The Shocker!

Another Victim



In the spirit of Nat-Wu's recent (perversely gleeful?) post about "shock sites", today I address the topic of "prank flash" sites. A few of you might have been victims of this sort of thing before now, but until pretty recently I was unfamiliar with the phenomenon of the "prank flash" site, until I had the misfortune of stumbling across this one-damn Cliff Pickover and his "Reality Carnival"!-which I promptly shared with some of you via email in an effort to lessen the long-term damage to my brain by spreading some of the pain around.

Anyway my point is that Wikipedia-as near as I can tell the absolute best website in the world for a detailed cataloging of deranged websites of all types-also has an entry on the prank flash sites, similar to it's entry for shock sites, including a listing of various "popular" prank flash sites. Take this one, under the heading "Subliminal Music and Immages":

"After loading, an advertisement for whisky is shown. After a few seconds, part of the image is highlighted and the word "SEX" is visible. An image for a flooring company appears, with a woman appearing to be touching her shoulder. The image is then flipped, so it appears the woman is masturbating herself. The song "Dinner at Deviant's Palace" by the band Cradle of Filth begins to play in reverse. The Lord's Prayer is heard along with strange noises. In the middle of the prayer, a loud scream is heard, along with a flurry of pictures; some of them are of a harlequin fetus."

The entry includes the handy note that this prank flash site is "considered among many to be the scariest flash animation on the internet" and comparing it to the infamous "Rubber Johnny" short film/commercial.

Anyway, so that's fun with shock sites. I'd say that some of these actually sound a little scary, in addition to simply being "shocking", but there's no way I'm going to find out for myself while I'm sitting here in my room at 1:00 am in the dark. That's how I discovered "Rubber Johnny" in his original incarnation, and I sure as f#@# ain't doing that again (that's also how I discovered EVP websites, which I also don't recommend for late nights alone, but that's a topic for another day.) But if you're feeling bold and adventurous, try a few of them yourself. Or if you're feeling a little prankish, send some links to noobs like me who don't know any better and be sure to tell them to turn up the speakers for important "clues."

Black Friday! OMG!

Whew! What a crazy morning. I actually hadn't been thinking about going to any sales, but last night I found a Fry's ad and I saw some deals we just had to get. I knew they opened at 5, so I figured if we were there by 4 we'd be in an ok place in line. That was true (we got there at 3:45), but when I got in line, I was at the corner of the front of the building (with the line starting at the door). That was pretty good compared to the people at the end of the line. I know that it got around to the back of the building, and probably went most of the way around.

Fry's had a dvd player/home theater system (like Alex's, except it only holds 1 at a time) for $49. It was regularly priced at $129. I showed that to Kristina and she agreed that that was too good a deal to pass up. We were also looking for a 200 cd wallet that was free after rebate, a power strip that was free after rebate, a 256MB flash memory drive that was $9.99 and Desperate Housewives season 1 that was $23.99 (regularly $43.99). We got all except the flash memory. I was disappointed, but it wasn't really necessary anyway.

We then went to Best Buy, which was pretty much a waste of time. Their discounts made things the prices they should have been regularly, except for big-ticket items that were way out of our price range anyway (like 42" plasma screens). Don't tell mom, but we got her a shelf stereo/cd player to replace the one that broke. It was only $19.99 after the rebate, so it was pretty much the only good deal there.

At Wal-Mart we found two dvds on sale for less than $9, so that was good.

I wanted to share with you guys an observation I made, and I believe I'm not being the least bit biased in it. Every Asian in Irving was at either Fry's or Best Buy. They came in groups of at least 2, usually more though (like 5). When I was waiting to get into Fry's, whites were about 1 in 20, and at the Best Buy checkout line the line seemed to be almost exclusively Asian people with just a few non-Asians thrown in.

I'm not talking about just Chinese, Koreans and Japanese here. I saw those, but more Indians than all of them combined. It was crazy. Man, if somebody wanted to kill a bunch of Asians, that would have been the time to do it. They would have gotten several thousand at Fry's alone.

Blue Balls has to go! Eat a pecan pie!

Guys, Spidey has been on the front page for too long. It's time for him to go. Hopefully this post will accomplish that.

Apropos of Thanksgiving, here you go:

Pecan pie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Pecan Pie is also a 2002 short movie starring Jim Carrey and written/directed by Michel Gondry. Carrey's character sings a song about "pecan pie" while driving a bed fitted with a Volkswagen engine and chassis.
Pecan pie is a sweet custard pie made primarily of pecans and corn syrup. It is popularly served at holiday meals and is also considered a specialty of Southern U.S. cuisine. Most pecan pie recipes include salt and vanilla as flavorings. Other ingredients such as chocolate and bourbon are popular additions to the recipe. Pecan pie is often served with whipped cream.

