8 Ways to Sunday

One of the few good things about sick days is the chance they give you to make excuses for things you know you shouldn’t be doing.

Current excuse: “I’m only on my fourth serving of ice cream because my throat is still sore.”

Lisa Lamb’s web site Side ‘o Lamb is dedicated to her urban exploration exploits, particularly to the decaying seaside resort of Asbury Park. She offers the following intro to her photo essay:

Founded in 1887, Asbury Park was once one of the Northeast’s most popular seaside resorts. Over her 100-plus year history, Asbury Park has been resilient, surviving devastating fires and hurricanes. Today, Asbury Park’s beachfront is in the grip of a decline that began with race riots in 1970, and continued into the 80s and 90s with corrupt politicians and improper land deals.

Although it has a population of approximately 17,000, Asbury Park has the outward appearance of being a ghost town. Even in the summer the boardwalk is quiet. There are no ice cream or pizza stands, no arcades, no games of chance and no souvenir shops. Only the Howard Johnson’s is open occasionally. Strange banging and creaking noises come from the skeleton of a condo tower left unfinished when money ran out in 1994. Though boarded up or falling apart, many of the picturesque structures from Asbury Park’s long history remain standing, giving visitors a hint at her once grand past.

The photos of the casino in the snow are almost magical, and there’s a nice melancholy to the empty spaces where the Palace and casino carousels used to be.

Also worth visiting are Lisa’s pictures of Eastern State Penitentiary. The photos of Al Capone’s cell and of the tin of Civil Defense All-Purpose Survival Crackers are my favorites.

(Props: Cool Site of the Day)

The developers of Internet Explorer have asked to receive feedback on features and fixes for the new version. Here’s my top five:

1. Complete and correct support for CSS 2.1 and lower
2. Complete and correct support for HTML 4.01 (I’m not holding my breath for XHTML)
3. Complete and correct support for the PNG image format, including 32-bit PNGs with alpha channels
4. Greater separation between the browser and the operating system — excessive integration is the source of too many serious security problems
5. Tabbed browsing

(Props: Ordered List)

Remember that full redesign I promised waaay back in December? I’ve been really working on it in earnest for the last week and a half, and it’s almost done. No, really, I mean it this time.

Proof, you say? Oh, okay… here’s a taste:

Click for larger version

The navigation to the major sections of the site still has to move into its own color-coordinated bar under the masthead, and I don’t have the fonts and colors for the sidebar links right yet. It’s moving right along, though. Real soon now…

Memo to J-Lo: butts are out and Bibles are in

Some say it’s sacrilege, but I think it’s pretty darned funny:

I like big Bibles and I can not lie
You Christian brothers can’t deny
That when a girl walks in with a KJV
And a book mark in Proverbs
You get stoked
Got her name engraved
So you know that girl is saved
It looks like one of those large ones
With plenty o’ space in the margins
Oh baby, I wanna read wit’cha
‘Cause your Bible’s got pictures
My minister tried to console me
But that Book you got makes (”M-m-me so holy”)
Ooh, momma-mia
You say you want koinonia
Well, bless me, bless me
And teach me about John Wesley

I saw her praying
While I was DJing
She got grace…pretty face
She ain’t goin’ down to the bad place

I’m tired of heathen guys
Sayin’ they like pocket-size
Ask the average Christian to take a look
She’s gotta pack much Book

So… Fellas (Yeah?), fellas (Yeah?)
Has your girlfriend got the Book (Oh yeah!)
Well, read it (Read it!), read it (Read it!), read that Holy Book
Baby got Book

— “Baby Got Book,” by Dan “Southpaw” Smith

There’s more to it than that: check out the full lyrics. All in all, probably the best “Baby Got Back” spoof I’ve ever heard. Definitely beats the hell out of Weird Al’s lackluster attempt. It even has a corny-funny video to go with it.

Now I appreciate this guy’s refusal to take his faith with utter stone-faced seriousness, but something about this does still strike me as slightly… disturbing. I think it’s the initial impression that there might be a guy out there with a big-Bible fetish.

(Props: Snapdragon’s Journal and The Watchtower of Destruction)