Octopi Fond of Coconut Shells

I love how this octopus carries the coconut shells with him/her. Awkward, yet graceful. Strangely intelligent spineless creatures. I heart cephalopods. I bet they're quite philosophical.

Glasslock is snappy

Profound Truths.

From Jessica Hagy's brilliant commentary blog, thisisindexed.com - she's a very funny lady.

Space Invaders

Yes, the classic arcade game. Yes, the graffiti/installation art in New York. Yes, it's elsewhere in the world. Yes, I get excited every time I find one. Here's the website: SPACE INVADERS!

No invaders in Boston yet. Too bad.

Who Needs Looney Tunes Now?

This guy is gonna put Wile E. Coyote out of business. Anvils? Gunpowder? Men going "whooooaa...that's pretty cool, man." Hijinks. Yeah, I watched it. I'm a lady and I might watch it again.

Vitamin D

Aside from watching speedy students on Glee dance their pants off on "Vitamin D", what else about vitamin D? Well, there's this really interesting snippet from Neatorama about how people in Northern Latitudes don't get enough sunlight to make their D quota. They needed to get more of it from food sources. Which is why people in Northern latitudes evolved the ability to drink milk at some point. Voila, more vitamin D available = fewer rickets? Always a good time. But those lactose intolerant people of the world did not inherit that milk-drinking-in-adulthood gene. It's innerestin'.

Hey, you know what I want right now? Some Rick Rolls. HAH. From Neatorama.

A Plushie Mood

Blame Neatorama, they had such adorable stuff up. I particularly enjoyed the Haminal and the Stache Labbit by Frank Kozik. Seriously, how can I go on living without a Stache Labbit on my pillow next to me?

So then I had to go looking around for more plushies. Website myplasticheart has some delightful things, as well kidrobot. Here's some strangely adorable plushie pork products on the former.

Okay, now I'm thinking about Domo Kun, that loveable mascot of Japanese tv. Watch the best of Domo Kun on youtube, and then try - just try - not to buy a Domo Kun plushie. Yes, I'm reposting this. Seriously. Today I'll have to be happy with watching Domo, since I just spent actual money on an ebay Haminal. Dammit. I just love that it comes in a little can.

Snufflesnufflesniffsniff

Museum of Animal Perspectives, people. Via Cute Overload. Powerful stuff.

Also, tumbleweed perspective! Brilliant and dizzying. Good sound effects.

A Post About Food Because I'm Hungry

Gourmet Magazine has a clever online slideshow of Oscar-inspired cocktails. For instance, he Meryl Streep (Persecco, Benedictine, and Goldschlager - for all those Oscar statuettes), and the Angelina Jolie (single malt scotch, elderflower liqueur). Hot stuff. I also like the Kate Winslet, the Sean Penn, and the Mickey Rourke cocktails.


Next, do you know about the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck in NYC? A guy bought an ice cream truck, and decided to let it all hang out with a giant rainbow ice cream cone on top of the truck. Lots of exotic ice cream toppings, like sea salt, balsamic vinegar, cardamom, and cayenne. And tshirts, of course, that are selling out almost faster than the ice cream. Check out the blog, don't forget to check twitter for location updates. I haven't gotten Big Gay ice cream yet, but I plan on it.

I had another link about pasta and eggplant puree, but you know what? I closed the page already. Tough.

Bats and Blowing Teapots

Sounds a bit dirty, doesn't it? Well, thankfully the bats and teapot abuse are not related. British photographer Kim Taylor (a man named Kim) used a complex setup of flash bulbs and motion sensors to snap crystal-clear pictures of bats sipping water on the fly. Just lovely.


Then of course we have people blowing into teapots full of water. Pour me a cup! From Neatorama and Geeks Are Sexy.

Iphone Case, Recession Edition

Okay, an iPhone case made of cardboard is pretty good. This is not a time for snooty polycarbonate and grippy rubber, or even time for bamboo cases. Go for cardboard, and maybe even spring for the "Bail-out Bundle" of ten cardboard cases. Found on Geekologie. Much chuckling, and I don't even have a damn iPhone.

Scotch, cheese, and pears (don't really go together?)

