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February 28, 2006
A head start
Listen to Young at heart and other songs from Doris Day movies. (Where is Doris Day? She's still alive? Haven't heard anything about her in 30+ years. Found on the blog of The Clerkenwell Kid)
Sex, Sinatra and the women who fell for him. Frank Sinatra was famously well-endowed and a voracious womaniser. A new biography details his string of lovers
1994 Playboy Sinatra Interview
A chronological list of Sinatra Albums
Todd Peach's Massive Sinatra Lyrics Page
MemoryWiki is the encyclopedia of memories. Kenny Morse remembers Working with Sinatra
I have to move in the next few days. This post have been pre-blogged for your enjoyment. More Unusual Sinatra Links Here
February 28, 2006 in Music - Frank Sinatra | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 27, 2006
Ultimate Shuffles
From the Library of Congress: Japanese Acrobats. A clip by Thomas A. Edison, April 29, 1904 (Might take a while to load, worth the wait)
Do not cheat! scroll slowly, and try to answer all questions!
Magician Eric Mead retells The Aristocrats as a card trick, (Obviously NSFW!) then takes a cab ride in Aspen and performs the Three of Spades Card Trick inside the Ultimate Taxi. Learn to do card tricks with Ian Kendall
Depth Spinner and Squirming Palm
Juggling Balls. Boing light balls change color with a squeeze of the hand
MindFreak with Chris Angel
Animation above by Cyriak. Many More Unusual Magic Tricks Here
February 27, 2006 in Magic | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Houses made of bottles
The Bottle Houses on Prince Edward Island
House made out of bottles in Rhyolite, Nevada, a Ghost Town about 100 miles outside of Vegas
Doc Hope's Bottle House in Hillsville, VA, built in 1941
Anna’s Bottle Home in Tucson, Arizona
Why is there an airplane (with runway) on 77 water street building in Manhattan?
What was it like to live on a Utah farm in the 1920's? How were homes different then? Take a look through my grandparents home in Leamington, (Millard County) Utah
ArchInfo’s World's 12 Best New Buildings
Who wouldn't want to live in a Tree House?
The Cedar Creek Treehouse in Ashford, WA
Hiroba, the Sapporo Dome Stadium with the world's first "hovering soccer stage" (Including a QuickTime movie, showing how the full soccer field is being transferred in & out the dome)
“Raw concrete” of the Brutalist architecture
Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman's Age of the Domiciles
Lincoln Toe Truck, a pink landmark south of Lake Union, and other Seattle Icons & Roadside Attractions. Also, Seattle's "Hat 'n' Boots" and other Unusual homes
This is another post that I am “co-blogging”, this time with Marlow Harris, a Real estate agent from Seattle who blogs at ”360 Digest”, and who provided most of today’s links. (Previous posts here.) Thank you, Marlow! If other bloggers are interested to share the forum here on any other topic, please contact me for details.
(Photo above from NW Links.) Many More Unusual architectural Links Here
February 27, 2006 in Architecture, Co-blogged with | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 26, 2006
Holy Civil War – Are you happy now?!
Dark February 22nd, the start of the civil war, (not only according to John Murtha). Such tragic news. My heart breaks for the poor people caught in the line of fire there
Slideshow of the bombing
Real AP headline: Holy Shiite Tomb Attacked
Plans For Iraq Attack Began on 9/1
Even people like RJ Elliott acknowledge now that the invastion of Iraq didn’t work. Soon they’ll find an excuse to bail, and leave “The Iraqi People to deal with” the mess left behind... Oops, sorry I broke your stuff, goodbye...
Much More About The Civil War in Iraq Here
February 26, 2006 in War in Iraq | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Everywhere you go you always take the weather with you
Here is a new collection of links, about Music from New Zealand. I am just discovering it beyond the basics, so this section will start a little thin, and grow as I explore more. Suggestions & recommendations from readers will be especially welcome here
Obviously, my introduction to Kiwi music was through the albums of Split Enz and Crowded house which were spearheaded by Tim Finn and Neil Finn. Like the Grateful Dead, these bands had (and still have) a rabid base of fans, and when I used to go to the Finn brothers concerts, you always met the same people in the audience...
Split Enz returning for a belated encore performance
Maori singer Moana and the Tribe
New Zealand Music of the 60's, 70's and 80's
Mixotheque, a music blog of New Zealand rock
A massive collection of Kiwi Music Links
Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa
Other Kiwi Travel Links:
New Zealand in grip of man drought - Yeah!
