On the subject of misleading correspondence, I thought this was funny (though jstone thought it was in poor taste): Little Billy’s letters to famous and infamous people:

In the 1990s Bill Geerhart was an unemployed, not-so aspiring screenwriter in his 30s. To pass the time, he channeled his inner child, 10-year-old Billy, and started writing letters to famous and infamous people and institutions. These letters, written in pencil on elementary school ruled paper, asked funny but relevant questions to politicians, serial killers, movie stars, lobbyists, CEOs, and celebrity lawyers.

I’m not sure I want to spring for a whole book of these letters, but the ones at Boing Boing made me smile.

This actually made me laugh out loud several times: A History of Obama Feigning Interest in Mundane Things. Your mileage may vary.

Continuing the series of posts containing videos that are (not) real, here’s Leo LaPorte interviewing Craig Allen and Eric Kallman of Wieden + Kennedy about the making of the Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercial, which aired during the Super Bowl.

The bottom line, for those who don’t want to watch the video: It’s real. It’s all one take (albeit, take fifty-six on day three of shooting), and with two exceptions, it’s all “practical” effects — no computers, no in-camera trickery.

The two exceptions are this: The part where the tickets in his hand turn into diamonds, then into a bottle of Old Spice, was composited in. And the mechanism they used to move him onto the horse was painted out in the final wide shot. Everything else — the bathroom, the boat, and (yes) the horse — was real. If you were on the set, it would have looked just like what you see in the commerical.

With the possible exception of the Saints’ come-from-behind win and the way the game was still on the line in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, this was my favorite part of Super Bowl Sunday. Of course, effects notwithstanding, it’s mostly actor Isaiah Mustafa’s delivery that makes it work. Christie D’Zurilla, writing in the LA Times’ Ministry of Gossip blog (It’s the guy in the Old Spice commercial: Isaiah Mustafa), says:

The Old Spice body wash audition was like any other except …

… the night before, he called a college buddy, quarterback Jake Plummer, most recently of the NFL’s Denver Broncos, to shoot the breeze. Jake wasn’t home, but Jake’s answering machine was — so Isaiah, schooled in improvisation, did an over-the-top mini performance of the script he had in hand…

“I just did it for him, and I did it extra big, and then when I hung up, I thought, ‘Maybe I should try it that way and see if they like it.’ ”

They did.

Good stuff. And real!

Here’s just the commercial, if you’d prefer your Isaiah Mustafa with no Leo LaPorte:

Update: Heh. From reddit user seraphseven:

Hello voters! Look at your rep, now back to me. Now back to your rep, now back to me! Sadly, he isn’t me. But if he stopped voting with his head up his ass, and switched to the Democratic Party, he could vote like he’s me. Look down — back up. Where are you? You’re at a rally, with the pol your rep could vote like. What’s in your hand? — back at me. I have it! It’s a bill, with appropriations for that thing you need. Look again — the appropriations are now health care. Anything is possible when your representative votes like a Democrat and not a lady. I’m on a horse.

Barbara Tomlinson (she of the cool satellite launch video, and the Spasms of Accommodations blog) forwarded this video to me:

It’s by YouTube user sanluisskywatch, who appears to be on a self-appointed mission to document and spread the word about the fact that the skies over San Luis Obispo are being intentionally sprayed with aluminum and barium:

Airplanes continue to dump toxic fallout over populated areas of the state- pilots are told its to help global warming, but it’s actually to weaken our immune systems, lower farm yields, and help their Ionospheric weapon (HAARP) to heat localized areas that have been sprayed to change the weather. The freakiest part is, the coup running our country into the ground decided to never tell the public, so we are all breathing barium and aluminum almost every day. Aluminum will give you early alzheimers, barium will weaken your immune system and increase likelyhood of usually easily preventable diseases.

Perhaps not surprisingly, he (she?) is also a 9/11 truther:

Hobbies:
Stopping the sky from becoming all white, with halos around the sun. Also interested in ending the 9/11 cover-up, which is obvious, and just sad at this point. The media really look like jackasses.

Yup. The media really look like jackasses.

Seriously, though, I had two reactions to this: First, pity at what the world must look like to someone who believes this particular conspiracy theory. I mean, everywhere you look, there they are! Chemtrails! Wake up, people!

Second, my own version of the same fear. Not of chemtrails, but of the world my children will inhabit, in which scientific illiteracy is combined with pervasive networking, such that people like sanluisskywatch can organize with his (her) 137 subscribers (and counting) to spread the word.

This seems apropos, given the recent obsession hereabouts with climate-change research. On February 11, 2010, NASA launched the Solar Dynamics Observatory atop an Atlas V rocket, and Barbara Tomlinson made the following video. This is the point in the launch just before the rocket goes supersonic, when it sends out a series of concentric pressure waves that destroy the sun dog in the right side of the frame:

Here’s a longer version (complete with cheesy soundtrack!):

I liked the user comments:

TenRoc382k9 (13 hours ago)
looks kinda fake

Heh. Can’t fool us. Those San Francisco backdrops in “Monk” are obviously real, but this? Give me a break.