Been a while since I posted! Poverty has a way of drawing one's attention elsewhere. Silly little moneybags. Browsing the internets today, I found this cunning cheese board and cheese slicer on Neatorama; together they look like an oversize mousetrap. My question is, Why didn't someone think of this arrangment before? Very humorous.


And here we have Buddha-pears, on a page I've google-translated from the original Portuguese. Again, Neatorama led me here. Delightful! Square watermelons, heart-shaped cucumbers, "Macintosh" apples, and now Buddha-pears. BUT DOES IT TASTE GOOD.

And finally, the world's largest bottle of single-malt Scotch. Featured by Neatorama and The Scottish Sun. Honestly, who else would write about it. Um, but if anyone wants to buy that bottle of 14 y/o single-malt for my birthday, well then. It's coming up in November.

Neatorama, Neatorama, again. I found this link to an architect in Texas who designs and builds low-income housing out of found objects and salvage. And the houses are gorgeous. Really. I would happily live in one. Here's the NY Times slide show of houses built by Dan Phillips and his Phoenix Commotion construction company. It's pretty fantastical.

Smorgasbord!

Colorado's Denver Water utility company is cracking down on wasteful water usage. For instance, running sinks and running toilets. The utility's new mascot is obviously a jogging man in a toilet costume: A RUNNING TOILET. Here's the article on BoingBoing, with reports of a the Running Toilet frightening children playing in a (wasteful!) spray fountain.


Next, we have Cheetos lip balm, discovered on Geekologie. Amazing. I desperately want to smell that stick of lip balm; I must know if it really, truly smells like Cheetos.


Then, a classic new gadget: the cell-phone cigarette lighter. Promoting at least two different kinds of cancer at the same time! Fire hazard, as well.

Finally, order a GhettoBasket of convenience store goodies for that special person in your life. After all, this is a recession. And they might really need some lighter fluid, a grape drink, or a pregnancy test. Choose from a regular Ghetto Basket or the Ghetto-fabulous Basket. I know I want one.

Jam and Daniel Craig

If I had more brain power right now, I'd make some kind of clever connection between several British points-of-interest, including tea-time with jam and James Bond. But it's still raining, and I'm still drinking my tea. So.

Neatorama posted this great article about an artist named Lindi Kirsin commissioned to paint a landscape for a British jam and condiments company. The painting of the Manchester library is, of course, painted only using jam, marmalade, mint sauce, tartar sauce, and a few other eatable spreads manufactured by the company. In the subsequent charity Ebay auction, the lucky winner will receive the painting ("Manchester Preserved", hyuck), as well as a color print of the painting (in case the jam doesn't hold up very long - who paints in jam?). Ant insurance, anyone?



Speaking of ants at the picnic, a British popsicle - or shall I say lolly - company took a vote: Who is the coolest British celebrity (whose image you'd like to lick on a stick?) Women overwhelmingly voted for...Daniel Craig's James Bond. The company obliged by sculpting their new fruity popsicle effigies in the likeness of Daniel Craig emerging from the ocean, bare-torsoed, in Casino Royale.

I mean.I think Craig's a good choice - I kind of want to lick Daniel Craig, and I don't even like boys. Thanks again, Neatorama! It's always a kick.

Scanwiches

Reading this month's Wired Magazine Playlist, I found many cool things.

1. Scanwiches are sandwich halves that have been scanned at high resolution, so you can torture yourself while still at work. With images of tasty-looking food. Food porn! Safe for work, not safe for your famished afternoon brain. Beautiful sandwiches looking o-so-biteable in the blackness.

2. Hive - another strategy game with attractive tiles (that remind me of fancy painted candies). Protect the queen bee, use your beetles.

3. The Star Wars AT-AT model pretending that it's a household pet (walking on the beach, playing with the cat) in this super Flickr stream.

Fore-Edge Painting, Moss Mats

A bath mat that never needs to be vacuumed or washed? A bath mat that enjoys moisture and high-humidity conditions? Where is this marvel of science!

"Nguyen La Chanh's ingenious design is made from a decay-free foam called plastazote, and populated with three varieties of moss: ball, island, and forest. Maintenance required for this little patch of green is limited, as the moss thrives off of the humidity released from daily bathroom rituals."

More pictures of the mossy mat on Geekologie. I'm glad this isn't a euphemism for anything.

