And LOLslugs.

Not if there's only 2 players! This thing just inspired a thought: GIGANTIC AIR HOCKEY TABLE, with multiple goals. A man can dream, right?

Man, that thing just screams "Sharper Image catalog", don't it?

#93, Darrell: I hope I didn't give the impression that I disagree with CM's overall goals; I just don't think they have a clue how to acheive them at this point. I remember a time when there were no bike lanes in NYC...NONE. Has CM taken the time to find out how that was acheived, and by whom? In other cities, have CM's rides effected any positive changes for bikers; if so, were other methods of advocacy also involved? Does CM in NYC have the ears of any sympathetic city council members, or other public officials working with transportation and public safety issues? Bloomberg is on a greening kick, and has been known to hop on a bike now and then: does CM have any contacts with his office? In other words, maybe approaching biker safety concerns from a consumer advocacy angle (similar to how Straphangers Network advocates on behalf of mass-transit users) would be more effective than these activist stunts which a large number of other NYC residents consider to be an annoying inconvenience at best, and which have pissed off the NYPD ever since the ill-considered RNC ride. In the meantime, this tit-for-tat nonsense fueled by hotheads on both sides isn't doing anyone any favors.

One thing I'd like to know: What reason did the Civilian Complaint Review Board give to explain why they "cannot act"? Or are they still every bit as useless and ineffectual as always...

...and old hat "radical chic" may be, but still way sexier than, say, "culture jamming".

Otter, #56: I really doubt the organizers of the RNC (the date for which is set WELL in advance) ever heard of Critical Mass, let alone knew their ride schedule. Whereas CM must have had some idea of the kind of heightened city-wide security conditions that would be surrounding the event, and the resulting touchiness of the NYPD...yet they decided to press the issue anyway. Smells like a calculated testing of boundaries if not outright provacation to me, although I think the NYPD were chumps to take the bait. Sadly, I don't see either side of this idiotic grudge match backing down anytime soon.

DKH, #73: I agree with you 100%, those rides are more than just an "inconvenience" (but better than being a dead Iraqi child, OK #55? Is there a Godwin's corrolary to describe deployment of that ridiculous hyperbole as well?). But remember, in the CM universe, it's your fault for being in the way! Traffic signals are fascist oppressors! Cyclists don't run headlong into parked cars either, they "get doored"! etc. etc.

I stand by my perception of CM being disingenuous. On paper they want to be seen as innocuously civic-minded as the Straphanger's Network, and their stated goal of safer urban cycling is inarguably laudable. From what I've heard they seem to go out of their way to foster good relations with the law in most communities. But the NYC chapter has become too enamored of their annoying, radical chic, fuck-the-pigs stance for that to wash. Their near-total disregard for the community outside of their clique (including other cyclists!) is not helping them in the least. In other words, they royally screwed the pooch, yet somehow it's everybody else who's keepin' these humble civic reformers down.

Critical Mass are notoriously disingenuous about their motives, for example their whole "we're not aggressive provocateurs, we simply had NO IDEA our little ride just so happened, by some extraordinary coincidence, to fall exactly on the first day of the Republican National Convention" schtick, a ludicrous notion proferred by one of their organizers during a radio interview I heard some time ago. They maintained cordial relations with the NYPD right up until then (even though they were always a goddamn nuisance), but the RNC ride was the last straw as far as the cops were concerned (taxed to their limit with security issues as they were), and the two parties have been locking horns in what can only be described as one of the all-time dumbest public pissing contests ever since.

For what it's worth, I know a few people in this city who bike competitively and/or for a living, and trust me, they have no love for the Critical Massholes whatsoever; they give urban biking a pretty lousy image. When pressed on their message or purpose they just turn on the disingenuousness; in reality, they fly in the face of public order simply for the egotistical fuck of it.

Say it with me now: THERE ARE NO COPS IN THIS VIDEO! Just an underpaid civil servant taking advantage of an unofficial perk, and a couple of other blowhards. Civilians all.

