Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Good Reads
Beginning in the 1600s, almost a million nameless people were buried in an old rock quarry in Fontanelle, Italy. Those who live can "adopt a skull" and mourn for anonymous remains.CSI and other TV shows have changed the way people perceive crime investigation. Real life forensic pathologists will tell you that the truth of the profession is very different. (Thanks, Amy!)
Cappadocia, Turkey is Tatooine on earth, only without the Sand people, Jawas, and annoying Storm Troopers.
Is Obesity All In Your Head? I thought it was in the waist and hips, but scientists say genes might hardwire some people into overeating.
A journalist reflects on her five years of covering news in Africa. Despite war, injustice, and despair, she grew to love the continent. (via Metafilter)
Why are more male babies born after wartime? We don't know the answer, but the question itself leads to an intriguing genetic hypothesis.
Instead of keeping track of your faults, discover what's good within you: your character strengths and values. It will take about 15 minutes to complete the full VIA Survey on Character.
The most important ingredient in holiday baking is the butter. Here's the science behind those explicit cookie recipe instructions. (via Lifehacker)
You KNow Me, Don't You?
I received an absolutely wonderful gift delivered to my front door yesterday! Thanks, Duke!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Fun and Funny Links
The Smoking Gun selects the 2008 Mug Shots Of The Year. #16 made me laugh out loud, and #2 should be in some kind of Hall of Fame.Dolphin Stampede! Maybe there's a Black Friday sale at a nearby reef.
Cute Things Falling Asleep is a video blog about... well, you know. Rate the videos by cuteness or sleepiness.
The Real Story Behind A Charlie Brown Christmas (and why it almost wasn’t shown). But it was, and we're all richer for it.
What do 49 microwave ovens have to do with Christmas? If you said leftovers, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the Christmas greeting.
If Alcohol Labels Were More Realistic. I had to laugh at this while reliving memories of high school and the times I had no money.
The Strange Story of Santa Claus. A history of the jolly elf that resembles nothing you've heard before, but it makes about as much sense as any other Santa story.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Japanese Cat Humiliation
A set of calender videos featuring the world's most tolerant cats. They must be well fed. (via Metafilter)
Saturday, December 20, 2008
The Santa Claus Quiz Show
A movie theater promotion from the 50s to give away prizes from local merchants. (via Cynical-C)
Friday, December 19, 2008
Friday Fun Links
The Sun-Sentinel's Scared of Santa picture gallery now has 269 photographs of disastrous holiday sittings. That's 110 more than last year!8 Guinness World Record Attempts That Failed (Hilariously). Lesson learned: try to know what you're doing before you go public with it.
Vote for the Sexiest Geeks of 2008! Wired's annual poll is open for nominations and voting.
17 Awesome Gingerbread Houses. They look good enough to eat; or even good enough to live in!
Rudolph, and Santa’s 27 Other Reindeer. How the legend of the flying reindeer evolved and spun off lots of Christmas stories.
Hangover Cures from Around the World. Just the thought of ingesting some of these will put you off drinking for a while. (via Neatorama)
What would happen if you put a lighter in a blender? Don't try it yourself before watching this slow motion video.
The Pug Head Tilt. They only do this so we can all say "Awww" together.
The latest on Mr-Too-Good-To-Be-True
The latest on Mr-Too-Good-To-Be-True: This morning my car wouldn't start. Normally, I would tell the kids to walk to school, but today was Christmas party day and Princess was wearing high heels and Gothgrrl was dressed like Santa Claus, and they had gifts to carry. So I called the guy I'm seeing and he was here in minutes. He took the kids to school, then took his son to the orthodontist, then brought a car charger and plugged my car in. While he was waiting for the car to charge up, he vacuumed my living room and fired up the carpet shampooer! He told me to go get back on the computer so I can get some work done. See, he knows I have relatives coming from out of town and I'm also chronically behind on my internet work -mainly due to spending time with him.I thought, hot damn! I'd love to brag on this, but no one would believe me.
Mere moments after I had that thought, the doorbell rang. It was my pastor's wife dropping by to talk about the dinner party they were hosting tonight. Ha!
I was dateless at the dinner party because he's shy about crowds of people he doesn't know. In situations like that, I'm a bit leery of talking about "my boyfriend" because it might come across as a fictional character dreamed up by a desperate old lady. After all, no one there had ever actually seen him. Or had ever seen me in the company of a man.
But tonight was different. "This guy I'm seeing came over today and shampooed my carpet."
"Really?"
"Yes, really! And I have a witness!"
Pastor's wife: "Yes, he was shampooing the carpet!"
Several women: "Lucky you!"
Hee hee!