How to acquire a New Zealander accent and American versus New Zealand vocabulary
More from The Flying Kiwi: Common Birds of the New Zealand Forest, basic New Zealand geography (And other Asian travel wallpapers)
Phil Garrett's Flying Kiwi project – breaking the world sidecar speed record @ 320 km/h
Toward the Top of the mountain and other bike photos by Reinhard Pantke, who bikes around the world
Girls Go Wild - 5-part Adventures in New Zealand by Elisabeth Eaves, author of “Bare”
Blue Ferns. New Zealand is a land filled with ferns, none of them were blue - until now
RE: Immigration - move2nz – a comprehensive site that includes resources, services, contacts and information: “we wished we could have had when we emigrated to Christchurch in 2000”
A Metafilter thread about an inexpensive shipping route when you move to NZ
You’ll find a copy of this section on the Moving to New Zealand blog
February 26, 2006 in Music from New Zealand | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack
February 25, 2006
Cool Microphones
Antique radios collectors
Five rules from the NPR drinking game
Vintage Microphones from the collection of Chris Owen
Cool Microphones! (From Mira y Calla)
I can’t stand listening to the sleepy voice of Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion, but here are the weekly greetings read on the show
Archives of The Naked Scientists Internet Science Radio Show
Many More Unusual Radio Links Here
February 25, 2006 in Radio | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Corruption as usual
The Shot Heard 'Round the World, an “Urly Art” photo mosaic
"Oh what a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day
I’ve got a beautiful feeling - down in Guantanamo Bay..."
From Rocketboom: Why Is President Bush So Awesome?
Only in this corrupted Congress could a politician like John Boehner successfully present himself to his colleagues and the press as a "reformer”. (By Joe Conason. A Salon registration required)
Nothing made a more lasting impression during my journey through America than the semi-comatose state in which I found the American left: A Letter to the American Left, by Bernard-Henri Lévy
Jim Derych’s Confessions of a Former Dittohead: One Year Later
A reasonably-lucid interview with Senator Joe Biden on Fresh Air
Many More Unusual Links About The Election of 2006 Here
February 25, 2006 in Politics | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Mystery Meat
Barbeque Lamb Belly The Slow Way. Or How I Wasted My Saturday Afternoon. By Stephen Judd
Hotdogs for Homophobe
Happy ham flickr pool – Hammy is always happy to be eaten…
Virtual Pig Dissection
Deconstructing the McRib sandwich. And The Boneless Pig Farmers Association of America
Where do burgers come from? (WARNING: Graphic link – NSFW!)
An invention which involves a device for perfusing an animal head
Weird Meat documents experiences eating strange food, as I travel around the world. From duck tongues to chicken butts
Going whole hog. Savoring the whole hog, one piece at a time
Vegetable Liberation Army. (From ”Presurfer”)
The coconut temple courier service. How does a temple in India make sure that it gets 15,000 coconuts a day delivered for its rituals?
Bananart - Go bananas and Tattooed Bananas
Many More Unusual Vegetarians and Meat Eaters Here
February 25, 2006 in Food - Meat & Vegetables | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 24, 2006
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
On the third day of rain they had killed so many crabs inside the house that Pelayo had to cross his drenched courtyard and throw them into the sea, because the newborn child had a temperature all night and they thought it was due to the stench. The world had been sad since Tuesday. Sea and sky were a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach, which on March nights glimmered like powdered light, had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish. The light was so weak at noon that when Pelayo was coming back to the house after throwing away the crabs, it was hard for him to see what it was that was moving and groaning in the rear of the courtyard. He had to go very close to see that it was an old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, couldn’t get up, impeded by his enormous wings…
When Gabriel Garcia Marquez Met Hemingway in Paris, one rainy spring day in 1957
Love in the time of viagra. Salon review of “Memories of My Melancholy Whores”
When driving thru Boyle Heights last week, I was so elated when I crossed a Gabriel Garcia Marquez Street. What a blast!
Unrelated, Happy birthday, Salvadore Tessio - 85 years young today
More Unusual Links About Borges & Marquez Here
February 24, 2006 in Books - Gabriel Garcia Marquez | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Year of the Mona Lisa with Dogs
Photos of snakes eating things. Not for the squeamish or those with a tenuous grasp on nature. (From McWetBoy)
More Baby Squirrels
Types of the Modern American Ass
Save The Bald Beaver Society. The North American Bald Beaver is the official symbol of Berlow Canada.