#94 Horncologne: Oh people! There are serious issues here, sure, but anyone who has lived in NYC has got to be laughing out loud right now at all of the "Oh my golly goodness! They used naughty, naughty potty words!" ... come on! An F-You has always been as good as a "good morning" in New York.

HA! Exactly. Their little exchange reinforced my NYC pride in hilarious fashion. Also, it's worth re-stating that there are no actual police officers in this video -- NONE. I wonder if Jimmy Justice ever gets all like, "Those FASCIST VIDEO STORE CLERKS! Always charging me exorbitant late fees, yet they keep their movies out for days at a time, even if they're not supposed to! BUSTED!"

Will there be a space Jimmy Justice too?

Man, all this RIGHTEOUS OUTRAGE over the parking violations equivalent of swiping the odd office supply from the mailroom. On her salary I'd be tempted (decent bennies, though!) Yeah, Mme. Recently Retired is an ignoramus, but I'm guessing she left "the job" (traffic officer? receptionist?) some ways back , so who knows how current her knowledge of the laws regarding photography is (assuming she had any to begin with). This "Jimmy Justice" character sure is a peckerhead though (he lost me right at "TRAFFIC NAZIS").

The Chinese are pretty adept at infiltrating US universities with "exchange students". I remember reading an article a few years back in the Comics Journal by one such individual, about the history of man-hua (Chinese comics); it tried to pawn off excerpts of vicious, contemporary anti-Falun Gong propaganda comics as examples of historical works from the turn of the century or before. Nasty.

Don't get me wrong, I read and liked the first DMZ collection; it's a fresh twist on the old "small town hick makes it in the big city" bit. You know: the tough life on the mean streets, the quest to win the heart of the hip chick, etc. Kind of like Escape from New York meets You're A Big Boy Now, right? BUT: I had quite a difficult time taking it seriously as a VERY IMPORTANT STATEMENT about THESE HERE TROUBLED TIMES. I mean, come on, all that smug, hipsterish NYC-centrism (I kept wondering what was going on in Chicago); the way every character is some kind of colorful eccentric or underground saint; the romanticized hardships of bohemian life (with helicopter attacks substituting for street-corner muggings); etc. What am I missing? Do later volumes break out of this mold?

I agree with Brownlee...Pixar will dumb down and sanitize this for the sake of their primary audience, soccer moms. I can't wait to see Tars Tarkas as a cuddly wise-cracking buffoon...ugh.

Actually methinks it's a reflection of a hand holding a net, in the process of hauling in a fishy. Or, the mutilated remains of today's brave (but doomed) fishing partner.

Actually methinks it's a reflection of a hand holding a , in the process of hauling in a fishy. Or, the mutilated remains of today's brave (but doomed) fishing partner.

So does this mean Star Wars is the Behind the Green Door of neo-Ballardian fetish porn?

"The ignorance contained in reactive mind is ego-slime. Evolving into a notion of reciprocity with a galactic intent gets us into the game. Some of us understand the notion that there is a bit more to our life on this planet than buying stuff. Others don't. No problem. Mr. Spielberg may simply be using his personal power to provide a virtual space for confused experiencers to share their stories. I find it enormously sad that pimple brain reductionists have an illusion of power."

Translation: "All you people of Earth are IDIOTS!"

#5: my thoughts exactly. These are clever, but sort of pointless if they aren't pasted up in the same public spaces as the actual police posters.

All due apologies to #4, who could clearly benefit from this sort of thing, but: Personally I fail to see the advantage in learning how to use my face like a hand, to say nothing of the potential cognitive dissonance arising between your "game face" and "real face", if you get my drift. I envision either mode involuntarily kicking in and sending the wrong signal...either to the game, or to the person interviewing you for that job. And if, for example, you have to kill a whole lot of zombies, YOUR FACE WILL GET STUCK LIKE THAT FOREVER!

