The Missing Links

Nothing is real any more...

2012-01-27T08:57:00.001-05:00

Boardwalk Empire visual effects breakdown... here. Stunning!

A Cornucopia Of Links #34

2012-01-27T08:00:00.004-05:00

1. One day NOT on Snake River. This series of photos is poorly attributed to being on Snake River, Washington when in fact the evidence indicates otherwise. Thanks to MD who was not to know this information at the time of sending it. Still fascinating stuff for nature lovers. Here.

2. Free Windows OR online (excellent for other OS users) photo sizer and converter. Here.

3. I mean, what use IS your appendix? Here.

Above image from here.

4. Convince people at the airport that this is a pen... here.

5. And, as the old joke goes, "No, blew them apart"... an odd hiding place indeed... here.

6. At least we know who the brains were behind this scheme... here.

7. Definitely a case of "Hell's Grannies"... here.

8. The Photoshop Top 10 Disasters of 2011... here. Good BUT... I have issues with some of these. Numbers 2, 3, 5, and 6, and 10, definitely come into this category. 1, 8, and 9 are at best tenuous. There is a huge MISS on number 4 where further in the site they even state it is NOT a PSD here. However, if you note the fact that Jennifer has three feet...

9. These are eight ways to say "I love you" in a truly (and mind boggling) expensive way... here.

10. Then and now - stunning changes due to urban development... here.

11. Plane v Balloon... history article... here.

12. Samsung's Smart Window... here.

13. DHM - A sobering thing... here.

14. Bin Laden's Liquor Store... a small diversion... here.

15. Lost in Tokyo... here.

16. Just another day at police HQ... here.

Costa Concordia Jokes...

2012-01-26T13:32:00.002-05:00

... in true British spirit, whenever there is a disaster the jokes (good and bad) follow rapidly afterwards.. thanks to MD for these....

It had to happen !!!

If you have some Costa Concordia jokes that are not on this list then please leave them in the comments.

# What kind of desserts do they serve on Italian cruise ships? - Turnovers

# How do they serve alcoholic drinks on Italian cruise ships? - On the
rocks

# What vegetables do you get with dinner on Italian cruise ships? - Leeks

# What's the fastest way to get off an Italian cruise ship? - Follow the
captain

# When the Italian cruise ship the Costa Concordia started to sink there
was a frantic push to get on the lifeboats. Of course this made it easy to
spot the British passengers who had formed an orderly queue.

# Italian cruise ships rock!

# Italian divers searching the stricken cruise ship have found two Scotsmen
at the bar. They've told the divers to fuck off, they're all inclusive.

# When the captain of the ill fated Costa Concordia was asked if he knew
where he was going he replied "off course"

# I like my women how I like my Italian Cruises. Wet, wrecked and ready to
go down.

# I was watching the news about the stricken cruise ship when the Sky News
presenter said, "She's lying on her side with a gash the size of a tennis
court." I just happened to glance over at the wife on the sofa and that's
how it all started !

# The Italian army has been called in to help with the people from the
grounded cruise ship. But they have now swapped sides and have declared war
on the survivors.

# A guy walks into a model shop.
"Do you have an aircraft carrier?" he asks.
"I sold out before Christmas," the shopkeeper replies.
"Have you got a battle ship?"
"No," said the shopkeeper.
"What have you got in ships?"
"I will go and look in the store room, just wait a minute."
The shopkeeper came back and said, "I have got a Cruise Liner."
"Can you put it to one side please.

# I would have loved to see the look on the face of the search & rescue
dog, after it crawled through the wreck of the Costa Concordia only to find
itself in a cabin with two Koreans.

# Italian Police are still interviewing the Korean Honeymoon couple found
on the Costa Concordia as to the whereabouts of the rescue dog that first
found them.

# Costa Concordia - the only place where you are guaranteed to get your
drink on the rocks

# What's the difference between the Italian economy and the stricken cruise
liner Costa Concordia?
Nothing - The bottoms dropped out of both.

# Now I know it's the 100th anniversary of Titanic and all that but aren't
the Italians going a bit far with their tribute?

# The captain of the Costa Concordia says he is not guilty of
manslaughter, and
has witnesses to prove he was nowhere near the passengers who died.

