grant's tomb redux

2002.02.26
Quiz of the Moment
1) How long did the Hundred Years War last?
    116 years
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
    Ecuador
3) From which animal do we get cat gut?
    Sheep and Horses
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
    November
5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?
    Squirrel fur
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?
    Dogs
7) What was King George VI's first name?
    Albert
8) What color is a purple finch?
    Crimson
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
    New Zealand
--from The Comics I Don't Understand "last week" page.


Methinks They Do Protest Too Much
This was one of those "XCam2 camera" ads from a long while back (You can try seeing it here but you may have to cut and paste into a browser before it autodestructs the window.) I love how it tries to protest its innocence, while at the same time promoting its obvious use..."QUIT SPYING ON PEOPLE!" in big type, and then a smaller parenthetical reminder "(we never told you to do that)". And the "better uses" use it suggests are pretty sad: "monitoring sleeping baby" (I think this version doesn't have sound, so you'd need a baby monitor as well), "watching nature without intruding" (in a grainy little window), "throwing a candid camera party" (What?? A "party"? Isn't that just group spying even if you could somehow work up a social event around it?), etc. And what the heck does the back of that naked woman have to do with any of those "better uses"? Luckily, since I went to this popup disablers page I haven't seen these particular ads...are they still around? (I can't find this one link that compared various cameras like these...they aren't as wireless and portable or useful as the ads indicate, surprise surprise.)


Quote of the Moment
Boy, life takes a long time to live.