From a recent On the Media episode concerning descriptions of reality versus actual reality: 

And I would start out by asking you is anybody ever not making stuff up? When you pick up the newspaper and read about a news conference, let's say, somebody went to that news conference. You are not reading the entire transcript.

Something I often think about is Borges, the great Argentinean writer, who says that there are two universes. There is the universe of material reality, of bodies, of places, and there is the universe of words, and any attempt to shape a representation, of one in terms of the other is provisional at best. It is falling apart as we speak. It is something which he calls a fiction.

#entertainment

I'm a big fan of the little blue guy from the HTC Surround commercial:  He says, "Wow wow-wow-wow.  Wow."  I laugh every time I see him. #entertainment

My favorite scene from the movie Elf:  Puffin:  Hey Buddy, wanna pick some snowberries?
Buddy:  Not now, Arctic Puffin! #entertainment

I really like this piece of artwork by Korean artist Do-Ho Suh:  I like imagining that the world is held in place by little people.  (via The Big Picture) #entertainment

The license plates for the great state of New Jersey feature a solid-color graphic of the state.  When I was a kid, I thought it was a picture of some guy.  I even asked my mom, "Who's that guy on the license plates?" 

Turns out, with some rudimentary computer drawing skills, you can make the state of New Jersey look like an awkward, frumpy policeman with a witch's nose.  You'll never look at New Jersey the same again.  You're welcome. #entertainment

On The Media recently re-aired a segment about all the editing that's done before one of their shows is released.  Very interesting behind-the-scenes stuff. #entertainment

Jerry Stiller and his wife Anne Meara have a series of videos where they talk for a few minutes about what's on their minds or what's in the news.  It's produced by their son, Ben Stiller.  It's essentially modern commentary by non-modern people, and it's great.  In the first episode, they talk about how it's their first time "on internet" and they discuss the phenomenon known as Spacebook, a.k.a. Facebook. #entertainment

In two different stores lately, I've heard the Kit Kat song from several aisles away, but it sounds like it's coming from a little electronic device or something because it's really just a series of beeps.  It plays a few notes then stops, then plays a few more notes a little later, and so on.  My natural reaction is to finish the song in my head, thus becoming the song-singing candy-eating robot the marketing people want me to be.  Damn advertising.  It worked. #entertainment

ESPN plays a lot of self-promoting commercials, which isn't normally a good thing (e.g. "60 Minutes will play in its entirety directly following the football game" -- who cares?), but they do it in a way that doesn't actually advertise anything, which is a good thing.  In other words, they exist solely for entertainment, though I suppose they communicate the vague notion that since ESPN makes funny commercials, they're a TV channel that's worth watching.  Either way, it works, both in the sense that their commercials are entertaining, and that since they're entertaining, I want to watch more ESPN. #entertainment

I helped one of my friends move last week.  After lugging his giant king-sized mattress down two flights of stairs and loading it onto the back of his pickup truck, we decided it didn't need to be tied down because it was so heavy.  This was our first mistake.  The internet says it weighs somewhere between 120 and 150 lbs, but I wouldn't have been surprised if it weighed ten times that amount.  It was stupid heavy.  And bulky.  And being somewhat of an expert regarding the flight of physical objects (they say I'm an "aerospace engineer," whatever that means), I decided that unlike a rigid airplane wing, this skinny, flat object would bend and flex way before it became airborne.  This was our second mistake.  So I got in the chase car and happily watched this mattress bend and flex in the back of my friend's truck, feeling satisfied it wouldn't bounce anywhere.  This was our third mistake.  It's true, it didn't bounce out of the truck.  It just so happened that this was one of the windiest days we've had in a while.  So while we drove along on a fairly slow road, the mattress caught a gust of wind and did the impossible, achieving liftoff and flying into the adjacent lane of oncoming traffic, where it was hit by an SUV.  We pulled our vehicles over and spent the next several minutes unraveling the mattress cover from the SUV's wheel well and assessing the damage.  Thankfully, this giant flying mattress only caused a little body damage to this SUV, and no humans were harmed in the making of this stunt.  We apologized to the driver of the SUV, who will probably win the award of being one of the most chill people ever, as he said, "Eh, it happens."  No sir, king-sized mattresses do not in fact fly out of the beds of pickup trucks and land in the road in front of your vehicle, almost killing you and causing a major accident.  Note to future humans:  Despite what you may believe about physics and common sense, 150-lb mattresses can fly. #entertainment