(Image from the book Porn for Women)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Honey Badger
The most fearless animal on earth. He steals food from a cobra, then eats the cobra, too! (via Dark Roasted Blend)
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
My Christmas Decorations
Despite the lack of a tripod and any video skills whatsoever, I felt compelled to document the process of decorating the porch of our new home for our first Christmas here. I shot the footage before Thanksgiving, and finally got around to editing it this morning.
Information Links
6 Insane Discoveries That Science Can't Explain.Scientists can extract images directly from the brain. The technology is still rather crude, but may lead to viewing dreams and hallucinations someday.
Web Urbanist has posted so many features on abandoned places, they've compiled a meta-post where you can find all of them. Cities, towns, vehicles, and buildings, they're all here!
Necessary Angels. Lower-caste Indian women trained in health care are the ones who save lives in small villages doctors don't want to work in. (via Metafilter)
The Levitating Lightbulb. A cool demonstration of an implementation of wireless energy transfer, in combination with magnetic levitation.
Over a thousand species have been discovered over the past ten years in the Mekong River area of southeast Asia. They include a bright pink millipede, a miniature deer, and a spider with a 12-inch legspan.
The Beautiful Mind is a collection of neuroscience photographs presented as art. Mouseover each photo for an explanation. (via Metafilter)
Christmas shopping is different this year. "The thrill of insane bargains and the suggestion that we can rescue our economy by spending money is colliding with the nauseating sensation that we should be saving up for a long, dark winter."
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Interesting Links
This looks downright dangerous! Lockheed Martin developed the Multiple Kill Vehicle-L (MKV-L) to hover and kill.An inside view of the Iraq War. CNN journalist Michael Ware spent most of the last six years in Iraq, where we was shot at, hunted, blindfolded, and stuffed into the back of cars, marked for death, and kidnapped
Tycho Brahe had an extraordinary brain. He also had a golden nose and a drunken moose.
Should You Switch to LED Christmas Lights To Save Money? It all depends on how you use them and take care of them. (via Geek Like Me)
Reddit members matter-of-factly tell of their experiences in prison.
The Unforgettable Amnesiac. Henry Gustav Molaison lost a critical part of his identity, but gave us a wealth of information about how the human brain works.
Light Graffiti as seen through the eyes of 20 different artists and photographers. Guaranteed to make you want to go out and try this, too!
How condoms are made. The strength test impressed me!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Fun Links
Bio-bak is rather simple to play and navigate. It just looks like psychosis in a carnival funhouse. (via Everlasting Blort)Imagine what corporate logos would look like if they reflected the truth of the economic crisis. Oh, you don't have to, because someone already did.
This cat has his owner wrapped completely around his finger. You don't see just anyone commanding a private elevator!
40 Motivational Speeches In 2 Minutes. After watching, I feel motivated to go watch a movie.
When Mechanics Go Bad. And we're not talking about a repair that didn't last, oh no, these are much worse.
Hermey the Elf in Full Metal Christmas.
If Twilight Was 10 Times Shorter And 100 Times More Honest. If you liked that, you might also enjoy it as a Christmas movie.
Zooborns is niche blogging at its finest, posting only the first photos of new animal babies from zoos around the world. You could die from all the cuteness. (via Dark Roasted Blend)
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Nobody's Fault But Mine
By Blind Willie Johnson. You may be more familiar with the Led Zeppelin version.
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Rite of Spring (part one)
Music by Igor Stravinsky, choreography by by Vaslav Nijinsky. Performed by the Joffrey Ballet. Read about how this ballet caused a riot at mental_floss.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
8 Truly Strange Christmas Customs
December 25th was set as the date for Christmas in the 4th century as an attempt to Christianize midwinter pagan holidays such as Solstice and Saturnalia. Customs such as bringing evergreens inside, and hanging lights are universal responses to winter season. Some of the stranger traditions, however, are remnants of those older pagan holidays
read more | digg story
Links for Fun
The 8 Creepiest Interpretations of Santa Claus and the Top 10 Unintentionally Scary Santas. These will scare the sugarplums out of your dreams forever.Heartbroke Daily is a literary exercise in lost love. The fictional Knox Dupree writes about a different woman and the heartbreak she left him with every day. (via the Presurfer)
Watch a mouse named Brain Storm run an obstacle course. And we wonder why they don't get caught in mousetraps.
Bonomo Library of Handy Pocket Manuals, containing instructions for how to live your life. (via Everlasting Blort)
Glennz t-shirt designs are visual puns. You can determine a lot about someone by their reaction when they see you wearing one.
The 7 Dumbest Things Ever Done by Airport Security. In this business, the loss of common sense is the fastest way to make national headlines.
Cats are carnivores, they aren't supposed to eat broccoli! Somehow this excited kitten hasn't learned that lesson yet.
