No "In A World..." Headline On This Blog

Don LaFontaine was the voice of movies, no doubt about it. (Link to the Guardian's film blog)

A Really Cool (And Totally Pointless) iPod Hack

Ever pick up your guitar and go "Wish I could sound like {insert your favorite guitarist's name here}"? Fret not. (Ha ha). A kid on youtube shows you how, using an iPod. (As always, YT commenters are there to provide their invaluable opinion on the video.)

AC/DC: "Black Ice"

AC/DC release their new album on October 18.

Start working on your air-guitar skills NOW.

Vote For The Doctors' Project

"American Express is holding its second annual "Members Project" to donate up to $1.5 million towards a project nominated by their card members. Please help us by voting for Doctors Without Borders’ project “Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children” and spreading the word about this initiative."

You can go to the Members' Project page and nominate MSF's project. (Registration required.)

Flutterby

"We ordered calamari and two glasses of pinot noir, and I asked the waiter to get something for the butterfly."

A Red Admiral butterfly takes a shine to a journalist. The full article and the one-page print version. (Links to Washington Post, via Digg.)

Speaking of butterflies, I googled for Indian butterflies and landed on this great-looking site. (And there she is, the Common Emigrant. Countless happy hours were spent chasing them, the Joker and the Sailor.)

"War Over Shoes And Toilets"

"This is the day my mother has chosen to die, and the toilets need to be spotless."

Hardly your typical weekend fare, but it's essential reading.

How does a household cope with a (terminally ill) family member's decision to be euthanized? (Via Digg)

I can't even begin to imagine what such a decision would mean to family and friends. Would it feel like murder? Would you feel weak for not having been able to convince the person to live? And assuming you were able to convince that person, would you be able to watch the person deal with the physical and mental pain of the terminal illness?

Would you be filled with love and kindness for a person just because you knew he or she was dying? And aren't we all dying? If so, why isn't there love and kindness in our hearts all the time? Do you look at every human you meet and think "you are dying and so am I, so let's just be kind and loving with each other"?

Just why on earth are we squabbling over shoes and toilets?

Untitled, For A Very Good Reason

For more than three weeks now, I've been hearing people say "summer's almost gone". Nonsense. The fireflies disappeared more than six weeks ago. So I know that summer has been gone for at least that long. In fact, I am not even sure summer was ever here.
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I received my rakhi by mail yesterday. But what does it mean when I tie that piece of string on to my wrist myself? That I am my own sister? That I will always protect myself? That I can just give myself a little gift?

Feeling a little confused, I turned my attention to a real raksha bandhan ceremony as my wife tied a rakhi on her younger brother's wrist. (Amazing how the ceremony makes even a six-footer seem like a little baby). As a joke, I fired up YouTube and played that song from "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" and predictably, got distracted by the comments to the video. Go on and read some of the comments and tell me if you didn't feel a little tug inside your heart.
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Space Bar has a new blog and she wants to know "what makes you depressed". Boring, cheap breakfast cereal should have been my answer.
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Peter Griffin (the blogger, not the man in the green pants) emailed about a "flash fiction" contest. So if you are a flasher and you can write...no, that doesn't sound quite right.
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The Cole Porter bio-pic, "De-lovely" is a bad movie. Please don't watch it.