To preface why I find this video so brilliant, you need to know that I live about a mile from Larchmont, NY. I frequently shop there for groceries. I could walk there if I wanted.

Stuff like this just drives home how I really do live and work at ground zero for 90% of what’s wrong with the US economy.

From my inbox:

RiffTrax LIVE: Plan 9 from Outer Space

Join the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 for the comedy event of the year!

Fathom Events presents RiffTrax LIVE: Plan 9 from Outer Space, an evening of LIVE riffing on the Worst Movie Ever Made beaming into movie theaters nationwide on Thursday, August 20th at 8PM ET/ 7PM CT/ 6PM MT/ Tape Delayed at 8PM PT.

Join Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (Crow T. Robot), now of RiffTrax.com, as they are reunited in HD for the first time ever on the big screen! This event will feature the world premiere of a brand new, never-before-seen short and non-stop hilarious riffing on a COLOR version of “Plan 9 from Outer Space”- a 1959 science fiction/horror film written, produced and directed by Edward D. Wood Jr.

This event will be hosted by Veronica Belmont, the Host of Tekzilla on Revision3 and Qore on the PlayStation Network, with Musical Guest Jonathan Coulton and a special segment by Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka of Something Awful.

A few things about this boggle my mind.

• Plan 9… in HD?
• MST3K + Ed Wood already combines two of my longtime interests. Adding Jonathan Coulton to the mix is almost Mike-baiting.
• It’s playing in 433 theaters, which is roughly 36x the number of screens MST3K: The Movie played in back in the day. Ahh, technology.

It took them long enough, but Rolling Stone has finally posted the full text of Matt Taibbi’s article on Goldman Sachs and its history of, you know, evil. And if you think Obama is any less beholden to GS and Wall Street than Bush or the GOP, then sadly, you need to read the beginning of the article. Actually, everyone needs to read the entire article, to be honest.

Bear in mind this was written BEFORE Goldman posted the most profitable quarter in the history of history, while unemployment hit 10% nationally and the world economy continued to crater. Taibbi has more on that and on the criticisms of his piece (criticisms that he’s “technically” correct but still wrong for, uh, vague reasons) over on his blog.

I have yet to sort through the mountains of photos on my digital camera left over from my trip to DC. Most of them were taken walking around the Mall and museums in the crowds and heat and humidity, and I’m afraid that the later it got in the day, the punchier I became and the more I just pointed my camera randomly and hoped for an interesting shot.

Unfortunately, the best parts of my week barred me from taking photos, so I have no sharable record of them.

First, I went to see the Senate in session on Monday. Not only do they ban photos, but they confiscate all electronics on the way in, just in case.

It was the first day of the Sotomayor hearings, but I got there way too late to see that. Instead, I saw Carl Levin (D-MI) rail against the procurement of F-22s in a room that was empty except for staff, pages, and a late-arriving John McCain. I listened to Levin read letters from Obama and Gates into the record for over half an hour before leaving. Sure, it’s not as exciting as a Supreme Court nomination, but it was still important enough for the Washington Post to write it up.

Then, yesterday I finally got into Mecca itself as I attended a taping of The Daily Show. The episode aired last night, with guest HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (who mostly stuck to talking points rather than answer Jon’s questions). Such a strange feeling to finally be in the studio after watching the show, almost without fail, four times a week since 2002.

Cameras and cell phones were allowed inside only if they were turned off the whole time. A few people snapped photos of the set on the way out, but I just left instead. Once I get around to organizing my DC Tourist/Fugue State pics, I’ll post a link here.

I went on my first hike with the Appalachian Mountain Club on Sunday. I chose one of the shortest and easiest hikes available in their schedule (6 miles, moderate pace), yet afterwards I was still exhausted, hungry, and sweaty, with sore feet.

I think what I enjoyed most about the day was using my camera and looking for shots that might be interesting. I just put up a Flickr group for the day’s photos. This one is probably my favorite, since I was lucky enough to get the bee in the shot.

Things I will need the next time I do this: arch support inserts, especially for my left foot; a proper backpack with a chest strap; an actual lunch rather than hoping snacks will last me for 6 hours; a hat and poncho, even though I was lucky enough to avoid rain this time.