There Is A Small Possibility That Swiss Scientists Will Kill You

We're about two weeks away from the opening of the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile-long particle accelerator located just outside Geneva. With this new accelerator, scientists will be able to look at particle physics like never before. One of their lofty goals is to create, ahem, black holes. ...Real black holes. ...Molecule-consuming, eat-everything-in-their-sight-including-LIGHT-for-Christ's-sake black holes. And just look at that Swiss guy in the picture. He doesn't look worried at all.

I guess it's pretty unlikely that the Large Hadron will swallow up the universe and destroy us all. Gail Collins of the New York Times is comforting in her op-ed, though she admits that in physics, "there is no such thing as zero chance." And a panel of scientists released an official report reviewing the safety of the experiments, and they deemed the whole endeavor totally okay (although why they even had to assess the safety in the first place is a little eerie).

Whatever. I think it's pretty dang cool. Science rules! And don't you forget it! (Or else.)

You can read more specifics on what the particle accelerator actually does here.

"Fabio has one of the world's premiere home entertainment systems. Which he installed himself."

John and Kara and I were talking about Fabio earlier today at work. It started when John asked me if I was growing my hair out (The hair on top of my head, that is. Not my mustache. See the last blog post.). As if! Long hair on dudes is gross! He countered by mentioning Fabio and his golden locks. Still, No. But it got us thinking, that we didn't know what Fabio was up to nowadays or where he was currently living. Or, for that matter, where he was originally from. What's his story?, we wondered.

That's when Kara came in the office. She knew that Fabio was Italian (that was my guess!), and, since it was a slow work day, decided immediately to look him up on IMDb for more info. Thanks, Kara!

Did you know that Fabio was born at 11pm? Or that he is an avid motorcyclist? And while you should know that he has modeled for the covers of over 250 romance novels, did you know that he has written his very own romance novel ('Pirate,' pictured), for which he also modeled?!?

From IMDb: "His fragrance is 'Mediterraneum' by Versace."
And, frankly, don't we all want to smell like Fabio?

New Trailer! - 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'

The new movie trailer for the series' sixth installment can be viewed on Moviefone.

All I can say is: YESSSSSSSSS!


The pensieve flashback, with Dumbledore visiting a young (and definitely creepy) Tom Riddle at the orphanage, is exciting stuff. And seeing Ron and Ginny in various states of, what appears to be, immediate and life-threatening danger is chillingly good. It would have been nice to see some Snape or even some Draco, but for a brief teaser, it's almost better this way.

"When I Fart, I Look Behind Me," and Other Bon Mots

David Sedaris visits The Daily Show, promoting his new book "When You Are Engulfed in Flames," and riffs on the Japanese and quitting smoking.

Sigur Rós & Ryan McGinley

Sigur Rós has a new single, "Gobbledigook," available for download from their official website. It's a pretty sweet song, and it's got a great-looking video to go with it (which is also available, exclusively, on sigurros.com).

(A warning: nudity and puns to follow!)

Stereogum uses the phrases "cheeky (as in ass-y)" and "We can Sigur asses, guys" in their write-up on the release, because both the video and the album feature the work of photographer Ryan McGinley...who, well, usually sometimes features naked people.

But don't let that deter you. Or arouse you, for that matter. McGinley is a really talented artist. So just like I'm excited for the new Sigur Rós, I'm excited to take this opportunity to look at some of my favorite photographs of McGinley's:






















































(Whoa! Slow down. Take your time and look at them again. Probably while listening to Sigur Rós.)

...So, um, in summation: Sigur Rós' new album, með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, drops stateside June 24th.

And, because I just can't pass him up, here's McGinley's portrait of Michael Cera for this year's NY Times Magazine Oscars feature:












You go, George Michael!

You Shall Pass!

According to Empire (by way of the man himself), Ian McKellen is likely to reprise his Oscar-nominated role as Gandalf in Guillermo del Toro's Hobbit films.

All I can say is ...Whew.

Lykke Li - "I'm Good, I'm Gone"

A former professional dancer, Swedish singer Lykke Li certainly brings, ahem, something else to her videos... and I like it!

Her debut album, Youth Novels, produced by Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John, releases stateside May 6th.

(Why is everything the Swedes do cooler than what we do here on this side of the Atlantic?)

How? Why?!

The Best Thing About The End of the Writers' Strike

The chance for Once stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova to perform their Oscar-nominated song "Falling Slowly" live on-stage at the Academy Awards.

Amy Winehouse + 'Quantum of Solace' = Awesome

Seriously, who cares about the Grammys? Sure, Amy Winehouse took home, like, a bazillion statues, but the big news this weekend, at least in my mind, was the rumored coupling of the "troubled" star and the new James Bond flick. I, for one, think 007 theme songs are best served by sexy-voiced women (Tina Turner, anyone?), and in that respect this pairing makes perfect sense. Her distinctive sound--a mix of old and new--is perfectly suited to this franchise-in-transition.

And anyway, if not her, than who? Who would be your top choice to sing Quantum of Solace's theme?