A tradition holds that the French created pecan pie soon after settling in New Orleans, after being introduced to the nut by Native Americans. It is sometimes referred to as "New Orleans pecan pie," adding an aura of French cuisine to a home-cooked comfort food. Attempts to trace the origin have, however, not found any recipes earlier than 1925, and well-known cookbooks such as Fannie Farmer and The Joy of Cooking did not include it before 1940. (In any case, the process for refining corn sugar was not developed until the 1880s, so, needless to say, the corn syrup which is considered an essential part of the modern recipe was not available to the settlers of New Orleans).

There is no doubt that the makers of Karo syrup popularized the dish, and many recipes—even one ascribed to a well-known New Orleans restaurant—specify Karo syrup by name as an ingredient. This suggests a prosaic 20th-century origin in Karo promotion, and in fact the maker's website currently credits the dish as a 1930s "discovery" of a "new use for corn syrup" by a corporate sales executive's wife. The company asserts that "Down South, today, that same recipe continues to be called Karo Pie" but in fact this name for the dish seems to be rare.

Although the standard recipes call for corn syrup, cookbook author Mark Bittman comments "There are two kinds of pecan pie, one of which contains not only sugar but corn syrup. I don't like this version—not only is it too sweet, if you taste corn syrup by itself you'll never cook with it again." The version he favors uses white and brown sugar, no corn syrup, and "thickens the sugar with eggs—in other words, it's a custard pie, loaded with pecans."

How far is too far?

I have question for you guys that goes to the very soul and nature of the Horadrim. Specifically, is it possible to go too far in our zeal to blog? Let me explain how this question occurred to me.

At school today I found myself needing to go to the restroom to take my mid-afternoon constitutional. Unfortunately, it appeared someone graced the throne before me. I knew this based on the ample evidence of such a presence left in the waste receptacle itself. I thought to myself "Man, that is a righteous dump." Naturally, this made me think of the Horadrim, and how I'd enjoy sharing this little story with you guys later. Then I thought to myself how much more interesting it would be to have some picture to go along with my story, as I usually do when I blog. Then I thought "Well I have a camera phone, so why don't I just photograph the evidence here and then later I'll have a picture to go with my blog entry." But then I was seized with doubt ( as well as the righteous odor accompanying the deposit, which caused me to flush the evidence away.) The question arose in my mind "Is this in fact appropriate for Horadrim? Sure we've discussed goatse in great length, debated the merits of tubgirl, and posted pictures of a man with his balls painted blue and Japanese guys with tiny costumes and big smiles...but is posting a poop picture going too far?"

So what it is fellow Horadrim? Is that going too far? Help me out here.

This ever happen to you guys?

Once upon a time, when I was a normal little boy, I liked American Cheese (or rather "cheese product"). I unquestioningly ate American Cheese (although I have always favored Cheddar) until one day, in my adulthood, I suddenly realized that I thought the stuff tasted like crap. Let me relive the incident for you:

It had been a while since I'd had anything like a plain ol' bologna sandwich with a slice of cheese on it, as it has never been my habit as a bachelor to eat that kind of food. However, Kristina and I were taking a little vacation and we picked up some food we could eat on the road. At a certain point, we took a rest break and got our stuff together. Kristina made sandwiches while I took care of other food.

I bit into my sandwich, chewed a moment, and then realized that whatever was in my mouth I was going to have to spit out because it tasted horrible. I looked at my sandwich, and it looked normal enough. I asked Kristina if there was anything wrong with hers. She said no. I then tasted each individual component: bread, meat, and cheese. Well, when I got the cheese I found the problem. I could eat it, but for some reason only my brain knows, I can no longer stand the taste of the stuff. I mean really, I'm not exaggerating, it is now disgusting to me. Kind of like my situation with alcohol.

I kid you not, once upon a time I liked the stuff. When I was young I ate slices of it by itself. I even ate such sandwiches into adulthood. But somehow in the 3 years or so since I'd last had a sandwich like that, something in my brain or tongue went wrong, and I can no longer enjoy that simplest of cheeses, the American.

I was going to say that I'll go with Cheddar forever now, but then I realized that if it can happen once, it might could happen again. It would be the worst of tortures if my enjoyment of cheese was taken away from me. What would I eat when I went to Mexican or Italian restaurants?

So...has anyone ever experienced something like this?

The "Magic" of Law!

