firehose

Knock loud, I’m home.

Hieroglyphics

The resolve project

Snowman on his smart phone

Jan. 1 has become the official birthday for thousands of Afghans who don’t know when they were born.

When Michael Arndt was replaced as the writer of Star Wars: Episode VII last fall, we were told it had to do with timing concerns. But according to a new report in the Hollywood Reporter, the real reason was a disagreement over who the film should be about: Luke, Leia and Han, or the next generation.

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SUPERMAN!

Ahmad Brooks went for the Troy Polamalu perfect-snap-count-read-flying-blitz play. He jumped juuuust a bit early, giving us this moment of unstoppable offsides hurdling glory. Textbook flop by Cam Newton, too.

YOLOOOOOOOOOO

maggieblueberry:

10followedfelagund:

The Lord of the Rings Meme | ten scenes (2/10)

Farewell to Lórien.

This is my favorite fucking scene. 

If you’ve read the Silmarillion, you know who Fëanor was. If you don’t, Fëanor was the dickhead who created the Silmarils: three indescribably beautiful and magical jewels that contained the light and essence of the world before it became flawed. They were the catatlyst for basically every important thing that happened in the First Age of Middle Earth.

It is thought that the inspiration for the Silmarils came to Fëanor from the sight of Galadriel’s shining, silver-gold hair.

He begged her three times for single strand of her beautiful hair. And every time, Galadriel refused him. Even when she was young, Galadriel’s ability to see into other’s hearts was very strong, and she knew that Fëanor was filled with nothing but fire and greed.

Fast forward to the end of the Third Age.

Gimli, visiting Lorien, is also struck by Galadriel’s beauty. During the scene where she’s passing out her parting gifts to the Fellowship, Galadriel stops empty-handed in front of Gimli, because she doesn’t know what to offer a Dwarf. Gimli tells her: no gold, no treasure… just a single strand of hair to remember her beauty by.

She gives him three. Three.

And this is why Gimli gets to be an Elf Friend, people. Because Galadriel looks at him and thinks he deserves what she refused the greatest Elf who ever lived—- and then twice that. And because he has no idea of the significance of what she’s just given him, but he’s going to treasure it the rest of his life anyway.

Just look at that smile on Legolas’s face in the last panel. He gets it. He knows the backstory. And I’m pretty sure this is the moment he reconsiders whether Elves and Dwarves can’t be friends after all.

The Biogenesis founder revealed the extent of Rodriguez's alleged PED use in an interview with 60 minutes.

Suspended New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was detailed in his study and use of performance-enhancing drugs, Biogenesis founder Anthony Bosch said in an interview on CBS' 60 Minutes on Sunday night.

Bosch detailed his secretive relationship with Rodriguez, whose 211-game suspension was reduced to 162 games on Saturday. Bosch said he would inject Rodriguez at times with PEDs because the Yankees third baseman was "scared of needles." Rodriguez also told Bosch to be very careful about being seen when the two men would meet.

The segment said Rodriguez spent about $12,000 a month in doing business with Bosch, and human growth hormone was one of the PEDs he used. Bosch even said there were some PEDs that Rodriguez would take right before and at the start of games with no risk of getting caught if there was testing afterward.

Bosch said becoming the only member of the 800 home run club was one of Rodriguez's motivations.

"Alex cared. Alex wanted to know," Bosch said. "He would study the product. He would study the substances. He would study the dosages, because he wanted to achieve all his human performance or in this case, sports performance, objectives. And the most important one was the 800 home run club."

When things began to go south for Rodriguez, Bosch claimed his life was threatened by known associates of the Yankees infielder. Rodriguez's lawyer Joe Tacopina denied those claims and questioned Bosch's credibility, but Bosch did receive a guarantee of safety when he agreed to testify as MLB's key witness against Rodriguez.

The MLBPA wasn't pleased with the "60 Minutes" segment, and they released a statement expressing their displeasure:

"It is unfortunate that Major League Baseball apparently lacks faith in the integrity and finality of the arbitrator's decision and our Joint Drug Agreement, such that it could not resist the temptation to publicly pile-on against Alex Rodriguez. It is equally troubling that the MLB-appointed Panel Arbitrator will himself be appearing in the "60 Minutes" segment, and that Tony Bosch, MLB's principal witness, is appearing on the program with MLB's blessing.

