Calvin and Hobbes

Here's a (the?) list of 25 great Calvin and Hobbes strips. You could, of course, pick 25 random strips and have just as good a list, because that's how good Calvin and Hobbes was.

(the above is one of my favorites)

pink elephants

west you didn't tell me you bought Madden

You suck, corn growers

Corn Subsidies** in the United States totaled $73.8 billion from 1995-2009. In 2009, the top 10 percent of recipients were paid 61 percent of all USDA subsidies.

That whole website is depressing.

Don't be kind, don't be rude, just shake your boots and let it all get loose

Ole Miss football

Ole Miss, Completely Out of Character, Selects a Black:

Ole Miss has made its selection for mascot, turning away from the somewhat racially uncomfortable Colonel Reb, and instead embracing the regionally indigenous black bear.   The proposed design shows that the bear itself is not actually black, but instead kinda brown.  I would argue that, at Ole Miss, being black is a state of mind.

see, because they destroy pigs. soooooey.

Friday links

1. Television Tunes

II. Middle Earth

c. My Jello Americans (have these ready for our next 3E reunion)

2 touchdowns?

Dear Auburn Students,



This weekend, we will face our most difficult challenge so far this season when the 12th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks visit Jordan-Hare Stadium. Just like our football team, you as students have risen to every challenge we've put in front of you.



It's difficult to quantify how valuable our student section and fans are, but in my mind, it's a two-touchdown advantage. If not for your energy and excitement, we may not have been able to capture victories against Clemson and South Carolina.



I want to challenge you again this Saturday. We need you in Jordan-Hare Stadium early and for you to be loud and energetic the entire game. Arkansas has the top-ranked passing offense in the Southeastern Conference and nothing is more difficult on a passing team than a loud crowd. Student gates will open 45 minutes earlier than normal, starting at 11:45 a.m. Come early, and stay late!



As you know, the game will be the marquee matchup in the SEC this weekend and will air before a national audience on CBS. Let's show college football fans across the country and everyone in Jordan-Hare Stadium that Auburn has the loudest and most energetic students in the nation.



I also want you to know how much I appreciate the class and sportsmanship that you demonstrate each and every week. Auburn is a special place, and we need you to help us keep it that way.



War Eagle!



Gene Chizik

Wednesday to do list: rock down to Electric Avenue

Johnny Horton shout out

Place names

All vernacular place names, personal names, and names of roads or rivers encode important knowledge. Some of that knowledge is a thumbnail history; for example Maiden Lane denotes the lane where five spinster sisters once lived, while Cider Hill Road is the road up the hill where the Cider Mill and orchard once stood. At one time, when the name became fixed, it was probably the most relevant and useful name for local inhabitants. Other names refer to geographical features: Mica Ridge Road, Bare Rock Road, Ball Brook Road. The sum of roads and place names in a small place, in fact, amounts to something of a local geography and history if one knows the stories, features, episodes, and family enterprises encoded within them.

For officials who require a radically different form of order, such local knowledge, however quaint, is illegible. It privileges particular knowledge over synoptic, standardized knowledge. In the case of colonial rule, when the conquerors speak an entirely different language, the unintelligibility of the vernacular landscape is a nearly insurmountable obstacle to effective rule. Renaming much of the landscape therefore is an essential step of imperial rule. This explains why the British Ordinance Survey of Ireland in the 1830s recorded and rendered many local Gaelic place names (e.g., Bun na hAbhann, Gaelic for “mouth of the river”) in a form (Burnfoot) more easily understood by the rulers.

The Trouble With the View from Above

Mario Fusion

I want to play this game but can't figure out how to get it or if it is even real. Spartan Armor Mario is adorable!

Friday zombie games

Stop the Zombies! is dumb, but Zombie4 is awesome. Kids don't need all these fancy graphics.

Metal Monday

Rock in Black

We need to buy one of these

I think this would totally be worth $250. Depending on how many people chipped in for photos, we could get it down to double-dollar-digits each.

Sample image:

wait what

what. that's it wikipedia, we're through. you too, ireland.

Monkey Monday

Best description of Les Miles' luck

Somewhere, there’s a portrait of Les Miles losing close game after close game.

here