Ursus Pacificus

First show to use the new “Mm-hmm-Prompter”… A rousing success methinks! Still a few kinks to work out, but mostly awesome!

…if I do say so myself…

which I do.

This is the prototypey, proof-of-concept-ish stage of my “prompting device”

Next stage? Find a way to mount the camera and the prompter to one frame, and somehow be able to pan/tilt/elevate the whole mess.

Simple.

NewsUndies - All the news that shouldn’t be news for September 25, 2009: Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Ray Comfort, Darwin, Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith and lots of other junk!

Crap in a hat!

Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron have released a video on YouTube, which spells out a plan to distribute copies of “On the Origin of Species” with 50 pages specially-crafted insert text, which will make the assertion that the Christian god made the species, and there’s no evidence to support evolution, and how Hitler and Darwin were pen-pals, and so on. They will then take these wonderful books to 50 college campuses and give them away free of charge. The plan is for 50,000 books to be distributed on November 19, 2009

Just in time for November 19, the UrsusPacificus KitschKave has spiffy sweatshirts (and other garments) to tell Kirk and Ray what you think of their book:

All “Lousy Book” items are offered with no mark-up from the CafePress base price!

These can be found in the Atheism, et cetera… section of the KitschKave.

Part of what cheeses me off about this is that, for you to really get what they’re doing, you need to see the video.

Here it is:

So, they’re taking advantage of the fact that OTOoS is in the Public Domain, and, as such, can be freely modified, and republished.

I propose that the King James Bible is also in the Public Domain, and could use a good going-over… moo-hoo-hoo-ha-ha!

Dan Piraro, known to many as the artist behind the wildly surreal comic “Bizarro” comic, put up a nice post about atheists and atheism.

It’s true that some of us in the atheist camp can get a little worked up about things from time to time. I would certainly lump myself in that group.

Fortunately, Dan is able to step back, and be calm and lucid, while still using unapologetically frank terms like “invisible superhero”.

Whichever side you’re on, you should give Dan’s post a read.

Here it is:

http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/2009/09/believe-it-or-not.html

UrsusPacificus NewsUndies for September 18, 2009: Afghan Election Irregularities; Joe Wilson’s Parliamentary Nightmare; Fla. Church - Pepsi Makes You Gay; Pope - Poverty Breeds Violence; Manned Spaceflight’s Uncertain Future; Showerheads of DEATH!!!; Kanye West - Still a Douchenozzle; Patrick Swayze Finally Dies; Man Works 50 Years at One McDonald’s; Sarah Palin Opera to Open in Boston

Can you spot the “speak-o”?

Two spiffy new designs! If you’re going to AAI in Burbank, I hope to see you in one of these!

Fish. Neat idea. Livin’ in your own toilet. Yee-ha!

A new twist on an old favorite!

So, as you may already know, I’m an atheist. If you didn’t already know that, well… now you do.

As you may also know, I do a weekly show on YouTube, called “NewsUndies: All the news that shouldn’t be news” … again, if you didn’t know that… well, now you do.

In my efforts to promote NewsUndies, I’ve expanded my online presence, including joining some online communities. I’m on ThinkAtheist, AtheistNexus, Twitter, and a page on Facebook.

While snooping around on ThinkAtheist, I stumbled across “Bible Answers”, done by Nick Green, Jesse Larsh and Ben Fishel. Together, they go by the name “Cose2Cose Productions”, and you can see their stuff on YouTube, here.

Well, they put together the first season of Bible Answers on DVD, and posted a :60 second ad on YouTube for the DVD.

Well, Nick and I had corresponded a little on ThinkAtheist, I’d mentioned I’d admired BA, and he’d mentioned liking NewsUndies, so… Now that they’re doing a DVD, I thought I might be able to help them out a little, by including their ad in NewsUndies… I asked Nick to cut it back to :30, and pull the “dirty words”, which he did in very short order, and huzzah!

I got the DVD, and am watching it now.

One thing that I noticed the first time I watched BA was that it looks very “videotapey”. In the commentary, almost right off the bat, Nick Green mentions that BA is recorded using a 1980s-vintage VHS camcorder to give it that “public access” feel. That’s dedication! I would have poked around for a plugin for iMovie or Final Cut to make good digital footage look like old videotape.

So… I guess the point of all this is… check out Season 1 of Bible Answers from Cose2Cose, and, if you can swing it, snag a copy of the DVD!

Woo hoo!

Going to the Atheist Alliance International 2009 Convention in Burbank, CA next month!

Are you going? If so, look me up! I’ll be the guy who looks like this:

Planning on snapping up some of those new designs from the KitschKave and wearing them proudly at the events!

Hope to see you there!