# Attention passengers this is your captain, We of Carnival Cruise Lines
Costa Concordia welcome you to Italy. If you look out the port side now
you'll see the beautiful Tuscan sky and to our starboard you'll see the old
Italian navy.

# The Costa Concordia is probably the most expensive thing to go down in
Italy since Berlusconi's last hooker.

# I've just bought a Costa Concordia lotto ticket. Fingers crossed it's not
another roll over next week...

# Italian cruise ship captain walks into a bar and says
"Whiskey please barman..."
"On the rocks, sir?" says the barman
"Oh Fok off!"

# So the captain of the Costa Concordia will soon be in the dock. That's
more than can be said for his ship.

# The captain of the Costa Concordia was showing off to his mate on the
island and was doing fine until he tried the barrel role.

# FOR SALE: One second-hand Italian cruise ship. Modern spacious
fully-functioning and luxurious. Only known fault: sat nav unreliable.
Open to offers, buyer collects.

# It's not all bad news for the captain of the Costa Concordia. He may never
captain a ship again, but the Navy have expressed an interest in giving him
command of a submarine.

# Captain was heard saying "Watch-a me-a! I can grab-a my balls-a, and
steer the sheep ata the same-a time! "

Ricky Gervais vindicated - It IS perfectly OK to say 'mong'

2012-01-24T22:57:00.001-05:00

... apparently... here.

Phil Stern - Chasing Light - Hollywood portraits

2012-01-24T21:58:00.002-05:00

There are some stunning and rare photographs here.

The Remake Project

2012-01-24T21:39:00.003-05:00

There are some beautiful reworkings of well known works of art (paintings, sculpture, photos...) forming 'The Remake Project' here. Many are comedic and also very, very clever too. This is a particular favourite of mine.

“Composition With Red, Blue and Yellow” remake by Katie Jackson

“Composition With Red, Blue and Yellow” by Mondrian

To people who live or come from Des Moines...

2012-01-24T16:58:00.004-05:00

... or should I call you 'mooyiinkweena'? Here. Or would you prefer 'hut dweller on the mound in the river Trappist Monk'? Perhaps someone could enlighten me as to the proper term (which is what I was searching for initially) for inhabitants of this fine city...

1. Des Moinesians'
2. 'Des Moiners'

??? Or something else?

Let me know...

The Fashion Buy Of The Year...

2012-01-24T16:52:00.000-05:00

... The Mayan Cloak... here.

Pavel Puhov - Russia's 'Banksy' perhaps?

2012-01-24T14:04:00.003-05:00

His site is here... all in Russian but simply click on the links under Стены for some of his work.

My favourite is the one shown below in day and night view... very clever.

Day view

Night View

He also does much, much, more interesting stuff. Particularly his photography. Check it out...

Daily Mail egregious typos and grammar #14

2012-01-24T02:00:00.000-05:00

TSA vindictive? Never...

2012-01-23T22:54:00.001-05:00

Rand Paul, the son of Senator Ron Paul, was 'detained' by the TSA for refusing a pat down... apparently ... here.

Chris Dodd and The MPAA - Petition to investigate bribery claims

2012-01-23T21:20:00.003-05:00

UPDATE: The petition total currently stands at 27,700. There are clearly a LOT of people who want this matter addressing. If you are an American you NEED to act on this and place your name on the petition as it is you government and your laws that are being by-passed. Look what happens when an 'Ordinary Joe' transgresses a law...

The US government has a section on the White House web site named 'We The People' where you can raise a matter of concern in the form of a petition. With sufficient interest from others it is possible for this matter to receive the attention it is due given sufficient signatories by 'the People'. The bottom limit is 25,000 I believe.

Recently, MPAA CEO Chris Dodd made the following statement on Fox News:

“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake,” Dodd said. He was referring to politicians who would not, did not, or stopped backing legislation favouring/supporting Hollywood.

The petition is here.

As is mentioned on the web site, this is an open admission that he and possibly others are bribing people (with threats) and using money to influence Government policies.

Given the egregious proposals that are in the (suspended - note that word) SOPA and PIPA legislation that would directly affect Internet users without due process, it is perhaps of little surprise that the petition needs just a few more (<400) Americans to express their support of this in order for it to be considered. Clearly, were this to achieve a much higher figure then the White House would definitely need to act in a very public manner.

Forgetfulness - Now you know...

2012-01-23T10:22:00.001-05:00

Thanks to DF for this one.

