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December 31, 2008
Jumping off a cliff is so 2008
Soaring with the thermals must define 2009 -
Happy New Year, y'all.
A few more personal items here
December 31, 2008 in Personal | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack
First item sold on eBay
eBay was founded as AuctionWeb on September 3, 1995, by French-born Iranian computer programmer Pierre Omidyar, and Phil Fischer, as part of a larger personal site that included, among other things, Omidyar's own tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Ebola virus. In 1997, the company received approximately $5 million in funding from the venture capital firm Benchmark Capital.
The very first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. Astonished, Omidyar contacted the winning bidder to ask if he understood that the laser pointer was broken. In his responding email, the buyer explained:
"I'm a collector of broken laser pointers"...
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Here are some Unusual items auctioned on eBay
eBay’s List of acquisitions includes 25% of Craigslist (Here is Craigslist headquarters in San Francisco)
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Also, Futility closet’s first post, 3 years ago tomorrow
And from there: "Vse zene" - The world’s Shortest will
A Huge Depository of Unusual ‘First Ever’ Stories Here
December 31, 2008 in First Ever | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
"The Magic Negro"
Christopher Buckley on the inaugural poem: There was a young man named Obama
Yes you can has cheezburgers
Cheney defends the last 8 years
Much more about the 2008 Election. Also, the 2004 election and other Political Posts Here
December 31, 2008 in 2008 US Election | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Goodfellas At Moe's
Also, author Mario Puzo on How they shot The Godfather
Huge Depositories of Coppola’s Godfather, Spielberg’s Jaws, and Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction links Here
December 31, 2008 in Cinema - "The Godfather" | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 29, 2008
The good life
It's the good life, full of fun, seems to be the ideal,
Yes, the good life, lets you hide all the sadness you feel,
You won't really fall in love 'cause you can't take the chance,
So be honest with yourself, don't try to fake romance.
Yes, the good life, to be free and explore the unknown,
Like the heartache when you learn you must face them alone,
Please remember I still want you and in case you wonder why,
Well, just wake up, kiss that good life goodbye
A Huge Depository of Unusual Sinatra Links Here
December 29, 2008 in Music - Frank Sinatra | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A variety of RC model plane crashes to the sound of Tom Waits
(From b3ta)
A Large Depository of Unusual Links About Tom Waites Here
December 29, 2008 in Music - Tom Waits_ | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Some Darbuka sounds
The goblet drum (Darbuka, or tablah) is a goblet shaped hand drum used mostly in Arabic, Assyrian, Persian, Balkan, Greek, Armenian, Azeri and Turkish music. Its thin, responsive drumhead and resonance help it produce a distinctively crisp sound. It is of ancient origin, and is believed by some to have been invented before the chair.
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Some bellydancing
Un-related: Serbia, Belgrade on flickr
A Huge Depository of Music from The Middle East Here
December 29, 2008 in Music from the Middle East | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Ambigram Logos
Ambigrams by nagfa
Ambigram flickr pool
From “15 Ambigram logos”
Ambigram logo above from Tina Roth Eisenberg’s blog
(Previous ambigrams on grow-a-brain here and here and here)
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Un-related: Railroad tattoos
A Huge Depository of Unusual Language Links Here
December 29, 2008 in Languages | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Durian Chocolate
A small gallery of Hershey Candy Bar Wrappers through out the years
Kathy of “Noble Pig” blog baked the Kitty Litter Cake that Bert Christensen wrote about years ago in his Weird & Different Recipes
Chocolate art by Edward Kinnally. (From Reality Carnival)
How to Open a Durian Fruit. Also, Durian Chocolate - Ouch
Huge Depositories of Unusual Chocolates and Unusual Desserts Links Here
December 29, 2008 in Food - Chocolate | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 25, 2008
Help wikipedia
Jimmy Wales is asking Wikipedia’s users & readers to support the site with a donation.
This might sound unusual: Why does one of the world's five most popular web properties ask for financial support from its users?
Wikipedia is built differently from almost every other top 50 website. Only 23 people are on its paid staff. Wikipedia content is free to use by anyone for any purpose. Its annual expenses are less than six million dollars, and it is run by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.
At its core, Wikipedia is driven by a global community of more than 150,000 volunteers - all dedicated to sharing knowledge freely. Over almost eight years, these volunteers have contributed more than 11 million articles in 265 languages. More than 275 million people visit the website every month to access information, free of charge and free of advertising.
