I watched The Fellowship of the Ring last night at the Dollar Cinema ($1.50 for a movie. Woohoo!). That was my second time to see it and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time I watched it. At the end, they showed a preview for The Two Towers that I hadn't seen before. It looked intriguing. I can hardly wait to see it, but December is still 8 months away! Well, there's always TheOneRing.net to tide me over.

All of CNN's interview transcripts conveniently located in one place. Nice.

I'm so going to have to buy a digital camera soon. I'm itching to submit a picture to The Mirror Project!

Because it's been the end of the world for over 30 years: Hall Lindsey Oracle ;)

Herbal remedies. Alternative medicine rocks.

Speaking of alternative medicine, I think this is pretty cool: Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment Helps Olympic Speed Skater to Compete Despite Injury.

Ha ha: The Fake Challenge. [Watch out: Not kid or work friendly!]

I agree with this article: TV is a Turn On. [Author's weblog]

Something to think about: Potential carcinogen revealed in french fries.

History of Perpetual Motion and Free Energy Machines.
[via plep]

Google Smackdown is pretty cool.

Religious Tolerance.org: An agency promoting religious tolerance as a human right. See a list of religiously-based civil unrest and warfare here.

Thursday, April 25, 2002 --> comments?
Discovered an interesting weblog today: Meme Machine Go.

Influx of outsiders filing edges off the Texas accent. That's right, ya'll. Heh.

UselessFacts.net: Useless information at your fingertips.

Yikes: Skull, human remains found in shark.

Wednesday, April 24, 2002 --> comments?
Even better than Bookwatch: Daypop Amazon Wishlist Top 40.
[Thanks for the link, John!]

I don't eat much fast food; and after reading Fast Food Nation, I'm going to try to cut it out of my diet completely. Here's another reason to boycott fast food: The Trouble With Tomatoes.

More disturbing news: And The DICK Goes To... (Awarding our Leaders):

Now that the Oscars are over and the best escapist diversions for the year have been chosen, it's time for a new award: the coveted DICK. Named after US vice president Dick Cheney, the DICK honors outstanding achievements in the art of duping the masses and using public resources for personal gain, and while this year's competition was understandably cut-throat, some DICKS clearly stand above the rest.

The prune gets a makeover. They're now called dried plums.

The Disgruntled Cartoons: "What if all the cartoons and comic book heroes got together to bitch about the piss poor Hollywood films being made about them?"

I can hardly believe they killed The Lone Gunmen on the X-Files last Sunday. No more Langley, Frohike or Byers? Sad, sad, sad. The episode was so cheesy, too. Maybe this Sunday's show will be better. David Duchovny directed it, so it should be good.

April 2002 Jackass: The Big 5. I totally agree!

How to appear smarter "without having to read any books, listen to classical music, or depend on crutches like word-of-the-day toilet paper." Hee!

Two gratuitous tests:

What WB drama are you?

Where do you live?

Yeah, that's me ;)

Monday, April 22, 2002 --> comments?
Vintage cigarette ads from the age of innocence is disturbing and yet kind of amusing at the same time. I can hardly believe people actually believed this or this!
[via pcjm]

11 Years, 9 Months, and 5 Days: Burger Store Episodes and Frustrations is the title of the book described in this article. I find it rather synchronous that I happened on that article at the same time I'm reading Fast Food Nation; which is a great book, by the way.
[via alt-log]

Hopefully, I'll have time to add more later. Have a good Monday, all.

Sunday, April 21, 2002 --> comments?
My hair color should be black, according to this test.
[via Digital Glasses]

These are amazingly cool: Origami Photo Galleries. I really like this tiger.

Heh heh: Redneck rules of etiquette.

Go Ralph! Nader Says Lawsuit Settlement Will Aid Third-Party Candidates. Third party candidates definitely need more media coverage.