When would 'not-meat' NOT be meat?

2012-01-22T11:24:00.003-05:00

The proposal for the production of artificial meat that looks, tastes, and has the texture of chicken is disturbing and wrong in many ways... or is it really? PETA's 5 year challenge to produce in-vitro meat runs out on June 30t, 2012 and there are $1 million on the table should this happen before then. See here.

For those who are true vegetarians there is not really an issue but I ask the question "What should 'non-meat eating by principle' vegetarians do?". At what point does meat produced in a lab cease to be 'meat'? Without delving into the pedantry of the real word meaning ('food' or 'sustenance'), I use the word to refer to the flesh product of a living animal; namely chicken, pig, cow etc. This should technically include the offal as well as associated animal by products (stock cubes and flavourings) but for the purpose of this discussion understand I mean the flesh of an animal. There are people who do not eat it and those who have a principle about eating it. There are people who do eat it. There are those whose mission in life is to make others aware of their choice.

I am sure you know the type (NB wife is vegetarian) who try to guilt you about meat eating (I am a carnivore) with the various arguments they put forward. What I object to is the stridency with which their personal choice is put forward. All well and good for the likes of PETA to campaign on THEIR followers behalf for a principle THEY belive in but, when it impinges on my personal choices, I draw the line and will equally stridently defend my choice in eating meat. Yes, I support the ethical treatment of animals and try to ensure the meats I eat are appropriately sourced. However, I live in the real world and find it difficult to balance their arguments for animal treatment when there are humans who are treated far worse...

Anyway... IF the manufactured 'flesh' is NOT from an animal, how could someone who is vegetarian on principle NOT eat it. An interesting thought

Golden Wonder (a Tayto brand) crisps brought into disrepute

2012-01-22T09:48:00.002-05:00

The inappropriate behaviour displayed by two security guards AND a Golden Wonder / Tayto employee at the Scunthorpe, UK manufacturing plant show how ill-informed 'Jobsworth' employees act with members of the public. Under UK law it IS allowed to be in a public place and take photographs. There are many REAL security guards who do an excellent job who are properly informed and act accordingly within the scope of their job without harassing members of the public going about their lawful day to day activities... story and video here. What is disturbing is that an employee offers to run over the photographer. Perhaps Tayto, Golden Wonder the brand owner, should establish who this person is... truly egregious behaviour.

The RIse of Megacities...

2012-01-22T09:06:00.001-05:00

... good or bad? You decide.... interesting article here.

A new direction...

2012-01-21T13:02:00.003-05:00

... in less than a week, a good friend is heading off on a new life adventure to teach English in China ... enjoy your trip MV, keep safe, do not teach people things like this, and do not end up here. Most of all send pictures etc and blog about it as well...

A Cornucopia Of Links #33

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

1. Some interesting writings here.

2. The Psychology of Ruin Porn... here.

3. Stunning pictures from Iran... here.

4. 11 things banned by WalMart... here.

5. Eat your Christmas tree... here.

6. A tip on tipping... here.

7. The M-theory and universal collisions... here.

8. So, what has Obama done then? Here. (A teensy-weensy NSFW due to web site name perhaps?

9. The Littlest Printer... neat... here.

10. Entertainment - how times have changed... here.

11. This is a fascinating article which is optimistic, pessimistic, sad, and happy at the same time. Also, it explains how a fuel-injector works to someone who does not know... here.

12. The Thomas Jefferson Bible... fascinating stuff... here.

13. Google Search is no longer relevant... here. It is why I use DuckDuckGo. Better by far.

14. Seven sleep conditions explained... here.

15. As someone who has not watched television 'properly' for > 15 years (no cable, terrestrial etc but had a TV with a DVD and media centre) I am singularly unimpressed with what is being touted as the 'smart' TV. e.g. here.

16. By getting smaller, computer storage is getting bigger... nanotech advances here.

If you have a Kindle...

2012-01-19T22:01:00.001-05:00

... and want to send any document to it from your PC.... then 'Send to Kindle' is for you... here. Free as well.

World's Smallest Greeting Card - University Of Glasgow

2012-01-19T21:25:00.003-05:00

To celebrate the coming Chinese New Year, the University’s James Watt Nanofabrication Centre have created the world's smallest greeting card... here. Thanks to RD for the link.

