Links, House Cleaning, Etc.

So once again, I've reformatted the blog. I was having too many problems with the other template and it was driving me insane so I just changed it. Besides, the picture of the tree was really getting on my nerves. Expect the blog to change templates again in a few days when I finally force myself to learn html.

You may notice that I've updated the links section. I tried to provide a link for some of the people I know who have blogs and actually update them. If you feel left out, just drop me a line and I will add your blog. New to the links section is Paul's blog, which I've mentioned in the blog before. Paul is an old friend from my Provo days and his humor is the stuff of legend (remember when we told everyone Emily was a widow!?). I also added a link to Peter's blog. Peter grew up down the street from me and now happens to be the leading authority on immigration policy on the west coast.

I also put in a link for Lileks, whose site specializes in twisted commentary on old advertising. Trust me it's hilarious. If you've ever sat through an Andrew WK video with me, or church for that matter, you know that this is exactly the kind of thing that would appeal to my twisted sense of humor.

Finally, I was going to link to my friend Sterling's blog, but he insists upon never updating it, in a dramatic statement of web based irony. While I respect his artistic expression of apathy, I'm not linking to it until he puts up new stuff. In his place I put John Mayer's blog. Whatever you may think of the man's music, his writing is hilarious. If you never saw his one-off tv show send me an email and I will Pando it over to you with all due speed. Here's a small taste


Other fun stuff I've run into on the web lately:

Great article on Mental Floss about how the KKK started as a pyramid scheme. That's right, the most evil and hateful organization in America started out as a way to sell custom made sheets.
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/7912

Good rundown from the guys over on Freakonomics about whether the Surge in Iraq has been effective.
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/is-the-surge-working-ask-the-data-not-the-politicians/

For those of us who lament the death of television as a medium to promote music, the A.V. club has 13 signs that MTV hates you.
http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/13_signs_that_mtv_hates_you

Brilliant parody of both far left and far right movie reviewers.
http://moralmovies.blogspot.com/

If you ever watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, you probably developed a pathological loathing for a certain Wesley Crusher. The actor who played the galaxy's most annoying teenager has gone on to become a successful author and blogger. In an effort to atone for his Wesley related sins, Wil Wheaton periodically publishes a hilariously snarky episode guide for ST:TNG. It's very funny and if you ever watched the show, you show check out his blog, it is hysterical. Wheaton gets bonus points to his frequent references to alt.die_wesley_crusher.net
http://www.tvsquad.com/bloggers/wil-wheaton

Noted LDS author, Orson Scott Card, runs a blog on which he reviews pretty much everything. The author of Ender's game has, what I can only describe as "interesting" taste in movies, but his reviews are well thought out and entertaining.
www.hatrack.com

Finally, back when I was a lowly freshman at BYU, Eric Snider wrote a column for the Daily Universe, BYU's almost entirely unreadable newspaper. He's gone on to become a professional columnist and movie critic. I highly recommend his website, especially his movie reviews. Do yourself a favor and read the reviews of movies he DIDN'T like (anything with a D grade or worse).
www.ericdsnider.com