Just One Look Is All It Took:

In addition to setting off a shower of sparks, the direct stare of an attractive person triggers a burst of activity in the brain's ventral striatum, an area involved in reward feedback, says a new study by British researchers. What's more, they say sex appeal doesn't appear to play much of a role in the response, taking a back seat to other motivations, like social standing.

Friday, April 19, 2002 --> comments?
Olympic speedskating bronze medalist Rusty Smith had a live chat last night. I was there and got to ask 3 questions. It was a lot of fun. More details and webcam pictures here.

"The Weblog Bookwatch searches weblogs that pass through the Recently Changed list at weblogs.com looking for links to books at Amazon.com." Book lover that I am, I like Bookwatch a lot. I'm always interested in what other people are reading!

Vanilla Coke will be available May 15th. I'll probably try it. It sounds better than the lemon Coke, anyway!

Play the Name Game. I'm awful at guessing: it took me at least 3 tries on most to get it right.

Bush Sorry for Canadians Killed. Well, he'd better be! And I truly hope that he's sorry for the innocent Afghans who have been killed, as well! The whole situation is a nightmare.

This is really scary: Profiting from death?:

Jane Sims always knew her husband was a valuable employee to Wal-Mart. She just didn't know how valuable.

Sims discovered recently that Wal-Mart, the company her husband, Douglas, worked for before he died, had taken out a life insurance policy in his name.

When Douglas Sims died in 1998 of a sudden heart attack, Wal-Mart received about $64,000. She got nothing from that policy.

Do you think your employer has taken out life insurance on you?

38 million? Know what I could do with that much money? I don't buy lottery tickets, though. Heh ;)

"New car" smell is caused by chemicals, this article explains. I thought everyone knew that.

Ha ha: Teens bare all after accident.

If you download a lot of programs, or even if you don't, you might want to check out this article: Guess what's in your hard drive? Reading programs' "terms of service" is a hassle, but in the end, it's worth it. Fight the spyware!

Traci's List of Ten: Lots of writing ideas!

Group blasts Amazon's used-book sales. That reminds me of when the drummer from Metallica started making a big fuss over Napster. I know authors have to make a living, but it seems like they'd be happy that their books are being sold, whether new or used!

Soooo funny:

Ever wanted to know how compatible your are with Britney Spears, Anna Kournikova or Brad Pitt? Or wanted to know who's your most compatible celebrity love? Use CelebMatch.com to find out!

Yes, I'm just dying to know if I'm compatible with Brad Pitt. Joking, of course! :)

A Pill to Stretch Your Day: "A new drug keeps people awake with no apparent ill effects." My first reaction: "Oh, no!" Some things are just sacred. Sleep is one of them.

Revisit your childhood with these cereal icons.
[via mybluehouse]

TechTales.com, because it's fun to laugh at the newbies. Hee.

Very Important Things. Some things everyone should know.
[via BtW]

Tuesday, April 16, 2002 --> comments?
Oooh, yummy: Make your own chai tea.

If you're addicted to online "personality" quizzes, you shouldn't go here: Links to 500 Which [Blank] Are You? quizzes.

Super Ant Colony Found in Europe: "A supercolony of ants has been discovered stretching thousands of miles from the Italian Riviera along the coastline." to northwest Spain.

You've heard of fan fiction, but have you heard of band fiction? I usually stay clear of any kind of fan fiction: Most of it is badly written and a lot of it is creepy.

I'm pretty sure that more female characters than ever are being shown as being both highly intelligent and sexy, but this does have some good points: The Velma Syndrome

Why is it that most intelligent women in the popular cultural realm are not permitted to see themselves as hotties who dig their own bodies in a super sensual way? Why is intelligence always inversely bound to sexiness in binary opposition? Why aren't women characters allowed to be both thinky and sexy for their own corporeal and cognitive pleasure?

In Defense of Alanis:

But there's another reason I like Alanis Morissette, and it has nothing to do with music. It is merely that, alone among million-selling female artists we hear on the radio, she is the only one who doesn't do it with her looks. She isn't pretty, and she doesn't dress provocatively.