Equality for men is needed!!!

2012-01-19T14:13:00.000-05:00

... here.

When Andrew Jackson was the Big Cheese in the White House

2012-01-19T12:40:00.000-05:00

... here.

The Emperor 1510

2012-01-17T23:27:00.002-05:00

Want... here.

Monsanto corn failing - An alarming development

2012-01-17T20:34:00.002-05:00

The very fact that Monsanto's Bt modified corn is "it and similar varieties now account for 65% of all U.S. corn acres" is alarming enough. When stories start to unfold that these purportedly 'invincible' strains are being very easily brow beaten by Mother Nature through the adaptation of the western corn rootworm even more so. See here. This is truly alarming based upon the reliance placed on corn as a great source of food and food ingredients.

These are some stunning nature photographs

2012-01-17T19:53:00.001-05:00

... and lots of them... here. For non-German speakers, click on the menu item "Bilder"...

Looking Up Your Ex-Girfriend Online...

2012-01-17T13:50:00.001-05:00

... here. Excellent!

Dead woman found in Sydney tree...

2012-01-17T13:37:00.002-05:00

... question is, did they send in Special Branch? Story here. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Sydney... here.

Devil's Playground - Rumspringa

2012-01-17T12:04:00.002-05:00

This is a FREE online release of a movie covering the pre-baptism period of Amish youth from 16-18 known as 'Rumspringa'... here. Truly fascinating stuff that goes beyond the 'reality' TV show that ventured into the same subject matter a short while ago on Channel 4... here.

And I do not even like sports...

2012-01-17T11:04:00.002-05:00

... this is an amazing piece of basketball... here.

Hello

2012-01-17T08:55:00.001-05:00

This is a brilliant piece of work... here. Now all you have to do is identify the films used to make this Lionel Ritchie song. Any takers?

Twenty Top Predictions For The Next 100 Years

2012-01-17T08:38:00.002-05:00

The BBC has an article evaluating their reader's predictions for the next 100 years. Interesting stuff. Here.

The Lazy Jedi...

2012-01-16T23:56:00.001-05:00

... here.

Daily Mail egregious typos and grammar #13

2012-01-16T02:00:00.002-05:00

This man certainly had 10"...

2012-01-15T22:14:00.003-05:00

... here. Meanwhile... qi gong (Chee Gong) is another method... thanks MD... AAaaaaaaagggghhhh!!!! Here. "Active energy flow".... yeah, I will skip it (so to speak). Some (of many links) info is provided here.

Hell's Grannies

2012-01-15T12:59:00.000-05:00

Definitely a case of "Hell's Grannies"... here.

Yoga - Bad for your body???

2012-01-15T10:28:00.003-05:00

Hmmm... Wife will not be pleased, nor are many apparently... here. I think the title of the article and the lack of depth behind it are misleading.

Snakes on a plane.... NO...

2012-01-15T00:41:00.001-05:00

... on a wall more like it... here.

Dunkfish

2012-01-14T09:41:00.003-05:00

While it is very 'pretty', I see "FAIL" written all over this. I mean, what IS the point to this superfluous oddity apart from being able to go "Oh, it is my Dunkfish. Pretty cool, huh?"... A waste of money and excessive consumption... here. It is just a tea/coffee strainer with bits added to it which will get dirty and/or get bits stuck in them... good grief!

Knit-wits and more...

2012-01-14T00:23:00.010-05:00

UPDATE 2: Being harangued for a technical failure is so joyous when the comments have been published. . Somehow, the failure of someone to understand the basics of sensibility when presenting a grenade as a 'fun' thing confuses me. "I do not promote actual grenades" - but you do present a 'grenade' as a thing of fun... which it is not. The images are not my images but images from the real world of the maiming and death caused by grenades and landmines. Perhaps we should all make little crafty 'fun' models of Belsen or Dachcau to show the irony to be seen there with 'pretend' gas chambers where jolly pizzas can be baked. Matter is closed as I do not engage in flame wars.

UPDATE: To the maker of the hand grenades... your understanding of irony is misplaced and confused. This is 'fun' and 'ironic'... here. Some more here. Alternatively you could do some 'fun' land mines or better still use your skills to knit covers for limb stumps while people wait for their prosthesis to be made. Let me know as I have a good friend AK who bases his career and life crafting and fitting these for people ... and for 'fun'. Why? He has a huge heart...