Also, does anyone know about fore-edge painting on old books? The painting is done on the edges of the flared pages; the image is invisible when the book is closed, but when one staggers the pages, the image is magically visible. See the video below! The Boston Public Library currently has an online exhibit of fore-edge painting right here.





AGAIN, I'm so glad this isn't a euphemism for anything! Also, this is awesome.

Animals on Web Cams

You know what's a great way to waste time? Watching live-streaming animal cams piped to you straight from techno-friendly zoos. Like the Smithsonian National Zoo. Which, I just discovered, has 12 animal web-cams. Including the PandaCam, the NakedMoleRatCam, the FisherCatCam, the OctopusCam, the KiwiCam, The TigerCam...so far, FisherCats and MoleRats are the most enjoyable at this hour. But honestly, I am having a party in my monitor right now. Squirm, naked mole rats, squirm! It's a dogpile of wrinkles in that burrow. Plus a random foot sticking up. I love it.

Go, go waste some time looking at critters on camera, at the Smithsonian National Zoo's Webcams. I dare you.

Oh my god, the rat is cleaning its little pink toes. Peeeenk toooooes. Zah!

Ninja Moves, Eggshell Speakers, Rooks

First of all, a rook is Britain's equivalent of the American raven. Rooks given a piece of straight wire and some meal worm motivation easily passed the make-a-hook-out-of-wire-get-the-worms test. Like they weren't even trying, they were all, "Oo, snacks. Grand! If you give me the bottle opener, I'll pop some brews, too." Let's recall that ravens (and rooks) are generally thought to be the smartest birds around. Read up on it, "wolf-birds" are awesome. I found it at my local library, btw. Found this raven posting on Geekologie: Hmm: Birds as Smart as Monkeys, Toddlers

Again from Geekologie, this crazy video of gymnastic ninja moves - who needs an action film when you can have it all on YouTube? Damien Walter, apparently a gymnast or perhaps a martial artist, does some impressive stunts. My favorite is when he's flipping through the air while taking off shirt and sweatpants(!!!).



Finally, why bother slopping creme fraiche and caviar into a sterilized egg shell when you simply make cute speakers out of those shells? The brown eggs look so...hip. Actually, it looks pretty good to me: Eggshell speakers on Geekologie.

Imaginary Gastric Bands and Glee

Do you have a hole in your soul where Arrested Development used to live? Me, too. Christopher Guest's movies are helpful, but nothing will ever fill the void of Arrested Development. (Unless there's a movie that comes out, and it's FANTASTIC.) I have good feelings about this new show, though. It's called Glee. It stars - among other fine actors - the blond woman from the Christopher Guest movies, also known as Joyce the predatory lawyer on The L Word. Yeah, her! Plus there's a musical element to the series - as in, singing. AWESOME! Hulu has the pilot episode of Glee for free:



And in other news. For the purposes of weight loss, a woman's hypnotist convinced her that she had gastric bypass surgery. Piped in hospital smells and everything. And she totally lost weight, believing that her stomach had been stapled smaller in the surgery. She can even "remember" being wheeled into the operating room, the smell of anesthesia, etc. Fake memories! The Matrix or Total Recall, anyone? From Neatorama.

The Nano Song

A gem I found while reading Facebook updates. Thanks to Margy! This is the third time I'm watching it. And I don't even care that the video is the wrong size for my blog. I'd like all my science factoids to come in musical form, from now on.

Bison Grass Vodka!

Okay, so Wikipedia has informed me that Bison Grass Vodka is popular in Poland and Belarus. The grass adds a complex flavor to the vodka, sometimes described as vanilla and chamomile, sometimes described as coconut and almond. The vodka turns a golden color and often comes bottled with some blades of Bison Grass - you know, to be like the worm in tequila, only vegetarian.

So apparently the original distiller is the Zubrowka brand. A popular Polish cocktail involves Zubrowka and unfiltered apple juice = Tantaka. Is there any coincidence between Tutanka = Buffalo (Bison) from Dances With Wolves, and Tantaka = Bison Grass Vodka + apple juice? YOU BE THE JUDGE. Bison Grass Vodka cocktails are becoming all the rage - it's like the new absinthe - now that the vodka doesn't contain the toxic compound coumarin. No wormwood thujone in new Absinthe, no coumarin in new Bison Grass Vodka. What other dubious beverage will become legal in the United States when the (allegedly) toxic element is removed?

