Congrats to Libyan strongman Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi for making Esquire Magazine’s list of “The Seven Wonders of the Totalitarian World”.

Actually, the political-science major in me cringes slightly at this haphazard use of the term “totalitarianism”, which properly describes only the most repressive and all-consuming political regimes. Not that Gaddafi hasn’t been doing his level-best Stalin, Mao et al impression all these years, but frankly, his dirt-poor satrapy doesn’t have the state resources to do the full totalitarian schtick.

Still, the ostentatious giant sculpture of a golden fist, rising from the earth to snatch and destroy a U.S. fighter jet goes a long way toward covering the requisite public propaganda imagery. Plus, this belligerent Tripoli landmark makes a handy backdrop for not-so-subtle anti-American photo ops with visiting dignitaries (especially French ones).

I’m wondering how much of the annual governmental budget goes toward keeping this thing clear of pigeon droppings…

What do you get when you combine a mathematician, a software developer, and — oh yeah — The Who’s Pete Townshend?

You get Lifehouse Method, of course.

Upload a multimedia melange of yourself:

- A photo
- A rhythm
- A voice sample
- A random sound

You get back a personalized “musical portrait” that could serve as the basis for a future fully-fledged composition. Some of the results are quite inspired.

It occurs to me that Townshend is using this as a free way to shepherd raw creative material (although apparently he will pay contributors if the end result is original recording/concert material). So he can sit in his home studio and have the inspiration uploaded his way — brilliant!

Suddenly, that kooky faux assault on the QM2 cruiseliner by a replica Revolutionary War “Turtle” submarine makes a lot more sense.

Because private, custom-made submarines are catching on as the latest high-priced tinkertoy for the rich and famous.

So, obviously, Brooklyn artist Duke Riley was just social climbing. All that higher-purpose artsy-fartsy stuff was just a smokescreen. Typical.