The website of the Animal Liberation Front (Loads slowly)
Vintage pitbulls. (From Monkey Media Report)
Mona Lisa with dogs - Many breeds of dogs...
Many More Unusual Animal Stories Here
February 24, 2006 in Animals | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 23, 2006
Got Chocolate?
A Tokyo based jeweler has baked a 5 million dollar chocolate bar, in the mold of an African continent
A Plumber's Dream Scene - Chocolate Toilet Seat
3D chocolate printer made from LEGO. I did this project a long time ago so the documentation is incomplete, but hopefully it will inspire someone to rebuild it and fill in the blanks
Ever had a big lunch and then fall into a food coma when you go back to work/class? Chocolate Jolt's a nice 'pick me up' treat that's simple to make and delicious as well
Alasdair Watson’s report on a Gerard Coleman chocolate-tasting event. (From Warren Ellis)
Many More Unusual Chocolates and Unusual Desserts Here
February 23, 2006 in Food - Chocolate | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 22, 2006
Sons of Atrus!
One of the earlier posts that I’ve composed last year together with another blogger, was the one about the unusual Russian Dolls (Matryoshka). I somehow connected with Robyn Miller, the webmaster of the then-new Tinselman, and we did our thing. I didn’t inquire about him, and at the time I even thought that he was a She (Robyn?).
Since then, his blog continued to flourish and get exposed, as those things usually do. And then about a week ago, I somehow realized that THIS IS THE MAN who (together with his brother) created Myst AND Riven! and who caused millions of grown-up like myself to spend many months losing ourselves in the mysteries of tragic imagination during the mid-90’s! And just today, as I was preparing to write this post, Robyn published on Tinselman one of his earliest design maps of the five islands of Riven on his blog! Thank you, man! I didn’t know!...
Other Unusual individuals:
People think that they animals! Sarah discovers the truth behind Furries: “This is horrible! I may kill myself over this, because I don’t want to be part of the human race anymore!”
Fred Gratzon: the world's laziest man. (And his book, The Lazy Way to Success)
Einstein’s Wife Mileva Maric Einstein. (From Plep)
Lucky Diamond Rich - The Most Tattooed Man In The World
Why is this smiling man wearing a Superbowl tattoo? Hint: His name is Mark Roberts and he has streaked over 380 times in the last ten years
Johnny Eck, the man who was born with no lower half
New York artist Chrissy Conant sells Chrissy Caviar, one of her own pearly eggs, a human, Caucasian Beluga
Many More Unusual People Doing Unusual Things Here
February 22, 2006 in Unusual People | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Visit to a small planet
Nakano Broadway is a warren of small (and one or two large) shops selling vintage toys and newer collectible vinyl at prices that are in some cases bargainous
Watch “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof in Japanese. (Thank you, Jeff)
Shingo Mama no Oha. Shingo Mama, a cross-dressing Japanese singer, advocates the use of "oha" as an abbreviation for the Japanese greeting ohayō which means "good morning"
Hadaka Matsuri, The Naked Man Festival in Okayama, Ten thousand near-naked men huddled together to fight the cold
Public bathing - Water Therapy for better human
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
February 22, 2006 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 21, 2006
Dazzle
Almost more screensaver than video game, Cosmic Bounce is to Web-based games what salami is to manhole covers: Zen
Mister Mojo Rising - The secret behind Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, as told by Victoria, their blond net artist
25 minutes to go and other creations by Neen, stands for Neenstars, a still undefined generation of visual artists. The Neen manifesto, by Miltos Manetas
Decorate your site with Bigger squares
Rorschach Test and 45 other experiments at Story Nest
Amorphoscapes by Stanza. (From the previously-blogged Sound Toys)
A large Collection of Digital Eye Candy Here
February 21, 2006 in Digital Art | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Language martyrs
Happy Language Day! Language Movement Day is a national day of Bangladesh to commemorate protests and sacrifices to protect Bengali as a national language during Pakistan regime in 1952
Antarctic slang, or, English, as She is Spoke at McMurdo and Pole
Art of Chinese Calligraphy
Would you like to say the following in Maori - instantly?
• Will you marry me:
• Does my bum look big in this?
