“Transmission” by Joy Division, Lego version via @63merc

“Transmission” by Joy Division, original version

“Transmission” by Joy Division, caribbean steelband version via @WFMU

More Sleeveface: Are you in a pissy mood like me? Here’s a little sleeveface to brighten your dark soul.

Need Another Reason to Dislike Denis Leary? I don’t. This pretend-fireman, pretend-hockey player and legit joke thief has been ripping off comedians (entire bits from Bill Hicks) for years.  His comedy career-defining bit “I’m an Asshole” was stolen directly from Louis C.K. If that’s not enough, Leary attacks autism for no good reason (a lame attempt at keeping the edgy, angry guy thing going, huh?). Did he once play a pretend-neurologist, is that how he became an expert on the topic? I guess he’s never met a child who has to live with the disorder.  At least he’s spot-on about the “I’m an Asshole” part.

Vote Wisely: Or else… you’ll see a lot more of this… and god forbid, this!

A Clean Break in Philly: “A vacant lot becomes a prefab neighborhood for two weeks with full-scale modern, sustainable, affordable homes designed by international architects.” Sounds interesting!

Blinded by Science? Trust no one! Even scientists, Jeff?  Yes friends, especially those Bunsen burning bastards! Read The Great Betrayal:

Judson’s cast of characters includes a dermatologist who claims he can graft skin from black mice to white — but turns out to have colored the grafts with a Sharpie. Another scientist creates bogus data before the very eyes of his stunned colleagues. And a Nobel Prize winner defends the publication of a co-author’s concocted data by saying it’s the scientific community’s job to verify it.  [via veryshortlist]

If you want to fear your doctors too, I recommend: Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande.

Not Dead: Just Asleep.

We Need Backup! Wow, this handsome little fella seems like a good deal: Iomega releases 1TB network hard drive for $299. Speaking of Iomega, you designers remember good ol Zip drives? How’s about the dreaded SyQuest disk, the absolute worst and most unreliable thing you could ever attempt to save a file to.

Checking in with Stewie: Tired Old John McCain Just Recycling Speeches At This Point

New Lego Store in KoP: Grand Opening Photos: Life Size Lego Batman and more Legotatsic photos from Rob Bender.

Download Free MP3: “Revival Road’
It’s a nice little ditty featuring Chuck Ragan, Ben Nichols, Tim Barry, Frank Turner, Digger Barnes, Jon Gaunt, Todd Beene. Want more, check out their Revival Tour info and dates here.

“Move it son, I need your toys, I’m making serious stuff here!” – Sorry chubby-fingered little ones, Legos are not toys anymore. They are the premiere building material for robot nerds and conceptual artists alike. So you can stop building that stupid little house, junior. It’s crap compared to this stuff:

• The Art of Brick: Nathan Sawaya’s Lego Exhibit Hits Philadelphia
• Beijing Olympic Games: The Lego Version
• Mindstorms NXT
• The Brick Testament

It Worked for Johnny Cash… Country legend Glen Campbell has just released an album of pop and rock covers and I’m happy to report it’s damn good — a little over polished, but it captures the spirit of early “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” Glen Campbell well enough. He wisely chose a mix of modern songs that allowed his sweetly emotive and sagacious voice to shine brightly. My faves include “Sadly Beautiful” by the Replacements and “Sing” by Travis. Campbell was joined in the studio by members of Jellyfish and Cheap Trick.

Speaking of early Glen, one of the first 45s I owned (and played to death) was the resplendent “Witchita Lineman,” one of the most beautiful and heartfelt songs ever penned. Big ups to Aunt Mary for giving me that and a bunch of other old vinyl gems when I was a kid.

9 to Fried: We do our best to collect web-based distractions here at UW, but we pale in comparison to our pal Illuminati and his daily collection of office-based time wasters.

Need More Distractions? You got ‘em. Always check out the venerable I Love Bacon. Mr. Bacon has been entertaining me for years with his simple site jam packed with “dumb but fun” photos and links.

Keeping Up with The Spandex Gods: I don’t watch the Olympics anymore, I just read Mikey P’s Olympic Recap everyday:

In men’s synchronized diving, teammates Wang Feng and Qin Kai easily won their fourth diving medal event of the games. Fourth place finishers Chris Colwill and Jevon Tarantino from the US were docked several points when they dived both off the same board while sharing a single bathing suit. More>

I See Dead Signs: If you dig urban photography and faded old city signage like me, you must checkout the Philadelphia Ghost Signage Project. It’s “a visual record of ghost signs and faded advertisements in and around the greater Philadelphia area.”

Friend Us, Won’t You: Like we mentioned recently, we’re late to the Facebook game and we still don’t realize it’s considered lame. Nonetheless, our FB Master, Scott, is looking for our 300th Group Member. Join now and our 300th member will get a swell prize.

Video: It seems our pal Dave Hill has got himself in another pickle! Check out: “Little Michael Jackson and Me”