I’m a huge shanty fan, too, though I generally avoid the more modern versions of these classic songs. I much prefer the low-tech rough edges and raw choruses of the vintage versions from the 40s and 50s.

Some of my favorite albums - with many a song about drinking and wenching, as well as the usual sailing ditties,in order of most fave to least:

Blow Boys Blow by Ewan MacColl & A.L. Lloyd
Whaling & Sailing Songs by Paul Clayton
Shanties & Songs of the Sea by Johnny Collins, Dave Webber & Pete Watkinson

And just for fun, it’s not really a sea shanty album, but has many sailing & buccaneer-inspired songs, Pegleg Tango by Captain Bogg & Salty. You’ll hum or whistle these songs for about the next 6 months. The generally tame pirate references makes this a great kids’ album, too, though any fun-loving, pirate-minded adult will find much to love. “Pull Away Home” is a sweet and beautiful classic that deserves a spot in the hallowed catalog of great sea-faring songs, authentic or not.

Wow, this is the first time I've seen this condition visualized. That's exactly what it looks like. I get these about once a month, with no accompanying headache.

They last anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. Kind of nauseating when they first occurred a year or so ago, now I just wait them out. Very annoying, though, since they don't disappear when I close my eyes. And mine are a bit more transparent than the movie version.

Who's that man on the right?

As long as there are stupid, time wasting social networking sites to occupy the masses, there will be more opportunity for the rest of us to spend on more worthwhile endeavors. Much like pot and seeking out the latest indie music sensation, these indiscriminate pastimes of youth will be left in the dust when those people realize there are real and substantial things in the world that are far more worthy of their attention.

And yes, I RTFA.

Maybe it's because pirates still exist today, and they display nary a bit of traditional pirate garb such as eyepatches, parrots or peglegs. What they do have are RPGs, hand grenades and assault rifles.

http://www.downloadmunkey.net/images/00968011.jpg

Back in the old days wwhen we had cable tv, there was some doc on the HD channel about shipbreaking. I think it may hvae actually been an episode from PBS's "Frontline". In any event, all those dangerous job tv shows are like summer holidays compared to shipbreaking. Pay was slave wages, and there was something like a death a week from illness or accident. The cancer and respiratory illness rates are off the charts due to all the asbestos ans heavy chemicals in the often older vessels. Pretty sad that human life is so devalued by these companethat it's considered expendable in the service of cleaning up the West's messes.

Still, great photos, though.

Of all the SW "tribute" items people have built over the years, this is hands down the coolest one ever! Amazing attention to detail. The finished pics look so punchy and brilliant I almost thought it was a 'Shopped hoax, but the supporting pics pretty much prove its existence.

Screw science! It's time for Michael Bay's "LHC Collider"

Terra-ists have taken over the LHC, set off a nuke, and using the operator's manual you downloaded off the net (http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/-page=extra.lhc/jinst), you single-handedly save the world from the terra-ists!

As the the ginormous explosion expands (in slow-mo), you (manually) switch on the black hole generator and suck the explosion backwards into another dimension and save the earth.

Problem is, the explosion is actually zapped to an inhabited planet in another dimension, and the Pan-Dimensionalites mount a retaliatory attack on the Earth. Our hero then modifies the LHC (paying careful attention to the manual) into a (large) hand-held weapon and single-handedly fends off the alien invasion by shooting miniature black holes at them.

Yes, I’m working on my “Best Screenplay” acceptance speech right now.

"It’s like if you know that everyone else is going to die then you feel okay about dying…"

I've never thought of it that way before, and it's oddly comforting. I mean, as long as there's no warning and it's instantaneous. Sorta nice knowing you won't have that "left out" feeling...

Best music on a hirise building's website evar!

Is that the smart-ass older doctor from Scrubs?

Explain to me how EPS doesn't give off toxic gasses when it burns?

OMG, fired from Burger King? How will they ever get their lives back together and become productive, responsible citizens again?

Oh, I guess that's not really an issue here.

Nice piece. Never has so much creativity gone into selling such an awful product/experience. Nice to see someone's at least trying to pretend that flying doesn't totally blow these days.

As for the method used to create the spot, it looks like a combo of 3D and 2D images (though it could be all 2D) comped together and animated in a compositing program like Flame. It has the look of an elaborate 2D cutout animation, a la South Park, but simply using more detailed and refined images.

"What do you think the "provocative" news is all about?"

That the Bush administration has a "science team".