• Hi honey, I'm home
• Don't give up your day job...
and hundreds of other practical, street-wise and occasionally risqué English/Maori prases and words? Then you need Instant Maori
An Animated History of the Alphabet
How to say My hovercraft is full of eels in many languages. (From MP’s Hungarian phrase book)
2006 version of The List of Banished Words: 97% fat free, Dawg & Talking points, among similar dogs
Many More Unusual Language Links Here
February 21, 2006 in Languages | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Garfood
1300 Cereal Boxes, the equivalent fiber of one box of colon-blow
Garfield Junk Food: Jim Davis was never known for being peculiarly selective when it came to licensing out his creation
The merchandizing of the Tasting Menu Blog
Yokit Instant Yogurt, just add water. Sounds disgusting, it should have been spelled Yuckit. (From Slash Food)
Brokeback Mountain Shopping Lists
See the alphabetical list of all egg-peeling strategies we have tried for you. (From Web Junkie)
The Loafwich, The Second Biggest Sandwich in History
Bacon-flavored ice cream with a mild horseradish punch, puffed amaranth, and a sugar tuile with a fine layer of bacon and chives: Another review of Homaro Cantu’s Moto
Has anyone here ever enjoyed canned bread?
A short flickr slideshow of Clement's Cooking, from A La Cuisine fame. Dish in photo above is called ‘Deconstructed Glass of White Wine’
Many More Unusual Recipes and Meals Here
February 21, 2006 in Food | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 20, 2006
Escape to Romance
Are you a member of the Mile High Club? Would you like a free membership? Here is your chance to make your fantasy a reality with the amorous, single webmaster of Grow-a-Brain and the southern hospitality of the folks at Mile High Atlanta.
If chosen, you will win an all-expenses weekend trip to Atlanta, Georgia, a luxurious weekend at the romantic winery-resort Château Élan and the experience of a lifetime as you get initiated in the exclusive club, flying over 5,280 feet above the earth's surface.
Some of the other exciting activities possible during this relaxing weekend are sightseeing, wine-tasting, restaurants & bar-hopping, visits to some local attractions (To be decided later), or just leisurely hanging around and taking in the sights.
To apply, please send a private email to realhanan (at) yahoo (dot) com, and specify the time that will work for you, and any relevant information. Only one winner will be chosen. Must be a woman and over 18 years old.
The trip will be kept confidential and will not be blogged.
(This is not a joke. Other bloggers who care about my well-being are welcome to link to this post. Thank you). To find out a little bit about me dig inside the blog
February 20, 2006 in Personal | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Hunting Safety Tips
DFL, a blog celebrating last-place finishes at the Olympics
85-link Canopy formations
Record breaking 255 foot cliff jump
Naked Bicycle People Power! On March 12th and June 10th, 2006 cities across the world will experience the naked joy of the worlds largest naked protest against oil dependency and car culture in the history of humanity
Kurt Steiner, the Guinness World Record Holder in stone skipping and the official Pennsylvania Qualifying Stone Skipping Tournament
Pool Hustlers, photographed by Christopher LaMarca
Hunting & Fishing Safety Tips. No. 7. Control your emotions when it comes to safety. If you lose control of your emotions you may do something carelessly
Terrible sport bloopers (Turn down the sound)
Many More Unusual Links of Extreme Sports Here
February 20, 2006 in Extreme Sports | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 19, 2006
Kinetic Art
Keith Rose chronicles Van Gogh's life in a commercial for some mutual fund company
Elaborate (but not very clear) video presentations of Tim Fort’s Kinetic Art. Similarly complicated, Perdue University’s Rube Goldberg Machine Contest
Katrina artists, a free space for Gulf Coast artists in the area affected by Hurricane Katrina to post information about their work, to let customers know where they are now and to sell their work online
The commercial rebrand work of Trek Thunder Kelly (1969-2009)
The Most Wanted Paintings on the Web in various countries
Tom Judd’s Everyday. 365 pages ago I had a very silly idea. Draw a page everyday for one year. Each day I spent around 1 hour on the page, sometimes more, sometimes less. There was never any planning or preparation, I would just go at it whenever I had a spare moment in my day and had something I needed to write or draw. Some of the drawings are observational and some are just plain weird. Monsters and things seem to crop up a lot (robots too)
Wing Nut – Kelp & Metalwork by Bert Lambier
The art of Erin Flynn
Many More Unusual Contemporary Artists Here
February 19, 2006 in Modern Art | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tested on animals
Steve Martin's Penis beauty creme. “Hi, I'm Steve Martin. With so many celebrities endorsing cosmetics these days, I wanted to make sure the cosmetic I endorsed was very special. That's why I'm proud to put my name on”... (But I can’t find any clips of The Great Flydini)
This room is full of people who think you are funny
Have you ever started laughing and couldn’t stop?