I am a great supporter of people who use their skills to craft and create items from raw materials rather than simply buying things 'off-the-shelf'. Not only are they predominantly of high quality, they are usually unique and not mass produced items. Equally, they do not have 'Made in China' on them and the money spent on the purchase normally goes to support someone's personal or local economy. It is all a question of scale and I am fully prepared to pay extra for something that is well made that I know will invariably last longer due to the attention to detail paid. If it fits in with the above criteria I am happy.

One prime example of this is the Etsy website here. As a visit there will reveal you will be able to find many unique items (plus odder than an odd person's thing items too) that have a unique beauty of their own. When items such as these are gifted, the giver gets equal joy from knowing the recipient is likely to be exceedingly happy with what is clearly a gift given with thought.

However, often I scratch my head and give a "WTF?" type of response when I see items like these shown below. Do not get me wrong here, I am NOT belittling the efforts of individuals concerned. Particularly when you have some very rewarding results to be found here. (I love the photo and the guys are clearly benefiting from their involvement in their knitting.

I am merely pondering the "Why?" behind the effort put in to create items like those from here of which I provide some random picture examples below. At this point I shake my head in disbelief and bemusement. I am still unable to comprehend spending the amount of money proposed for a self-portrait made from Gummi Bears... I mean... seriously "WTF? WTF?!!!!!"

IMAGE REMOVED AS DISTASTEFUL - Please see comments

Described as 'a beautiful bowl of knitted hand grenades'.

Or how about knitting your own Death Star? Here.

Again, I raise the point "Why?". Take the Dr. Zoidberg one...

... why?

AND before I forget... the Gummi Bear portraits... "HOW MUCH?" 'Are you kidding me or what?' Again... WTF? and WHY???? Someone please enlighten me...

I am lost for words. 'totally rad'? I could be far more 'rad' on a night out with that amount of cash, let me tell you...

Computer Games

2012-01-13T22:56:00.001-05:00

This spoof is a perfect recall of some of the early interviews with computer game makers... here.

A Cornucopia Of Links #32

2012-01-13T08:00:00.002-05:00

1. 10 books to change/sharpen your mind... hmmm... perhaps... here. Comments are revealing.

2. Friends do not let friends walk drunk... better to let them drive drunk... here.

3. What pepper spray does to your body... here.

4. The Mystery Behind Anesthesia... here.

5. Public understanding of science is terrible... and politicians take advantage of that... here.

6. The Guardian Photographs of the year - 2011 - here.

7. Why all chilies are not hot... here.

8. Your government will explain why it is legal to kill you... apparently they will not... here.

9. The public (not) face of democracy in action... here. (or 'it is my ball and I am taking it home')

10. A trillion dollars on security... and? Here.

11. 2011 in review - The Year Secrecy Jumped The Shark... here.

12. The Tether Stemware Saver... here.

13. Dyslexie = A new font for dyslexics... here.

14. Climate change and evolution... here.

15. The Best Credit Cards of 2011... here.

16. Shocking stuff... here. For me, I say 'Why?'... hilarious... not.

Turn your iPhone 4/4S into a 64" screen!!!

2012-01-12T10:03:00.003-05:00

... rather clever use as a mini/micro projector... here. Video here.

When the World's Biggest Clog...

2012-01-12T09:04:00.003-05:00

... goes missing, you would have thought that 'The Press' would have at least got a picture of it. I have looked around and NONE of the major papers who have reported this sorry tale have even bothered. Instead they have gone for the same stock photograph ... whatever happened to journalism? Story (example) here.

And here is (was) the clog in question:

Kids, huh? Just arrest the lot of them...

2012-01-11T10:23:00.000-05:00

... good grief ... here.

Le croque-mitaine, Scottish Bloodygums, and Jilly Rot-Tooth

2012-01-10T21:12:00.005-05:00

Often, there are movies which slip under the radar and, for different reasons, you discover them later. The movie "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark" is one of them. In an indirect way, with a BIG thank you to MV who sent me a link of a rather splendid map by the brilliant artist Keith Thompson... he sells prints of his work here and this image below is an example of his work. IN addition he sells Art Tutorial DVD's and iPhone Art Galleries (from the App store). Rather splendid...

I discovered the promotional site for DBAOTD...