Google says this picture has something to do with my post


A great man once said "Reason is the life of law." As I have come to learn in my 1.5 years in law school, this man was full of crap. Or at least, that he should have followed that with a minor qualification like "...except in the many cases where law makes no sense."

What provokes such cynicism in me you ask? As you may or may not know, one of the subjects I'm studying this semester is estate law, wills, trusts and the like. Now estate law, like all property law in our country, is descended from our ancestors the English, who ruled a vast empire that spanned the planet while also believing in things like fairies and Merlin. Clearly this required a mind-set that was attuned to the most practical of concerns, while simultaneously being willing to accept the most absurd of possibilities. This is clearly reflected in the law we have inherited from the English.

One of the things we study in property law is a highly important rule known as the "Rule Against Perpetuities." Now, I'm not going to even attempt to explain this rule in any full way here, mostly because I don't understand it. But basically, the rule is simply an attempt to prevent people's cold dead hands from reaching out of the grave to tell us years or decades later what we're supposed to do with the property they were so kind to give us before kicking the bucket. So you have to adhere to this rule whenever you create a trust or write a will, and if you don't your will or trust may be struck down and your property may go to that bastard cousin who touched you inappropriately when you were both in 3rd grade.

Now the crazy thing about this rule is that it requires you to look to the future for any possible way in which your will or trust my violate it. And if there is any possible way, no matter how improbable that the rule will be violated, then that provision is struck down, after which you can sue your attorney for malpractice, though you'll be dead at the time so never mind.

Here comes the fun part. There are possibly an infinite number of ways this rule can be violated if you're not careful, but there are several which have proven to be so common that they've earned their own labels. Allow me to share. First we have the fertile octogenerian. What is the fertile octogenerian? Well, for the purposes of common law, it is a woman who is presumed to be able to have a child despite the fact that she's in her 80's. What women does this apply to? All of them. Yes, for the purposes of trusts law, all women are presumed to be able to have children up until the moment of their death.

How about another? Next we have the unborn widow. This is pretty much what it says it is...the woman who will later be a widow who has not been born yet. For the purposes of trusts law, every man who is not actually dead is presumed to have the ability to re-marry a woman who will later survive him, even if she is not born yet.

Also, under the common law and for the purposes of the rule, gravel pits were in one case presumed to be able to last for hundred of years, if not infinity(or the death of the Earth at least, though the court did not address when exactly the Earth would die) and World War Two was presumed in another to case to last decades, if not centuries even though, amazingly, the case was decided in 1953...8 years after the war actually ended.

There are more; as I said above the fun possibilities are endless. Now, to be fair, many states have begun to reform the rule so that these sorts of wacky happenings are no longer presumed to be possible. But states have gone so far as to undermine the purpose of the rule. One state allows for trusts that can last 400 years. Another allows for trusts that can last 1000. Yet another state allows for trusts that can last forever. And yet another allows trusts that can last forever and a day! Okay I made that last part up, but you can see where I'm going with this. The English were all concerned with burying the cold dead-hand of the rich uncle who gave you some money in a trust. We Americans, ever practical, want to dig it back up and put it on your shoulder!

So that's the law. As a reminder, none of this should be considered legal advice in any way, shape, or form, so don't go running home asking your spouse if you can have an unborn widow/widower or a magical gravel pit that lasts forever.

Anyone up for some unicorn hunting?

Ok, that's not really what the article is about, but in short in this one town in Sweden they repealed the endangered species protection for a mythical animal. I just thought it was too funny.

Whatever works...

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but Daniel and I have found something too hilarious not to share with the Horadrim community. I'm sure everyone's heard of Craigslist.org, but have you actually looked at its personals? The men seeking women is beyond hilarious. And yes the picture is from the personals. Here the best ones below:

Can anyone explain the 4th picture in this one?
http://dallas.craigslist.org/m4w/109996409.html

And then there's Fabio:
http://dallas.craigslist.org/m4w/109891126.html

Look in the background of the picture - genius - my second favorite:
http://dallas.craigslist.org/m4w/109395446.html

Um, is that a polaroid?
http://dallas.craigslist.org/m4w/109220647.html

And my personal favorite:
http://dallas.craigslist.org/m4w/110131484.html

This guy makes multiple appearances if you keep searching through the personals.

Enjoy!

This is offensive.

Uh, yeah...

Just thought I'd share this gem with you all.

This is what Alex thinks is cool.

Alex's Halloween costume

He took his picture out on a farm, away from all the people who laughed at him. Click the picture for his second costume pick. I barely managed to dissuade him.