Great shortcut tip via Daring Fireball for finding menu items on your Mac: use shift+command+/ to get the help menu, then just start typing the name of the menu item you want.

So I'm sitting here — sitting! — reading kottke.org and he points to this:

Phys Ed: The Men Who Stare at Screens

"Men who spent more than 23 hours a week sitting had a 64 percent greater chance of dying from heart disease than those who sat for 11 hours a week or less. What was unexpected was that many of the men who sat long hours and developed heart problems also exercised. Quite a few of them said they did so regularly and led active lifestyles. The men worked out, then sat in cars and in front of televisions for hours, and their risk of heart disease soared, despite the exercise. Their workouts did not counteract the ill effects of sitting."

I guess Homer was right:

I haven't posted here in quite a while, so I'm late to publicly wish my brother and new sister-in-law congratulations on their recent marriage. We all had a lot of fun, I was honored to be part of it, and the kids even took part (hey Jeremy, where's the box with the rings you're supposed to be carrying?).



Also, instead of a first dance, the new couple fittingly rocked out instead:

A little Star Wars nerdery via I Love Charts: an assortment of underachieving AT-ATs. (Love the Subaru BRAT-AT.)



Update: these (and other cartoons) were actually done by Lunchbreath.

I just felt the need to give some positive feedback to Raynham Hardware. Our basement, like many people here in our area, took in water. In the past we've never even had so much as a puddle, so we didn't own a water pump to take care of it, and everyone we knew who had one was using it or had lent it out.

Finding a utility pump was hard — every single store was sold out. But Raynham Hardware had some and saved the day for me (and, seeing how fast the pumps were selling, many other people). I wondered how this one little store was the only one for miles with pumps, and it turns out that they had an employee drive to New York this morning to get a bunch. I can't thank them enough, other than to give them my business going forward.

Ace is the place with the helpful hardware…

I didn't know who German filmmaker Werner Herzog was until I recently saw Grizzly Man. (Sidenote: that movie was not what I expected.) Now that I'm familiar with him, I find these readings of children's books by "Herzog" hilarious:

"Werner Herzog Reads Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel"


"Werner Herzog Reads Curious George"

I'm not naive enough to think the passing of the health care bill is the end of all our health care problems, but I do think it's a step in the right direction. This bit in the Atlantic summarizes my feelings pretty well:

Why This Moment Matters

There are countless areas in which America does it one way and everyone else does it another, and I say: I prefer the American way. Our practice on medical coverage is not one of these. Despite everything that is wrong with this bill and the thousand adjustments that will be necessary in the years to come, this is a very important step.

Cute joke, but it's her laugh that really gets me every time.

I didn't grow up with Nintendo. I played plenty of arcade games, but for some reason we picked the "wrong" home video game systems: Odyssey 2 instead of Atari 2600, Atari 7800 instead of NES. Of course I've played Super Mario Bros. but I didn't "grow up" with it the way my wife, many of my friends, and most people my age (late 30s) did.

I recently bought Super Mario Bros. on the Wii's Virtual Console so the kids can play a game that is easy to understand and control (though it isn't an "easy game"). They really like it, and I was a little surprised how much I enjoy it, too. And if I felt guilty for liking an old and silly game (I didn't) I've recently come across a couple pro-Mario articles:

Why A Man Plays Mario (Kotaku.com)
Better Late than Never? (AV Club)

I think this (from the latter article) sums it up:

Here's another thing I didn't understand about games until I played Super Mario Bros.: Games are supposed to be fun. And it is enough for games to be fun.

Dick Maul's Bike Shop held a contest at Skater's Edge in Taunton, MA today. It was great seeing some old friends and a lot of fun shooting BMX again (it's been a long time). Here are some shots from the contest: