Category: What the…?

There was a time some years ago when I thought I was really interested in model railroads, but even in my wildest dreams I never envisioned Hamburg’s Miniatur Wunderland, “covering 16,146 square feet of space with more than 10,000 train cars running around its 6.8 miles of HO scale track.”

And in the same email from DVICE, there’s a notice about this image (and two others) used to promote the airing of the wretched Aliens Vs. Predator movie on Rupert Murdoch’s SKY network:

A double fortune from the Wan Lung in Clackamas last week. I believe there may be a typo in the latter which —if corrected — would bring it in line with the former.

You discover treasures where others see nothing unusual.

You will soon receive an usual (sic) gift freely given. Accept.

I just had a really bad fall

And this time it was harder to get up than before

I shouted to the heavens and a vision appeared

I cried out “Can you help?”, it replied “Not at all”

After the fall is over

You’ll be on your own

After the fall is over

So I fell on my arse, now I’m feeling the pain

But the feeling will pass and so will the shame

The bigger the ego, the bigger the fall

When your reputation counts for nothing at all

Ah, but when the mist clears, the sun will shine again

I will greet you when the sun shines again

After the fall (after the fall is over)

There’ll be a better day

After the fall is over

—Ray Davies, “After the Fall,” Other People’s Lives

Pictures of Barbara and myself from the 2009 smart car rally to Multnomah Falls, where we encountered some antiques coming the other direction. Courtesy of mikie and Dunerunner (respectively) of the smart Car of America forum.

I heartily recommend director Pierre Morel’s District B13 [Banlieue 13], a French action thriller full of great chase scenes (mostly parkouer, running and jumping using building structures as hand and footholds), gritty scenery (a slum district in Paris), and thugs (beaucoup).

In fact, except for the details, it’s virtually a direct transplant to France of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York. Instead of walling off an island and throwing the prisoners in, a slum district — including women and children — has been walled off and left to fester. Instead of the President of the United States and his important information that would end the war, a neutron bomb that could wipe out much of paris is inside the walls. A prisoner is recruited to go in and stop the coming Armageddon, but has to face up against a scheming criminal overlord and fight an ogre.

There are more than enough differences to make it worth your while, but as a fan of the Carpenter movie (and I was enough of one that I wrote a parody script treatment — Escape From Eugene — and devoted my electronic music class project to creating a theme for that) I can only say that the differences — plus some late twists minus the inevitable plot holes — add up to a snappy flick.

Brazilian Wax Ban? NJ Considers It After Two Women Are Injured

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey is drawing the line when it comes to bikini waxing. The state Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling is moving toward a ban on genital waxing after two women reported being injured in their quest for a smooth bikini line.

Both women were hospitalized for infections following so-called “Brazilian” bikini waxes; one of the women has filed a lawsuit, according to Jeff Lamm, a spokesman for New Jersey’s Division of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the cosmetology board.

Technically, genital waxing has never been allowed — only the face, neck, abdomen, legs and arms are permitted — but because bare-it-all “Brazilians” weren’t specifically banned, state regulators haven’t enforced the law.

…

Spa owner Linda Orsuto, who owns 800 West Salon & Spa in Cherry Hill, estimates that most of 1,800 bikini waxes performed at her business last year were Brazilian-style.

“It’s huge,” she said, adding that her customers don’t think their bikini lines are anyone’s business but their own. “It’s just not right.”

She said many customers would likely travel across state lines to get it and some might even try to wax themselves.

Or the mob might get involved.

From Erica (The iPhone Developer’s Cookbook) Sadun’s Google Group for iPhone developer wannabes like myself; one response to some griping about Apple’s perceived lack of outreach to the developer community:

Apple could give out free unicorns that fart rainbows, and there’d be complaints that Apple limits the ordering of the rainbow colors.

According to this morning’s iPhone OS 3.0 event, 96% of all applications submitted to the App Store are approved, which means, I guess, that my app’s rejection puts me in that 4% “loser” hole.

It was fourteen years ago today that I registered the Moshofsky/Plant Creative Services web site, which appears to have been woefully neglected for some time.

From the Fujin:

Seek out the significance of your problem at this time. Try to understand.

Oh, I know what the problem is.