Obama Inauguration Newspaper Headlines

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How To Recycle Crayons

Instead of throwing away crayon stubs you can melt them into appealing shapes.  See how to do it HERE.

 

Stephen King’s 2009 Wish List

I no longer make New Year’s resolutions — it’s too easy to break ‘em. But wishes and hopes are essential parts of the human condition, and since this is my first column of 2009, I thought I’d share some of mine with you.

First, and maybe most important, I wish for a year during which no talented young actors or musicians die before they can realize their full potential. No Heath Ledgers, please; what a sickening shock it was to hear that on the radio. No David Foster Wallaces, either. We need all the bright lights we can get, because the world is too dark already. Following along with this (like a dependent clause at the end of a sentence) is the wish that 2009 will be the year when Amy Winehouse finally gets it right.

I hope Fox and Warner Bros. will settle their nasty cat-fight over Zack Snyder’s Watchmen movie. I think Snyder’s tremendously talented (I just watched his Dawn of the Dead remake to see if it holds up — it does), and Watchmen is one graphic novel that cries out for a film adaptation. That one has been made and I might not be allowed to see it seems absurdly unfair.

I wish that Steven Spielberg would make another big, loose, everything-goes slapstick comedy like 1941. Or a big-screen remake of Duel, that’d be nice.

I wish for the last Michael Crichton novel to be published, and for it to be the best Crichton. One 2008 Web post (on Yahoo! Answers) suggested that the last one was in the Jurassic Park mode. It might not be true, but if it is, how cool would that be?

I wish for a rock & roll renaissance — probably a vain hope in an American Idol-dominated decade where too many singers (both male and female) sound like 1985-vintage Michael Jackson, but is it impossible to think some neo — E Street Band might capture a rock-deprived generation stuck with Kanye West and the Pussycat Dolls? Do I really have to face the fact that three-chord rock is dead? Man, I hope not.

I wish for new novels by three very different but equally great American voices: Elmore Leonard, Cormac McCarthy, and Joyce Carol Oates. None are young, but all are (at last report) in good health. So come on, you guys.

I’ll have a book coming out in the fall, and since it’s over a thousand pages long, I sure hope people like it.

I wish an American network would run the British Life on Mars, one of the greatest limited-run (16 episodes) television series I’ve ever seen — it shuts the American version down completely. As boss cop Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister in the British version) might say, ”Trust the Gene Genie on this.”

I hope my two favorite returning cable series will kick ass: Damages on FX and the incomparable Breaking Bad on AMC. I’m also wishing for more answers than questions on Lost, and a season of redemption for 24…although I have to tell you, Uncle Stevie has not been encouraged by the advance trailers.

I wish that the final six episodes of this year’s Prison Break won’t be the final six episodes ever. Come on, Fox, if you can run that silly Sarah Connor Chronicles thing, surely you can find it in your corporate heart to give me one more helping of Michael, Lincoln, and the immortal (not to mention immoral) T-Bag.

Last, I wish that every appreciator of the American pop cult — and I count myself very much in that number — will remember that books, music, movies, and videogames are important…but not all-important. There are millions of people in the world who are more concerned with getting their hands on enough to eat than they are with whether or not they’ll be able to score a new-generation Kindle or Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for their Nintendo. I know that all the fight-hunger, work-for-peace Bono blah-blah can get a little old, but none of the bad stuff is going away soon. So in 2009, I’m going to contribute a buck to some useful charity like Save the Children or Physicians for Social Responsibility for every one I spend on movies, DVDs, or iTunes downloads.

Jeez, I guess I made a New Year’s resolution after all.

And I wish that you, dear reader, would do the same. If you can’t, I understand — 2009′s shaping up to be a horror show — but I can wish. Because wishes are how every good thing starts.  (Reprinted from Entertainment Weekly)

Satellite Image Of Inauguration

This half-meter resolution image of the United States Capitol, Washington D.C. was collected by the GeoEye-1 satellite on Jan. 20, 2009 to commemorate the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. The image, taken through high, whispy white clouds, shows the masses of people attending the Inaugural Celebration.  Click on the image below to see a large version.

