All The Sarlacc You Need
Did you know that there’s such a thing as Wookiepedia?
I didn’t, until I discovered this:
(click for the full sized image)
Category: Uncategorised
The Internet: Makin' It Better
With the publicity generated from Hair, Meat Loaf was invited to record with Motown. They suggested he do a duet with Stoney Murphy, who had performed with him in Hair, to which he agreed. The Motown production team in charge of the album wrote and selected the songs while Meat Loaf and Stoney came in only to lay down their vocals.
[…]
Meat Loaf left soon after Motown replaced his and Stoney’s vocals from the one song he liked, “Who Is the Leader of the People?” with new vocals by Edwin Starr. The album has been re-released after Meat Loaf’s success, with Stoney’s vocals removed from all songs from the original Stoney and Meatloaf album.
Listen – I’m not the kind of fellow to have a lot of patience for Meat Loaf, at least post-Eddie The Ex-Delivery Boy, but the person behind this mix of the two versions of “Who Is The Leader Of The People?” deserves a career.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAR3tTZ470I]
Functional Friday
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so I thought I’d round up some Flash Pulp stats to throw out there:
Episodes: 44
Data: 305.7MB
Script Word Count Total: 39,728-ish (Nearly ½ of a novel)
Total Run Time: 5h 32m 11s (20 minutes shy of half the run time of the extended Lord Of The Rings movies.)
Episode Breakdown:
Mulligan Smith Stories: 14
Thomas Blackhall: 13
Chiller: 5
Mother Gran: 3
Kar’Wick: 3
Ruby Departed: 2
Science Fiction: 2
Joe Monk: 2
Spanish Fly
I was always a little disturbed by the seedier stories I heard, in my youth, about Spanish Fly – but for some reason, apropos of nothing, it just now struck me how much of a monstrous drug those urban legends would have been.
This was not the angle of approach that I recall the fourteen-year-old narrators taking in imparting the mystic qualities of a ground bug.
The whole thing has me seriously reconsidering the classic concept of the love potion.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rXhXLsNJL8]
Robot Fight
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDljbN7eJ5Y]
While it looks more like a toaster with legs than Usain Bolt [? – JRD], Cornell University’s Ranger robot has set some track records all the same. On July 6, Ranger set a world record for untethered robotic walking, traveling 14.3 miles in only 11 hours.
Guided by students with a remote control, Ranger navigated 108.5 times around the Barton Hall indoor track, about 212 meters per lap, and made about 70,000 steps before it had to stop and recharge. The 14.3-mile record beats the former world record set by Boston Dynamics’ BigDog, which had claimed the record at 12.8 miles. – TechNewsDaily
I don’t mean to harsh on Cornell’s buzz, but implying this little R2D2-on-stairs robot is somehow a direct competitor with the BigDog is like trying to face Huey, Dewey, or Louie – from Silent Running – off against Optimus Prime. I mean, sure, they can all do light housework, but you know who you’re going to turn to when you need some long-haul trucking done.
Better yet, none of this is the most interesting robot item I’ve had to consider today:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI06lujiD7E]
Somewhere in the design of this automaton is a partnership with the Dyson vacuum people.
Time Wasters
The dogged, in-depth journalism at CNN, strikes again:
It’s tempting to crack the cryo-vaults and make a ‘read it for the articles’ joke, but I think the truth behind both the highlighted articles is something closer to the idea that social pressure can make you do some odd things.
I just hope CNN will decide it’s front page news when I finally unveil the Safe For Work version of skinner.fm.
(It is interesting to see ancient FARK-ese creeping onto the CNN page – how long until they pick up an 
tag?)
Also, I’m suddenly concerned this may one day lead to a product entitled “Disney’s™ Playboy For Kids”.
Free Stickers
Just got these free stickers in the mail from @GreenpeaceCA. I won them via some trivia work a few weeks ago – who says twitter isn’t good for anything?
Flash Pulp 044 – Ruby Departed: Box Canyon Blues, Part 2 of 3
Welcome to Flash Pulp, Episode Forty-Four.
Tonight: Ruby Departed: Box Canyon Blues, Part 2 of 3
Download MP3
(RSS / iTunes)
This evening’s story is brought to you in part by OpopanaxFeathers.wordpress.com
It’s like the Kingdom of Caring, but without all those patronizing bears.
That’s OpopanaxFeathers.wordpress.com
Flash Pulp is an experiment in broadcasting fresh pulp stories in the modern age – 400 to 600 words brought to you Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings.
Tonight, our heroine, Ruby, spends some time considering the dead end she’s found herself in, while also making some surprising discoveries.
Flash Pulp 044 – Ruby Departed: Box Canyon Blues, Part 2 of 3
Written by J.R.D. Skinner
Art and Narration by Opopanax
and Audio produced by Jessica May
Flash Pulp is presented by http://skinner.fm. The audio and text formats of Flash Pulp are released under the Canadian Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 License.
Brain Dump
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-O8-N71Qcw]
These are from the same people who made the air/aqua-penguins I posted about previously. I may return to aquajellies at some point, but for now, I’d like to say that this video is a pretty good simulation of my brain today.
Proper blogging should return shortly, but expect some audioboos and randomness in the meantime.
Episode goes up tonight, as usual, of course.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9AWGc0d8ik]
Death Ray
Codos sent me this link, while referencing the 30 Rock scene below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTpP412fM8U]
US firm Raytheon has unveiled its anti-aircraft laser at the Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire.
The Laser Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) can either be used on its own or alongside a gunnery system.
In May, the laser was used to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a series of tests.
Raytheon said the solid state fibre laser produces a 50 kilowatt beam and can be used against UAV, mortar, rockets and small surface ships. – More From BBC
Lasers aren’t just for threatening the junks of Super-Agents anymore.
How long until we invent flying mirrors?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cp2Z712XtY]