Really? Alanis isn't pretty? Hmm, I always thought she was. Anyway, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?

Jeff Probst, the host of Survivor, is a writer-director? He directed a movie called Finder's Fee. James Earl Jones, Robert Forster, Erik Palladino and Matthew Lillard are in it. [More about it here]

Monday, April 15, 2002 --> comments?
Today's random word is:

crapulent (KRAP-yuh-lent): Sick from excessive eating or drinking.

Sunday, April 14, 2002 --> comments?
I went to Mustang Island (only 45 minutes and a ferry ride away from my house) yesterday with my brothers and a friend. The Texas Sand Sculpture Festival is going on this weekend; so after we went swimming, we went and checked out the sculptures. I wish I had had a camera! The sculptures were amazing. There's a picture here and a few here, plus more here, but they're from last year and they really don't do the sculptures justice!

The Panic Rooms: TV's Home-Makeover Show 'Trading Spaces' Papers Over a Lot. But It Reveals Even More. I don't watch Trading Spaces much, but I did watch an episode last night where Hildi spray-painted couches neon pink! Ugh, it was awful. Luckily (in my opinion!), they were left outside and got rained on, so the show had to replace them.

If you want to do some decorating of your own, Digs Magazine's Lounge section has some great projects. Get Crafty is good for decorating ideas too.

Updates have been kind of sparse lately, I know. Hopefully, I'll be able to add some more links later today, but right now, I'm going to enjoy the beautiful weather we're having here!

Friday, April 12, 2002 --> comments?
"For years, it has been known as the world's highest mountain. But climbers say Mount Everest is also the world's highest garbage dump and final resting place."

In The Language of Names installation at the Walker Art Center and online at names.walkerart.org, you can enter your name into an electronic mural, record your name story, and explore what artist Alan Berliner calls "our titles, our passports to the world, the opening words to the stories of our lives."

In movie news: Spiderman caught in legal web and Austin Powers Says "Member" Again.

Thursday, April 11, 2002 --> comments?
The trials and tribulations of having a redneck neighbor. They shouldn't have been surprised when the rednecks starting putting up their "fenced in area." Having one is practically a prerequisite of belonging to the clan of burnt necks. Heh.

Great excerpt from this article:

Yes, there's a great deal our President could do to upgrade airport security. He might, for example, stop calling other nations "evil." The word is a conversation-stopper, implying incomprehensible malice. Why not say "wrongheaded" or even "naughty," and leave open the possibility of reform? Maybe I'm sensitive on this point, but I tend to take it personally when a million Iranians gather in Teheran to shout "Death to America!" And while we're fussing about semantics, I beg the President to refrain from referring to the residents of Pakistan as "Pakis." Maybe you mean it as an affectionate nickname -- like calling corpo-terrorist Lay "Kenny Boy" -- but it doesn't play well in Peshawar.

Diet for a Small Pleasure:

You do realize that if you stand in front of the pastry case at the coffee shop and calculate calories in your head, trying to figure out if a chocolate chip cookie is going to show up on your hips, you are actually doing more damage to your heart from the stress than if you simply ate the damn cookie and allowed yourself to experience the joy of it, right? You do realize that happiness and personal acceptance are hundreds of times better for you than stressful self-denial, right?

Exactly! I've always wondered why some people have to call certain foods "bad" and say that they are "naughty" when they eat them. As long as you're moderate, you can eat practically anything.

I've linked to this before, but I think it's important enough to revisit every once in a while, just to be reminded: Merchants of cool: A Media Giant Chart - Who Owns What.

Wednesday, April 10, 2002 --> comments?
Slang Words That Mean "Good". Heh. They forgot "sick" and "dope." Oh, well ;)
[via pcjm]

File this under "dumb criminals": Coach apparently swallows cyanide in court.

Leslie talks about Snuggle, the bear in those old 1980s fabric softener commercials, in her April 9th entry. I never liked the commercials; they creeped me out: I was sure that underneath its cute exterior, that bear was savage and maybe even a bit demonic. I think my older brother planted those thoughts in my gullible little head. Heh.