 

President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address

Virtual Card Toss

You have an upside-down hat and you have some cards; you need to get the cards in the hat. It’s just like a real-life card toss! The longer you hold down the mouse button, the more distance you’ll cover with your card. Use your mouse to pan to the left or to the right as needed. Click HERE and have fun!

 

 

 

 

Make Your Own Bike Lane

As we look for ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and find viable transportation alternatives to the internal combustion engine, many urbanites are turning to that staple of bipedal locomotion: the humble bicycle. While rider ship is increasing every year, bicycle safety remains a huge issue: in 2007, 43,000 people were injured in bike accidents, resulting in 698 deaths. Though many cities are getting serious about making bike-friendly infrastructure changes, installing bike lanes is a costly proposition with a glacial pace of implementation. Enter LightLane, a safety concept from the clever designers at Altitude, Inc. The system projects a virtual bike lane (using lasers!) on the ground around the cyclists, providing drivers with a recognizable boundary they can easily avoid. The idea is to allow riders to take safety into their own hands, rather than leaving it to the city.

Barack Obama Takes The Oath Of Office

Joe Biden’s Teeth?

Trident has created a viral site in honor of Inauguration Day at joebidensteeth.com. Go there today and upload a smiling photo of yourself, and the company will send you a free pack of gum.

Why Joe Biden’s teeth? Because, according to the company, the newly elected Vice President has the world’s most famous teeth.

Spiderman 4 To Start Filming In 2010

The fourth film in the blockbuster “Spider-Man” franchise will begin shooting in 2010, actor J.K. Simmons told MTV News at Sundance, revealing that he’ll continue in the role of Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. “I saw Sam [Raimi] at his Christmas party.”

The news appears to confirm earlier reports that Sony was looking towards a May 2011 release.

 

Both Sam Raimi and Tobey Mcguire are expected to return, but have yet to formally commit. Kirsten Dunst is also up in the air, although the actress has voiced her willingness to continue as Peter Parker’s love interest.

 

First Movers

After Barack Obama is sworn in on Jan. 20, he and his family will move into the White House. But how exactly will the president-elect get all his belongings into his new home? Will he hire movers?

Yes. The president-elect is responsible for arranging transportation for his furniture, clothes, and personal effects from Chicago to a White House storage facility in Maryland (where they also keep antiques, Easter decorations, paintings, etc.). The Secret Service oversees the whole process, which usually happens the week before the inauguration. It provides an escort for the moving vehicles and screens all items—books, desks, chairs—before they enter the facility. But Obama has to cover the transportation costs, either with personal funds or money raised for his campaign or transition.

Once the incoming president’s stuff is on White House grounds, the residence staff takes custody of his possessions. The chief usher, who coordinates move-in day, provides the staff with White House floor plans and photos that indicate where each item goes.* (The first time Obama visited the White House post-election, he and the chief usher discussed furniture arrangements, food preferences, and other logistical issues.)

The Inauguration Day move-in takes about six hours. It starts at 10:30 a.m., when the sitting president and the first lady have a traditional tea with the president-elect before heading over to Capitol Hill for the swearing-in. Once they leave, the 93-person staff shifts into high gear. (They don’t hire outside help for security reasons as well as privacy.) The operations personnel does the heavy lifting while a housekeeping detail helps prepare the bedrooms, curators make sure the furnishings and décor are just so, florists worry about bouquet arrangements, and the chefs prepare the post-inauguration dinner. At the same time, the staff moves the ex-president out. Items get loaded into boxes, which get loaded into vans and then military cargo planes that carry everything to the former president’s new residence. With only two elevators, it’s organized chaos.

Who pays for all this? Congress draws up an annual executive residence budget, which gets a little extra funding every four years to cover move-in costs, such as packing equipment and overtime for staff members. The first family also gets a redecoration fund to cover draperies, carpets, paintings, and other costs. (From Slate.com)

Obama Portrait For The New Yorker

Drew Friedman created the new cover art for this week’s New Yorker. The painting is titled “The First.”