Do you need a new girlfriend?
This is The German Coast Guard
This Is the Title of This Story, Which Is Also Found Several Times in the Story Itself
Trailer for the World's Greatest Piece O'Crap Film Ever
We had triumphs, we made some mistakes, we had some setbacks…
Update: Here’s the Great Flydini clip. (Courtesy of Footographer’s delight)
Cartoon above was sent in by The Great Revilo himself... A long list of Hysterically Funny and Crazy Links Here
February 19, 2006 in Funny | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 18, 2006
RIP Peter Benchley
Peter Benchley, who died last week at age 65, was the very model of a pulp writer. The grandson of Robert Benchley, the humorist and Algonquin troubadour, and the son of Nathaniel Benchley, the novelist, Peter had one truly inspired idea that he proceeded to pound into the ground for nearly three decades…
JawsFest in Martha’s Vineyard. This was the 30th Anniversary party
In search of monster sharks. The 18th annual Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament. (Thank you, Earl)
Live shark cam at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Many More Unusual Links about Spielberg’s “Jaws”, about Coppola’s Godfather and about Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” Here
February 18, 2006 in Cinema - "Jaws" | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Real Life Monopoly
This is my kind of a game: I’ve been playing it for real for the last 4 years….
House Wrongly Valued at $400 Million. (From Steel Turman)
Maison de L'Amitie for sale – the most expensive home for sale in Palm Beach, FL. Offered by a new listing broker for $125M. Here’s a Google Earth photo
Waterfront estates on the French Riviera
Also, the Larry Ellision’s estate in Atherton. (From The Walk-Though)
Home Blessing-Service. Got ghosts? Paranormal activity? Buying or selling a home? A house blessing can help with aura/spirit cleansing, ancestral or generational ghosts and alien visits using Catholic/Hebraic methods. (From J-Walk)
Open House, a real estate musical film by Dan Mirvish
Many More Unusual Real Estate Stories Here
February 18, 2006 in Real estate | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
New, Diverse Real Estate Blogs
360 Digest, a blog by Marlow Harris, whose eclectic Seattle Dream Homes was featured here and elsewhere many times. Many unusual topics there: Seattle Tiki, Seattle Googie, Elvis and me, more
Move or Stay? A blog about reverse mortgages, by Martha Bridegam
Orel Realty - Jorge Orellana, Realtor en el estado de Florida. Este es el primer Blog dedicado al negocio de Real Estate para el mundo de habla Hispana
"Floorthru" is an blog containing weekly updates on the urban condominium market, mortgage industry and Internet marketing & innovation in real estate
Move UP to Naperville by Eileen Landau
Nubricks: Off-plan Property news and new development reviews
Austin and Texas real estate blog by Dee Copeland
Zillow launched this month. Here’s the Zillow Blog
Judith Clausen’s Denver Real Estate Blogspot
Greg DiSisto's Real Estate Thoughts from Deerfield Beach, FL
Island ease from Honolulu
A blog about Northern New Jersey Real Estate Bubble
Boca Raton Homes for Sale by Marilyn F Jacobs of Lang Realty
The complete List of Real Estate Blogs as well as Grow-a-Brain’s Extensive Real Estate Archives are Here
February 18, 2006 in Real estate Blogs | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
They figured he was a lazy time wasting slacker. They were right
Sizing up Lebowski: Standing up fpr the little guy! (From Coudal Partners)
What is The Big Lebowski Phenomenon? The peculiar experience of seeing/hearing/reading/experiencing something for the first time, and being relatively unimpressed by said thing. Then, when said thing is revisited on multiple successive occasions, it increasingly grows in one's estimation…
…The BLP derives its name from the eponymous Coen Brothers film. Many exited the theatre, having seen it for the first time, feeling distinctly underwhelmed; the critical response tended to match this feeling. However, on repeated viewings, especially on video, these same masses have noted that it mysteriously seems to get better and better. The experience became widespread enough that the film's title was forever attached to the phenonmenon...