Janeane Garofalo Sounds Off On Pop:

Garofalo is no fan of what currently is passing for pop music, including *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and Britney Spears on her list, which she tied to the corporate controlled radio and television interests that are "complicit in the dumbing down of the tastes of Americans."

Interesting, very interesting: Anomalies hint at magnetic pole flip:

The Earth's magnetic poles might be starting to flip say researchers who have seen strange anomalies in our planet's magnetic field...

"We can't really tell what will happen," says Hulot. "But we speculate that we're in an unusual situation that might be related to a reversal."

As the world is riveted to the violent drama unfolding between Israel and Palestine, we hold our breath in fear of the bloody potential for violence everywhere.

People around the globe can feel in their hearts where all of this is leading. We know that a bloody end to Palestine or a bloody end to Israel is a bloody end to us all.

We mustn't let this happen.

Things Other People Accomplished When They Were Your Age: Wow. Pretty impressive. At 21...

American novelist Herman Melville jumped ship and spent a month as the captive of a cannibal tribe. This became the source of his novel Typee.

Jack London went to the Klondike with the first rush of gold-seekers, returning home a year later as poor as when he had left.

English chemist Humphry Davy discovered nitrous oxide ("laughing gas"), and suggested that it may have use as an anaesthetic.

Thomas Alva Edison created his first invention, an electric vote recorder. After it failed to sell, he decided to devote his energy to inventions for which there was a market.

John Dillinger robbed a grocery store, was caught and spent 9 years in prison. He later became "public enemy number one," before being gunned down by the FBI.

Future robber baron Jay Gould began investing in the leather business and speculating in railroad stocks.

Robert Browning publishes his first poetry; it is poorly received.

Alfred Tennyson publishes his first poetry; it is poorly received.

College dropout Steven Jobs co-founded Apple Computer.

Sunday, April 7, 2002 --> comments?
Two personality tests today. (I've been good, haven't posted any for a while now. Heh.)

If I were a pop princess (God forbid!), I'd be Michelle Branch: "You're the 'girl nextdoor' type of gal. You've got a down-to-earth feel about you, and you're not afraid to be original. You're still trying to find yourplace in life, but that doesn't mean you're not enjoying the trip. Rich and famous? Sure! But you're not gonna let that go to your head. ;D" Well, that's not too bad; plus I like Michelle's new single, All You Wanted

The Color Code Test: I'm a White, a "peace keeper." Sounds quite a lot like me.
[Both tests via Watercolored Words]

Just a note: I don't need personality tests to tell me what I'm like: I all ready know who I am; but personality tests are fun, so why not take them?

Saturday, April 6, 2002 --> comments?
My aortal pick for this week: My wonderful host Chevelle @ pulp.nu! Go visit her!

Alternet has put together a great section on War in the Middle East. Everything is so crazy over there that it's hard to figure out what, exactly, is going on.

Ouch! But he deserved it!

Being overweight makes you more likely to be injured in a car crash? Hmm, I wonder why?

Web growth slows, but time online rises: "Among the most active users are the 21 million people with high-speed connections." That should be obvious! I still have a 56k connection and the slowness is maddening!

special review: sad salvation
As part of the The Peer-to-Peer Review Project, I was assigned the below weblog to review.

Sad Salvation:
Rich Thomas, a self-described "nearing 30 gadget head and phone monkey," says about his weblog: "Day by day by day by day....this is my attempt to make sense of the world".

I'd say that his title, Sad Salvation, pretty much sums up the feel of the 'blog. It's somber and kind of tedious.

This is just my opinion; and personally, I tend to like weblogs that are more about commentary on other web sites and the news than about day-to-day activities. Rich's weblog is definitely more of a journal: He talks about his job at TiVO, his travels, how much he drank that day.

