Ericka Crouse -- So save this comment until the right part of the movie:

Ericka Crouse  -- So save this comment until the right part  of the movie:

Wait.  Where did they get a freakin' Fire Truck!?  And no one looks askance at it showing up at the Pentagon?

Meguey Baker This is clearly in your wheelhouse.

Meguey Baker This is clearly in your wheelhouse.

Originally shared by Yonatan Zunger

The National Academy of Sciences is hosting an exhibition of art quilts inspired by the chemical elements – and it's quite a thing to see. Below is "Iridium: My Darkness To Light II," by (cell biologist) Grace Harbin Weaver, inspired by the use of Iridium electrodes implanted in the human brain to study vision and perception. You can see all of the works here:

http://www.saqa.com/store-view.php?scat=48

or at the NAS itself, at 2101 Constitution Ave. NW in DC.

h/t to Josh Witten and to The Finch & Pea, which has more on this exhibit at http://thefinchandpea.com/2015/07/29/the-art-of-science-radical-elements/ .

So...stick with this one for a minute...it gets good.

So...stick with this one for a minute...it gets good.

I feel that if we must have an increasingly brutal and unaccountable police force, we should at least be entertained.

Although, I hasten to add that this guy is heavily invested in community involvement which is always a good sign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz95O1OQCH0&feature=share

Does anyone have good resources for getting up to speed on Angular JS?

Does anyone have good resources for getting up to speed on Angular JS?  I'll be using it more aggressively in the future and there's an exercise here at work to build up our chops.

If people have opinions on it, I'm happy to hear those too, but "it sucks" can't actually help me so "it sucks at this and so do this instead to compensate" will be better.

Woot! We won!

Woot!  We won!  

Gold medals for everybody!

U-S-A!  U-S-A!
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/07/27/boston-olympic-dead-sources-say/craNEYZjA6KdHQ0P00GYmL/story.html?p1=ClickedOnBreakingNewsBox

Y'know, my last video was pretty unsettling. Here's something a little more normal.

Y'know, my last video was pretty unsettling.  Here's something a little more normal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJoXKIA0Vs0&feature=share

I'm a Professional Cowboy & I Use Catheters

Does what it says on the tin.

Also, I feel like a chipper Andi McCollam should show up at the end to tell folks who to call.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2soNIkzS0m4&feature=share

Crumbs to tide us over until the next season...

Crumbs to tide us over until the next season...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnR3iY6qF0s&feature=share

So this weekend I played:

So this weekend I played:

Pack the Pack -- a Tetris-like tile-laying game where you try to fill a back pack with matched colors of loot.  It was...ok, but the basic scoring mechanism seemed to be a bit broken (with 3 players anyway) and the advanced scoring seemed like too much to deal with.

Love Letter -- the micro card game that took the gaming world by storm when it first came out.  I can see what all the fuss is about.  It's a short, filler game, but there's a fairly good mix of luck and tactical play.  From a pool of 16 cards you try to be the last suitor standing in the  round.  Win five rounds and you win the game.  Would not mind having this in the collection.

Hanabi -- A cooperative game where everyone works together to create an impressive fireworks display by playing cards in six colors down to the table.  The gimmick here is that you hold your hand of cards face out.  So you can't see what you have.  I only screwed up once on that score.  Play consists mostly of providing one of two pieces of information to another player about their hand and managing the token system that lets you make those statements.  Some shining moments of logical deduction in this game.  Possibly too easy to collude on the game via vocal inflection but it is fun.

Bacchanalia -- this is the card-based re-working of a story game by the same name.  Everyone plays someone on the run from Rome who all turn up in a village to meet up with their beloved and escape as Bacchus and a few other Roman gods show up for fun and games.  Usually everyone dies.

I have been dying to play this game for a while but it's designed for dark, sexy stories and that can be a hard sell for most game nights.  We only went for an hour due to time limits, but oh man is this game fun.  It's a little fiddly at first, but once you've been through a round or two the pace picks up.  The artwork on the cards is gorgeous and it really pushes for these amazing stories if you're willing to commit to it.  Totally something I want to try and play through to the end sometime.

