Naughty Utah

I love this story. Mostly cause it reinforces my theory that the people who are most outraged and offended by porn (or homosexuality) are repressed and acting out and ashamed of it. Degenerates.

Snagged from Slog:

Red states like porn:

"When it comes to adult entertainment, it seems people are more the same than different," says Benjamin Edelman at Harvard Business School.

However, there are some trends to be seen in the data. Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds.

"Some of the people who are most outraged turn out to be consumers of the very things they claimed to be outraged by," Edelman says.

And which red state likes porn most of all?

The biggest consumer [of porn], Utah, averaged 5.47 adult content subscriptions per 1000 home broadband users.... Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year's presidential election—Florida and Hawaii were the exceptions. While six out of the lowest 10 favoured Barack Obama.

Bizkit the sleep walking dog

Literally had me laughing out loud…

Unfortunate topiary

No one realized? Really? Somehow I doubt it…

If you need a break

take 8 minutes and watch this short film. It’s really great. And beautiful too!

Ex-ET
by Esma-Movie

Is Obama the AntiChrist? or Hitler?

Brilliant. And amazing and a bit scary.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Unusual Suspect

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

This cracked me up this morning

Famous people who died in odd ways

Entire list is available at MentalFloss.com, but here are some of my favorites:

Jack Daniel, purveyor of fine whiskey, died from an infection sustained after kicking his safe and busting his toe.

Tennessee Williams, longtime alcoholic and author of some of the most enduringly bleak plays of the 20th century, choked on an eyedropper bottle cap in 1983.

Attila the Hun died of a nosebleed on his wedding night – he passed out drunk and drowned in his own blood.

Aeschylus, Greek playwright, died after an eagle dropped a tortoise on his head. The tortoise reportedly lived.

Chrysippus, Greek stoic philosopher, is believed to have died of laughter after getting his donkey drunk and watching it attempt to eat figs.

Response to Jindal

Bobby Jindal, the new hope of the Republican party (he’s brown, which appears to be a requirement for them lately – see Michael Steele) presented the response to the President’s State of the Union address last night.

There’s been a ton of posts about how much he sounds like Kenneth the page on 30 Rock, but I really appreciate what Rachel Maddow had to say about his speech.

Jon Stewart noted that Bobby Jindal has been very outspoken about how he’s not accepting money from the stimulus package – but he’s only turning down the part of it related to extending & expanding unemployment insurance. Then Jon noted that it meant that Bobby Jindal was accepting 8.1 million from the stimulus – rather than the entire 8.3 million. That’s the way to stick up for your principles, face of the Republican party.

And Rachel’s got Ana Marie Cox on to discuss Jindal’s speech. She’s super smart and amusing as well.

Stupid embed code isn’t working, so click here to watch.

Want a job twittering? Or facebooking?

The Windows Social Media team has an exciting opportunity for a passionate Online Marketing Manager to research, coordinate, project manage and implement social media marketing initiatives as part of the Windows7 launch team. The ideal person will be immersed in what it means to "live life online" through channels such as; Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. This team member will stay up to date on latest social media developments, consumer behaviors and trends, identify current and future opportunities and develop business case, marketing plans and proposals for implementing social media solutions within Windows consumer marketing. This person is a strong collaborator and team player that can function in a cross group, ambiguous environment.

For more info, click here and if you’re thinking of applying, touch base with me first.

Ode to Trader Joes

an instant classic...

Just in case you missed this

Ricky Gervais predicted Kate’s win this year. If you didn’t see this on Extras, check it out:

The man with the tiny brain

What I love about this story is that they refer to him as “French civil servant”. Somehow that seriously amuses me. It makes me want to make all sorts of humorous comments about working for the government. But it’s just too easy – there’s no skill involved.

Scans by computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that the man's cerebral cavities, called ventricles, had massively expanded.
"The brain itself, meaning the grey matter and white matter, was completely crushed against the sides of the skull," Feuillet told AFP.
"The images were most unusual... the brain was virtually absent," he said.
The patient's medical history showed that at the age of six months, he suffered hydrocephalus, also called water on the brain, and needed an operation to drain this dangerous buildup of spinal fluid.
Neuropsychological testing revealed the man had an IQ of 75, with a verbal IQ of 84 and performance IQ of 70. The bulk of people in society have a minimum IQ of 85, although the benchmark and the way it is measured are sometimes contested.

Despite this, "the man has been able to lead a life that can be considered normal," said Feuillet. "Even if he has a slight intellectual handicap, this has not hampered his development or building social networks."

