"I'm A Meat Eater. It's An Ethical Thing."

Turning the tables on vegetarians.



H/t Diana

Alannah Myles: Black Velvet

In accordance with the CRTC's soon-to-be-mandated quota for Canadian content on the internet, I've been ordered by the government to submit the following song for your delectation in order to balance out the Clapton video from Thursday.

Enjoy!

Moment of Zen For Dog-Lovers

(*) Got a busy night of family-related obligations and general relaxation ahead of me so posting will be a bit light.

Everybody enjoy their Friday!

Eric Clapton: I'm Tore Down

Here's a little insight into what's been spinning around my head this evening.



Does it get any better than that?

Mathematicians Discover Largest Number Possible: "Stimulus"

An international mathematics research team announced today that they had discovered a new integer that surpasses any previously known value "by a totally mindblowing shitload." Project director Yujin Xiao of Stanford University said the theoretical number, dubbed a "stimulus," could lead to breakthroughs in fields as diverse as astrophysics, quantum mechanics, and Chicago asphalt contracting.

"Unlike previous large numbers like the Googleplex or the Bazillionty, the Stimulus has no static numerical definition," said Xiao. "It keeps growing and growing, compounding factorially, eating up all zeros in its path. It moves freely across Cartesian dimensions and has the power to make any other number irrational."

Jean-Luc Brossard, a researcher with the European consortium CERN, said the number is so staggeringly large that it is difficult for even mathematicians to grasp, let alone lay people.

"The number itself is incomprehensible by human minds, and can only be theoretically understood in a fractional parallel universe which we refer to as the DC dimension," said Brossard. "The best way to understand a stimulus is to imagine a dollar sign followed by a packed string of hexidecimal nanodigits, wound into a triple helix, woven into a dodecahedron, and stacked on top of one another. Now imagine you were a black hole on the far edge of the universe, trying to escape the stimulus at 30 times the speed of light. The stimulus would still catch up to you and ram your black hole with such furious, repeated force that it would cause your entire reality itself to collapse."

President Obama must be proud to have contributed to such an historic discovery.

Via Iowahawk

Howlin' Wolf: "Spoonful"

This is becoming something of a tradition but here's what's been playing in my head all day.



This one comes compliments of Maggie's Farm

Screw You, Taxpayers!

H/t Liberty In Canada

The Rolling Stones: You Got The Silver

This little ditty's being gnawing away at me all day.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.



UPDATE: Is this song fit to be the next American national anthem? At least one camel thinks so.

Think You're Having A Bad Day?

Here's a little perspective for you.



Cyanide & Happiness

Which Office Supply Are You?

You Are a Red Pen

You have an eagle eye for detail, and this often means you end up finding mistakes in people's work. You may seem quick to criticize or correct, but you think accuracy and truth is important. You like to be involved in every project. You feel like you put the polishing touch on things. You would make a good editor, detective, or accountant. When facts matter, you're the person to call on.

What Office Supply Are You?

Hm. I guess that sounds about right, especially that part about being quick to criticize or correct. As Leslie points out, I have been a little grumpy lately.

H/t Rational Jenn

A Dog Riding A Bicycle

I don't care how old you are or how many countries you've visited. You ain't never seen a dog riding a bicycle.



I know a few humans who would have trouble looking this coordinated on a bicycle.

H/t Mitchieville

This One's For My Albertan Readers, Whosoever You May Be

Alberta Bound:



Ontario Sucks:



H/t Liberty In Canada

"Sony's Brand New Stupid Piece of Sh*t That Doesn't Do The Goddamned Thing It's Supposed To"

Warning: very foul language ahead. Definitely NSFW.

That said, if you enjoy cussing like a sailor and have a love/hate relationship with modern electronic technology, the following video may be for you.

The Onion:

The 1930s: When Men Were Men ...

... And women were friggin' ninjas.





H/t Kalim Kassam

Palate Cleanser: Radar Love

It's been a rough week in the conservative blogosphere. As demoralizing as the budget controversy has been, I'm about ready to move on. I can hardly wait to see what the second month of 2009 holds in store for us.

As a little palate cleanser, I thought I'd link a classic 1973 hit from the Dutch rock band Golden Earring. This little ditty has been playing in my head for the past few days so I figured I'd share the pain with my readers.