A photojournalist comes within inches of being splattered across the pavement. Yet he immediately gets the picture!
Milo's Tale
When we moved into our new home in August, we noticed an orange and white cat hanging about. According to the neighbors, he was a stray who roamed from house to house hoping for a snack. The lady across the road called him Crazy Cat, but my daughters decided his name was Milo. Milo soon learned they were soft touches, and he stayed in our yard more than any other.
Princess and Gothgrrl fed him on our back deck most of the time. It didn't take long for other neighborhood cats and dogs to find the food we left for Milo. I found myself chasing away strange animals a bit too much. We tried difference ways of feeding him, and discovered that he ate in the manner of a stray -all of it at once, lest another animal come by and get it. I warned the girls not to put food out unless Milo was around. He was, most of the time.
Milo liked to lay on top of the van. Several times, in good weather when I left the vehicle windows open, I was surprised to find him asleep inside. I started the car and he would leap out the window from the back seat. The first time that happened, it took me a few minutes to recover! Milo began to crawl into my lap any chance he got. When I returned home from errands, Milo would recognize the van blocks away and run to meet me.
Princess visited Milo's alleged original owner and told me the woman had a dozen cats inside! The woman said she put the orange cat out because there were just too many. I didn't voice my opinion on someone who would do that, but Princess understood.
As the weather worsened, we fed him in the basement, which meant leaving the basement door slightly open. He adapted right off. We made him a bed of old towels and he would lay there and purr in his sleep. He also purred while he ate. Later, as the basement got colder, he began sleeping on boxes closer to the furnace. I would occasionally catch a gray cat in the basement as well. My daughter said, "Oh, that's Milo's wife." The gray cat was never welcomed; I have my limits, after all. I was concerned about leaving the basement door ajar. Who knows how cold this winter will be, or how easy the pipes will freeze? I considered installing a cat flap.
Our male cat Biscuit hated Milo with a passion. Biscuit stays inside, except for the time we took him outside for a portrait. He spotted Milo on the porch and went ballistic -that's when he almost tore my arm off. Shortly after, we discovered that Milo was declawed! My opinion of his original owner went downhill. A declawed cat can't climb trees to avoid dogs, can't defend himself in a catfight, and cannot catch mice or fish. They have to be sheltered and protected. I would've taken Milo inside at that point, if it weren't for Biscuit.
Then just last week, Princess went on a field trip with her class and a few parents. One of her friends' father told the story of their last cat, who went outside and never returned. He said he would love to have an indoor cat, but it would have to be declawed and he didn't feel good about doing that. Princess immediately offered Milo. The family accepted even before they met him! They bought a litter box and cat food and came over to get Milo the next day.
Things worked out for everyone. Milo has a good home where he can stay warm inside and be petted by two adults and five children. The family has a declawed cat they don't have to feel guilty about. Since they live only a couple of blocks away, my daughters can visit. And I can shut the basement door. Now there's a happy ending!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Links to Learn From
The World's Most Bizarre and Intriguing Water Fountains. My favorites are the kind you can walk through.The 3 Coolest Ancient Air-Conditioning Devices. Environmentally friendly even when they didn't have to be!
Are Humans 80,000 Years Older Than Previously Thought? Tools found in Ethiopia are older than the oldest Homo sapiens bones ever found.
A quarter-century marriage to a man behind bars. She became a lawyer; he became a leader of the violent prison gang the Aryan Brotherhood. Part two and part three. (via Metafilter)
Happiness is more contagious than we ever knew. That's the kind of epidemic worth spreading around.
Eleven Clever Tips for Digital Camera Owners. Some of these are more interesting than your vacation shots.
Who flew before the Wright Brothers? They were rightly credited with the first successful flight, but they weren't the only ones looking for the glory -and the cash.
2008 Holiday Ordering Deadlines for On-Time Delivery. Procrastinators, select your vendors!
Monday, December 08, 2008
Fun Links
Wonder Boner and more suggestive product names.How Physicists Make Lunch. A YAG laser beam will do the coffee, and a ten-foot tall Tesla coil cooks the hot dogs! (via Dark Roasted Blend)
Freaky Christmas Light Photographs. Not a tree or a porch in the bunch. (via Everlasting Blort)
Rough seas affect a cruise ship's dining room. It starts slow, but the room is eventually destroyed.
What NOT to Buy Your Girlfriend for Christmas.
Beware the Doghouse!
Funny Twins. Most separated-at-birth posts are interesting, but this made me laugh!
How to have a horrifying conversation. A true story.