Perhaps my landlord could have the lead water ducts replaced with copper, eh? Sometimes tap water is a dubious beverage, and sometimes it isn't. Depends on your pipes, people. Depends on your pipes.

Because Nymphs and Fauns are Sexy...

Sculptor Kim Graham created these crazy leg extensions that mimic the physiology of animals like dogs and horses, all walking on their toes and shit. These will be great for my Halloween satyr costume or impersonating a Budweiser clydesdale. From Geekologie and Gizmodo.

Interactive Cat Map

Library cats, that is. I remember reading something about this - with charts - in The Whole Library 4 reference book. Basically, the data answers the following questions:

1. how many libaries have, or have ever had, live-in library cats?
2. what are the names of the cats and how long did they reside at their libraries?
3. are the cats real cats, stone library lions, ghost cats, or stuffed big cats...?

Now this important information is online, in a visually interactive format. Yes, INTERACTIVE LIBRARY CAT MAP! Say it three times fast. Found it Neatorama.

I'm happy to report that Massachusetts have a few currently living library cats.

Bacon-Nation Continues

Seriously, I should write some kind of paper on the development of bacon and zombies in contemporary pop-culture. What is up with that? Zombie marches for Easter: rise of the dead! Bacon lollipops, bacon truffles, bacon salt, bacon-shaped bandages...now we have bacon-flavored vodka. It's called Bakon. I found it on Geekologie, and it comes with a delicious-sounding recipe for a bacon-infused Bloody Mary.

Brunch me, bitches!

A Bitch To Clean

Look, you have to rinse your toothpaste spit all the way down. Otherwise it gets stuck halfway down the slide. And then it dries, and has to be chipped off. So just, please, please, rinse your toothpaste froth all the way down when you brush your teeth.

This insane sink is called the Abisko Washbasin, from Eumar. I'm not sure the drain in the floor is included; looks like a heating duct to me! Whoops. I see a lot of splashing action if a person turned the water on too much. Is that how you say that? You know what I mean. This is from Geekologie, and from Dvice.

Leslie and LY's

I had never heard of Leslie Hall, but I had seen a random pictures of a crazy blond lady in big grandma glasses wearing a variety of bejeweled sweaters. That's Leslie Hall, and she makes hip-hop/electronica/ironica music. It's hilarious and danceable, and just tell me to shut up if you already know. This is my favorite video so far: This Is How We Go Out, Version 2. Please watch the whole thing, and then visit Leslie Hall on myspace for more music. Because she really does sound like a sassy black hip-hop lady.

You will never be able to get this line from Blame The Booty Remix outta your head, btw: "on my giant trampoline i go bounce, bounce; ya fall in love with every ounce, ounce!"

Stop-Motion Animation from Neatorama and Japan

Amazing video. You can really do a lot with a papier mache pig, what.

Things I Discovered While Reading Wired Magazine

1. There's a website called Fuck You, Penguin. It's a cute animal photo blog with "irreverent" commentary. Okay, fine, curse words and a bad attitude. And the emphasis is more on the caption's vituperative qualities, less on the animal pictured. But as an ironic rejoinder to something like CuteOverload, FUPenguin serves its noble purpose.

2. There's this neat downloadable screensaver/widget called PolarClock, available for Mac or PC. It's a clock done in colorful concentric circles...uh, it's hard to describe. And I'm sleepy. So go to the PolarClock website, by Pixelbreaker. You'll like it.

3. There's a parody book called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! It's Jane Austen, plus the flesh-eating living dead. Here's the NY Post's take on the books.

The End Of the Internet

Cuteoverload's post entitled "We're Out of Domain Names, Sorry" tickles my funny bone. I dunno, I just like it. Maybe it's the sarcastic "Thanks for playing!" exclamation at the end. Good times, good times.


Also, now you can make a rainbow cake in time for pride! This sucker is amazing. Did CakeWrecks get scooped? Or perhaps the cake is too successful to be considered a CakeWreck. Either way, I'd like to see how those colors persist during digestion. (C'mon, you were thinking it, too.) This cake is from Geekologie, but the recipe is by Omnomicon!

Awesome blog name, yo.