Now, BEFORE you click on the link, let me warn those of a nervous disposition OR if you are subject to the occasional bad dream OR you have any form of looseness in the bowel area, this is NOT FOR YOU!!! Otherwise, it is a truly splendid interactive website where, unless your name is on an Obscure and Odd Names list (here, here (my birthday is coming up, someone PLEASE buy me a football shirt from the Peruvian football team.... XL), and here being just a few) you can enter your name in and the 'beasties' use it. Rather unnerving to say the least when it keeps being said back at you. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

... here.

Totally brilliant... now, where is the light switch... I am about to go into the basement!

Eat your Christmas Tree...

2012-01-09T07:57:00.001-05:00

... here.

Absolutely stunning photographs of Iran

2012-01-09T07:33:00.003-05:00

One of the first things that comes to mind when I see these photographs is the fact that, just like you and me, ignoring individual personal beliefs, without regard for the sabre rattling of people with a specific agenda, irrespective of income, and whatever the world throws at us from day to day, the human spirit is alive and well. The world is an amazing place full of others just like you and me where, ignoring the things we do not have to worry about, ignoring the divisiveness created by others, people simply want to get on with their ordinary but special lives. And they do. Just like you and me. It is the few who wish to spoil things for the rest of us. Be nice to someone today. Most people are nice too. Images here.

Daily Mail egregious typos and grammar #12

2012-01-09T02:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Prof. Stephen Hawking

2012-01-08T10:31:00.001-05:00

... an amazing and unique person. Seventy today. Here.

David Bowie in Pictures

2012-01-07T00:12:00.005-05:00

David Bowie will be 65 on Sunday.

These amazing nostalgia photos capture quite a bit of what makes Bowie and iconic artist... here. They come from the book 'Any Day Now'... paperback is here ($24.99) but I much prefer the limited edition version here (175 pounds plus PnP - cough, cough... birthday... but signed too). Only 475 copies of this as well. Promo video here.

There is an interesting related article... here.

A Cornucopia Of Links #31

2012-01-06T08:06:00.000-05:00

1. Dog dancing with man in underpants... here.

2. How not to knock a structure down... here.

3. The Pope's pornographic bathroom... here.

4. Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion... here.

5. John-Boy would turn in his grave... ooops! Wrong Walton... here. The one line from the commentary that got me was "the six Walton family members on the Forbes 400 had a net worth equal to the bottom 30 percent of all Americans"... think about that for a moment... 307,006,550 (the current estimated US population) /100 * 30 = 92,101,965. SIX people with the combined wealth of this number of people. There is something wrong with the world.

6. $56 Billion Later, Airport Security Is Junk... here.

7. Facebook to blame for Greek Debt Crisis... honest... here.

8. Taking into account number 5 above, how about the influence that a lot of money gives people. I am not talking about the "1%" here, I am talking about the "1% of 1%"... here.

9. There are many politicians whose diet would appear to be primarily constituting these ... here.

10. Pandora... who needs music? Brilliant IF your country is covered... here.

11. 2011 - A year in volcanic activity. Some beautiful photographs... here.

12. Tyred/tired of art? Here.

13. Evel Knievel eat your heart out... here.

14. Concrete buffer gone wild... wonderful... here.

15. Atrocities through the ages... here.

16. Nat Geo Photography winners 2011 - WOW! Here.

The Church of Kopimism

2012-01-05T16:08:00.002-05:00

I wonder if they perform Digital Rights as opposed to Last Rights?

Some information from the BBC web site here.

From their web site:English

If you want to join a chat conversation please join the channel #kopimi @irc.telecomix.org. Here is a guide to using IRC

Copy and Seed

The Church of Kopimism

The Church of Kopimism is recognized by the state of Sweden

Just before Christmas, the Swedish governmental agency Kammarkollegiet registered the Church of Kopimism as a religious organisation. This means that Sweden is the first country to recognize kopimism as a religion.

The Church of Kopimism have tried to become registered as a religious organisation by Kammarkollegiet for more than a year.

- Since Kammarkollegiet has been strict with formalities, we had to apply three times, a happy Gustav Nipe - board chairman for the organisation - says. He continues, I think it might have something to do with the governmental organisations abiding by a very copyright friendly attitude, with a twisted view on copying.