"Radar Love"



A little info on the band, courtesy of wikipedia:

Golden Earring was formed in 1961 in The Hague by 13-year-old George Kooymans and his 15-year-old neighbour, Rinus Gerritsen. Originally called The Tornados, the name was changed to Golden Earrings when they discovered that The Tornados was already in use by another group. The name Golden Earrings was taken from a song, originally sung by Marlene Dietrich in 1947 and a hit for Peggy Lee in 1948, with which they opened their concerts. Initially a pop rock band with Frans Krassenburg as lead singer, Golden Earrings had their first chart success with their debut single "Please Go", recorded in 1965. It reached number 9 on the music charts in The Netherlands. Unsatisfied with Dutch recording studios, the band's manager and co-discoverer Fred Haayen arranged for the next single to be recorded at the Pye Records studios in London. The record cut at Pye, "That Day", reached number two on the Dutch charts, prevented from reaching number one by The Beatles' "Michelle".

In 1968, the band earned their first number one hit in the Netherlands with the pop song "Dong Dong Diki Diki Dong". This was followed by a successful psychedelic album Eight Miles High, which featured an eighteen-minute version of the title track, itself a cover of the 1966 hit song by The Byrds. The live version, which could last 45 minutes, was considered by some to be a highlight in their first and second American tours, in the middle of the hippie and flower power era in the same year Woodstock was organised: 1969.

The band enjoyed brief international superstar status in the Seventies when the single version of "Radar Love", from the Gold-certified album Moontan became a hit in both Europe and the USA. Golden Earring embarked on their first major US tour in 1969 - 1970, and were among the first European bands to do so. Due to American influences, their music evolved towards hard rock, and they performed along with Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. Between 1969 and 1984, Golden Earring completed thirteen US tours. During this period, they performed as the opening act for Santana, The Doobie Brothers, Rush and .38 Special. In the early seventies, when "Radar Love" was a hit, they had KISS and Aerosmith as their opening act.

Death To All Juice

In the wake of a recent pro-Palestinian protest, a wonderful meme has swept the conservative blogosphere surrounding the following picture:



(I found the photo at Hot Air but it was originally posted by Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs)

Ed Morrissey ponders what this young man meant by his sign and offers a few possible takes on the issue:

1. He’s unhappy with the sentence OJ Simpson received in Las Vegas.
2. Tropicana was really behind the 9/11 attacks.
3. Got Milk?

I'm a soda man myself but do I wish death to all juice? Certainly not. I'm no crazy food radical like the members of that hard-line Palestinian group. What are they called again? Hummus?


PLUS: Juice Icons Band Together To Fight Juicephobia

Weekly Round-Up Of Tips & Links

Since the tips and links are beginning to roll in at a decent speed, my Firefox browser has started to look a touch cluttered with the extra tabs I've been forced to keep open. To remedy this situation, I thought I would begin to unload my favourite articles, videos, and miscellaneous items of interest in the form of a weekly round-up post.

Keep the tips coming (canadian.republic@hotmail.com) and my apologies if I don't always respond right away.

This week in the world:

Tips For Clueless People Who Get Mugged: A frustrated cop explains to brain dead New Yorkers what to do if they get robbed (Linked at Noodle Food)

Stephen Harper CBC & CTV Interviews (H/t Daryl Wolk)

Fuck You, Penguin. A blog where a man tells cute animals what's what. Probably safe for work but the language tends towards the crude (H/t Susan)

Nature Gets Legal Rights In Ecuador: You have to read this to believe it (Again, linked by Diana at Noodle Food)

Cooling On Global Warming: Europe gets real while US turns up heat on global warming talks.

Video: Abdul The Reluctant Martyr (from Allah at Hot Air)

How To Solve A Problem Like A Liberal

Hope and change, change and hope. Hugh Laurie helps us out by putting some meat on those bones. All we have to do to solve the world's problems is:



H/t Noodle Food

So The Zombies Are Communists?

Yes. Yes, they are.

Everything I could hope for in a music video involving heavy metal, the Russian language, gratuitous female licentiousness, and Mikhail Gorbachev.


GORBACHOV: THE MUSIC VIDEO - BIGGER AND RUSSIANER from Tom Stern on Vimeo.

H/t Dri.

Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am

Some of the best rock and roll ever recorded to get us through a slow Friday night.

Bowie: Suffragette City



Lennon & The Stones: Yer Blues



Doesn't get any better than that.

More of the good stuff at Darcey's.