Rachelle's Reading List, Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

by Rachelle Hruska · January 26, 2011

    Today, what Joe Biden has in common with Flavor Flav (a lot), the most hilarious moments at Davos, and what the ultimate woman would look like.  Plus, there a site that's entirely devoted to making Rahmen noodles out of Rahm Emanuel! Also, guess what! Those beef tacos from Taco Bell you've been devouring? Yeah, they aren't made of meat. EEeeeW. 

    1. President Obama delivered his State of the Union Address last night and, for the first time ever, offered web savvy dorks an option to view an enhanced version of the program online. Pretty slick. I'm now going to now present some of my favorite photos and tumbles from the event:

    [President Obama works on tonight’s State of the Union speech with Jon Favreau (via @WestWingReport and White House Photographer Peter Souza) via Soup]

    "Our infrastructure used to be the best, but our lead has slipped, South Korean homes now have greater Internet access than we do."

    " We are the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America, innovation doesn't just change our lives. It’s how we make a living."

    In case you were wondering, this is what Tea Party representative Michele Bachmann looked like during the speech:

    [via cajun boy]

    Read the hilarious transcript of Michele Bachmann's response. [InOtherNews]

    Right now, we are all just characters in a Mike Judge movie. [Cajunboy]

    "It's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the Science Fair." -Obama standing up for nerds everywhere. [@caro]

    What enhanced mode looked like:

    [via InOtherNews]

    "The Interior Department is in charge of salmon when they're in freshwater, but the Commerce Department handles them when they’re in saltwater. I hear things get even more complicated once they’re smoked."

    Check out what John Kerry and John McCain were doing during the SOTU: [InOtherNews]

    Joe Biden is like Flavor Flav to Barack's Chuck D. Sooo true. (I wonder if he's also got problems of his own?)

    [via Soup]

    Related: I love this guy [Joe Biden FTW]

    The ending: "I'm not sure how we'll reach that better place beyond the horizon, but I know we'll get there. I know we will. We do big things. The idea of America endures. Our destiny remains our choice. And tonight, more than two centuries later, it's because of our people that our future is hopeful, our journey goes forward, and the state of our union is strong."

    Lastly, check out some hilarious photos of Faces made during the SOTU. [Dailywhat]

    2. Google goes on a hiring spree. They are set to hire at least 6,000 workers in 2011! If it happens, they will be twice as big as Yahoo. [MercuryNews]

    3. The Minimalist Makes his exit. After more than 13 years, this week marks the end of the weekly Minimalist column from the NYT's Mark Bittman. Check out his greatest hits over the year here: [NYT]

    4. Now, both Twitter AND Facebook are blocked in Egypt. Bummer. [Mashable]

    5. Want to live with 42 million people in a megacity the size of Switzerland? City planners in China are hoping to turn the nine cities in the Pearl River Delta into a single, humongous megacity the size of Rhode Island and New Hampshire combined. [Gawker]

    6. "I'm Sessica Jimpson." I tend to be really hard on Page Six. So today, credit where credit's due: this headline, of the tipsy Simpson (note: don't drink sake after a detox cleanse!), is great. [NYP]

    7. The Most Hilarious Moment at Davos so far. [BI]

    8. The Time's Sunday Styles covered the Pink bathroom trend a couple of weeks ago. Today, the Minneapolis Star Tribune catches the trend. [StarTribune]

    9. This is really cool. Yesterday was the 96th anniversary of the first transcontinental phone call. It was Alexander Graham Bell from New York calling up his buddy, Thomas A. Watson in San Francisco and the NYTimes reported their conversation. [Atlantic]

    10. Kids act out "The Social Network." This is hilarious. [Aol]

    11. Two hot shot Beverly Hills surgeons have decided that they have come up with a picture of what the ultimate woman would look like. Hair: Taylor Swift, eyes: Anne Hathaway, cheeks: January Jones, nose: Natalie Portman, lips: Scarlett Johansson, jaw: Halle Berry, skin: Amy Adams, and body: Penelope Cruz. [NYP]

    12. Jennifer Love Hewitt has 3 engagement rings picked out just in case her boyfriend decides to propose. This sets the Tumblrs. [Joyengel]

    13. Here's another totally meaningless set of graphs presented with over 800 notes on Tumblr (of what appears to be something meaningful regarding the daily unique visitors of popular sites). heh. [MHudack]

    14. Holy cool. Check out this photo of Salvador Dali and Brigitte Bardot: [lalaladylove]

    15. The 10 cultural touchstones of the '90s that should never come back. From fanny packs to 'Friends.' [Flavorwire]

    16. The Razzie nominations were released yesterday. Battling it out for worst actor are nominees Jack Black, Gerard Butler, Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Lautner, and Robert Pattinson. Actresses: Jennifer Aniston, Miley Cyrus, all Sex and the City 2 stars, Megan Fox, and Kristen Stewart. [News.com.au]

    17. Gulp: [via topherchris]

    18. One London restaurant found that it earned 20% more on the day that it started letting customers pay for what they thought the food was worth.  [Nutritionista]

    19. Photo Gallery: Johnathan Andrew's deserted WWII bunkers. This set of photos of the ruins left from a war that happened over 65 years ago is beautiful. [Flavorwire]

    20. Courtney Love is taking on Oxford. Because this makes so much sense. (No). [WhatCourtneyWoreToday]

    21. Hey Taxi: A Data Visualization of taxi rides per NYC neighborhood. For the most part, uptown stays uptown and downtown stays downtown. [Naveen]

    22. Verizon is going to offer $30 unlimited data plan for the iPhone. [CNN]

    23. Check out the first tweets from Gabrielle Gifford's Twitter account since the shootings. [InOtherNews]

    24. Fellow Omaha native Conor Oberst is going to be releasing a new Bright Eyes album on Feb. 15th (also his bday). Check out the heavy references to Kurt Vonnegut and The Handmaid's Tale. [CayteGrieve]

    25. This is what really hides in Taco Bell's "beef." EWWWW. [Gizmodo]

    26. What would the Pope's foursquare page look like if he had one. We know he's down with social networking, now we're looking forward to some badges. [Naveen]

    27. IKEA department stores are designed like labyrinthine mazes to "keep customers inside for as long as they can." [DailyMail]

    28. Mark Zuckerberg's identity was hacked on Facebook. [Valleywag]

    29. The Tumblr devoted entirely to making Rahm Emanuel into "Rahmen Emanuel" [RahmenEmanuel]

    30. If Barbie were on Tumblr:

    31. Check out these 1.5 million tweets from March and April 2010 mapping the rate of profanity across America. [Profane Tweets]

    32. Roger Ebert of "Why 3-D doesn't work, and never will." [ChicagoSun]

    33. Finally, I'll leave you with this gem: Check out the most epic transit nap ever: [CVXN]