www.mofo.com doesn’t go to where

www.mofo.com doesn’t go to where you think it should. It actually goes to the site for Morrison & Forester, one of largest law firms in the world. That’s what you’re getting for your $300/hr., a bunch of mofos.

The Louvre, lots to marvel at

The Louvre, like the Eiffel Tower, is an attraction (if it’s even fair to call the Louvre an “attraction”) that fully lives up to its reputation. The art contained within the Musée is fabulous and unique and varied, but the buildings, structures, statues, and gardens that make up the Louvre are equally as impressive. Murals on the ceilings, sculpture on the walls, marble flooring, intricate carpeting, cavernous rooms, tapestries, and natural lighting. It all worked together for a wonderful experience.

Pictures from the Louvre:

- Venus de Milo. This room was packed with people trying to take pictures of this famous sculpture, but I ended up getting a really good shot. Like the Louvre itself, this lived up to the expectations.

- Discus thrower, detail of hand holding the discus. This is one of my favorite photos from the trip.

- Egyptian painting, year unknown. Seeing these ancient paintings up close was amazing.

- Sculpture of Athena. This thing was huge.

- Youth with ball.

- Detail of a gold-encrusted box. I can’t recall what this box was, what time period it was from, or where it was from. There was so much to see that I couldn’t stop to fully appreciate everything (or even 10% of everything).

- Detail of hieroglyphics. Again, I don’t know the time period on this, but it was pretty old.

- The Mona Lisa. Taking a picture of the Mona Lisa is a bit futile because there are so many other photographic reproductions of her out there, but now I have one of my own (and, through the magic of the Internet, so do you).

- Pyramide du Louvre. This recent addition covers the main entrance to the Musée and provides natural lighting to the main underground hallway of the complex. Admittance was free on the day we went (the workers were on strike), and there was at least a 45 minute wait to get into the main entrance. We entered through one of the lesser-known side entrances and breezed right in.

- Huge room of French sculptures. The photo does not do this room justice. It was *huge* and bright and airy and awe-inspiring and again, just huge.

- Detail of a stained glass window. They just don’t make stained glass like this anymore.

Still getting naked on the

Still getting naked on the webcam.

William Safire writes about the

William Safire writes about the arch pause in the New York Times Magazine, a technique similar to the didn’t-get-the-joke? quotation marks I wrote about back in April.

While wandering around in the

While wandering around in the park today looking for a good place to read, I caught the back half of a doubleheader, two teams from an amateur Sunday baseball league of a semi-serious nature - players wore uniforms, there was an umpire, and the teams had coaches. As the game started, I found myself rooting for the team seated closest to where I was sitting.

Two innings into the game, it was apparent that my team wasn’t up to the task. The starting pitcher was wearing sweatpants. The first baseman, citing personal reasons, departed after the first inning, leaving his team with only eight players and facilitating a need for his coach - who, before the game, was telling his players about his experiences as an Asian child living in WWII-era America (making him about 55 years old) - to take over his position. Another player left after the second inning, and they pulled some guy out of the crowd to replace him. The other team seemed more athletic and serious, with more elaborate celebrational routines and a roster large enough for substitutions.

And then there was the matter of the four runs their opponents tallied in the first inning.

Despite all that, my team appeared to be having more fun than the other team. After all, it was a nice day, they were out getting some exercise, and they had accepted their fate in the game, which had already been largely decided at that point. The other team seemed too caught up in the game to be having fun. I actually kinda felt sorry for them and clapped for my guys when Mr. Sweatpants struck out the final batter in the top of the third.

Dots is “an arts and

Dots is “an arts and culture mag designed specifically for Palm and PocketPC handhelds”. Very cool idea. And if you don’t have access to a handheld, you can view Dots on their PocketPC emulator (bottom of the page). Thanks to Pete for the link.

Amazon Recommends hack

About a week and a half ago, I profiled Amazon Recommends, a new service from Amazon that allows members of their Associates Program to easily place product recommendations on their sites using JavaScript. I also lamented that they had hard coded the layout so that you pretty much have to go with their design on your page.

Interested JavaScript coder Willem Broekema found a way to change the layout of your Amazon recommendations. Basically, you put Amazon’s JavaScript code in a hidden div, parse it with JavaScript, and then spit it out into another div with the modified look and feel.

Steve Champeon is feeling god-like

Steve Champeon, who is an author, holds a degree in religious studies, and does more stuff on the Web than I can list here, is today’s mini interviewee:

Q: As a co-author of the Dynamic HTML Bible, do you feel like you’re finally putting your degree in religious studies to good use?

A: Well, I haven’t started writing yet, but I’m already beginning to feel the mad rush of omnipotence on the one hand, and on the other, I’m beginning to understand what God felt like with a world to build and a six-day schedule in which to do it. I wonder if God had an acquisitions editor? And, of course, I have capable help in the form of Eric Costello and Scott Andrew LePera, who will write the useful parts of the book. So, to answer your question, 32 Long. And it’ll be out at the end of the year. Buy two. :: end

A clarification regarding yesterday’s post

A clarification regarding yesterday’s post about Absolute PowerPoint: The plagiarism crack was not intended as commentary on the journalistic integrity of either Mr. Parker or the New Yorker magazine. I was surprised at the similarity between the two articles, that’s all. I suppose I was also affected by the malleability of truth and blurring of fact and fiction in the things I’ve been reading about lately. I apologize for any misunderstanding.

But I still think the New Yorker Web site needs some serious help.