And here's a grass wheel for barefoot urban wandering. "Hamster-time!" <- to the tune of Hammer Time. From Geekologie, Neatorama, and Inhabitat. Also, the Inhabitat architecture blog is cool enough to be added to my Linky Links. I've made it so. Architecture and design awesome-NESS.

Solar Vintage - Wearable Art

Sometimes I forget about WearableArtBlog. It's over in my links on the side-bar. It's self-explanatory. And so fuggin' awesome! Oh my god. It's one to add to my quick links bar, or whatever you call it below my URL bar. Yep.

Solar Vintage by Elena Corchero: frilly, feathery Victorian accessories fitted out with solar cells - so after dark, they strategically glow with multi-lights taking power from sunlight they've collected during the day. Amaze.

Juice Boxes and Dubai Slavery

I know, those two really have nothing to do with one another. But I like both articles. So. The Dubai article from The Independent is quite long, but completely arresting. The juice boxes are just damn cute, and I want to bring them to show and tell. They will cheer you up after you read the disturbing article. I can also summarize the article for you: you can't have air-conditioned beaches, artificial islands shaped like palm trees, or a hundred under-construction skyscrapers without slave labor. Which makes despotic rule with a facade of benevolence really lame. Which makes the rich people who abuse their indentured nannies oblivious assholes. Which makes the rich people who ignore all that slave labor while they partypartyparty - yes, that makes them total assholes.

I might even be a total asshole for visiting Dubai years ago. I'm not sure if asshole-itude is retroactive.

The Dark Side of Dubai, by Johann Hari from The Independent. Found on BoingBoing.

Now, as relief, juice boxes that recreate the skin/texture of the fruit whose juice they claim to hold. I like the seed-studded strawberry one, but the fuzzy kiwi box is obviously the best. These I found on Geekologie. Originally the post was from OhGizmo...and probably from others. Here is a quote from OhGizmo:

Created by Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa, the juice box’s packaging is supposed to be more appealing to the eye by imitating the actual fruit they contain. As Naoto puts it; “I imagined that if the surface of the package imitated the colour and texture of the fruit skin, then the object would reproduce the feeling of the real skin.


Juice Boxes That Look Like Fruit!

Badger Badger Badger

From CuteOverload. I canNOT deal with this picture. This picture is the equivalent of slamming my head over and over again into a wall of Cute. Unh! Unh! And then I drop to the floor, bloodied and unconscious, all from the Cute.

Badgers!

Doughnut-Muffins, Cyborg Batteries

The titles to my posts leave no mystery anymore. Who's eaten a doughnut muffin already? I haven't tried one, or even seen one. But I know they are in my neighborhood - thanks, Facebook! I will skulk until I find one. A muffin with the soul and texture of a cake doughnut.

Here's an article from The Food Section - including a recipe for "Kathleen's Doughnut Muffins" - and a good picture from the same online source. Fascinating.


And from Geekologie, we have an amazing tiny battery. Yes, a battery that runs on glucose pulled from living blood. Yeast in the machine! A holy-shit-it's-true cyborg battery to power electronics with living blood, people! Diabetics could be the next superhumans. You know, the Geekologie writer was getting all crazed, talking about the rise of the machines, death of humankind, pew pew pew! I think he may be right this time.

The cyborgs will kill us all.

It's Hell on my Swiffer.

What do we have here? It seems to be a bookcase shaped like the United States. Yep. That's what it is. Not that great from a preservation standpoint, either. From Neatorama. Created by Ron Arad - here's the entrance to his site.

Pink's Break-Up Album is Seriously the BEST.

Here's a live bootleg of Pink covering I Touch Myself by Blondie , I mean the DiVinyls. Except it's a slow, sultry version. It's a little bit like Madonna on stage singing Like A Virgin, but sad. And it's awesome, because Pink has a great voice. This is Not Safe For Work. I LOVE Pink, and I'm subjecting everyone to this fine bootleg from her Funhouse tour in Rotterdam. Yep. Best Break-Up Album Ever, IMHO.

Facebook for Passover

I don't even know the whole story in detail, but this is hilarious. Facebook Haggadah, written in status updates, et cetera. Brilliant.

What, Someone Made Something Cute/Creepy on Etsy?

