You hear that, Mr Andersen?

Tiny Monster, Heino, Lo-Fi Lullaby

Those who care probably already know, but DVD sales have pushed Serenity into the black. Which is kinda appropriate, really. ;)

And in other sci-fi-ish news, Japanese researchers have managed to make a true 3D display, by using lasers to excite air to a plasma. Looking at the pictures, I'm really surprised they didn't do a demo model of the Death Star, since I immediately thought of the scene where they tell the Rebel pilots, "Just shoot it here, no worries." (I nearly wrote "Rebel pirates", but that would have been a quite different movie. Not necessarily worse -- Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean" mode as Han Solo, for example. And at least Carrie Fisher wouldn't be complaining about only having two shapeless outfits in the first movie. ;)

And to up my cuteness quota, how about Tiny Monster -- one of those LiveJournal comics that is just bursting with adorability, and recommended by the sagelike Dinosaur Comics. The secret ingredient is love, and a Kong reference with a tiara! Nothing could make this better. :)

***

Nothing particularly revelatory to say about work or life.

I filled my car up this morning and it cost about $95. Ouch. (That was filling it with petrol, and not, say, squirrels. And just the petrol tank, not the whole car -- that would have been considerably more expensive.) This motivated me enough to actually look on Trademe and see how much it would cost to get a scooter -- it looks like $800-$1000 is about average. Which means that I'd probably break even, just in terms of petrol costs, in about nine or ten months (assuming that I fill up every three weeks or so). Definitely worth thinking about.

***

Who is the man to the right, whose thick black-rimmed glasses and ghastly dead eyes stare pitilessly into your very soul? Why, it's German rocker Heino (no, really), and the album is called, "Dear Mother... a bouquet that never wilts", which combines with his wax-doll expression to produce a Hitchcock-ian level of creepy. For this, and other similar gems, why not visit the Museum of Bad Album Covers? (Warning -- nothing explicit that I've found in a quick browse, but not entirely safe for work.) I don't know, I find it perversely comforting to know that there's an Ethel Merman Disco Album ("... only to go over the top when Ethel comes in with the banjo and wah wah guitar ..."). But some of those album covers are just... wrong.

Speaking of music, one of my sisters is now a funky-fly DJ. Or rather, she hosts a show called Lo-Fi Lullabies on Hawaii's student radio station. She's been having rave reviews, such as "...you have a weird accent". I've been listening to her show at work, and have been introduced to a number of bands I've enjoyed and would otherwise have never heard. Another plus for me is the super-weirdness of hearing my younger sister in broadcast mode. So -- she's got track-listings up, so you should be able to tell whether you're likely to enjoy what she plays; give it a go, if you like.

Posted by svend at March 1, 2006 6:01 PM