Tomlinson found the “fake” comments interesting, too. In fact, she graphed them:

She observes:

My favorite version of Wow! is captainpickard’s, “I’ll have an order of KICK ASS, with a side of FUCK YEAH!” For Fake! I have to compliment stegre for “I have seem (sic) many edited films and this video has definitely been tampered. Your argument is invalid.” It is both arrogant and nonsensical at the same time. Excellent work, stegre.

More discussion at Bad Astronomy: Rocket launch blows away the sky. And at One Astronomer’s Noise: SDO is GO!!!!!, which includes a link to Anna Herbst’s wider-angle video.

Update: Another cool view, this one by Romeo Durscher, including the contrail that followed:

NASA Scientists Plan To Approach Girl By 2018 

Clearly, I haven’t been doing enough to stir the pot of partisan name-calling lately. So here you go: The 2010 Comprehensive Daily Kos/Research 2000 Poll of Self-Identified Republicans.

Knock yourselves (or more likely, each other) out.

…but gets to keep his iPhone.

(Lucy’s joke, not mine. But I thought it was funny when she tweeted about that.)

Cory Doctorow has a thing for Disneyania, and this one is pretty fun (in a scary kind of way): Disney-logoed DDT-impregnated wallpaper for the kids’ room (1947).

In light of the recent Supreme Court decision overturning legal limits on corporate free speech in the political arena, I thought this was a nice reminder of what you get when companies are free to say whatever they want.

Hey; it’s certified to be absolutely safe for home use. C’mon.

(Actually, the comments on the item at Boing Boing are pretty interesting. It’s still scary, but like most scary things, the underlying reality is more complicated when you look at it up close.)

Continuing the streak of posting about the climate (or at least about the weather): Hail Fail.

On Wednesday afternoon, when hail fell on Forney, photos came in showing hail nearly the size of a golf ball.

As photos came in to isee@nbcdfw.com, one photo caught our attention. The photo, from “Tyler,” clearly shows ice cubes from a refrigerator. We especially liked the scattering of ice cubes on the ground. Nice touch!

I think I’d seen this xkcd before, but I’d forgotten it until I saw it this morning in a post at 538.com:

Seems apropos, given my recent kabuki with shcb about global warming denialism in the comments.

Yeah, I haven’t talked much about the healthcare bill. I’ve been following some of the coverage, but it’s hard for me to get excited about this particular sausage being made.

Here’s one detail that was amusing, at least, with a question that I think random outside observers can interestingly weigh in on. From C-SPAN, via ThinkProgress, there was this video you probably saw (if you’ve been processing every tidbit):

So, the actually interesting question is, is that caller for real? Or was it a joke? Josh Marshall reposted an excerpt from an email that makes a pretty good case that it’s fake: Spoof or #prayerfail?. I’m curious what y’all think.

This should not be making me laugh. But it is.

Warning: Naughty words.

From San Francisco’s SantaCon the other day. Not Photoshopped:

More details at BrodyQat’s photostream. She even wore gray contacts. That’s dedication.

Via Area Man Passionate Defender Of What He Imagines Constitution To Be:

“Our very way of life is under siege,” said Mortensen, whose understanding of the Constitution derives not from a close reading of the document but from talk-show pundits, books by television personalities, and the limitless expanse of his own colorful imagination.

Speaking of which, anyone read Sarah Palin’s new book?

It’s the all-YouTube, all-the-time version of Lies.com:

This really is pretty fun. Well, scary. Fun and scary.

It’s a twofer!

International Association of Time Travelers: Members’ Forum Subforum: Europe – Twentieth Century – Second World War

Page 263

11/15/2104
At 14:52:28, FreedomFighter69 wrote:
Reporting my first temporal excursion since joining IATT: have just returned from 1936 Berlin, having taken the place of one of Leni Riefenstahl’s cameramen and assassinated Adolf Hitler during the opening of the Olympic Games. Let a free world rejoice!

via Abyss & Apex : Fourth Quarter 2007: Wikihistory.

Thanks to the long distance clarity of these amazing binoculars, which typically retail for $1,500, I was able see the green in your beautiful eyes and the white of your breathe-taking smile.

Via best of craigslist: The most beautiful woman in Charleston – m4w.

Via best of craigslist: Actor needed for emotional role – One day high pay:

Pay will be $500. The job will take roughly 2 hours at best.

This job is ideal for an actor looking to diversify their role base, or someone who genuinely likes to make children cry. Acting experience is a plus, but not necessary. Please inform me of any prior experience in this kind of situation.

Thanks to Hiro for the link.

onan pointed out this site: asian poses. It was funny, and odd. But then the jason who is really jason pointed out this youtube video of Ken Tanaka explaining how to speak fluent Japanese without saying anything:

That made me want to know more about Ken Tanaka, so I ended up watching his first videoblog entry:

And I was thinking, wow. This guy’s pretty interesting. Is he real?

Um, well:

More discussion at The Japanicity of Ken Tanaka and the Social Media Community of Youtube.