MLB's post-decision rush to the media is inconsistent with our collectively-bargained arbitration process, in general, as well as the confidentiality and credibility of the Joint Drug Agreement, in particular. After learning of tonight's "60 Minutes" segment, Players have expressed anger over, among other things, MLB's inability to let the result of yesterday's decision speak for itself. As a result, the Players Association is considering all legal options available to remedy any breaches committed by MLB.

Throughout this process the Players Association has repeatedly shown it is committed to an effective drug program that is strong and fair. And as we indicated in our statement yesterday, although we do not agree with the arbitrator's decision, we respect the process and will act accordingly. We believe the other involved parties should do the same."

The MLBPA's complaint was met with a harsh response from MLB, which released a statement of its own.

"We have notified the Major League Baseball Players Association on numerous occasions that we intended to respond to all of the attacks on the integrity of our Joint Drug Program. Those attacks continued yet again yesterday with Mr. Rodriguez's statement.  Out of respect to the grievance process and at the request of the MLBPA, we waited until a decision was rendered to make our response.

It is ironic that the MLBPA is complaining about MLB's participation in this program given that Mr. Rodriguez's lawyer is also participating in the show.

As to Mr. Bosch's appearance, he is not controlled by us and is entitled to speak however he chooses about his interactions with Mr. Rodriguez."

MLB commissioner Bud Selig did a brief interview for the 60 Minutes segment, calling Rodriguez's actions "beyond comprehension." Rodriguez declined an interview request.

More from SB Nation MLB:

• A-Rod suspended 162 games | What’s next for A-Rod? | Goldman: You brought this on yourself, A-Rod

• Derek Holland out until mid-2014

• Emergency appendectomy for Carlos Gonzalez

• Investigating what kind of writers reveal their ballot

• David Roth: Three things about baseball and sanctimony

• Neyer: A brief history of MLB players going out on top

• Death of a Ballplayer: Wrongly convicted prospect spends 27 years in prison

On-the-Money: The Koch Brothers' Dark Money Network Keeps Growing:

The first of a new feature at Moyers & Company by Gail Ablow about money and politics, running weekly.

A sample:

Dark Money Groups Have Already Spent Way More Than You Think: The Huffington Post’s Paul Blumenthal worked with the Sunlight Foundation to analyze press releases, news reports and FCC data to determine the spending of dark money groups since January 2013. They found that during that time, trade groups and social welfare organizations — 501 (c) (6)s and 501 (c) (4)s – spent at least $24.6 million on issue ads naming specific candidates. That was seven times the amount these groups reported they had spent on campaign activities during the same period. The Koch Brother’s Americans for Prosperity led the pack with at least $12.4 million spent on anti- Obamacare ads. While liberal dark money groups spent some $3.3 million on issue ads, with much of the money coming from the League of Conservation Voters.

suicideblonde:

OMG

The Broncos quarterback wants you to experience beautiful Omaha.

Peyton Manning sure does like saying "Omaha" a lot. In fact, he's saying "Omaha" on almost every snap. He's saying "Omaha" so much that we can't get "Omaha" out of our minds.

It's likely a signal to his offensive line to kill a hard count, but that doesn't mean we're not taking notice. Even (you guessed it) Omaha is abuzz with the attention.

We certainly appreciate all the love from #PeytonManning :) #OmahaOmaha

— Official Omaha Info (@VisitOmaha) January 12, 2014

Peyton is a little busy, but we'll say a hearty "You're welcome" on his behalf.

There's one thing left to do: listen to "Omaha" by Waylon Jennings and read some facts about your next holiday destination.

1. Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha has an indoor swamp.

2. The Omaha Beef likely have the best name in all of indoor football.

3. According to Wikipedia: "Omaha's rate of violent crimes per 100,000 residents has been lower than the average rates of three dozen United States cities of similar size." YOU GO OMAHA!

4. Omaha is one of the "most walkable" cities in America.

5. Professional wrestler "Sting" was born in Omaha.

I thought jumping back into the dating pool after having cancer at age 27 would be good for me. But as hard as I tried, I was no longer a "normal" twentysomething.

