Linkage #14: Woot

>>> http://shirt.woot.com/ <<<

At Shirt.Woot you can buy T-shirt very cheaply. They have one design up every day that you can buy for $10 and have shipped for free within the US. Or you can pay an additional $5 and have it shipped directly to one of 45 other countries, including Germany, Hungary, Iceland and Mexico. The shirts are of good quality and maybe I’ll post a picture of my shirt once I did the laundry…

Then there’s the day of reckoning you can read about in their blog, where you can buy older t-shirts for $15 (plus $5 shipping overseas).

9.56 EUR for having a fancy shirt sent directly to your house is not too bad, or is it? AND you can order three shirts (of one type) at a time and only pay $5 for it, so you could save shipping!

Ramblings: How the Pello…?

Yesterday I went to Ikea and bought a very cool chair called Pello that was only 19,- EUR and very comfortable (in the store). So I took it home and I unpacked it and… there was no assembly manual! Okay, so I’m thinking, I’m pretty good at furniture assembling – I assembled a computer desk before and I single-handedly assembled a DVD cupboard thingy with glass doors, even though I wasn’t even strong enough to carry the thing alone. So I thought, this chair only weighs 8,8 kilos and doesn’t even have a lot of parts, I’m sure I can manage…

Now for those of you who’re thinking, “What the Pello is she talking about?” Let me show you a picture:

How hard can it be, right? Well, it is hard and I’m clueless and I can’t find any assembly instructions online. I already wrote to IKEA and I’m hoping they’ll sent them to me ASAP. You see, the thing with the Pello is that you get a big bag with it, like a body bag… and you’re supposed to (I’m sure) put that around the iron frame that’s included. But then, how do you screw the screws in the frame when the “body bag” is wrapped around it? I can’t wrap my head around that… Gaaa!

I already wrote to IKEA saying, “help me! help me!” (more eloquently than that), but they are taking time to answer. *sigh* What is sadder than an unassembled chair, really?

Maybe I should’ve spent 129,- EUR on this beautiful chair instead. It is possibly the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat in. But I was too stingy to get it. Maybe one day when I’m rich. :)

EDIT: Here are the Pello assembly instructions that IKEA meanwhile sent me. The trick is this: you have to put holes in the plastic chair cover! Who would’ve thought?

EDIT: Here’s an alternative download at megaupload.

Linkage #13: Indexed

>>> http://indexed.blogspot.com/ <<<

Indexed is a fun website where Jessica Hagy publishes funny little diagrams and such, like the one above. They’re funny and smart and pretty darn creative I found it through a link at xkcd.com and will sooner or later get me her book Indexed. Maybe you will, too. Enjoy!

Rambling: Mirror’s Edge looks awesome

I’ve watched the trailer to Mirror’s Edge several times now and I still think it looks very awesome. I really want this game and I’m glad they announced that they’ll also make a PC version of it. I’m planning to get a new PC in the next few weeks anyway, since mine isn’t really up to date anymore and too slow for some of the tasks I want to do with it (especially video editing).

Anyway, Mirror’s Edge looks very appealing and it has a pretty inventive game concept in which you’re basically a free runner (or parkours runner or whatever they’re called). You’re a messenger and you have to deliver messages in a very controlled/”surveillanced ” city. So the main focus of the game is running and scaling objects and finding routes rather than having to fight or shoot people. Check out the trailer, it looks awesome.

I was also pleased to hear that the game’s senior producer Owen O’Brien has been inspired by Joss Whedon’s Firefly and Serenity when making the game.

“To be very honest, I’m a big Joss Whedon fan, and a lot of the things in the story of the game came from Firefly and Serenity.” (Read the whole interview at Gamasutra.)

To be very honest, I’m a big Joss Whedon fan, too.

See the trailers here.

Music Monday #18 – Couch Potato

Get the song here:
Weird Al Yankovic – Couch Potato (Megaupload)

On today’s Music Monday, I want to present to you a song by Weird Al Yankovic. I’m sure I mentioned him before, because I kind of grew up with his music. Of course many people say he’s lame because he just takes other people’s songs and makes fun of them, but I think he’s very good at it and that takes quite a bit of talent, too. Check him out at Wikipedia.

At any rate, here’s a song called Couch Potato, which is a cool parody of the song Lose Yourself by Eminem.

