• The Timeless Beauty of National Geographic is a wonderful article examining the stability of a famous brand aesthetic. (I used to love reading NG in my elementary school library when I was a kid and just last year decided to get my very own subscription. Every article in every issue is fabulous, just as they always have been.)
• “The most well-known use of Spencerian script is, arguably, the Coca-Cola logo. The logo was designed in the 1880s by the company’s bookkeeper, Frank Robinson.”
• Repeat after me: Taking Photos In Public Places Is Not A Crime
• National Public Radio is changing its name to NPR. (I guess that’s better than Dweezil.)
• Finally! More photos of kitties in wigs!
• “Losing friends is inevitable. Making enemies is not.” — from 35 Lessons in 35 Years
• “This year is the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, the Star Wars sequel that many fans consider the pinnacle moment in a franchise that has pulled in $16 billion in box office and merchandising. But 1980 was also the year that Kurtz and Lucas realized the Jedi universe wasn’t big enough for the both of them.”
• Technology is great, for sure, but you’ll never pick up your iPad and find a perfectly preserved, century-old press pass to a World Series game in its digital pages.
• “Resizing my browser window to make sure it fills up my entire screen will not make me focus on your pretty pictures or admire your wicked design.”
• If you’re looking for seriously advanced computer knowledge — like how to determine the size of an image of Robocop riding a unicorn — take a look at Unicorn Tips.

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

Oh, man! I don’t know how I am just now getting news that Warner Brothers is releasing new Looney Tunes cartoons. I freaking love Wile E. Coyote. I remember screaming at the television, “NO! NO! NO! That’s NOT GOING TO WORK!” I remember holding my head in my hands when that son of a bitch Road Runner got away yet again. That awful “beep beep” of his haunted me; I so, so wanted Wile E. Coyote to get him.

I also remember thinking that as soon as I was “an adult” I would get business cards that just said:

I think I shall do that right now.

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: animation, cartoons, media, My Life, television

• James Franco seems to be everywhere right now. There was a great article in New York Magazine last month — The James Franco Project — and it looks like he is going to be the star of September’s issue of Esquire. The crazy thing is that he legitimately sounds really interesting.
• Console jocks, by Tim Carmody (guest blogging at kottke.org) is a great read, especially for fans of the Madden franchise. (Tim also wrote an excellent blog piece on one of my boyhood heroes: Charlie Chan.)
• “Tony Nijhuis’ incredible R/C model plane not only looks just like the real B-50 bomber on which it’s based, it actually flies. The plane has a 19-foot wingspan, and took 2 years and $9000 to build.” (via @theawesomer)
• It’s pretty tough to complain with this ESPN list of the Ten Best Sidekicks.
• Do tigers like catnip? Yes. Yes, they do.
• A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away … we didn’t have fancy-pants computers to make scrolling text.
• I did not know — but am not surprised to learn — that Shaquille O’Neal is working on his PhD.

Bonus: Five Feeds I Recommend

1. Daring Fireball (subscribe)
2. Friends of the Program (subscribe)
3. Romenesko’s Obscure Store and Reading Room (subscribe)
4. Cats Who Code (subscribe)
5. Catalog Living (subscribe)

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

• “When I see a guy alone at a café without a device open, I assume that he’s either got the iPhone antenna problem or that he’s a serial killer … I’m almost never alone with my thoughts anymore.” (from Blogging from the Shower, by Dave Pell)
• I really love these vintage social media advertisements. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce would be proud. (See also: The Periodic Table of Mad Men)
• The last six pictures from July’s massive oil spill in China are terrifying and heart-breaking.
• It’s pretty tough to argue that Apple doesn’t do everything better and smarter than everyone else, especially when you look at how amazing they made a simple battery charger. (I want one.)
• Research proves that happiness is probably not as expensive as you thought.
• “A 95-page court ruling on a college volleyball budget sounds like a Monty Python sketch — because Title IX itself has become a Monty Python sketch … Title IX strictures that were needed a generation ago simply aren’t needed any longer. But because no government program is ever shut down, they slog on, causing asinine intrusions.”
• It’s just not a real party until one of the guests decides to start smashing watermelon fruit bowls on the heads of the dancers.
• I absolutely must get a speech bubble whiteboard lamp for my office.

