It's Steve (now in blog form)

I’m watching Curious George with my kid this morning, and the Star Wars theme song is stuck in my head. I know loving Star Wars as much as I do makes me a dork, but it could be worse. In the dork pecking order I’m still ok (see below).

Star Wars Fan <-Able to blend in with general society
Battle Star Galactica Fan (New series)
Star Trek Fan
Battle Star Galactica Fan (Old series)
Comic Book Fans
Dr. Who Fans <- Bottom of the dork food chain. Very sad with their little scarves

Anyway, I thought I’d throw out some stuff for those of us who would have strangled a drifter to be Luke Skywalker when we were 8 years old…who am I kidding? I’d still do it.

Star Wars Asciimation – Over the last 6 years or so this guy has been reproducing the first movie entirely in animated ascii text. Freakish dedication at its finest.

Han Solo in Carbonite Chocolate Bar – This only makes sense.
Don’t forget that Bespin had Keith Wells
and Oompa Loompas

These videos are also pretty great.
Star Wars Coming To America

star wars muppets manamana

Under the Tusken Sun

Spain does have excellent wines….

Spanish village holds baby jump Grown men have been leaping over rows of babies in the north Spanish village of Castrillo de Murcia in an annual rite meant to ward off the Devil. Jumpers dressed as the Colacho, a character representing the Devil, bounded over clusters of bemused infants laid out on mattresses. Nobody appeared to get hurt in this year’s festive event. Castrillo, near Burgos, has been holding the event since 1620 to mark the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi. The feast is widely celebrated in Spain, often with processions and mystery plays. Pageants can feature dancers depicting demons and angels or other characters.

As we all have the day off, I thought I’d throw out some good time killing websites. Enjoy.

Mr. Toledano Photography – Thanks go to Mr. Novins for pointing this one out. Be sure to check out his bankrupt offices and car salesmen pieces.

Fark – For those of you who haven’t discovered it, Fark is the best news aggregator on the web bar none. Snarky is an understatement

The Onion – One of the few sites I check on a regular basis. Brilliant in every sense of the word

Marmaduke Explained – Joe Mathlete endeavors to explain the recurring nightmare that is Marmaduke. An example:

Marmaduke, according to his owner-man, chug-a-lugged (sic) his food so fast he got hiccups (also colloquially referred to as “whif-ups,” or sometimes “whuf-ups”). For some reason Marmaduke’s food dish has been placed upon a teeny little table. His owner-lady peers out from behind a wall that disappears into her dog’s hindquarters. None of this counts as a proper joke.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I really do hate this comic strip.

Hot Chicks With Douchebags – The name pretty much says it all. I’ve often wondered about the sociological underpinnings of this phenomenon. I like this guy:

Cute Overload – Almost gut churningly cute, this site makes Japanese schoolgirls’ heads explode. Experience the CUTE OVERLOAD!

Think Geek – Oh god, this place tries to take all of my money! I sadly want everything they sell. Check out the 1.3 megapixel USB digital microscope. My birthday is in August, people.

Ok, I mentioned the crazy homeless guy dressed up like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in yesterday’s post. Now I’m starting to worry that this is some sort of hitherto unidentified crazy people trend.

I was just reading the news and saw a little gem titled “Crowd stops suspected gunman after two are shot at Folklife Festival” Basically, somebody shot up a bunch of tree-hugging hippies’ drum circle. Nothing too interesting there, but check out the pic from the article.

There’s a freakin’ Ninja Turtle guy in there! And it’s not my Ninja Turtle guy! I’m getting very concerned that this is the beginning of some sort of violent revolution driven by the downtrodden proletariat demanding that control of the means of production be put in the hands of the people, and better shell making materials. I’m gonna go get my foil hat on.

I was pretty bummed out this morning. A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog to get your help in picking who to adopt with my next Kiva loan. The votes were in favor of the naughty underwear lady so I went to invest today. But, much to my dismay, she and the propane balloon lady had already closed their funding! I’d clearly underestimated the speed of investment on Kiva.

Anyway, after a bit of research this morning I think I’ve found an even better investment. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Dorcas Omokaro!

Dorcas Omokaro

Dorcas Omokaro is 40 years old, married with 5 children. She sells local gin and palm oil. She hails from Edo State, Nigeria and needs a loan $350 to buy more palm oil to sell. She thanks you.

I’m not sure which product is in those jugs, but I’m pretty excited about the project either way.

I really need to keep a camera in my glove compartment. It seems like the wackiest stuff comes up when I’m driving. Here’s a couple from the last few weeks I wish I had a picture of.

The Young Dong Restaurant – I kid you not. This little gem is serving fine Asian cuisine down in Korea Town. One can only wonder whether the owners have a limited grasp of the English language or a very sophisticated sense of humor.

The Crazy Guy on Beverly Dr. Dressed Like a Ninja Turtle – This guy is sort of hard to explain without a photo. He hangs around one of the bus kiosks in green leathers “armored” by attached CD’s. I’m not sure what the shell is made from, but its pretty great. Actually, just imagine the picture below with less turtle and more crazy homeless guy.

Biodiesel Hummer – This just pissed me off. Some guy was ahead of me on the freeway in one of the giant Hummers with biodiesel stickers all over it. Hey, schmuck, putting biodiesel in your Hummer doesn’t make you less of an asshole! Come on, that’s stupid. The part that I find troubling is that this sort of crap may reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but has an excellent chance of starving the world’s poor so that numbnuts can ride around in his overcompensation machine. Way to be part of the solution, big guy.