—
“Weird Al” Yankovic – Couch Potato

Look
If you had
One shot
To sit on your lazy butt
And watch all the TV you ever wanted
Until your brain turned to mush
Would you go for it?
Or just let it slip?
Yo

Remote is ready
Eyes wide, palms are sweaty
There’s Flintstones on the TV already
Wilma ‘n’ Betty
No virgin to channel surfin’
And I’m HD-ready
So I flip
Garbage is all I’m getting

There’s Simon Cowell
Who folks wanna disembowel
He opens his mouth
Always says something foul
They’re dyin’, wow
Wannabes are crying now
He votes them out
Time to throw in the towel

Shows based on reality
Oh, the humanity!
Oh, Ozzy’s family
Sho’ loves profanity
Whoa, the insanity
Oh, dogs that crap and pee
Home of depravity?
No, they live happily
Yo

Plus “Da Ali G Show”
And “Celebrity Mole”
Oh, and there’s Anna Nicole
Well, she’s scaring me

“Look ma, no cavities”
Oh, it’s a station break
Better go out to the kitchen and microwave something

“You’re gonna lose your mind watchin’ TV” They told me, they’d scold me
But I’d still tune in every show (show)
My cable gets C-SPAN, TV-Land, and HBO
The Travel Channel, Discovery, and Lifetime (yo)

“You’re gonna lose your mind watchin’ TV”
They told me, cajoled me, “Turn off those music videos” (no)
I’m gonna watch C-SPAN, TV-Land, and HBO
The History Channel and QVC and Lifetime (yo)
(You’re gonna)

My butt is aching
As I watch NASCAR racing
That show about undertaking
Larry King
To “24” to “Law And Order”
The Weather Channel’s boring like “60 Minutes”‘s ancient reporters
Next up on “E! True Hollywood Story”
The rise and decline of twelve actors named Corey

Shows for next fall, they’ve already been namin’
“CSI: Boise” and “Touched By An Uncle” both sound pretty lame ‘n’
So does “Everybody Tolerates Raymond”
And “King of Queens” jumped the shark the first minute
I can’t believe Richard Simmons ain’t in it

I’ll move right on to “8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenaged Daughter”
Then I bet
I watch “The Bachelorette”
Followed by “Welcome Back, Kotter”
And “The Muppet Show” where they go ‘Mahna Mahna’

“You’re gonna lose your mind watching TV”
They told me, they’d scold me
But I’d still tune in every show (show)
My cable gets C-SPAN, TV-Land, and HBO
The Disney Channel and A&E and Lifetime (yo)

“You’re gonna lose your mind watching TV”
They told me, cajoled me
But I still love Lisa Kudrow (drow)
I’m looking at C-SPAN, TV-Land, and HBO
The Playboy Channel and Court TV and Lifetime (yo)
(You’re Gonna)

Never missed “Melrose Place” or “Lost In Space”
I’ve seen each “Amazing Race” and “Without A Trace”
But I only watched “Will And Grace” one time one day
Wish I hadn’t ’cause TiVo now thinks I’m gay

Oh, and “Fear Factor” I watched maybe a half hour
After that, felt like I needed a long shower
Network execs with naked ambitions
“Next week on FOX, watch lions eat Christians”

Like to tie up those programming planners
Make ’em watch all of that junk ’til their heads explode just like “Scanners”
Leech-covered grub-eatin’ fools on “Survivor”
Look there’s James Lipton discussing the oeuvre of Mr. Rob Schneider

And there’s “Gilligan” and “SpongeBob”, plus there’s “MacGyver”
And Jay Leno has got Madonna, hey there’s Luke Perry on a
Special all Pig-Latin episode of “Drew Carey”

Wanna turn on “E.T.” ’cause I’m a gossip freak
And I gotta know who J. Lo is marryin’ this week
A 30 second spot
Then we come back to “Are You Hot?”
I was planning on recording “The Sopranos”
I forgot

I love shows with or without a plot
I’ll stare ’til my legs are numb, my eyes bloodshot
Because I only have got
One brain to rot
I’m gonna spend my life watching television a lot

“You’re gonna lose your mind watching TV”
They told me, they’d scold me
But I’d still tune in every show (show)
My cable gets C-SPAN, TV-Land, and HBO
The Sci-Fi Channel and AMC and Lifetime (yo)

“You’re gonna lose your mind watching TV”
They told me, cajoled me, “Turn off that Oprah Winfrey show” (no)
I got it on C-SPAN, TV-Land, and HBO
The Learning Channel and MTV and Lifetime (yo)
(You’re gonna)

You can watch anything you want to, man

Rambling: At least my drier is quiet

Yes, I know I don’t write enough and another Saturday passed without a Video Saturday and so forth. But as I said, I moved, and somehow even now that I settled in somewhat, I still don’t get anything done. Gah, I should just start the Uberman Sleep Schedule and be done with three hours of sleep a day! Then again, nobody knows what the long-term effects are, and besides, I don’t think I could just leave work for 20 minutes to sleep whenever I get tired.