Bonus: Five Feeds I Recommend

1. Snarkmarket (subscribe)
2. shooshee (subscribe)
3. A Conversation on Cool (subscribe)
4. the impossible cool (subscribe)
5. All Day, Everyday (subscribe)

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

• The Banana Song will haunt your dreams.
• The photo of an iPhone 4 on the cover of the September 2010 issue of Macworld was taken with an iPhone 4.
• “He needed to know how Big Bird could possibly have arisen from evolutionary history: What are its relatives? How did it achieve such a unique bone structure? What happened to the other members of his species?” … The Taxonomy of Big Bird, Grandicrocavis Viasesamensis
  (This is the same guy who is running The Beibignorance Project, a scientific exercise to determine just how little one can possibly know about Justin Beiber.)
• There’s more to the story of how America got her name than just ol’ Americus Vespucci.
• And while we’re talking about maps … Check out this awesome map of New Jersey (larger) based on the music of Bruce Springsteen.
• Serenity Now! could be the scariest movie of the summer. The Oregon Trail is going to be the big one at the box office, though.
• The Periodic Table of Swearing is now available in color.
• “Two Michigan coffee shops have said that since throwing their employees into bikinis to serve up cups of joe, they’ve experienced a sizable jump in sales.”
• I pity those who suffer from RAS syndrome.
• It’s nice to know that according to Laver’s Law, I have always been shameless.
• “There’s an age at which it is no longer cool to have your own name and number on the back of a jersey. That age is 10.” from Sports Rule #2

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
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• The story of the creation of the “Wanted” posters for Jonah Hex is pretty fascinating.
• About five years ago, on September 1, 2005, I sat at a coffee shop across the street from the Leaning Tower of Pisa and could not believe just how much it leans. And that was five years after they fixed it.
• Everybody loves lists, so Listiki — a site for finding, making, and sharing them — should be popular.
• Adjusting to today’s dollars, the United States has incurred more debt in the last decade then during the entire combined previous 211 years of the republic’s existence.
• How to Create a CD Ladder, from FrugalDad
• “In an era when very little remains shocking, Pierce might have actually managed to create a genuinely disturbing work of fiction, the literary equivalent of Schindler’s List rewritten by the Marquis De Sade and filmed as a Tim Burton animated feature.” (hat tip to rb)
• Just about 100 years ago — on July 24, 1910 — the New York Times featured an article titled “Will Future Generations Lose Historical Documents of To-Day?”.
• “When you are parting with your money, know the person on the other side of the deal thinks you are not so smart and is depending on the anchoring effect when they tell you how much you are about to save.”

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

This week we have a reader-submitted “guest” Friday Five. Special thanks to @rogueplanet for this list of …

The Five Most Badass Noncommissioned Officers (Sergeants) Featured in a Movie:

5. Career Sergeant Zim (Clancy Brown) – Starship Troopers

4. Sergeant Oddball (Donald Sutherland) – Kelly’s Heroes

3. Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger) – Platoon

2. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) – Full Metal Jacket

1. Master Sergeant Gary Gordon (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart (Johnny Strong) – Black Hawk Down

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: fridayfive, lists, movies, war

• One thing this country has always enjoyed is a good drink. Whether it was rum on the Atlantic, bourbon at the races or that Bloody Mary at Sunday Brunch, alcohol is the American Drink.
• Boom! Dexter returns at the end of September. (Don’t watch the trailer if you didn’t see season 4 yet!)
• Don’t Eff With Fudgie the Whale, Lindsay!
• I cannot wait to see Bad Universe (featuring BadAstronomy).
• Mister Gunther makes horoscopes fun!
• Betty Goes Reno: A visit to the glamorous divorce ranches of the Mad Men era.
• He hasn’t taken a single snap in a real game yet, but Tim Tebow is already leading the league in jersey sales. (Nike has some cool Tebow sneakers, too.)
• Do you think you can identify who voices each character on The Simpsons?
• I didn’t know that there are ATMs in Antarctica.
• Being President of the United States is probably the loneliest job in the world.

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get your adverbs here!

• certainly
• surely
• simply
• frighteningly
• quickly

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: adverbs, English, fridayfive, grammar, lists

• I think it’s safe to say that bluntcard.com is my new favorite ecard site.
• Ferris Club
• Few things are as cool as Batman riding a robotic unicorn over a rainbow full of dolphins.
• There was once a woman who had immortal cells.
• True fact.
• I live in Los Angeles, so I am almost always “near” the ocean. There’s nothing like being in Hawaii, though. I need to be near a big body of water on a regular basis. I need it to reset my psychic metronome.
• To promote his new novel, Doubles, author Nic Brown challenged pro tennis player Tripp Phillips to a tournament. The story of the match is terrific.
• Fantastic feline fun for the whole family!
• Is anything sadder than a sad bear?

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

1. the PCH at 3 am
2. the danger
3. the screaming
4. the potholes
5. Northbound 405 between Santa Monica and Wilshire

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: driving, fridayfive, lists, Los Angeles, traffic

• Let’s go for a swim! (Don’t forget your sunscreen!)
• A friend of mine discovered what may be the most horrifying cause of death in the history of the world.
• College football season starts in just about eight weeks. Much of it is televised. You should watch.
• Driving with His Lordship would make getting lost pretty scary.
• The Rolling Stone article concludes by declaring we have no hope of winning in Afghanistan. That is 10,000 times more important than any stupid snipe by an unnamed “aide.”
• If you have an old iPhone collecting dust, you can easily convert it into an iPod Touch. Or you could simply try to let yourself be bored.
• Did you know that an astronaut on the International Space Station was tweeting photos from space? (see also)
• You Were Doing It Wrong is the best Ask.MeFi thread ever. It should be required reading for everyone on the planet. (Second best!)

