No Mod Required

Or someone else real:

Boston's Best Graffiti/Street/Performance Artist - Phoenix Readers' Poll 2008

In addition to revamping their interface, LinkedIn is also now being graced by the presence of Bill Gates:

LinkedIn: Bill Gates

Speaking of the interface redesign, I actually like it. It's clean, orderly and has much improved organization. It's certainly an improvement over the old interface. I hated the old interface.

Actually a pretty cool little article, made more interesting by the fact that my photo of MISS 17 is used:

New York Graffiti Field Identification Guide

I do with they had asked me about the proper attribution to use. For what it's worth, I added it tonight to my flickr profile page so it's attached to my flickr account, and I'll add it here for posterity (and in case some of the gridskipper folks ping this blog post when they see the referrals)

Hey folks… lots (but not all) of my photos are under the Creative Commons Attribution license. The Attribution should be my name (Rob Larsen or Rob React) with a link to (or in the case of printed works a mention of ) my website www.drunkenfist.com Thanks!

I have just finished reading The Baroque Cycle of Neal Stephenson, and feel like giving up writing entirely.

Twitter / Warren Ellis: I have just finished reading…

And again he mentions it on his blog, with an even better quote:

Which meant I finally got to finish reading the last of Neal Stephenson´s Baroque Cycle. I´d never normally recommend you read a 3000-page work, but the Cycle is just a towering piece of work, and I think you should read it before you die. A hundred pages from the end, I got that terrible longing sadness, the one that comes when you realise youŕe near the end of something and you´ĺl never have the joy of reading this in the same way again.

I felt the same way. I both devoured and dreaded the end. It was as satisfying an ending as Stephenson has ever managed, but there was still a part of me that was made empty by reading those last few pages. I'd been reading the books as they came out so it had been a two year journey for me- the gaps heightening my anticipation and, likely, my enjoyment. To finally say good bye to Eliza, Daniel Waterhouse and, most importantly, Jack Shaftoe felt like real loss.

Warren Ellis » And Even More Still Offline

Lady Snowblood - Love Song of Vengeance The short answer? I liked this film this much (opens hands up really wide).

While this isn't great cinema, it is certainly entertaining cinema. Wildly so. A steely eyed-murderess slashes her way through a corrupt cabal in charge of Meiji era Japan?

Yes.

Toss in some black death (as a biological weapon!) and a half dozen blood geysers and you've got the makings of a to notch pass-the-popcorn genre flick.

I am a sucker for this period and genre, so your mileage may vary, but if you've ever seen and enjoyed a Zatoichi movie then this will be a film for you.

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?
Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb.

garfield minus garfield

While the weather sucked and I wasn't able to feel warm by proxy watching the race (kind of like watching Red Sox Spring Training*,) this year's Tour of California was a fun event. A great field (especially in terms of time trial talent,) some aggressive riding and what appeared to be great organization provided a fun week of cycling.

As for the results, I can honestly say I couldn't have scripted it any better. Maybe it would have been better if David Millar or someone else from Slipstream had come away with a stage win, but seeing favorites like Cancellara, Boonen, Haedo, Leipheimer and Hincapie coming away with stage wins was perfect for me- especially with George winning the dramatic final stage and Leipheimer coming away with the overall victory.

I really want to check out the race in person next year. It's truly a world class event, so there will be no excuses next time

Leipheimer wins his second consecutive Tour of California

*hopefully the Race to the Sun will provide that for me next week,

These are from a family album. My grandfather served in the Pacific during the war. I think they're pretty cool, so here they are, on the internet for all to see.

This might be one of the very first ones. Ever.

Not my photo so I don't even know where it is. I wonder if it's still running?

Check out the photos at this post by Todd James (AKA REAS AOK):

"The Look Out"