From what I've heard, "Vinyl Killer" is a pretty apt moniker. It's a great gimmick, but better employed on records you don't mind destroying, rather than limited editions.

" *hic* Kill me. *hic* Kill me. *hic* Kill me." (/simpsons)

Looks like a fascinating book, kinda picking up where Gould left off it would seem. And a lemon wedge sprinkled with sugar and bitters always works for me.

Hey all you "so-what-big-whoop-language-'evolves'" lowlifes: please visit the web site of these dauntless crusaders for proper usage, against the devolution of language:

http://begthequestion.info/

No word on their opinion of dildo law, though, so getting back on track: FREE THE DILDOS! DILDOS FOREVER! VIVA LOS DILDOES! Dildos dildos dildos dildos hhhaahhhrrmmmhhhggh

"Bendy Santa and Camilla To Wed"...hawt!

Too bad it's not a manual for male foot fetishists. Just look at those gunboats!

#47, Finc, you're spot on. Anyone here watch "Cops"? They had a taser-themed episode on recently (I'm not kidding), and NONE of the instances they showed warrented anything more than a vigorous bum-rush. One guy, skinny little drunk dude, was literally sitting in a chair when he got zapped. Fox, Court TV (or "Tru TV" now, I guess) et al really have a lot to answer for given how much pro-police abuse authoritarian propaganda they spew. Who knows what sort of shit doesn't make the final cut.

Right on Jeff, I've always been skeptical of the barometer for "higher intelligence" basically being set at "just like us, with better toys". There's plenty of intelligent life right here on earth that doesn't use our sort of technology to get by, and we barely recognize it well enough to prevent ourselves from killing and consuming it. Anyway, humans as a species have been around for such an infinitesimally short period of time that I'd say the jury is still out whether "our" brand of intelligence is a viable enough evolutionary model to last long enough to reach the Star Trek physics-defying level. Or whether two such similar species would, by some fluke, emerge at more or less precisely the same moment at different points in the universe for them to actually encounter one another. Anyway, what's so wrong with admitting that we really don't have a fucking clue what these things are? (Although in this case, I'm still going with anti-missile flares used in routine training of fighter pilots. And folklore like "Mothman Prophecies" and "Communion" is still a lot of fun.)

I'm going with the flares explaination, which is also consistent with the well-documented "Phoenix lights".

@ Chrome Albion: actually, I live in NYC and I've observed what I would characterize as UFOs on two occasions, both while standing on rooftops. Couldn't tell you exactly [i]what[/i] they were; just mysterious objects in the sky that didn't correspond in appearance or behavior to the usual aircraft one sees over the city all the time(helicopters, airplanes of all sizes, illuminated ad blimps, searchlights playing on the clouds, etc.).

I kind of suspect frequency of sightings has more to do with how much sky is visible to potential observers; I'm sure an attentive and patient plains-dweller would see all kinds of funny stuff happening up there, as opposed to a city rat who, on the rare occasions when one takes one's gaze up off the sidewalk and immediate surroundings, sees mostly buildings. I wonder if that isn't why the stereotypical flyboy/astronaut always seems to be the midwestern farm-bred type; all that big sky up there must inculcate a sort of calling in 'em.

So far the immediate vicinity around my place of work has been cordoned off and paralyzed for hours at a stretch by nervous nellies calling in the bomb squads (robots included!) to investigate (a) an empty paint can, and (b) a trash can filled with (gasp!) trash. Oh yeah, and Boston. This "see something, say something" crap is an utterly counterproductive waste of time; the average joe schmoe citizen doesn't have the slightest clue how to identify actual "suspicious behavior" if it was happening in front of their face. But I guess the real purpose is to keep us terrified, and thus compliant.

Big Brother said:
"If you have nothing to hide, then don't worry about it"
Um, you mean pay no attention while the Constitution gets shat on (again)? Fuck that noise.

Perfect example of taking something simple, making it needlessly complex and calling it an innovation.