So please help
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Un-related: Rule No. 34 specifies that for any conceivable subject, pornography or sexually-related material exists on the internet. However recondite or just plain opaque to the rest of us it may be
A Huge Depository of Unusual Internet-related Items Here
December 25, 2008 in Internet | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Santa - World’s Greatest Entrepreneur
Santa as the World’s Greatest Entrepreneur by Jeremy Hanks. In 12 parts: Story, problem, solution, market opportunity, segmentation, competition, channel & growth, team, IP, traction, funding & ego...
Guy Kawasaki re-packaged the post into a venture-capital pitch for Santa to illustrate the kind of deal that venture capitalists would fund in today’s economic conditions: Santa’s Perfect Pitch
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Un-related: Cult Procession Fail (Youtube. Damn! There are 761 comments on this post!)
A Huge Depository of Unusual Links About Sales and Salespeople Here
December 25, 2008 in Salesmanship | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
A Special Note Re: Hummus
A Special Note Re: Hummus, by James Bennet, editor of The Atlantic Magazine:
Most readers know that the views expressed on Jeffrey Goldberg's blog are his own and don't always reflect the views of The Atlantic. Such is the case with regard to Jeffrey's comments on the relative merits of hummus and baba ghanoush. Our institution has partnered with the makers of baba ganoush, as well as tabouleh and fattoush, on a number of projects, and we have a great deal of respect for their excellent work product, including the entire spectrum of Middle Eastern salads and paste-like foods, with the exception of halvah. We at The Atlantic do not take sides in the ongoing dispute between partisans of hummus and partisans of baba ghanoush. These food products are key leaders in the Middle East food products industry, and we look forward to eating them in the future
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Parma hams are seen at the "Pio Tosini" Parma ham storehouse
Bacon-wrapped BBQ Sausage
How to make Sumo Stew, the famed Chankonabe
Recipe of the Week: Kenny Shopsin started making Banana Guacamole when he realized that green bananas are much like avocados. His recipe? Pick your favorite guacamole recipe, and use bananas instead of avocados
Re-post: dozens of gourmet salt varieties at The Meadow
From McCurry Pan and McAloo Tikki Burger in India, McArabia in Morocco, and McShawarma in Israel, to Macaroni and Cheese Burger in Japan, McSpaghetti in The Philippines and the failed McKiełbasa in Poland - McDonald's regionalized menus
A Huge Depository of Unusual Meals and Foods Here
December 25, 2008 in Food | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hard Times, a Helping Hand
Courtroom sketches by Robert Templeton of the Black Panthers Trial, 1970. (From Nag on the lake)
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... In the weeks just before Christmas of 1933 — 75 years ago — a mysterious offer appeared in The Repository, the daily newspaper here. It was addressed to all who were suffering in that other winter of discontent known as the Great Depression. The bleakest of holiday seasons was upon them, and the offer promised modest relief to those willing to write in and speak of their struggles. In return, the donor, a “Mr. B. Virdot,” pledged to provide a check to the neediest to tide them over the holidays.
Not surprisingly, hundreds of letters for Mr. B. Virdot poured into general delivery in Canton — even though there was no person of that name in the city of 105,000. A week later, checks, most for as little as $5, started to arrive at homes around Canton. They were signed by “B. Virdot.”.... (Thank you, K.)
This is a category that depends on submissions from Grow-a-brain readers. Please send me some good links! A Huge Depository of American History Links Here
December 25, 2008 in American History | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Doyle spirals
Mandelnautics 2, by by Eric Draves a.k.a. Zoom98. 9 other Fractal Animations
More YouTube: A zoom into the Seahorse Valley region of the Mandelbrot Set. Set to "La Villageoise" by Rameau, performed by Trevor Pinnock
Fractal kitty made with Fractalius software
A Huge Depository of Unusual Fractal Links Here
December 25, 2008 in Fractals | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monopoly Repackaging
Monopoly Repackaging by Andy Mangold. (Soon to be a major motion picture)
8 Old School Toys That Got Badass Makeovers
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...Domino Day is a world record attempt for the highest number of toppling domino stones, organised each year by Endemol Netherlands. Together with Robin Paul Weijers, also known as Mr. Domino, parties team up to set a new world record.
On 15 November 2008 the team of Weijers Domino Productions tried to break the world record domino toppling. They did set up 4.5 million dominoes in the WTC Expo Center in Leeuwarden to try topping the previous record of 2 years ago, which was at 4,079,381 dominoes toppled.
Although one Builder Challenge failed, the record was broken with 4,345,027 dominoes toppled. [1] Also, 9 additional world records were attempted and successfully broken...
A Huge Depository of Unusual Games and Toys Here
December 25, 2008 in Games | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack