Friday Fun Post

A few tidbits to keep you goin through the weekend... not that I won't necessarily post sometime Saturday or Sunday, but still. It's a list post, the weekend seemed a good excuse for that sort of thing. Now the list:

• There is a disease called Uncombable Hair Syndrome, and you can learn more about it here. The blog post linked discusses how the existence of this disorder points to a few interesting points, one being, "That from a therapeutic point of view, you need to look at the market value of finding a cure, before the whole finding a cure process to the start (i.e. do you think a lot of places are looking at treating uncombable hair syndrome?) Plus, if you take that question further, you can start getting into the arena of neglected diseases." Now neglected diseases are a serious and important topic of conversation. Uncombable Hair Syndrome... well, it's remarkable that it is existent, although I guess it sounds pretty frustrating. Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan
• Bill Gates Semi-Retires today from his full-time position at Microsoft (coverage of where Microsoft stands at this point in today's NYT) to shift into a larger role with the Gates Foundation. I, for one, hope that his shifting focus may allow more of the innovative thinking and rigor that clearly powered Microsoft's success as a company to push into the world of social change. It doesn't hurt to have a great mind choose to sink large amounts of his time and focus into building a better and more equitable world. Cheers, Bill.
• North Carolina offers free replacements for license plates that include the trendy and explicit kiddo speak, "WTF." I wonder if they'll offer the same for LMAO plates next. Details here.
• Finally, muskrats attack St. Louis. People in NC think to themselves, "WTF?" Honestly, I can't really embellish this one any more than that. Wonkette has some coverage, as does the Minneapolis Start Tribune.
  

Tom Waits & Iggy Pop from Coffee & Cigarettes

Here's a fun little piece from Jim Jarmusch's 2004 film Coffee and Cigarettes featuring Tom Waits and Iggy Pop. There's a bizarre energy about the scene, and I remember seeing this movie in a theater and walking away with this scene as one of my favorites, this and the scene with Bill Murray (watch out for it to be posted here shortly!).