Post Oscar thoughts

So, I ended up streaming the Oscars live on the web and twittering like a madwoman, which was kinda fun. It’s the first time I’ve watched the Oscars alone, and Twitter actually kept me connected with real and digital friends and kept me laughing throughout.

I got 18 out of 22 categories right in my predictions. Note that I have never done this well and it all makes sense because I haven’t seen as many of the flicks as I usually do and there was no money involved (dang)! The category I was most happy to be wrong about was Best Actor. It seemed like Mickey Rourke had the momentum lately, although I had originally been saying that Sean Penn would win because everyone in Hollywood was super-pissed off about Prop 8 and Sean did a great job in Milk. He got a long standing ovation when he won, which was great. I’ve

I loved Sean’s speech – especially when he called the academy Commie Homo loving sons of guns. He also mentioned that he knows how hard he makes it to appreciate him. He spoke out strongly about equal rights, called our new President “elegant” and was really sweet in referring to crazy Mickey Rourke as his brother (Mickey had been badmouthing Sean in the press, so that was especially nice). All of this makes me an even bigger Sean fan.

If you missed it, here’s the clip:

The only drawback was that he forgot to mention his lovely wife, Robin Wright.

Of course, we all knew that the academy was going to give Heath Ledger the Oscar for Supporting Actor (personally, I thought he deserved the Oscar for his role in Brokeback Mountain – go & rewatch it – it’s beautiful work). Heath’s family was sweet and the response of the crowd was so warm and loving. He was such a talented man. What a shame.

I figured that Slumdog was going to get best picture, but didn’t realize it would take every award it was nominated for. It’s been doing really well on the awards circuit, so I guess I should have known… I really enjoyed the flick, but I think what made it stand out this year is the economic doom & gloom. That movie (although difficult & painful at times) is ultimately a feel good flick. And when people are struggling or scared that they are going to be struggling, they want movies that are going to make them happy.

My favorite moment: Tina Fey & Steve Martin. They played off of each other oh so well.

Least favorite moment: Beyonce.

Spotify

Hearing good things about Spotify, so I’m downloading it right now. Apparently, it’s a really slick music streaming service that lets you stream, search, browse and share music.

Spotify – the story from Spotify on Vimeo.

If you’re interested in trying it out, go to this page to get info as it’s currently limited to invites only in UK, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Spain and France. That page has the workaround.

I’m a big fan of streaming different music when I’m working and this looks to be really interesting.

Odd Oscars

For the last fifteen years or so, I have hosted an Oscar party. It started in NYC when I was splitting my time between there and LA, then moved to LA and then to Seattle. But this year because of STUPID DISH NETWORK, I don’t have ABC on my tv. (They’re fighting and so I haven’t had ABC on since November or so. But at least they give me $1 off the bill each month. Sigh.)

So, I’ve been watching the ABC shows online and was resigned to missing this year’s oscars. Luckily, one of the folks I follow on Twitter posted where I could watch the Oscars online live. Whew.

So, I’m watching online and twittering and reading my friends tweets. Very entertaining. So far I’m 7/8 – I didn’t guess on a couple of noms (live & documentary & animated shorts). It’s weird to be watching by myself, but watching with my digital friends is pretty cool too.

Socks the cat

Dead.

Cause the Dummies are on top of what’s hip

WTF?

Science

One of the things that made me happy about Obama’s election was that we would have an administration that believes in science again. Not only was the previous administration anti-science, they manipulated scientific reports to produce results that would promote their pro-oil, anti-environmental agenda.

So, this poll (of Americans) from Gallup today really gets my blood boiling…

It is interesting that they state that the attitudes are largely related to education and even more, to religiosity. Not that either of those points surprise me, but poor education can be cured. So, there is some hope. But, the poll shows that people who attend church most often are the folks who are least likely to believe in evolution.

Why do science and religion have to be opposed? I know that there are religious folks and leaders who have found a way to meld the two. I think that it’s great when people believe and make church a part of their lives – as long as they aren’t trying to impose those beliefs on me. I know that it brings great joy and comfort to many of my friends. (The rest of them are heathens like me.)

The good news is that younger Americans are more likely to believe in evolution. They also attend much less church than their elders. My question is whether these folks will start attending church more as they get older, start squeezing kids out and start fearing death more. And if they do, will they stop believing?

Why I heart FriendFeed

I know, I know. Many of you have never even heard of FriendFeed. But let me try to explain what it is and why I think it’s super-cool and super-underutilized.

When I signed up for a FF account, I selected the items I wanted it to monitor for me. What I’m effectively doing is telling FF what of my internet activity to aggregate and make available to people. I included my blog, my picture website, my tweets from twitter, items I choose to share from Google Reader, books I list on GoodReads and videos I post on YouTube.