I should probably rather improve my sleep quality and I’d feel a bit more energetic and awake. Somehow, this apartment is much louder than any other apartment I’ve ever lived in, and if I’m not awakened by the constant trains and the traffic, some morons wake me up by making a racket at 3:30am at the gas station across the street.

I actually bought ear plugs a while ago, and I put them in before I went to sleep and it was so nice and quiet. Then I woke up from some noise at 5am, some yelling I think, and I went out onto the balcony (which is about 6 steps from my bed..) to see what it was, and only then I noticed that my ear plugs were gone! So I shook my pillow to find them again, but they weren’t there. Then I shook my blanket, but nothing. I popped my head under my bed, and again, nothing. Eventually I switched on the light because it was a mystery to me how they could just disappear. And what did I find? They were UNDER my alarm clock. Yes, it’s true. And I have no idea how they got there. Gee, I just hope I don’t sleepwalk, because it seems awfully easy to accidentally fall off the low balcony rail…

In other news, since I have little space in my apartment and I don’t want to waste it on a wardrobe, I recently bought two plastic boxes to store my clothes in. They were 3.99 EUR a piece and I think they present a very good alternative. I just need to find something to stick to the bottom so they don’t scratch the laminate when I pull them out from under my bed.

[click for larger image]

Also, I invested 6.99 EUR yesterday in an environmentally friendly drier. By which I mean, it doesn’t need electricity to run. And I can fold it up neatly when everything’s dried and folded and put back into the plastic boxes.

[click here for a bigger image]

I can tell you’re fascinated. Comment.

Music Monday #17 – Expectations

Get the song here:
Belle & Sebastian – Expectations (Mediafire)
Belle & Sebastian – Expectations (Megaupload)

On today’s Music Monday I’d like to present you with a very cool song from the Juno Soundtrack. Yesterday I helped a friend move and he tried to drive me home afterwards and we got hopelessly lost. However, the Juno OST was playing on his car stereo so all the driving around was quite enjoyable anyway.

The Juno Soundtrack features a lot of songs by Kimya Dawson, who is one half of The Moldy Peaches (Adam Green is the other half). I believe it was Ellen Page‘s idea that the character of Juno McGuff would listen to that music. Ellen’s got taste.

The song I chose, however, is not one of Kimya’s, it’s one by Belle and Sebastian, who are an indie pop band from Glasgow.

I’ll leave you with the trailer to Juno. If you haven’t yet, go watch the movie!

——

Belle and Sebastian – Expectations

Monday morning wake up knowing that
You’ve got to go to school
Tell your mum what to expect
She says it’s right out the blue
Do you want to work in Debenham’s
‘Cause that’s what they expect
Start in Lingerie, and Doris is your supervisor

And the head said that you always were a
queer one from the start
For careers you say you want to be
remebered for your art
Your obsessions get you known throughout
the school for being strange
Making lifesize models of the
Velvet Underground in clay

In the queue for lunch they take the piss
You’ve got no appetite
And the rumour is you never go with boys
and you are tight
So they jab you with a fork
You drop the tray and go beserk
While you’re cleaning up the mess
the teacher’s looking up your skirt
Hey you’ve been used
Are you calm? Settle down
Write a song, I’ll sing along
Soon you will know that you are sane
You’re on top of the world again

Monday morning wake up knowing that
you’ve got to go to school
Tell your mum what to expect
She says it’s right out the blue
Do you want to work in C&A,
cause that’s what they expect
Move to Ladieswear and take a feel
off Joe the Storeman

Tell Veronica the secret of the boy
you never kissed
She’s got everything to gain cause
she’s a fat girl with a lisp
She sticks up for you when you get
aggravation from the snobs
Cause you can’t afford a blazer and
you’re always wearing clogs

At the interval you lock yourself away
inside a room
Head of English gets you, asks you
“What the Hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Do you think you’re better than the other kids?
Well get outside.”
You’ve got permission
But you’ve got to make the bastard think he’s right
Hey you’ve been used
Write a song, I’ll sing along
Are you calm? Settle down
Soon you will know that you are sane
You’re on top of the world again