Paul Dini has been pretty outspokenly pro-female fans in the past, even in the face of direct opposition.  He's also well-known for writing a lot of female characters that do well with female fans, such as Harley Quinn and Catwoman.  But Dini admits that many female fans of comics characters were made fans by other media outside of comics because of the success of shows like Batman: The Animated Series.  It is those fans that he hopes to attract with the upcoming Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell original graphic novel with artist Joe Quinones.

dcdark:

Death by Amy Reeder Hadley (Madame Xanadu)

Heh.  This was my favorite issue in Madame Xanadu…issue 6.  Not only did I get to draw Death, but I was quite excited to be drawing an aging Madame Xanadu.  And of course, I thought the way Matt Wagner wrote this was super cool and inspiring.

Everybody clap your hands!

What's the sound of one hand clapping?

Now, what's the sound of two of Philip Rivers hands clapping?

CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP ... I NEED THE BALL ... GOLY GEE FELLAS, shucks.

It's like watching Charlie Brown play quarterback and we're a-okay with it.

Here it is as a dance move:

DO THE BOLO

Here it is next to Jim Harbaugh's pirouette from earlier:

Who won?

Rad Lorule GIF by Claire Belton ⊟

She even drew the Thief Girl from my favorite dungeon in A Link Between Worlds! Claire makes a lot of neat GIFs on her Tumblr, many game-related, so follow her there.

BUY Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, upcoming games

Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments

PASADENA, California—Mark Burnett has produced some of television’s biggest series, including Survivor, The Voice, The Apprentice, and Shark Tank. Now, “I’m at the point in my career where I can try anything,” he says.

It might be one of his boldest moves yet: bringing lucha libre wrestling—the second most popular sport in Mexico (after soccer), featuring acrobatic wrestlers in colorful masks—to the US with a new league and a new TV series.

Burnett detailed his plans at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour. They include a show debuting in the second half of 2014 on El Rey Network, the just-launched cable network from Sin City and From Dusk Till Dawn director Robert Rodriguez. It is targeted at Latino men (but airs entirely in English).

Burnett’s One Three Media production company is teaming up with Lucha Libre AAA, Mexico’s top lucha libre league filled with hundreds of heroes and villains, to develop both the series and the league. There will be monthly and quarterly specials on El Rey, as well as live, pay-per-view events. In the series, five stars from Lucha Libre AA are “exiled” to America and will look to recruit new stars.

“This is a long-term, big play for us,” says Burnett. “I loved lucha libre for ages. The chance that we can bring lucha libre and build a massive franchise together was too big to miss out.”

If things go as Burnett hopes, he can tap into the US’s billion-dollar wrestling industry—so lucrative that World Wrestling Entertainment just announced the February launch of its own WWE Network, a 24/7 online streaming service offering access to past wrestling shows and all of its upcoming WWE pay-per-view events.

Lucha libre is a relatively unexplored sport for Americans (other than Jack Black’s 2006 comedy Nacho Libre, which had a mixed reception).

Burnett’s starpower should also give a jolt to the upstart El Rey Network, which is hoping to attract audiences with an eclectic mix of series like From Dusk Till Dawn, based on Rodriguez’s films (debuting March 11) and Matador (airing this summer), about a soccer player by day and spy by night. Because of the channel’s lower profile, he should also have the patience that he didn’t have with his boxing-themed reality competition The Contender, which debuted on NBC in 2005 but whose soft ratings resulted in subsequent seasons airing instead on ESPN and ultimately Versus (now known as NBC Sports Network).

Promises Burnett: “It’s going to be epic.”

Washington Post

Arrivals stream into Golden Globes Washington Post Arrivals streaming into the Beverly Hilton for Sunday night's Golden Globe had to navigate one unlikely obstacle: A part of the red carpet was drenched when a lighting rig set off a sprinkler a few hours before show time. Crews used wet dry vacuums to clean it ... '12 Years,' 'Hustle' head up tonight's Golden GlobesUSA TODAY Red carpet arrivals: Hollywood celebrates at 2014 Golden GlobesCNN Golden Globes 2014: White out on the red carpetLos Angeles Times San Jose Mercury News all 424 news articles »

Wow! Perfection!

I particularly love how the last Dropbox Tech Blog post before the outage was about scaling MongoDB.