Rolling Stone cover photographers got real lazy in the first half of 1983.

This woman’s hair makes me happy:

This phantom torso makes me terrified:

Pictures from The Big Picture via Reddit.

Amazon’s list of the top 100 science fiction novels. I’ve read slightly more than half of them, but I haven’t read any of the following:

10 – Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
12 – The Sirens of Titen by Kurt Vonnegut
13 – The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
15 – Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
17 – The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
20 – Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
27 – A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
29 – The Day of hte Triffids by John Wyndham
32 – Hyperion by Dan Simmons
35 – A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
36 – Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe
37 – The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
42 – The Door into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein
43 – Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein
47 – Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
49 – The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
52 – Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
53 – Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert A. Heinlein
55 – Startide Rising by David Brin
57 – Relevation Space by Alastair Reynolds
58 – Ilium by Dan Simmons
60 – The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
61 – The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem
63 – More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
64 – Burning Chrome by William Gibson
66 – Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein
67 – Fiasco by Stanislaw Lem
69 – The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
70 – The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
72 – The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
74 – To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer
75 – A Stainless Steel Trio by Harry Harrison
76 – The City and the Stars and the Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke
78 – His Master’s Voice by Stanislaw Lem
80 – Gateway by Frederik Pohl
81 – A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
82 – The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
83 – The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke
85 – The Uplift War by David Brin
86 – The Reality Dysfunction Part I by Peter F. Hamilton
88 – City by Clifford D. Simak
89 – The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson
94 – The Lathe of Heaven: A Novel by Usula K. Le Guin
95 – A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
96 – Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
97 – Blood Music by Greg Bear
98 – Gray Lensman by Edward E. Smith
100 – The Chrysalids by David Harrower

Which ones should I read next?

Via Reddit.

A Viking travels through time and joins the Navy Seals. I can’t decide if this plot is more or less outrageous than this one. Via Questionable Content.

I wonder how long the guitarists had to rehearse their synchronized moves?

Via Cynical-C.

David Sedaris describes the wonderful, WONDERFUL Christmas tradition in the Netherlands. It’s crazy and racist!

Part I:

Part II:

Part III:

What I presume to be Sylmar fire smoke (or just low hanging clouds):

Dr. Brown’s house burned down.

The first 100 days, from FDR to W. Via Cynical-C and Fimoculous.

Here’s a video I took while riding in a Tuk Tuk in Cambodia near Angkor Wat:

Today I saw this lone protester outside the Mormon temple in Los Angeles:

Click to big-ify

On my TV today:

The NYTimes mentioned that if voter turnout were to hit 64% this election, it would be the highest voter turnout since the 65.7% we had in the election of 1908 (go Taft!). This got me curious about historical voter turnout levels and led me to this handy data repository, which I turned into an even handier bar graph:

click to big-ify

Apparently I’m very interested in voter turnout numbers, as this is not the first such chart that I have posted.