Yeah, so, Etsy.com is a site for people/artisans selling their cunning little toys, jewelry, bags, boxes, clothing, and accoutrements of all kinds. They make 'em by hand, they're good at it, they sell 'em to you without a middleman. There is some gorgeous, one-of-a-kind stuff on Etsy, I have seen it with my own eyes. (And been inspired to make my own vintage postage stamp magnets, thanks!) I am a little susceptible to sad-but-cute felted animals and objects - like sad cupcakes or curious crows - sold for relatively high prices. I have never actually bought one of these items, but I feel the pull.

Click the link below for a cunning Felted Eggplant with Chicken Legs, by Melissa Sue. It's just so good.

Then there's the Tootsie Monster, a skittering kangaroo-rat-inspired mini-monster who eats the toes you dangle off the bed. I'm serious.

Finally, a little felted bluebird with "little orange feets" that should be made of cotton candy so I CAN EAT THE LITTLE TWEET.

I didn't get enough sleep last night.

Extreme Sheepherding, by Samsung

Thank you, CuteOverload. I have never seen anything like this before.

Women's Professional Foot...Ball?

I had no idea there was a professional league for women's foot ball. Or is it "football"? I'm so non-team-sportified, I don't even know if it's one word or two. Okay, I'm going with "football" here.

Click here for teams on the Independent Women's Professional Football League; sounds rather emancipated to me! And possibly not grammatical, but who cares. There are videos, pics, player stats.

All I can say is, AMAZING. If I had known I could play a game in which towering muscular women would run after me and attempt to tackle me to the ground, would I even BE a librarian right now?! My memories of high school gym come back to me; I had fun playing flag football, but the rules seemed so complicated. The teacher would yell something, I would go back a certain number of yards or something, and start over again. But it was fun to be pursued, and to throw the ball.

Sort of like dating, I guess. Yes, maybe football is a metaphor for dating. Maybe I can find a casual game to play, once I learn the rules.

Note: Nevermind, I lost interest after I read the section on Object of the Game. Always a geek, never a jock! A single geek-jock. The picture is of the Boston Militia, taken from their official website.

London Restaurant with Interactive Menu Tables

• Inamo restaurant's interactive tables
• |
• CNET.co.uk videos

from Neatorama and Crave the blog - super cool! I wanna go eat at Inamo.

Chickens in Suits

Maybe you've seen the picture of the chicken in the red vinyl tracksuit, somewhere on the web? Well, here's the homesite for the chicken suit designers, who create clothing for...chickens. See the models, the line, and think about ordering...suits for chickens. Yes, you can order chicken suits in a variety of textures and prints! There's even a fluffy/furry chicken suit. I hope the chicken suits allow the chicken's skin to breathe. You know, if you write "chicken suit" enough times, the words stop making sense.

www.chickenssuit.com

Barbie Cake, over Six Feet Tall

For Barbie's 50th anniversary, Mattel created a nearly seven-foot chocolate Barbie cake in the shape of...Barbie. In a gold silk ball gown (and gold frosting), wearing $50,000 of real Swarovski crystals. Incidentally, Barbie was made of chocolate mud cake, and weighed over 2000 lbs.

Yes, the party was in Sydney, Australia. It's true, you weren't invited. Yes, that is the Barbie Cake in the picture, not just a cute statue of Barbie. It's CAKE. I can't believe it, either.

From the fashion/food blog, Eat Me Daily. Here's the link to Barbe's 50th Anniversary Cake, with amazing photos. How do you cut a cake effigy of a doll wearing a real gold ballgown?! My god. Don't eat the crystals.

I love that I posted Golden Barbie Cake right after Pigskin Facial Portraits! Too good.

Pigskin Facial Portraits are Morbid and Disturbing

So, from Boston's Phoenix newspaper, here is a link to the article on artist Heide Hetry's exhibit, Heads and Tales. And here is a link to the macabre slideshow, flies and all.

On a less disturbing but still porcine-related note, Geekologie has informed me that you can buy an apparatus which creates bacon-flavored bubbles for your dog to chase after and pop. Non-toxic! Safe to ingest! Bacon-tasty! Also available in Chicken or Peanut Butter flavor. I think it's pretty hilarious, and it would make a fine holiday gift for appromixately $10 = the price of laughter and ferocious bubble-hunting canines.



