[via laughingsquid.]

If you’ve been watching the news, you’ll now know that the volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, erupted in Iceland sending tons of ash miles into the atmosphere, effectively halting air travel in most of Europe. I missed it by 6 hours, and would have been trapped in London for who-knows-how-long as the volcano continues to erupt and winds continue to push the ash around. I got very, very lucky. Sorry to everyone who didn’t get so lucky and are stuck somewhere horrible.

Since my trip is for so long, I don’t have to worry about getting back. We do have to worry about not getting to Seville for the Feria. It is becoming increasingly likely that flights within Spain may also be disrupted. Of course, I hope not, but again, there are worse places to be stranded.

It’s all a completely different story if unless Iceland’s larger Katla volcano erupts. Last time it did, in 1918, the ash blew all the way to the US and last for about 8 months. Of course there was no commercial air traffic back then, so the only side effects were spectacular sunsets. In any case, if Katla goes, I may become a permanent resident of Majorca. And that’s not so bad.

With that said, I LOVED the new Nike spot, Earl and Tiger, which first aired during yesterday’s round 1 of the Master’s. But I love this one even more.

Popeater compiled a whole bunch of parody ads here. Enjoy.

[via popeater.]

[via reddit.tv]

Fast food is still, apparently, good for something.

Old people think young people don’t care about things. They’re wrong. Young people just care about different things.

Producers think consumers will buy any old shit, including media (music, movies, books) in any new format at any new price over and over again to keep their executives in their cushy offices. They also think people are pirates and thieves. They’re wrong. Consumers know better now and just want a fair price for a reasonable thing.

The haves think they can continue to widen their distance from the have-nots, but they can’t, and that’s really scary for them. The time of the have-nots is coming and that will change everything.

Conservative and liberals have different ideologies. When you form opinions and make decisions based on ideology instead of reality, you are always wrong. You are always wrong.

Religion is just another ideology.

The republican party and democratic party are just other religions.

Catholic priests have abused young men and women for hundreds of years and church leadership has covered it up. As it turns out, those young people didn’t actually want to have sex with those old men. Also, if you believe in god, he didn’t want that either. And then their is a small matter of the law. So it looks like things are coming crumbling down and that will be a good thing.

So that brings me to this simple video about the Future of Publishing. You can’t help but be impressed by the twisting of the phrases.

Well, you’ll be less impressed when you watch this original video called the Lost Generation. It’s about a completely different subject, but from what I can tell, is the first to use this ordering trick.

Both videos inspired this post and are worth watching.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Chat Roulette by now, but if not, it is this site where you randomly and anonymously connect to strangers for video chat. This simple concept leads primarily to perversion, but also creates an entirely new way to interact with people. For those more socially or creatively inclined, these new outlets and restrictions can lead to amazingly entertaining results. Case in point, this talented musician improving songs to what he sees when he gets connected. Simply the best use of Chat Roulette I’ve seen yet, and clearly the perfect reason to support its continued open existence. Please enjoy Chat Roulette Funny Piano Improv #1 and hope there are many more like it.

[UPDATED Mar 27, 2010]
Here’s a quick and funny interview with Merton by some nerd at Aol News.

[via digg.]

And this is what 2 feet of snow on the sidewalk looks like:

[thanks to cj and jose.]

Here is their second video for This Too Shall Pass. The first, as you might remember, had embedding turned off because of record label licensing stupidity. (Also, it’s not available in Dubai. Retards.) This one, for whatever reason, has it turned on, so you’ll find it below. As always, this features a single looong shot requiring insane coordination and patience. Enjoy this ultimate Rube Goldberg machine.

[I don't know where I first saw this.]

[via capree.]

[via hind and others.]

We should stick to snowboarding in the Olympics.

I’m convinced that global warming is real, but I just don’t care all that much. We have too many fucking people anyway. Rising seawater is a great natural cull. That and earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornados, meteors, overpopulation, hunger, thirst, e.coli, AIDS, malaria, swine flu, terrorists, killer whales, great white sharks, and drunk driving. I just can’t keep thinking about it all anymore.

I’ve got my hands full thinking about my shrinking bank account, expanding stomach, and underworked penis.

[thanks to the rain in Dubai, 24 inches of snow in NY, and Mitchell's foot surgery for pushing me over the edge.]