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.