aphexddb.com

Seriously, they are. You have no idea the difference a warm rear makes in the winter, especially with tiled floors. The approach the Toto website takes is both courageous and a little funny. Seen a toilet seat in Japan? They make ‘em.  Either way it worth a watch for the sheer hilarity factor. Totally G-Rated.

http://www.cleanishappy.com

 Thank goodness I found this post! Using a Firefox plug in you can block the Facebook beacon URL and this insulate yourself from the EVIL probing fingers of the Facebook people, who obviously have no interest in their user base. Textbook corporate sellout move.

link the Idea Shower » » Block Facebook Beacon

“When you’re married you’ll understand the value of fresh produce.”

- Tony Soprano

In a rare bout of rationality, I finally bought into my own downtown St. Louis yuppie urban hype. I started taking the train to work in Clayton instead of driving like I’m a suburbanite from O’Fallon burning 10 gallons of dinosaur oil a day in beige mid-size family sedan. My old commute was anywhere from 12 minutes (best case) to 45 minutes (worst case). Now my commute is 35 minutes every single day. Here are five reasons that it’s such a hit:

1. You get some decent exercise. Seriously, walking ~20 minutes to and from each Metro station does wonders for my energy levels. Normally in slug-like office worker mode I went from heated garage to company parking walking maybe 2 minutes total, spread across the entire day. It’s a real noticeable difference and my heart rate is up after breakfast and before dinner. I feel great.
2. It’s relaxing. You can stare out the window and listen to your iPod / read a book / people watch instead of thinking about how the guy in front of you can’t stop riding the brakes. If you are tired you can nod off a little bit, try that while driving in bumper to bumper.
3. It’s cheaper than buying gas, period. If your employer has a mass transit pre-paid spending account it’s even better. If my company had the foresight to offer PERC, commuting to work would literally be free. Some quick math: If the Metro costs $720 a year to ride ($60 monthly pass) the tax deferred amount is a savings is around $252 per year. Even though my car commute wasn’t that long its still marginally cheaper without the tax break. (Plus all the wear and tear on the car should drop well over 60% if you have a typical commute).
4. It lets you listen to more music. In the car you have to pay attention to the road no matter how tired you are, so you can’t really focus in on that news story or the song thats playing. With my new constant 35 minute commute time I can enjoy most of an album or a solid playlist. This is a big one for me.
5. The MetroLink is on-time and clean. A foregone conclusion you may think. Let me ask you this: when was the last time you took a ride on BART (San Francisco), the Chicago train, the T (Boston), or a urine soaked NYC subway and didn’t feel a pressing need to rinse your hands in disinfectant after leaving.

Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to our soon-to-be-screwed friends who live west of highway 170. You have no access to public transportation and come January 2nd, 2007 the main commuting route (highway 40) in St. Louis will be shutdown. To be honest I don’t really have any sympathy. If you choose to live 2 hours from your job and have no problem buying that much gas from our Iranian and Saudi friends more power to you. I’ll be casually strolling down to the station at 5pm with a little kick in my step and a smile on my relaxed face. Enjoy those red-taillights!

Groove Armada has some funky stuff. End of story.

Groove Armada - Live From One Big Weekend 2004 [ 46:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is the house that funk built
Groove Armada style
All right, I’m checkin’ all you this evening an’ see you sittin around
But we aint gonna have none of that this evening, child
That’s right, don’t be lookin’ at me like that
See my name’s gran’ma funky y’all
Funky if you’re nasty darlin
And you’ve got to stay nasty
But see, I need a little more volume, you know what I’m sayin’
Give me volume on everything ’cause I want you to hear me
I wanna hear myself against the world
Check it out
If you all love gran’ma funky y’all you’re my gran’ babies
So get ready to get down, get funky, get loose
I see you, baby, shakin’ that ass
Shakin’ that ass
Shakin’ that ass
I see you baby shakin’ that ass
Shakin’ that ass
Shakin’ that ass
I see you baby shakin’ that ass
Shakin’ thay ass
I see you baby shakin’ that ass
Shakin’ that ass
Shakin’ that ass
I see you baby shakin’ that ass
Shakin’ that ass
Shakin’ that ass

…

This is the house that funk built
Groove Armada style

Burnout means you’ve pushed your creative energy beyond the point of recovery. Like a well of water, creative energy replenishes itself slowly over time. A person who has pushed their creative well too hard for too long will, like its watery counterpart, one day find it empty. They’ve pushed too far. Usually by the time you notice something is seriously wrong, there’s very little left to work with. Burnout then is something, once experienced, a wise person learns how to avoid and manage (which we’ll talk about later). But right now, lets cover some of the common signs that you’ve become toasty:

• You dread getting up in the morning (unless this is not unusual for you)
• You don’t care anymore about something you were passionate about
• You saw the title of this essay and felt a ray of hope
• Inspired motivated creative people annoy you
• Everything seems gray and pointless
• You’re drinking more or eating more, or showing whatever your signs of depression are
• You find it hard to relax
• It seems impossible to do basic work you know you’re capable of

via scottberkun.com

My good friend DJ John Tamm-Buckle of Twig Media and Kvist Records (buy Kvist 01!) turned me onto the deep heavy bass of Dubstep a couple of years ago. I have been a devotee ever since. If you can handle the bone chomping sounds and epic tracks, well today is your lucky day. Here is a dose of Dubstep for enhancing your aural ecstasy via directed bass. Podcasting these mp3′s is super easy with podPress, what a tight plug in.

Geroyche - Disciples of Bass [ 1:20:03 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Go Japan! Golly, HD footage of the moon! Oh wait, we put a few people and cars on the moon 50 years ago. Kthxbye.

link to HD Video of moon flyover

I just listened to a cover of the Holy Diver song by Dio, an old metal band. Performed by the new metal band Killswitch Engage.. awesome!

Fun fact via Wikipedia:

The now four-member band took the name of “Killswitch Engage,” a name proposed by D’Antonio after watching an episode of the FOX program The X-Files entitled “Kill Switch”. The episode’s writer, William Gibson, came up with the title after a chance meeting with the industrial band Kill Switch…Klick; the bands are otherwise unrelated.

Only on a Friday can I combine William Gibson, heavy metal, X-Files, and an mp3 into a blog post.

Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver [ 4:08 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

via The Telegraph