Geekologie has also informed me of adhesive "tape" sunglasses. They come on a roll, they're perforated, they stick to your face like...tape. You'll have to click the link for Disposable Tape Sunglasses to see just how lame people look with tape on their faces. It's fun! My eyebrows fell out the second I looked at the pictures.

Wild Fire, that Cartoon About A Horse

Omg, thank you YouTube! No one believed me when I talked about the cartoon I watched as a kid - involving a dimension-jumping horse and a secret-princess who lives on a ranch with her dad. This show is for little girls who love horses and want to feel oh-so-special. Yep, you got it. I had a serious horse problem. Truly, as safe symbols of unbridled - heh - sexuality, what could be better.

Jem is Outrageous, She-Ra has Secrets

The Misfits look kinda awesome now, though. I guess the Be Like Jem message didn't stick with me. Or maybe everyone who watched has a little bit of Jem still inside...her magical earrings?



Lest we forget She-Ra, the Princess of Power. Oo, maybe I can find some Wonder Woman next!

Henley-On-Todd Regatta

Read about this "boat race" on Wikipedia.

Here is an About.com article on the Alice Springs "dry" regatta.

It's an annual regatta on a dry river bed, attracting lots of people and "boats" and vendors. It's a big boat party! Hundreds of miles from any body of water! Ending with a "boat battle" involving water cannons and "dough bombs". It's the only regatta to be canceled in the event of water in the river bed.

Australia seems to have an incredible sense of humor.

Obama sushi and Xbox homophobia

What the hell, Xbox? Xbox Live has a Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy pertaining to sexual orientation. And that's just stupid. I mean, if you can't tell the truth about your avatar...okay, okay, fine. I'm NOT really blonde. Sorry, everyone. Geekologie told me about the Xbox Live Homophobia Scandal. Hey, I don't want to hang out with homophobic teen boys online anyway. (Unless they're homophobic because they're really gay as all get out. You just wait.)


In a more positive turn of events, a sushi chef out there has made some rather magical Obama maki. Oba-maki? OMG, I'm brilliant. This link is also from Geekologie: Obama Sushi (Oba-maki!).

I Totally Fell For It!

Read this article about a woman who has the courage to collect what the rest of us can only dream of collecting: tiny things! From childhood doll houses to ipod nanos, petit fours, and toy poodles, hell - there's a little of everything little in this woman's life.

I think this article from humor rag, The Onion, should win some kind of award: Area Woman Only Enjoys Miniature Versions of Things

Phd Interpretative Dance Contest - Scientists Only

So, if you are writing your doctoral dissertation, and you have always wanted to interpret your thesis through modern dance, well...you now have a venue for living out that weird quirk. And more power to you! There is now an annual competition for scientists to interpretively dance their dissertations. The prize is a subscription to Science(which they all probably have anyway, no?).

The 2009 Winner was Sue Lynn Lau, with her Phd entitled: "The role of vitamin D in beta cell function". This is a Phd out of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research / University of Sydney, Australia. You MUST watch with sound ON, absolutement.



Below we have another winner, Vince LiCata, with his dissertation, "Resolving Pathways of Functional Coupling in Human Hemoglobin Using Quantitative Low Temperature Isoelectric Focusing of Asymmetric Mutant Hybrids". This is a dissertation out of Johns Hopkins University. I enjoy their pseudo-tribal, psuedo-colonial dance interpretation very much!

Bear Sleeping Bag - I Need It

Forget money and peace of mind...just give me a bear faux-fur sleeping bag. Sooo cuddly. I can take pictures of my jackahuahua sleeping in the bear's mouth. Found this on Geekologie. Love the pictures. Sooo toothy! Hope there's a built-in foam pad so I won't feel the rocks under my spine when I'm camping. Designed by Eiko Ishizawa.

Like I would really go camping. With a bear sleeping bag! Hah. Sheepskin would be more like it. A sheepskin in bear's clothing. Obviously I go camping all the time.

End Of A Rainbow: Mystery Solved!

From Geekologie, picture taken by "Jason Erdkamp on his iPhone while traveling down Highway 241 in Orange County, California. Are the leprechauns in the back of that SUV?"

I'll never eat Lucky Charms again (and thank goodness for that). But, nifty picture!

