Recent reviews by Mark M.

What's this?

Hi! I haven't posted anything here in over a year. During that time I pretty much migrated onto Facebook, which satisfied the same 'blogging urge' that I used to get by posting here. Also, when I was posting here regularly, I was trying to build something similar to my favorite kinds of websites like Neatorama. BUT I have a whole new favorite kind of web site now - much more along the lines of Reddit, Metafilter and Digg - and a Blogger format like MARKJAMESMURPHY.COM can never be anything like that. So, I'm shifting gears a bit here.

I'm occasionally going to post stuff on here from a mobile device, just to save it for posterity. The problem with Facebook is that it doesn't archive stuff for very long, so the main bulk of what you post there just kind of goes away.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time if you've read through some of the older content here. Although I was trying to provide a bunch of general entertainment, there's also a lot of my own personal memories mixed in there, so it's a nice record of some of the stuff I did during that time.

(Kurt Kuenne)

Validation is a fable about the magic of free parking.

(drbpony)

Merry Xmas everyone! Here's Henrietta and Merna with some Xmas cheer!

(Rickroll)

Rick Astley rickrolled the entire world at the Macy's thanksgiving day parade! Best. Rickroll. Evar.

(Glassyeyes.com)

Glassyeyes.com Imagine how you would feel if you found a gas station that had gasoline for 40 cents per gallon. That's how I feel right now. Not too long ago, I found the website Glassyeyes.com, the blog of a guy named Ira. "Shattering the eyeglasses scam", the tagline said. The information that I found there was incredible: eyeglasses, an important and vital commodity, are one of the most price-inflated products out there. In fact, they are routinely marked up 1000%.

I was procrastinating and badly needed new eyeglasses. My two pairs were ancient and worn out. I thought that I would embark on an experiment, and follow Ira's advice. On his website, he shows you how to use your prescription to order eyeglasses over the internet. He links over to some web-based eyeglass companies. Armed with a recent prescription, I ordered a pair from a website called Goggles4u. They arrived in about two weeks. The price?

$24.69. With free shipping.

This is about 1/10 of the price that I've been programmed to expect.

The kicker? The glasses are awesome. The lenses are perfect, and include antiglare/antireflective/UV coatings. The frames are no different in quality than any other glasses I've owned. It's not some cut-rate, inferior product - it's the same thing, at 90% off.




My mind is blown. I'm going to start ordering pairs from his other recommended sites, as an experiment. After all, if eyeglasses are no more expensive than a DVD or a book or a meal, why not have many pairs?

I have a pair on order now from Zenni optical that cost under $40, and I can't wait to see what they are like. Zenni even has a selection of glasses that are $8. EIGHT dollars, frame and lenses.

I'm officially shouting it from the rooftops: eyeglasses can be had for a tenth of what you have been paying. Thanks, Ira, I can hardly believe it.

(DustoMcNeato)

Head Over Heels: The Literal Version Dustin McLean of Dustfilms.com has done it again, altering the lyrics of a classic music video to reflect what is actually happening in the video. This time it's Tears For Fears.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

(DustoMcneato)

A-Ha's Take On Me, Literal Video Version. Now the lyrics describe exactly what is happening in the famous music video.

(Sarah Silverman)

The Great Schlep is an awesome initiative by Sarah Silverman to get more votes for Barack Obama in Florida.


The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

(SNL)

Tina Fey sure makes a great Sarah Palin.

(Whedon)

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog is a hilarious short film created by Joss Whedon. It was created during the writers strike when a lot of people in the film and television biz had a lot of down time. Packed with catchy songs, it tells the tale of a love triangle between a mad supervillian, a cocksure superhero and a pure-hearted girl. A smash hit, it is already inspiring a huge amount of fandom.

(Bumbershoot)

Bumbershoot 2008 at Seattle center. It had been a long, long time since I attended Bumbershoot - I'd say at least ten years. But my friend Kat bought tickets weeks ago based solely on the fact that Neko Case was going to be one of the headlining acts.

I'm a giant fan of her side project The New Pornographers, but I had very limited exposure to her own brand of 'country noir'. It's a very dark and haunting music, and she sounded fantastic. There were infinite opportunities for some crazy people watching. And, of course, fair food galore.

(Evergreen State Fair)

The Evergreen State Fair in Monroe, WA is celebrating it's 100th anniversary this year. I had never been there before but I had a great time at the Puyallup Fair last year, so I thought I'd give it a go. I drove up there alone because my friends were working. It was fun to see all the tradition and effort put into the exhibits. I grew up near a farm, so the animal smells and sounds triggered some old sense memories. It was cool to feel the leathery snout of a pig, and the warm breath of a goat on my knuckles. I gorged myself on fair foods and took lots of pictures and video clips. I'm now officially psyched for the upcoming Puyallup fair, which I'm going to sleep at in Camppy with Kat and the doggies!

(Idiot)

Playground ride Vs Head. The final score: Playground ride 1, Head 0. NSFW language!

(WildSnake Software)

BLOCKY 2. You have to try this awesome game!

(studiopendulum.com)

Pendulum Studios AlterEgo team is pushing the envelope of realistic human face animation. Methinks that we will soon see very realistic 'synthespians'...

(Dark Knight)

The Dark Knight, Batman, has a way of causing a fair amount of collateral damage as he careens around Gotham City, as shown in this deleted scene featuring Aziz Ansari.

See more Aziz videos at Funny or Die

(globalrichlist.com)

Global Rich List. This could sure make you feel better about your lot in life. Apparently I'm among the top 6.57% richest people on the earth.

I'm the 394,655,173 richest person on earth! Discover how rich you are! >>