The god damn plane has crashed into the mountain: Big Lebowski Haikutomatic and a Dictionary of Dudeisms
“Saturday! Well they'll have to reschedule” - Walter Sobchak Quotes
Lebowski Fest 2005 - Photos by Vidiot. All flickr photos tagged with Lebowski
(Circular linkage with Metafilter): Jeff Dowd of the Seattle Seven is the model for The Dude in The Big Lebowski
Lebowski photo album at Photobucket
Daily Lush celebrates Jeffrey Lebowski the drinker
Jesus Quintana T-shirt. Description: Eight year-olds, Dude
Many Unusual Big Lebowski Links Here
February 18, 2006 in Cinema - "The Big Lebowski" | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 17, 2006
The Nearness of You
You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever
But you rode upon a steamer to the violence of the sun.
And the colors of the sea blind your eyes with trembling mermaids
And you touch the distant beaches with tales of brave Ulysses...
The Day the Music Died, February 3, 1959, refers to the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper (J. P. Richardson) in a farmer's field en route to a concert near Fargo, North Dakota. Don McLean's 1971 song, "American Pie", contains many references to this day, including the phrase itself
Musicians of the Sixties, photographed by John Byrne Cooke
In the Spirit – Conversations with the Spirit of Jerry Garcia. By Wendy Weir
A big linkfest of Pink Floyd Videos from “Look at this”
Electronic pop with Pamela Martinez
Johnny Sinclair & Leslie Stanwyck are Universal Honey
Some covers of Hoagy Carmichael’s songs. (Last two links from Ample Sanity)
Many More Unusual Musicians and their Music Here
February 17, 2006 in Music_ | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 16, 2006
Quail hunting destinations in South Texas
On July 4, 2005 Allan Karl left his home in Southern California on a Journey & Adventure to travel around the world -- from top to bottom, then all the way around - alone on a motorcycle. Without a support team and carrying only what will fit on his 2005 BMW F650GS Dakar single cylinder dual-sport motorcycle he will travel 50,000 miles through 50 countries and attempt to reach all 7 continents
The video of the seasons in Norway
Black Sea Photo Gallery by Lyubomir Klissurov
From “Irish Megaliths”: Potency & Sin – Ireland and the phallic continuum. (Warning, photos of large stones. Thank you, Earl)
Texas quail hunting, dove hunting and pheasant hunting in the panhandle, and in South Texas
Scott Stulberg travels to Southeast Asia
A Dane travels for 6 months in India and Southeast Asia 2005
…And a Russian visit to a South American paradise
Many More Unusual Travel Destinations Here
February 16, 2006 in Traveling Places | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Coming to a post office near you -
First Full Motion Stamps! created by the Dutch design studio Solar: stamps made of 12 successive frames of video footage. (From MIT Advertising Lab)
Many fine concepts at Gari Cruze’s Ad Blather: Basketball Nike, promotional FedEx t-shirts, salt & pepper Crackers, ribbed Durex
‘If you're trying to sell something, sometimes that can be humiliating’, from a grizzly bear, and other Miller auditions
Bad ads from the 40’s & 50’s, found @ Baker Kohn
We’re Happy Little Vegemites. (From Mookie)
The Ikea Lamp Spot
Women feel safe with a man who smokes
The cost of official propaganda during the last 30 months: $1.6 billion (53 million per month)
Advertising Coincidences, when different ads from different agencies are using the same idea or image. (From J-Walk). Like the previously-mentioned Rip-off ads
Emerald Nuts TV “oddvertisements”
Utter Fool and other Spoof Ads found on Google Images
A Large Collection of Unusual Ads Here
February 16, 2006 in Advertising | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 15, 2006
See Bill Maher Live
I have two free tickets to give away for the season’s opening show of Real Time with Bill Maher this Friday evening. The show is being taped live at the CBS studios on Beverly & Fairfax in Hollywood and we have to be there at 6:30PM.
If you are interested to attend, email me at once to realhanan (at) yahoo (dot) com, or call me on my cell phone.
First come, first served.
It’s going to be a “blast”: We are going to be peppered with lots of fun...
Don’t know who Bill Maher is? Watch the Hardball video from the other day
February 15, 2006 in Personal | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
The Young Folks’ Guide to Beasties, By Willard Mardi (Alias Adora Svitak)
An Introduction To the Beastie
The history of beasties has long been debated over by the famous archaeologists Soront and Toraday. While Soront’s theory was that beasties were calm, innocent, and tame until proven otherwise, Toraday vehemently disagreed.
