Friday, June 24, 2005
First off, from me: new photos will be going up on the Flickr account today. Check out our strange lives.
From Zazoo:
- Statler and Waldorf have become the movie reviewers for movies.com!!! With guest appearances by different Muppets every week. In the first episode, Pepe drops by to review DVDs.
- The entire country of Iraq has made the endangered cultural sites list...
- Survivor's Roger Bingham: Where is he now?
From the Sparkle Queen:
- Flying Spaghetti Monsters. Of course!
- In-Souls. Bwah!
From Danny:
- Another nice gadget for the 70s minded: The USB-powered lavalight.
- Dragon Optical Illusion. Be sure to check out the movie clip that's linked about halfway through with footage from the assembled dragon.
Thanks again, everyone, and have a great weekend. See you Monday.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
First off, a senior cat is getting kicked out of his library home and needs a new place to live. Oregonians, listen up! Wouldn't you like a library cat?
Over on the other side of the country, the New York Times put together a literary map of Manhattan. (I don't think registration is required, but use BugMeNot to get a quick password if it is.) I checked for Nero Wolfe, and was delighted to find that the brownstone is located out in the ocean. Hee.
Some genealogists are suggesting that counselors be on hand when researchers find skeletons in the family closet. Hey, that's what happens when you go looking! Be strong, researchers!
Fair Use Day is coming up. Go pirate something to show your support. (I'm KIDDING.)
The buzz on the library mailing lists lately has been a recap of the "are print libraries becoming obsolete?" issue that crops up every so often. When everything goes electronic and no one needs books anymore, at least you could make lovely book boxes in which to store all the digital data. And then you could use old pages to make fantastically cool paper toys! This is the best art project site ever, incidentally. I can't wait to try to make a SplatterBot or a tiny pine coffin. I may even decorate my office with them!
Tomorrow: links from others!
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
For example, there's a vampire hunter kit for sale on eBay. No word on whether it works on werewolves as well. If you're more into zombies, you can try to stop the invasion online. Bam bam pow!
For more general spooky fun, Old Haunts is a weblog devoted to old Halloween photos. This is a great idea. Why not send in some of your own? And Kryptos, the cryptic sculpture on the grounds of the CIA, is getting a whole lot of attention these days. They even did a piece on it this morning on the local news.
You can't visit Kryptos (something about national security and blah blah blah), but you can visit the Brunel Engine House tunnels in the UK this week if you take the special tour. Then you can pop on over to Scotland and view the Corryvreckan Whirlpool, which almost killed George Orwell and is still a deadly menace. Alternatively, you can stay at home and build your own Haunted Mansion - for free!
Not so much creepy as just wacky: the Cynical Traveller went to Harajuku, and took lots of photos. I really need to get over to Japan some day.
Not so much creepy as just plain weird: Billy Corgan wants to get the Smashing Pumpkins back together. That's not the weird part. The weird part is that he took a full-page ad out in the Chicago Tribune to announce the fact. (It's a PDF page, be warned.)
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Every now and then I find something so weird that I wonder why I've never heard of it before. This week, it's Qee. Qee is bizarre! Qee is fun! Qee toys will improve your life!
If you're in London, you can see the Theatre of Science and perhaps get electrocuted in the process. It's hard to resist an attraction like that. (Puns somewhat intended.)
Meanwhile, over in Japan, they're planning to drill to the center of the earth. Or to the mantle, at least. There's not really any mention of hitting the core at the center.
The Polaroidonizer makes any image into a pseudo-Polaroid. Go make some and then run around re-enacting Memento. Or label them as evidence, maybe.
Ever wonder why some eBay auctions hit astronomical heights? So do the people at Outrageous eBay. They track them so you don't have to!
And, finally, the coolest sci-fi gadgets that movies and TV have brought you.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Anyway. Ever wonder who writes the fortunes in fortune cookies?
Akiane: child prodigy in art and poetry. She's very very good, and kind of freaky.
If you have a desire to create, you could join the Vintage Vandals (which sounds like a rockabilly group, doesn't it?) or maybe make some anime dolls. Or, if you're more aural than visual, create a soundscape for the Window Standpoint Project.
The Monster Engine brings children's fears to (a sort of) life via realistic paintings. This is a very cool idea. Imagine a nursery filled with these paintings! Muhahahaha! (I don't have kids. Can you tell?)