Motherless Children Have A Hard Time
Blind Willie Johnson. From YouTube:
Johnson was not born blind, and, although it is not known how he lost his sight, Angeline Johnson provided this account to Samuel Charters: She said when Willie was seven his father beat his stepmother after catching her going out with another man. The stepmother then picked up a handful of lye and threw it, not at Willie's father, but into the face of young Willie.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Xbox Lady
Looks to be an audition for one of the early Xbox 360 commercials (the banned one with everyone play shooting each other). The old lady can't quite grasp the concept of shooting an imaginary gun...(via YesButNoButYes)
Friday, December 05, 2008
Funny Links
On December 5th, 1933, congress ratified the 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition. In celebration of that occasion, here are Ten Great Moments in Beer History.The 40 Greatest Lost Icons in Pop-Culture History is a "where are they now" full of folks who had their 15 minutes of fame and were never heard from again. Most, it turns out, for good reason.
The Holy Church of Bacon. Where you can work toward Baconlightenment!
7 Historical Figures Who Were Absurdly Hard To Kill.
Oldest LOLcat yet found -from 1905!
130,000 Misplaced Boobs.
As a game, it's a simple run-and-jump maze. As an art project, it will take you to many familiar websites. i made this. you play this. we are enemies.
You be my princess, I'll be your toad, I'll follow behind you on rainbow road. The beautifully sincere Mario Kart Love Song.
Prop 8: The Musical. Hey, if they can make a musical out of Little Shop of Horrors, they can add music to anything.
Personal Note for my Friends
How could you NOT love a man who drives over to your house at 6:30 AM, sprinkles salt on your icy steps, then sits in the car for half an hour because he doesn't want the doorbell to wake you up?
(image by seeks2dream)
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Good Reads and Information
The Stories Behind Hollywood Studio Logos. Meet the woman who carried a torch for Columbia and the Dreamworks boy who fished from the moon.Why going "Made in the USA" for a week left me hungry, broke, and half-naked. Buying American is a lot more difficult than you would think.
Top Ten Fugitives That Were Never Caught. If you see these men, there could be a reward in it for you. (via Unique Daily)
10 Facts About Diamonds You Should Know. These are in a addition to what you learned by watching Blood Diamond.
A diamond mine under a frozen Arctic lake uses 25,000 gallons of fuel a day to excavate 3,150 tons of rock. The resulting product will fill two coffee mugs, but it's a profitable business.
Four Pieces of Land Not Worth Fighting Over (But That Never Stopped Anyone). You have to dig deeper to find the real motivations for these wars.
The science of illusion can give you an out-of-body experience, or even convince you that you've switched bodies with someone else. Someone like Scott Bakula in Quantum Leap.
Inside the curious world of nude modeling for artists. It's OK, Mom, it's ART!
The environmental benefits of a cut Christmas tree, compared to an artificial tree. For one thing, they smell good, which improves the environment of your home.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
6 Awesome Dogs with 6 Awesome Stories
After two previous posts about great dogs, both heroic and loyal, I keep finding more wonderful dog stories to share. Dogs have an amazing ability to do whatever needs to be done, and will still wag their tails afterward.
read more | digg story
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Fun Links and Videos
The Literary Review's annual Bad Sex in Fiction award was handed out last week. Here are excerpts from the finalists. (via Metafilter)A man carries twenty bricks on his head. I need an aspirin just to watch him.
Whack-A-Mouse. Kitties love arcade games, too!
The Ten Greatest Videos of Animals Playing Sports. All classics. All just as funny years later.
The Pen Is Mightier, an action-packed-epic-romantic-war-thriller -drama-saga starring... office supplies!
Nine Holiday Gifts That Send a Message. If the message isn't obvious, just go ahead and enjoy the gift.
Stack the Memory by the Sniper Twins is nerdcore rap to the max. What worries me is that I can actually understand about half of it!
The Simpsons throws out twenty years worth of
Monday, December 01, 2008
Informative Links
Making Visible Embryos. Eight sections of this site detail the history of how we came to understand and illustrate unborn humans. (via Bioephemera)A Shell oil company ROV (remotely operated vehicle) caught video footage of a Magnapinna (big fin) squid near a deep oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the weirdest animal you will see today.
AskMen has the results of The Great Male Survey of over 75,000 men. Then check out The Great Female Survey of fewer participants and fewer questions.
Five Centuries of Board Games. What is most surprising is how little they have changed. (via Cynical-C)
The World in 2009, according to The Economist. Why we can't believe economic predictions, according to Slate.
The only known wreck of a slave ship has been found off the Turks and Caicos Islands. Descendants of the survivors still live on those islands.
The Most Unethical Psychological Experiments, This is where the term "scarred for life" comes from.
The "Dance Your PhD" contest has become an annual event. A little boogie must be a welcome relief from defending your dissertation. (via Metafilter)