‘The nature of all beasties’ Toraday said in his lecture at Thormin Hall to quite a number of eager college students, ‘is always vicious and crafty. Wait and strike, wait and strike. This is how beasties find their food.’
However, a new paper from Soront’s private collection of beastie research, kept hidden behind a rusty toilet for over a decade, brings things to a new light.
‘This paper from Soront,’ the Licensed Beastie Philosopher of Cambridge College in England said, ‘is perhaps the key to one of the greatest questions in history – are beasties tame or wild? This paper describes one of Soront’s personal experience meeting a calm beastie named Asilefa, who welcomed him into her dwelling and gave him tea.’
However, there is living proof to defend Toraday’s view on the subject. Felisa Rogers, a direct beastie descendant of the twelve ruthless beasties who lived before the dawn of time, is a teacher at Seeds of Learning school in Redmond, Washington, USA, and often bares her teeth and sharpens her claws when a student does something wrong. Controversy, puzzlement, and simple confusion has followed ‘the deal on beasties’ since 1159, when a beastie was discovered off the coast of Africa by shipwrecked Arabians, and I do not think that we are about to break the mystery right now.
An Introduction To Beasties’ Habits and Hobbies
Beasties tend to be gentle WHEN PLEASED. [Study suggestion – use a model of a beastie to test your skills – not a real one!) Meeting humans is not exactly pleasing, but eating one can turn the wildest beastie into a gentle, humble creature.
“Once upon a time there lived a beastie named Hurra-Hurra who liked to eat little children. After eating children she would be very nice.” That is an example from the hidden afterward of Hansel and Gretel, which was excavated from Utopia Bestia Malvada, an inhabitable ‘city of the beasts’ near the Bermuda Triangle. This gives credence to Toraday’s theory that the nature of beasties was vicious and crafty. Soront’s theory is still approved by those who feel safer thinking of beasties as the make-believe antagonists of nursery stories, but Toraday’s descendants and disciples are scattered about the world. Fights often broke out between the two beastiology enemies, one of the most famous being the Thomas vs. Samuel duel in 1789.
We shall now do a bit more of talking about the ‘habits and hobbies’ of beasties. The habits of beasties include:
• Washing after dinner, not before. This seems to be because beasties tend to get more blood on their paws/claws/monster hands after devouring the unlucky victim.
• Circling trees before scraping. Scraping trees is another habit because it tends to give the eucalyptus traymin, or energy vitamin, to the beastie after eating.
• Pulling up any violets, roses, hyacinths, tulips, etc, before creating a new lair. This is probably because weeds are the preferred “decoration plant” for beastie homes.
Hobbies of beasties are much harder to discover; the only way to study hobbies of beasties in the early 1800s was to get in close-range with one, and of course that meant there was a danger of the beastie eating you. However, when Don Juan Ramon Coré de Calla, a rich hacienda owner in Mexico, invented the Beastie Binoculars Model 1000, using up the rest of his slowly draining inheritance, the following beastie hobbies and games were revealed:
• Fishing with one right hand paw and one left leg paw.
• Leaving food from the day’s hunt by the river where other beasties raced to steal it. If another beastie stole your food, that was too bad. If you managed to successfully guard your food, the beasties who had dared try to steal your food were forced to give their hunting day food to that beastie.
• Knitting with shark fins and twigs, which, if actually finished, will create a huge robe of twigs, covering most of the face (except for the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth) and all the rest of the body. Wearing this robe is a sign that you are hard-working, or a “peasant beastie”, so most do not deign to finish their knitting.
• Reading Beastie Runes, which are a mix of Viking runes, Chinese characters, and Egyptian Hieroglyphics. The only people who are allowed to read Beastie Runes are those who have passed a special Beastie tribe test.
Many people have disagreed with this treatise, but all our information has been proved, disproved, proved again and searched thoroughly. Guaranteed.
This is another post that I am “co-blogging”, this time with a very special guest, the eight year old Adora Svitak. The stories above are the first of a series about the Beasties (Not to be confused with these Beasties), which is a subject that occupies Adora’s mind a lot nowadays. Together with her first book "flying fingers", published last year, and more than 360,000 words written since June, 2004, Adora’s blog contains but a few of the 300 stories and poems that she wrote. Check it out! Thank you, Adora. (Previous posts here). If other bloggers are interested to share the forum here on