So, every time I post on one of those sites, Friendfeed lists it and it’s available to anyone who is interested in either me or any of the topics I’m posting or sharing.

The things I really like about this are:

• It’s really easy for me to see what people I like and admire are posting on the web or what they think is interesting (by sharing items on Google Reader)
• I can participate in a discussion about any of these items
• Twitter is only really meant to be a one way medium – I yell out to the world about what I’m thinking or doing. It’s not good at all for having a conversation. FF displays my tweets and allows people to comment and have a threaded, easy to read conversation about my tweet.
• Facebook does this (kinda, in a smaller, not as good way as FriendFeed), but Facebook limits who can see and discuss the items (see below).
• It’s open to the world
• I know some folks are more paranoid than me, but I leave my tweets and my FF open and don’t lock them. I think that the value I get from getting feedback from people I don’t know is huge. Otherwise, I’m limiting the perspective and feedback to people I already know, which may prevent me from hearing new options and ways of looking at things.
• Friendfeed has really great search functionality
• So if I’m interested in a new camera or politics or technology or whatever I can search it, see what people are posting and discussing around that topic.
• There are “rooms” for topics that are of interest to a group of people
• Basically it’s an ongoing discussion where anyone can post weblinks, pix, comments, etc related to the topic
• You can create a room for anything that’s of interest to you and get feedback and interaction from people all over the world that share your interest

I think it’s a great collaborative tool and wish more people gave it a shot and participated in discussions. The more people involved, the more useful it becomes. Give it a shot and of course, please make me your friend.

My worklife

My calendar for this week (so far):

I try to squeeze in the work in between all those meetings… ahhhh….corporate America.

I know, I know

I’m going to have to find something really dirty to post soon after all this cuteness, but bears on a hammock?

Scarfcat

Okay, people need to stop with the cute on the interwebs cause I can’t resist. And I don’t like to think of myself as one of those women who are all into the cute. Sigh. But look at this guy…

Foxes on a trampoline

Online valentine

Tales of Marketing

Comcast interrupts the Super Bowl with porn. (Marketing FAIL).

Comcast offers customers that saw the porn $10 coupons (Marketing PASS).

Porno company offers customers $10 coupons towards buying the porno so that they can see the rest of the flick. (Marketing WIN).

From Consumerist:

"We feel really bad for the customers that were just getting into it when Comcast rudely switched back to the football game before the clip could really get going," Kim Kysar, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a news release

I wish Gus the dog did this

Stay with it and watch the whole thing – this is one impressive bird.

Lux Interior of The Cramps

Dead.

My Facebook 25 random things

In case you’re not a FB friend of mine, here’s some random crap about me:

1. I'm way shorter than you think I am. Seriously. I have a tall personality, but I am height challenged.
2. I can be really shy. I know it sounds kinda shocking, but if I'm in a new situation and I don't know many people, I tend to withdraw. It's something I continue to work on. (Of course, when I am comfortable, it's a little hard to shut me up.)
3. I was expelled from my (public) high school. They got tired of suspending me 1-2x a month. My mom threatened to sue them so they let me back in. I'm not supposed to ever go back on their property again.
4. I was kinda arrested in Ft. Lee, NJ when I was 16, but I lied and said I was 15 cause then you're still considered a kid. That's my only "arrest" though.
5. I briefly lived in a car when I was 17.
6. I haven't had a(n alcoholic) drink since November 28, 1984.
7. I alphabetize my spices.
8. I had a name for my dog for several years before I got a dog. I used to sign cards "From Amy & her imaginary dog Gus".
9. Gus' full name (registered with AKC) is Esophagus J. Blumenfield III.
10. I'm spoiled and pout a bit if I have to fly coach.
11. I'm impulsive, but once I get something in my mind, I do massive research so that I know exactly what's going on and what I should do.
12. **Whoops – sorry – facebook only for this one**
13. I become obsessed when I get a new gadget. I even read the manual.
14. I had a job interview set up with Lotus in the early 90's and they cancelled it cause I don't have a college degree.
15. I don't have a college degree. :-)
16. I can spin a frisbee on any finger of my right hand. For a long time.
17. I went on a cross country teen tour when I was 16. I got kicked off & sent home from San Francisco.
18. I have 2 parents + a step-mother, a step-father, a blood brother, 3 step-brothers, 1 step-sister, 10 nieces & nephews and several zillion step-relatives. I get along with all of them.
19. I haven't eaten beef since 1987. Rick Canny - I was with you at Atomic Chili in Soho (NYC not London) when I ate my last cheeseburger.
20. Hawaii - specifically the Big Island - centers me. Something happens to me when I step off the plane there.
21. When I worked for myself a few years ago, I used to go to the Big Island 4 times a year for 10 - 14 days each trip. I brought a laptop and worked in between scuba adventures. I may have neglected to tell my clients where I was.
22. I've been scuba diving in Hawaii (duh), Costa Rica, Galapagos, St. Thomas, So. Korea, Moorea & the Solomon Islands but not in either of the places I've lived since I became a certified diver in 1993 (LA or Seattle).
23. I got into technology cause it was familiar & cause I figured you could make good dough - my dad's been writing code since the 50s so I grew up around computers & PCs & DOS.
24. I think I could have been successful in a bunch of other arenas if I hadn't stumbled into technology. But I'm kinda naive (cocky?) like that.
25. I consider my brother one of my best friends. He's not on Facebook, so he'll never know...