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

1. When in doubt, assume it was the husband. (Second place: The wife.)
2. If the crime is particularly odd, deranged, strange, or otherwise unusual, assume it occurred in Florida.
3. It is always a bad idea to join a cult.
4. If he’s seen one prostitute, he’s likely seen many prostitutes.
5. Most forms of murder generate a tremendous amount of blood, which can just about never be completely erased from a crime scene.

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: crime, criminals, fridayfive, lists, murder, NBC, television

• What Broke My Father’s Heart
• I have been in hysterics reading quotes from the fascinating lives of the people who live in my furniture catalogs … “Oh, dear. Our Q-Tip decanter is almost 1/5th depleted!”
• Lake Street Creamery. We guarantee IT WILL TURN YOU INTO A GOD.*
• The Swedish Chef cooks popcorn shrimp.
• The oil spill? “It’s heartbreakin’, baby.”
• The Who Tall Are You? mirror looks like it would be fun for a teenager’s room.
• It will probably be light years centuries before the Sci-Fi Airshow makes its way to Los Angeles, and I sadly won’t get to see it.
• Real Life vs. CSI:Miami
• Proper punctuation is important. Seriously.
• The iPhone just keeps getting better. (I’ve had each one.)

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

1. Drink Coca-Cola.
2. Wear Levi’s.
3. Drive a Ford or Chevy.
4. Attend a Major League Baseball game.
5. Use Viagra.

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: America, fridayfive, holidays, lists

• “If a boot becomes the standard choice among war correspondents, I’m thinking it’s gotta be pretty damn good.” And now there is something else I want to buy. (A vortex cannon would be cool, too.)
• “Thousands of web designers make unforgivable spelling mistakes constantly.” Learning how to spell is actually quite easy. It’s amazing how many people think it’s perfectly acceptable to not know how to do it correctly.
• Your App’s Website Sucks should be required reading for everyone that makes any website, not just for app sites.
• The CEO of Woot! sent the world’s most awesome-packed email in the history of time to his employees to announce that Amazon had purchased them.
• Regardless of what you think, login is not a verb.
• TiPb has a stunningly complete list of every feature of the new iPhone.
• EDSBS presents A Journey Through College Football Dickdom

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

• I love that Snoop Dogg recorded an ode to Sookie Stackhouse.
• If you want to really know what the difference is between Apple and every other technology company, read what Daring Fireball said about FaceTime. Just remember that most of us — including me, and I’ve been a computer programmer for almost twenty years — are “normal” people.
• Snooki Saved My Marriage: “[E]very combination of two good things does not equal a peanut butter and chocolate moment.”
• The Vatican has officially endorsed The Blues Brothers and said it should be recommended viewing for Catholics everywhere.
• A Field Guide to WiFi Users at Starbucks
• How I Lost My 1K Status on United is a great story.
• Who doesn’t love other people’s cats?
• “… [E]mployees who volunteered felt more connected to their companies and were more likely to work harder on tasks, … spoke positively about their employer in public and were less likely to daydream, cyber loaf or take extra time off work.”
• It is no surprise at all that Jeff Demps is number one on Heisman Pundit’s Ten Fastest College Football Players for 2010.
• The Big 12 somehow managed to stay alive.
• EDSBS compares sports leagues to religions, and makes sense.
• Did USC get railroaded?

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

• Four agencies that specialize in Internet marketing — 10e20, Search and Social, Infinitenine, and Brent Csutoras Inc. — are joining forces in a roll-up to form BlueGlass Interactive.
• Why, yes, I do very much want a lightsaber.
• “It’s sort of nonsensical for a twice-divorced single mother of two to be using this line as seduction.” (a classic from @anildash)
• Why do foreign commercials always seem so much better than ours?
• Must read: Seven Reasons I’m Glad I’m an SEC Fan After Conference Expansion
• “Is there a large mammal standing on your phone right now, such as a mountain goat or cheetah?”
• No Mouse Is Safe: Cat Gets World’s First Bionic Paws
• The preview video of the new EA Sports NCAA 11 looks amazicredible.
• I really don’t know what to say about phoneballs.com.

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

Tomorrow will be my 37th birthday. Here are five things which have changed since I turned 27:

• Downloads have completely replaced DVD and VHS.
• MP3s (and iTunes / iPods) have completely replaced CDs and cassette tapes.
• Air travel is now a complete pain in the ass.
• Two words: gray hair.
• My knees, back, and metabolism are now constantly things to be considered before attempting just about anything.