You might find the fact that he works at TiVo interesting. I did; but he can't write about it too much, for fear that one of his bosses or coworkers would read it. A quote from Rich from October 5, 2001: "I know that I cannot write everything that I want to write about work on this Web Log. I want people who I work with to be able to read it. I want to mention the name of the company that I work for, TiVo. I also want to mention my name. The problem is if I have these two things in this web log, who knows who will be able to find it. Some one might be able to search for it. I could cause some bad times for myself."

As for his weblog layout/design, I'm pretty sure it's a Blogger template. It's blue, uncompelling. It's easy to navigate though, and that's more important than the look of the design.

Main content: Journal, travelouge, personal musings on life, etc.

Personally, his content didn't resonate with me, cause me to think or want to come back to read more. I probably won't visit again, but that's just me. I urge you all to go check it out. Who knows, you might like it!

Friday, April 5, 2002 --> comments?
::Drum roll:: And the winner of The Messiest Apartment of 2002 will be...
[via the scratching post]

HyperActivist.org looks like it's going to be an interesting project. Go check it out.

So, it looks like The Sims Online is still in develpment. That's weird; I'm sure I heard that Maxis/EA had decided not to persue the project. But I'm glad they're still going to release it: I'm actually looking forward to playing it!

I've gotten some weird search requests before, but this one has to be one of the weirdest. Time for a visit to Disturbing Search Requests, I think!

Thursday, April 4, 2002 --> comments?
Lip-reading cellphone silences loudmouths. Cool.

US officials remind viewers The West Wing is not real. Haha. They don't want to offend our intelligence? Too late for that.

Donahue back on TV. Brings back childhood memories... (I had no idea that Donahue started in 1970, ten years before I was born!)

First it was Playboy seeking the Women of Enron; now it's Playgirl's turn: The Men of Enron. How classy.

Apolo Ohno More Unwelcome Than Bin Laden:

U.S. short-track skater Apolo Anton Ohno, who won a gold medal when his South Korean rival was disqualified, was voted by Korean college students as the "most unwelcome" at the World Cup, a Seoul magazine said on Wednesday...

Janitor sues Eddie Murphy over 'The PJs':

A Chicago janitor is suing Eddie Murphy and other producers tied to now-defunct animated series "The PJs," alleging they stole his likeness from an amateur video for a character on the show...

Wednesday, April 3, 2002 --> comments?
Interesting: The Case for [Via] Links.

I don't have time to 'blog any more today, so I'll just send you along to some other weblogs I've recently discovered: Trance Gemini, Dr. Weevil, and Supah. Happy surfing! :)

Tuesday, April 2, 2002 --> comments?
How to chunk dye your own hair. I feel the urge to try that. I probably won't, though. My hair is currently two colors: penny red and my natural brown growing out. Adding chunks of lighter color to that just wouldn't work.
[via my blue house]

Grammar lessons for pop stars. Hee. That's definitely funny, but I wonder if the author of the article knows that most of the people she wrote about don't write their own lyrics?
[via two dolla]

Why Jen doesn't make a habit of talking to people in the lobby of her building. That seems really funny for some reason; maybe I'm too easily amused...

Female or shemale? I got 14 out of 16 right, but I'm sure I could have gotten them all right if I hadn't rushed. Heh.

Laser Surgery Battle-Worthy In Army's Eyes. Join the military and you can get your vision corrected. Uhm, yeah, I think I'll just wear glasses, thanks.

"Coca-Cola Co, the world's biggest soft drink group, is secretly working on plans to launch a new vanilla-flavored Coke drink..." I detest the lemon-flavored Coke, so I'm dubious as to whether I'll like the vanilla-flavored.

Millions of free e-mailers soon may pay fees. I'm getting so nostalgic for the "good ol' days" of 1998 ;)

Dumb criminals (almost) strike again: Procrastinating thieves arrive too late to rob bank.

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eclectica, a weblog copyright (©) 1999 - 2002 by Joanna Blackwell. Don't take what's not yours.