Short links: faster than an Idaho senator's airport bathroom funtime

Wonderful photoset of photos from the Calfornia ghost town called Bodie. Link. Above, a decaying '37 Chevy.

NYT editorial on Matt and Trey's groundbreaking South Park profit-share deal with Viacom: Link. A must-read. Watershed moment here, guys.

Lost in translation: Poagao tells BoingBoing, "A sports paraphernalia store in Taiwan was originally called 'Nigger King' and changed their name to 'Niggar King' after a visit from the police (notice the 'A' in the picture is slightly different). Now they're considering changing it again (Maybe 'Nagger King'?). The Chinese name translates as 'King of the Black People'." Link.

Sock monkeys in a blender, sock monkeys in a meat grinder: crafty, creepy. Link.

Televangelists with toupees: Link.

In honor of John Peel's birthday, a great John Peel interview from 1977: Link. He passed away nearly three years ago; he would have been 68.

Wu Tang Chess: Coming to SF in October, a hip hop chess tournament sponsored by the Hip Hop Chess Confederation, featuring mthrfckn RZA and GZA. Link

BB reader Double Banger says Fox and NBC got a big ole butt: "They just announced the new name of the Fox/NBCU joint venture that is supposed to be the anti-YouTube. The name is 'hulu.' According to Webster, 'hulu' is Indonesian for 'butt' and Lozi for 'old.'"

Israeli researchers found out that being born in the brightest months of the year increases the probability of short-sightedness by up to 25 percent: Link.

(thanks, Kevin Mulholland, Jake Swearingen, jauderho Alexis, Fred, Jeff)

[#1 posted by june , August 30, 2007 2:28 PM]

I've been to Bodie! It's kept in a state of "arrested decay", meaning when they made it a park it had already been deserted for years and was falling apart, and they halted further deterioration but didn't do any restoration. It's a wonderfully photogenic place.

[#2 posted by Stereophillips , August 30, 2007 2:36 PM]

Regarding Hulu, Nancy Friedman's Away With Words pretty much puts it in its place.

[#3 posted by Anonymous , August 30, 2007 3:07 PM]

Please please fix the NYT links before posting them. http://nytimes.blogspace.com/genlink

[#4 posted by Mike , August 30, 2007 3:22 PM]

South Park: I wish they were more specific about the deal. Net or gross of the ad money? Still, the offer itself is a big change.

Hollywood accountancy is *really* sick. Go ask Joe Straczynski about how Babylon 5 has never been profitable...

[#5 posted by Anonymous , August 30, 2007 4:09 PM]

The NYT previously published a more thorough review of the South Park/Viacom deal.

[#6 posted by Anonymous , August 30, 2007 4:22 PM]

I just went to Bodie a few weeks back...an amazing, eerie place. The drive to the site is perfect for building anticipation...a windy 2 way road through fields and high desert...then 3 miles on a bumpy gravel road. After you pass over a hill it all becomes visible...an expanse of abandonment.

The best part is looking through the windows of the buildings...furniture, bottles, clothing and more "ancient artifacts" are intact in the dust.

[#7 posted by Anonymous , August 30, 2007 5:07 PM]

Might I suggest looking at the colder version of arrested decay, Hatcher's Pass, in Alaska (coldest state, hottest governor). I had a great day taking some excelent photos there. Here are some photos, way better than mine, courtesy of flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=hatcherspass+&m=text

[#8 posted by Ambitious Wench , August 30, 2007 5:34 PM]

Bodie is one of my favorite photographic playgrounds.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambitious_wench/sets/72157594382095602/

Thanks for sharing those incredible images!
A. Wench

[#9 posted by Anonymous , August 30, 2007 5:42 PM]

Idaho? It's not just Idaho, it's Republicans all over the globe, man. s ths BngBng r s t Ld's Hm Jrnl?

[#10 posted by Anonymous , August 30, 2007 6:15 PM]

I hope for the sake of hip-hop as a genre that nobody gets shot for castling.

[#11 posted by Jauder Ho , August 30, 2007 7:07 PM]

I took the pictures of Bodie posted above. I was wondering about the sudden increase in comments on Flickr and now I know the reason why. =)

Bodie really is one of my favorite places to photograph and it's well worth it to check it out sometime.

If you liked my Bodie pictures, you might want to check out the following.

Mono Lake
http://urltea.com/1d3n

New Zealand
http://urltea.com/1d3o

[#12 posted by Jauder Ho , August 30, 2007 7:13 PM]

Whoops. Urltea was bad and provided a bad link. The link below is correct.

New Zealand
http://urltea.com/1d3q

[#13 posted by Crunchbird , August 30, 2007 8:09 PM]

That editorial seems like little more than gushing, and I've read elsewhere that sharing internet ad revenue is something that's been part of other TV deals in the past. Stone and Parker have had a piece of the non-TV revenue since the beginning, and now they are negotiating a deal after making money hand over fist for Viacom for ten years. They probably own at least a piece of the rights to the characters, and they do the overwhelming majority of the writing AND the voices, so the show basically can't be continued without them. Obviously, they're going to get a sweet deal.

What I don't get is exactly what makes this such a watershed moment?

[#14 posted by Anonymous , August 30, 2007 8:37 PM]

I was born in March, but I'm both shortsighted and nearsighted ;-)

[#15 posted by isewell , August 30, 2007 11:35 PM]

Bodie is an amazing place and a photographers dream.

More photos of the Eastern Sierras including Bodie, Tioga, Sonora and more

http://www.ianandwendy.com/OtherTrips/EasternSierra/

[#16 posted by transmothra , August 31, 2007 4:07 AM]

zomg Old Navy SOOOOO needs to change their name to Cracker King

[#17 posted by Anonymous , August 31, 2007 11:44 AM]

Before everyone gets all excited, 'Hulu' means 'butt' in the sense of the butt of a gun, or hilt of a sword, etc.
Just don't name your new web enterprise 'pantat' (indonesian for 'ass') and you'll be ok.