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: birthdays, fridayfive, lists

• Here’s some excellent advice from Mike Rowe, of Dirty Jobs fame: “Don’t be that guy. Don’t wait for the world to acknowledge your accomplishments.” (He’ll also help you find a job.)
• For @andybabb: A Hierarchy of Digital Distractions
• Where can I fly for how much?
• Twirdie is Twitter golf!
• The Earth is just amazing. (I had no idea the Titanic was that deep.)
• Porn surfers are likely to have out-of-date software that can be exploited, making those users an attractive target for cybecriminals.
• Sexual Congress
• How to keep someone with you forever — employee or lover.
• The Spill, The Scandal and the President is the inside story of how Obama failed to crack down on the corruption of the Bush years – and let the world’s most dangerous oil company get away with murder. (Does anyone else ever wonder why the hardest hitting investigative journalism in America is consistently done by a rock ‘n roll magazine?)

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

• The fictional high school chorus at the center of Glee has a huge problem: nearly a million dollars in potential legal liability.
• What were we thinking about when we had all that extra time?
• Who wants to see the ruins of modern Greece?
• Glasses are the ultimate image changer. (via jim)
• Authentic, game-used baseball cufflinks are just one of the many classy gifts for guys that can be found at the Gent Supply Co.
• I need to start slowly making my way through the 101 best sandwiches in Los Angeles. Very slowly.
• Lovely phrases and beautiful definitions can be found in the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.
• I’ve never really been a big Trek fan, but this list of the fifteen cruelest deaths in Star Trek history is pretty sweet.
• WTF is HTML5 and why should we all care?
• You really should follow me on Twitter. That’s the quickest way to learn about awesome sites like youarenotsosmart.com.

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

1. Homer Simpson
2. Charles Montgomery “Monty” Burns
3. Ned Flanders
4. Mayor Quimby
5. Ralph Wiggum

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cartoons, fridayfive, lists, Simpsons, television

• Starbucks To Begin Sinister ‘Phase Two’ Of Operation
• Is Schizophrenics Anonymous legitimate or some sort of sick joke?
• “You think I’m stupid. You think I’m immature. You think I’m a malformed, pathetic excuse for a font.”
• This week’s must-have hat is The Infidel.
• In prison Bernie Madoff doesn’t have to hide his lack of conscience.
• The Smithsonian has released a list of the ten most disturbing scientific discoveries. I only think that three of them are very disturbing. (The other seven are just kind of “meh”.)
• If you’re going to brew your own beer, you might as well have a nice label.
• The Button is probably the dumbest iPhone app ever.
• Greg Knauss knows what to do about the Gulf.
• Housewife Charged In Sex-For-Security Scam
• News flash for lottery winners: Money can’t buy happiness. (Note: I am already happy, so winning the lottery would not ruin my life. Also, I’m not a moron.)
• Are you as excited about the new iPhone as I am? (It’s not my fault that Steve keeps releasing them so close to my birthday!)

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks

• Make your hidden self a little bit cooler with better Facebook default profile images.
• “These are their stories.” RIP L&O.
• “You know the best way to get the public to respect your brand? Have a respectable brand.” — from an interview with Leroy Stick, the man behind @bpglobalpr
• How does a bill become a law? A lovely infographic is a swell way to learn the answer … but nothing beats the original (YouTube).
• On June 5, 1910 there were only nine mothers of U.S. senators still alive.
• Book owners have smarter kids.
• Are you an Asker or a Guesser? (I honestly don’t know which one I am.)
• This is the sort of stuff I love: Battleship Island & Other Ruined Urban High-Density Sites. I need the History or Discovery Channel to do a special on this!
• Derek thinks he’s finally figured out why everything sucks. And it’s actually kind of awesome.
• @sbnation presents an explanation of the recent and confusing NCAA conference realignments.

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• Team owners Frank and Jamie McCourt paid a Russian physicist at least six figures — for five years! — to transmit positive energy to the Dodgers from his home in the Boston suburbs.
• These LEGO recreations of iconic photographs are pretty cool.
• Some friendly Mormons have posted an exhaustive guide to overcoming masturbation.
• Everyone knows that Jack sits right on the court. But who are all the other purple and gold fanatics? Someone has investigated and detailed the entire (updated) arrangement of Lakers courtside seating.
• Die-hard college sports fans will likely enjoy following The Bylaw Blog: The Unofficial Blog of NCAA Compliance. (RSS feed)
• I’m fairly confident that the NCAA and / or the NFL will not be happy about broncogator.com.
• California has — of course — the coolest proposed license plate redesign.

© David Vincent Gagne, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dailydavid, WebLinks