 

Change Has Come To America

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

 

Watch 6 New Clips from the Lost Season 5 Premiere

Watch 6 new clips from the LOST season 5 premiere HERE.

Watch Obama’s Inauguration On Your iPhone

Just in time, Apple has approved UStream’s live-streaming iPhone app, allowing users to watch Obama’s Inauguration on the go. You can download it free from the iTunes store HERE.

 

I Pledge

Download And Watch America’s Song As Seen On Oprah

Now you can listen to and watch the exclusive America’s Song anytime you want with this free download! This new anthem features the talents of will.i.am, Faith Hill, Seal, Bono and Mary J. Blige.

 

Download it HERE for free until Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET

 

 

Stories Told in One Sentence

It’s amazing what you can do with one little sentence. Just a few little words can make you wonder what the heck happened, like this one:

“When I opened the door I noticed 2 things: one, someone had made cookies, and two, all the furniture was missing, in that order.”

Some are very poignant, some are hysterical, and some are just plain weird. Click HERE to read them.

Slider Mini-Burger Tools

Make your own sliders at home with these Slider Mini-Burger Tools. The collection includes the Slider Mini-Burger Basket ($25), Slider Mini-Burger Press ($25), and Slider Mini-Burger Cutter ($5). The press forms three perfect patties, the basket holds nine of them, and the cutter trims regular sized buns into slider size. (From Uncrate.com)

 

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump

RUN DC

Photographer Glen Friedman shot iconic photographs of the hip-hop band RUN DMC in the eighties.  

 

 

His design has been reconfigured by an unknown New York t-shirt artist to celebrate Barack Obama’s inauguration. You can purchase the shirt HERE.

 

Listen To The New U2 Song, “Get On Your Boots”

Get On Your Boots (Listen to the song HERE), the first single from U2′s new album No Line On The Horizon, will be released as a digital download on February 15th with a physical format to follow on February 16 through Mercury/Universal.

Produced by Brian Eno, Danny Lanois and Steve Lillywhite, sessions for No Line On The Horizon began in Fez, Morocco, and continued at the band’s Dublin studio, New York’s Platinum Sound Recording Studios, and London’s Olympic Studios.

Released on March 3rd in the US, the album will come in a standard format with 24 page booklet and in digipak format. The digipak includes an extended booklet and the album’s companion film “Linear” by Anton Corbijn. A limited edition 64 page magazine will also be available, featuring the band in conversation with artist Catherine Owens, and new Anton Corbijn photographs.

The album cover artwork is an image of the sea meeting the sky by Japanese artist and photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Design Barcode

Design Barcode is a Japanese firm that invented a process which allows a design element to be integrated into the barcode. The mundane barcode is transformed into a work of art and in each case; the barcode design visually reflects something about the product.  You can look at their examples HERE.

 

Does Facebook Replace Face Time, or Enhance It?

Facebook started as an online hub for college students, its fastest-growing demographic is the over-25 crowd, which now accounts for more than half of the site’s 140 million active members. Why is Facebook catching on among harried parents and professionals? “It makes me feel like I have a grip on my world,” says Emily Neill, a 39-year-old single mother of two. Neill isn’t a techie, per se — “I’ll never have a phone that does anything but make calls,” says the fashion consultant in Watertown, Mass. — but stays logged on to Facebook all day at work, and then spends an hour or two, or lately three, at night checking in with old acquaintances, swapping photos with close friends, instant messaging those who fall somewhere in between. “It makes you feel like you’re part of something even if you’re neglecting people in the flesh,” she says.  Read more of the Time magazine article HERE.

 

YouTube Offering iPod-Ready Video Downloads

YouTube has begun to offer a click to download option on select videos. The downloaded mp4 videos are encoded in the iTunes-friendly H.264 format, and are sized with a maximum width of 480 pixels to maintain compatibility with most portable media players, such as the iPod and iPhone. The feature mirrors a prior download feature offered on Google Video, which had not been brought over to YouTube. Currently, the most obvious source of downloadable videos appears to be President-Elect Barack Obama’s Change.gov channel. It is unknown whether YouTube plans a more expansive rollout of the download option.