Neodymium Magnetic POWER

I love those extra-strong little neodymium fridge magnets. I got crafty and made some attractive ones with photocopies of old postage stamps, too. But the bigger the magnets get, the harder they are to pull off the fridge...and then there's this guy I found on Geekologie. He...well, he lost his finger tip and his finger nail when two large neodymium magnets decided to fly together and make him a hand sandwich. If you're wondering, that's the guy's entire fingernail between the magnets pictured. Crazy.

Guy Loses Finger To Neodymium Magnets

Library Renaissance, says the NY Times Freakonomics blog

It's true - library circulation and attendance go way up during recessions. Not hard to see why. Libraries rock the free books, free movies, free music, and free internet. Also, they have job-search materials, sometimes even lectures. They even offer free tax assistance via volunteers trained by the IRS - Volunteer Income Tax Service (VITA).

Here's an article from the NY Times about the new popularity of libraries: Folks Are Flocking to the Library, a Cozy Place to Look for a Job, by Jim Carlton

From Overhead Everywhere, Feb 6 2009

I'm Afraid Library Regulations Dictate That I Must Give You a Wedgie

Librarian: Watcha doin'?
High school girl: Studying.
Librarian: Nerd.

Bellingham, Washington
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Why haven't I posted in a while?

Well, honestly, the state of the economy has made me lose my sense of humor. Just a bit. But Obama is putting me in a better mood. I might even laugh a little after tax season.

But for right now, I am enjoying this article from Neatorama, written by Ethan Trex: Money for (Practically) Nothing: 4 Very Big Paychecks for Very Little Work

Here's the Number 4 Paycheck, my favorite entry, in the excerpt below. Sounds kinda dreamy! I really like they joins a gym just to "break up the day" - hilarity!

4. Edward McSweegan

Edward-McS.jpgWhile he may not be as high profile or as well-paid as the other names on this list, McSweegan may have found the sweetest deal an average guy could find. In a coup ripped directly from one of George Costanza’s daydreams, McSweegan claimed that he did nothing for seven years while employed as a scientist at the National Institutes of Health. In 2003 McSweegan told the Washington Post that he hadn’t really been given any job responsibilities since 1996. Prior to that, he had been a researcher and program officer on Lyme disease, but he was removed from that position in 1995 for arguing with a sufferers’ support group. Although he had a title as director of the U.S.-Indo Vaccine Action Program and a list of nominal duties associated with that role, McSweegan claimed that he only carried out the tiniest of tasks like ordering coffee. In exchange, he received a salary in the neighborhood of $100,000.

When the NIH vehemently disputed McSweegan’s story that he simply went to work and did nothing all day, he maintained that he never received any assignments. McSweegan would show up, sit in his office, and read to kill time. He took up fiction writing to fill his workdays and published a pair of novels he allegedly wrote while at the office. He told CBS in an interview that he also joined a health club near work “just to sort of break up the day.”

The most amazing part of McSweegan’s story isn’t that he managed to stay employed through this seven-year period, but that he received positive performance reviews
from his superiors. He wryly explained to CBS, “I guess I’m good at doing nothing.”

Location-Aware Phones are Scary and Amazing

Just read a Wired article recently about location-aware phones - and the crazy apps that tell you crazy CRAZY things about your environment! Like what constellations are over your head - just wave you iphone towards the heavens - or what supermarket sells the lowest price skim milk in a five mile radius - just snap a picture of the barcode. IN-SANE. Here's a link to the Wired Article on these creepy location-aware phone apps.

Here's an excerpt from the app list if you're lazy:

9)
Dark Alley? Call for Help.
Application: SafetyNet
Platform: Android
Price: FREE!

"Finally, a right way to venture to the wrong side of the tracks. Use SafetyNet's map to select bad neighborhoods. Then, if you end up in a sketchy area, your mobile will switch into watchdog mode. If trouble arises, all you have to do is shake the handset and your phone will set off an alarm, start sending your location to friends and family every 30 seconds via Google Talk, take a picture, turn on its speaker, and dial 911 (or another emergency number) . The app announces each of these steps out loud so a would-be assailant can hear what's happening and give up. At the very least, they won't want to steal a cell phone that's shrieking about calling the cops."

- from Inside the GPS Revolution: 10 Applications That Make the Most of Location, by Erin Biba for Wired