Well, my final edumacational year kicked off on Tuesday. I'm in Sela Youniversity [sic], Bnei Brak, commuting by train twice a week. The class has an initial size of 19, but will split up after we finish our first subject (PhotoShop) into Animation, Web Design and Graphic Design (me) courses. I am the only Anglo, I am the only religious person, I think I'm the only under-20, I'm one of 15 males, and I'm one of three long-distance studiers (two others from Jerusalem). It's all very interesting, if a bit stressful due to the train schedules. We learned about pixels and vectors and resolution and Alt and Shift and Ctrl and Del and wakka wakka (not really, just wanted to make sure you were paying attention) and colors and PPI and DPI.

TODAY'S BOOK: "It's Nothing to a Mountain", by Sid Hite ((c) 1994)

Labels: biographical, wakka wakka

Am I bad? Oh yes, I'm bad.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman", by James Gleick ((c) 1992)

TODAY'S WEBSITE: Bit of spring-cleaning now. www.geocities.com/Hollywood/lot/2636/crg/ links to both of what were previously listed as the Animaniacs Cultural Reference Guides, Parts I & II. They are also slightly more updated versions, missing only the details for the 99th (and final) episode.

Labels: bait 'n' switch

There are 9 more days until the American presidential election and (probably) 90 more days until the next Israeli parliamentary election, but today's post deals with the Beit Shemesh mayoral election, which happens in 16 more days.
So far the number of candidates has been whittled down to three, and I think it's time to take a look at their campaign posters.



Moshe Abutbul of Shas is the nominal frontrunner. But "Let the Residents Win"--well, like, duh? Whoever gets the majority of the vote gets elected, which means that the residents win, right? What, anybody who doesn't vote for you is not a resident?



Shalom Lerner of the Beyachad ("Together") party is, as mentioned earlier, my preferred candidate. But, "Together With Shalom Lerner to the Mayoralty"--that's just, well, bland. And a pretty poor pun to poot--er, boot.



Daniel Vaknin of Likud is both the incumbent and hopelessly behind in the polls. And no wonder, considering his slogan: "Leadership With Experience". Buddy, George W. Bush has 8 years of leadership experience, but I doubt anyone would elect him, either.

TODAY'S BOOK: "The Magic Hat of Mortimer Wintergreen", by Myron Levoy ((c) 1988)

Labels: biographical

Here are the three other Rister & Rob cartoons I submitted to the art contest last month (177th post). The first was already featured on the blog in two-panel format; the magic word in #2 was originally "Nintendo", a family in-joke based on the spells in Harry Potter. #3 was actually adapted from a Bob Hope golfing joke.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Outwitting History", by Aaron Lansky ((c) 2004)

TODAY'S WEBSITE: www.jewsinsports.org is removed due to consistently poor site conditions.

Labels: cartoon

"On behalf of the entire Giant Boogers from Outer Space crew, it is my pleasure to wish the United States of America a Happy Fifth of July!
Distortion distortio distorti distort distor disto dist dis di d
You both start smelling like a fax machine.
I am working on a dictionary. This will include such new words as 'Airy Poof (n.), Bazurko (v.), Kablemmo (adj.), Kak (n.), Piceyness (adj.) and Thoda (n.). The largest section will be that of W, due to the inclusion of all the Wakka Wakka words and phrases. (For example: Wakka = aardvark, Wak = absolutely, Wakka = and, Wakka = ant, Wakka Wakka = anteater, etc. etc.)
Don't forget to attend the title bout between Lewis "the Jabberwock" Ee and Carroll "the Snark" Boojum!
Pickles I pickles graduated pickles from pickles high pickles school pickles a pickles few pickles weeks pickles ago pickles and pickles will pickles soon pickles be pickles a pickles pickles legal pickles adult pickles.
[Click] And now everything is illuminated.

TODAY'S BOOK: 'Secret of the Andes', by Ann Nolan Clark ((c) 1952)

TODAY'S WEBSITE: Just an update this time: thrillingwonder.blogspot.com has now officially changed its domain name to match its title, www.darkroastedblend.com."
--62nd post, 7/5/07

Labels: reprint

Finally, the ShiurTimes has gotten around to listing me on its Contributors page. I can also say "finally" about the fact that the issue has finally got here, due to the fact that--despite me telling them to do so--they still have not changed the incorrect mailing address on the envelopes.
Oh, and pics!
#1: Israelis, especially the media, went nutso over our lone medalist in the Beijing Olympics, windsurfer Shahar Zubari (who blew a first-place finish, incidentally). The Paralympic delegation's impressive medal tally (six), meanwhile, went virtually unnoticed--again.
#2: Israel broke the international diplomatic isolation of Syria, which was soon thereafter visited by French PM Nicolas Sarkozy.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Leon and the Spitting Image", by Allen Kurzwell ((c) 2003)

Labels: cartoon

Where am I on Google?