Fun times all around and special thanks to Julia Ellingboe , Meguey Baker, and Evan Torner  among others for a pleasant Saturday.

Ohhhh....that's why I don't have cable television.

Ohhhh....that's why I don't have cable television.

So, they just named a large geographical feature on Pluto the Cthulhu Regio (region).

So, they just named a large geographical feature on Pluto the Cthulhu Regio (region).

Humans -- cheerfully inviting their own downfall since forever.

On the other hand, a CoC scenario set on Pluto?  Awesome.

So, apparently Pluto has a heart-shaped ice cap on it's Southern Pole.

So, apparently Pluto has a heart-shaped ice cap on it's Southern Pole.

(pause for the snickering innuendo)

It just makes this song all the more romantic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3cDdGKqp8E&feature=share

This project will never get funded and is the perfect example of why crowdfunding has not been and never will be a...

This project will never get funded and is the perfect example of why crowdfunding has not been and never will be a meritocracy.

The video alone should raise a million bucks...
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2016867610/the-ancient-game-of-seraqetra

So, I learned about an interesting sub-culture today.

So, I learned about an interesting sub-culture today.

Also, the website as a whole seems like a pretty fruitful resource.
http://www.the-other.info/2014/disney-gangs

Sadly, not a mobile or web based game, but still possibly a lot of fun.

Sadly, not a mobile or web based game, but still possibly a lot of fun.

Attention: Anne Michelle Lowe 
http://maquisard.itch.io/maquisard

Huh. This is fascinating and sad all at once. See how long your favorite movie lasts!

Huh. This is fascinating and sad all at once. See how long your favorite movie lasts!

Originally shared by Evan Torner

A neat, effective form of showing erasure of people of color in mainstream media.
Behold!

http://everysinglewordspoken.tumblr.com/
http://everysinglewordspoken.tumblr.com/

This was surprisingly helpful this morning. NSFW audio.

This was surprisingly helpful this morning.  NSFW audio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92i5m3tV5XY&feature=share

Mostly for Anne Michelle Lowe but others might enjoy....

Mostly for Anne Michelle Lowe but others might enjoy....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GGWRAT-W7o&feature=share

Just a follow up to yesterday's post:

Just a follow up to yesterday's post:

They aren't interested in the house.  The street is too busy for small children.

My relator got the message and will be talking to the person who was showing the house yesterday so hopefully someone will get an earful.

Cripes!

Cripes!  Reaper's new Bones campaign just launched and it's already cleared $328K in the first few hours.  They've blown past their 2 posted stretch goals.

So if you want tons of minis cheap -- now's the time to get in.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1513061270/reaper-miniatures-bones-3-the-search-for-mr-bones/description

Dear People Who Looked At My House Today:

Dear People Who Looked At My House Today:

The showing was from 5:45 to 6:15.  I come by around 6:25 and you're still there.  There's a strange car in my driveway and a young boy looking out the door.  No big deal.  Maybe you ran late or maybe you're really into the place and want a good look around.

I go chill for a while and come back and you're gone.  That's when I find blobs of red waxy stuff -- like from wax candy -- smooshed on the kitchen floor.  On a window sill.  On the carpet in my office.  On the hallway carpet upstairs.  All over my bed.  Oh and my nightstands have been open and stuff pulled out.

I assume this is the kid (or another, younger child I didn't see).  Look, I know, maybe you had to bring the kids.  But people, I spent a thousand bucks cleaning this place from top to bottom.  I've spent many hours getting my house ready and then living like a hermit so total strangers can troop through it.  Maybe keep an eye on your kids, huh?

If you buy the house, then I don't care, but if you don't...maybe don't bring the kids?  

Love...when there's money
Tom

Yeah, so I did call my relator about this.  I'm kinda pissed.

I'm super interested in this exhibit at the Smithsonian.

I'm super interested in this exhibit at the Smithsonian.  It's running for 3 years, but I'd like to see it sooner rather than later (exhibits can age badly over their run).

I'm guessing I'd have to do this in late Sept. or something.  Maybe extend my Columbus Day break.
http://www.nmai.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/item/?id=945