I have no words

 

 

My friend John’s cat.

I dare you not to laugh

Teehee

Massachusetts governor

listening to Mass governor Deval Patrick speak. he sounds really impressive but pretty much every politician I've heard sounds good when they're here (except for john kerry who was a total schmoe). must check up on this guy cause if his deeds match his words, then he's one to watch.

Excellent News!

The Republican party is working on getting feedback and information from real people. Obviously this was a flaw in their 2008 Presidential campaign and they’re not going to let it hold them back any more.

And who are they getting feedback from? Sam Wurzelbacher of course! Name isn’t ringing a bell? Hmmm….you remember him as a tax dodging plumber…that’s right – it’s Joe the Plumber!

From Politico.com:

When GOP congressional aides gather Tuesday morning for a meeting of the Conservative Working Group, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher – more commonly known as Joe the Plumber — will be their featured guest. This group is an organization of conservative Capitol Hill staffers who meet regularly to chart GOP strategy for the week.
Wurzelbacher, who became a household name during the presidential election, will be focusing his talk on the proposed stimulus package. He's apparently not a fan of the economic rescue package, according to members of the group.
If nothing else, GOP aides are using the appearance to get staffers to attend the 9 a.m meeting

Um, when I’m trying to get folks to show up early for a meeting, I bribe them with donuts. The GOP opts for morons. Six in one hand…

Miss Bobbie Knows Her Stuff

She just referred to SSH encrypted tunnels…seriously.

Great cupcake

People crack me up

Okay, so I’m all about the tweeting. For those of you out of the Twitter loop, Twitter is a website where you can post thoughts, ideas, comments, whatever and share them with the “community”. However, each time you post, you only have 140 characters. And you can post from a browser or your cell phone, so if you’re on the go and think something funny, you can post it. I look at it as a challenge to be witty in 140 characters or less. Sometimes I’m successful.

And then you can search and find people who tweet funny or interesting things and follow them. That way you see what they’re tweeting.

So I follow a mix of people I know in real life and people who are just interesting tweeters. And about 150 people follow me (as of right now).

I recently discovered this website called TweetEffect that shows when new people start to follow you and when folks stop following you – and relates it to the last tweet at the time. It’s hysterical. Here’s an excerpt of a few tweets from yesterday & today and the net result in followers:Now look how much fun this is: I tweeted about a doll that has hair so that you can shave it and lost 4 followers. Then I tweeted about the sun being out and gained 4 followers. Then I tweeted about feeling bad about yelling at a man in the library parking lot and lost 4 followers again. People are friggin’ odd – do you think they were offended by the library yelling item or just bored? Cause I think it’s kinda boring. But the baby shaving is amusing, right? And the sun thing – boring.

Whenever someone new starts to follow you on Twitter, you get an email with a link to their Twitter page so that you can check them out and see if you want to follow them in return. For some reason, some conservative and Christiany people occasionally decide to follow me. I try to snip that in the bud and write something particularly gay on their behalf. (Hey, my Twitter page says that I like pretty girls. I think that’s sufficient gay warning on my part.)

Seriously, it’s so so so much fun. Sign up and give me a follow (unless of course if you’re conservative and Christiany).

BBD

My friend Karen talks about how in LA, people won’t commit to anything in case a Bigger Better Deal shows up. Sarah Palin just showed that this spirit lives on in Alaska. Or at least in Sarah-land.

According to ABCnews.com, SarahP turned down an invitation to give a morale-building speech to more than 130 Republican members of Congress that were going to be at their annual winter retreat this weekend. She told them that it was a bad time for her to go because of pressing state business.

Seems reasonable.

Except, it turns out that Sarah got a BBD: she went to DC this weekend for the Alfalfa Dinner (with guest of honor…the President of the United States of America).

When you blow people off, they’re not supposed to find out about it. She really isn’t very bright, is she?