"Menachem G. Jerenberg" (8): GBFOS, Back 2 Basics (runner up), Titanstower Monitor Room (Grand Prize co-winner), UMDb (fan memories), TGN (first place, honorable mentions), Issuu online edition of ShiurTimes, IMDb (plot summary), DRB (site review)
"Menachem Jerenberg" (8): GBFOS, Technorati, UMDb (reply to fan memory), RBS List archives, highbeam.com (archived letters page of The Jerusalem Post), Back 2 Basics (runner up announcement), PetitionSpot (Save Teen Titans petition signee), MLB.com (Message Boards profile)
"Giant Boogers from Outer Space" (15): GBFOS, Technorati, Blogged, Hoosier Journal of Inanity, The Ethereal Garage
"gbfos.blogspot.com" (9): GBFOS, Technorati, Archgnome Druid (comment by me)
"MetFanMac" (69): MarkMail.org (archived posts on Blogger Help), Technorati, GBFOS, some sort of IMDb reprint at a place called ihome.ust.hk, a whole lot of blogs including Metstradamus and GLBF! (comments), mentalfloss.com (comments), Torah Tidbits (prize winner), I'm Writing Sports (comment), Blogger Help, BoardReader (reprinted IMDb threads), comingsoon.net (comment), SpaceBooger.com
"The Wakka Man" (4): FanIQ, TGN
"Darth Obvius" (2): The ISS

TODAY'S BOOK: "A Short History of Nearly Everything", by Bill Bryson ((c) 2003)

TODAY'S WEBSITE: www.sela.co.il I'm starting a one-year study course in Computer Art on the 30th, and this is the website of the school I'll be attending two evenings a week.

Labels: biographical, the blog

One hundred and eighty degrees flat apartment apart drifting iceberg cold ice cream vanilla chocolate cocoa hot cocoa mug mug shot jail break smash vase flowers meadow grass marijuana drugs high high jump pole vault Olympics event eventually later future unknown mysterious mystery detective Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hunter hunted haunted Poltergeist Craig T. Nelson The Incredibles superheroes heroism firefighters fire guns war battle gladiators Rome empire Empire State Building tall tall tales untrue false falsify forge counterfeit money dollars 700 billion a googol Google search lost map grid Griddlers riddles jokes pranks frankfurters campfire camping out tent tenet rules guidelines suggestions box fox in socks shoes sneakers hackers computer chips fish and chips British English language linguist Milo Thatch Milo The Phantom Tollbooth fantastic unbelievable Ripley's records LPs the Beatles moptops mops brooms sweeping dust ashes to ashes ash fireplace chimney "Stepping Time" dance DDR viva la revolution Cuba cigars smoking smokestacks factories manufacturing packaged goods good bad evil Satan tempter tempting offer coffer coffin cough drops cold flu flew One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest nuthouse nuts squirrel chipmunk monk monastery secluded hidden hiding on the lam criminal justice sentence compound pound hammer MC Hammer rap music offensive defensive defense fence stolen goods smuggling border borderline near far away home the big house life sentence life chai times ten one hundred and eighty.

TODAY'S BOOK: "Wading Through Peanut Butter", by Pamela Curtis Swallow ((c) 1993)

TODAY'S WEBSITE: hoosierinanity.blogspot.com Congratulations, Hoosier Journal of Inanity, you are now the second blog to put me in your Links list, of your own accord. As such, I feel it is incumbent on me to return the favor. The HJoI, run by Sea_of_Green, deals mostly with comic books, in particular the Green Lanterns.

Labels: free association

This post you are reading celebrates Giant Boogers from Outer Space's first year online. Of course, it is being printed 364 days too late, but some things are simply unavoidable.
And let me tell ya, that was some first year! Why, since our last anniversary we have experienced all of the following:

The Lost Questors
What more can possibly be said?
The Zuda Comics fiasco
The conversation that had nothing to do with Samuel Beckett

List Month celebrated for the first time
The blog's thousandth

The unfortunate scarcity of Wakka Wakka
Appendicitis's technical knockout of Art
Criticizing Blogger, again
The random Anonymous introduces the random Zombo

Moving on to the ShiurTimes
The best conspiracy theory ever
The resolution of the Zuda problem
Yet another 32-obsessed post (including the title),
and Anonymous first logs in as Khaaan!
My second Honorable Mention in a Teen Titans fanart contest
As promised, the Dictionarized Post
The beginning of random reprints

Harry Potter four-of-a-kind
That asshatted bus driver
First publication of my writing abilities

Getting unrandom for April Fools Day as before
The boy who would not read fiction (!)
A relative's biznitchin' ex-wife
Because no one demanded it!
The first vandalism of the library

Nissim Gini ע"ה הי"ד
Hatikva
Technorati makes no sense
Boobies, one of them blue-footed
Probably no other post in the history of blogging has been written in this manner

Nothing, not even Pokemon, is completely worthless
The edit is that there is no edit
Your life, minus 10 seconds
Rister & Rob's triumphant return after a 15-month hiatus
The awardspace affair reaches its zenith
Intrawebal "Nobody Cares" Day
The blowfish that continues to haunt me to this day
Tales from my Log
Harland Williams gets pwned

Criticizing Blogger once more, but with feeling
15 minutes alone with a pen
My first ShiurTimes hat trick
Some people sure do visit GBFOS with really strange intentions
More...
And more vandalism of the library.
Wiener dog, hot dog, screw, wild ass
14, a new record for posts in a calendar month

It's a pun, geddit?
Comparing Mets sites with Mets players
Whaddaya want, I was bored
and two thousandth hits.
Freakazoid! quotes

Wake Me Up When the School Year Ends
The end of the novel installments
My modest contribution to Whack-a-Lantern Week (Tentacle Thapp included)
The secret to enlarging your Lego building
American Pie babelized. What a hoot
The rudest name in my baseball card collection
Rister & Rob get published
My last Internet rant


And if you think that was good, wait until you see the third-year anniversary...

TODAY'S BOOK: "Chief!", by Albert A. Seedman and Peter Hellman ((c) 1974)

Labels: 32, random, the blog, wakka wakka

I don't get mad often. When I do, it's like a flip is switched inside me from "simmering" to "volcanic". While I may not transform into a monster a la The Hulk, I think our mental states are roughly identical during those periods. And, like the Hulk, I try to stay un-angry at all times.
Seriously. You don't want to mess with me when I'm mad.
But sometimes I do get mad, and it's not over something physical I can lash out at with my fists. It's a concept, intangible, that frustrates me and eludes me.
So what do I do? I take my rage to the interwebs via the keyboard.
And let me tell you something: when I get mad physically, I can literally feel myself becoming stronger, faster, and more focused. Only that last part carries over into my Internet rants, but it's a beaut, giving me a "writer's high" I otherwise work very hard at to achieve. Rage, however, makes the words flow.
So far I've only done that twice. This was written exactly one year ago, October 1st 2007, in the Comments section on Metstradamus's blog.

"Anyone who didn't see this coming*, raise your hand.
...
Anyone?

Nah, me neither. The way the Mets have been playing ever since reaching the Seven Games Ahead plateau for the last time, I don't know if I should blame Mota, or Reyes, or Schoeneweis, or Wright, or Sele, or Glavine, or Lo Duca, or Wagner, or Delgado, or Beltran, or Sosa, or Heilman, or Minaya, or Randolph, but I do know this: the Mets did not deserve to play in this postseason.

That's right. You've read it correctly: the 2007 New York Mets did not deserve to play in the postseason.

Had we won the East--what of it? I would PRAY for a quick first-round farewell. HAD we won the World Series, I would not dare do what the fans in St. Louis did last year**, and cheer. I would mutter 'Fluke' and wait for April. They were fourteen games above .500 but that did not matter.

I shall not stop cheering for the New York Mets. I stopped cheering long ago for their 2007 version.

Because this team, as a whole, was so far less than the sum of its parts, it was unbelievable.

Besides when they were playing us, the Phils (whose 2007 roster--particularly Rollins--I shall hate forever, but not their franchise, or even their fans) didn't exactly come charging up San Juan Feliciano Hill***. After the 4-game sweep, they muddled their way back to 7 games behind. After the 3-game sweep, they continued to muddle right 'til the end of the season. The Mets could have swooped in for the kill at any given moment.

They did not.
They could not.

Because they lacked the ability to clinch their way out of a wet paper bag****.

ONE game against the Phillies, at any point in the season, ending up with a 'W' instead of an 'L', would have won for us the division. Any ONE of a billion gajillion excruciating losses all year that we could have turned around, and we still end up in a tie.
The 2007 Mets did not play with the heart, or the will, or the guts of a champion. As Metstradamus so correctly pointed out, a 5-1, 4-2, or even 3-3 run over the last six games was not only feasible, it could have--and indeed would have--won us the division.

The 2007 Mets went 1-5.

I'm not crying. I cried in 2000 (my first year as a fan) and in 2001 and at 5:00 AM local time, sitting in front of an unfeeling computer monitor, in 2006.
I'm not crying in 2007. I'm just resigned.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, all those shots with a sledgehammer to the solar plexus? They weren't capricious bad luck brought on via the baseball gods. They were the 2007 Mets in action. They were a truly bad team. All those billion gajillion excruciating losses were brought on by themselves and no one else.

Incompetence? Maybe. Lack of drive? Probably.

All-around general suckiness? Oh yes, definitely.

Farewell, 2007 Mets. I'm looking forward to meeting the new you in 2008.*****"

* The 2007 Mets blew a seven game lead with 17 to play, losing on the very last day of the season (in embarrassing fashion) to end up one game out of first.
** The 2006 Cardinals beat the Mets in the NLCS and then won the World Series, despite a regular-season record of 82-80.
*** An embarrasing gaffe on my part. Juan Feliciano was an IBL player; Jose Feliciano was a Met. The allusion pun was just too good to pass up.
**** My favorite line.
***** Ha. Ha. Fsckin' HA.


TODAY'S BOOK: "Odds on Miss Seeton", by Heron Carvic ((c) 1975)

TODAY'S WEBSITE: www.cartoonnetwork.com Forget what I said earlier about it. CN has finally figured out how to make their site run normally again.

Labels: baseball, rant