For the Church of Kopimism, information is holy and copying is a sacrament. Information holds a value, in itself and in what it contains, and the value multiplies through copying. Therefore, copying is central for the organisation and its members.

Being recognized by the state of Sweden is a large step for all of kopimi. Hopefully, this is one step towards the day when we can live out our faith without fear of persecution, says Isak Gerson, spiritual leader of the Church of Kopimism.

The Church of Kopimism is a religious organisation with roots from 2010. The organisation formalizes a community that's been well spread for a long time already. The community of kopimi requires no formal membership. You just have to feel a calling to worship what is the holiest of the holiest, information and copy. To do this, we organize kopyactings - religious services - where the kopimists share information with eachother through copying and remix.

Copy and seed.... Hail to CTRL+C and CTRL+V...

The Tommy Cooper Crab

2012-01-05T12:06:00.002-05:00

The Tommy Cooper crab is here. For those of you who do not know who Tommy Cooper was, then check him out on You Tube... here. I met him once and can say with all certainty he was incredibly funny and also a masterful (and highly respected worldwide) magician.

Here is part of my collection of jokes attributed to him. It is a particular style of humour which many other comedians have adopted... it is important to note that Tommy Cooper rarely, if ever, used 'rude' words, risqué yes, but never 'rude'.
================
Two aerials meet on a roof - fall in love - get married. The ceremony was rubbish but the reception was brilliant.

Man goes to the doc, with a strawberry growing out of his head. Doc says "I'll give you some cream to put on it."

"Doc, I can't stop singing "The green green grass of home"." "That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome." "Is it common?" "It's not unusual."

A guy walks into the psychiatrist wearing only clingfilm for shorts. The shrink says, "Well, I can clearly see you're nuts."

A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet. "My dog's cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?" "Well," says the vet, "let's have a look at him." So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then checks his teeth. Finally, he says "I'm going to have to put him down." "What? Because he's cross-eyed?" "No, because he's really heavy"

Guy goes into the doctor's. "Doc, I've got a cricket ball stuck up my backside." "How's that?" "Don't you start"

"Doctor, I can't pronounce my F's, T's and H's." "Well you can't say fairer than that then"

Two elephants walk off a cliff...... boom boom!

What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

So I went to the dentist. He said "Say "Aaah"." I said "Why?" He said "My dog's died.'"

A neutron walks into a bar. "I'd like a beer" he says. The bartender promptly serves up a beer. "How much will that be?" asks the neutron. "For you?" replies the bartender, "no charge."

Two hydrogen atoms walk into a bar. One says, "I think I've lost an electron." The other says "Are you sure?" The first says, "Yes, I'm positive..."

So I got home, and the phone was ringing. I picked it up, and said "Who's speaking please?" And a voice said "You are."

So I rang up my local swimming baths. I said "Is that the local swimming baths?" He said "It depends where you're calling from."

So I rang up a local building firm, I said "I wanna skip outside my house." He said "I'm not stopping you."

Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. And there are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my mum or my dad. Or my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Cha-Chu. But I think it's Colin.

So I was in my car, and I was driving along, and my boss rang up, and he said "You've been promoted." And I swerved. And then he rang up a second time and said "You've been promoted again." And I swerved again. He rang up a third time and said "You're managing director." And I went into a tree. And a policeman came up and said "What happened to you?" And I said "I careered off the road."

Now, most dentist's chairs go up and down, don't they? The one I was in went back and forwards. I thought 'This is unusual'. And the dentist said to me "Mr Cooper, get out of the filing cabinet.'

So I was getting into my car, and this bloke says to me "Can you give me a lift?" I said "Sure, you look great, the world's your oyster, go for it."

Two fat blokes in a pub, one says to the other "your round." The other one says "So are you, you fatso!"

Two cannibals eating a clown. One says to the other "Does this taste funny to you?"

Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other one off.

You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen, it said 'Parking Fine.' So that was nice.

I was in a taxi and when he got to the end of his journey and paid his fare, the cabby sat there waiting for his tip. I gave him a tea bag and said, "Have a drink on me."

A man walked into the doctor's, The doctor said "I haven't seen you in a long time." The man replied "I know, I've been ill"

A man walked into the doctor's, he said "I've hurt my arm in several places." The doctor said "Well don't go there any more."

I had a ploughman's lunch the other day. He wasn't very happy.

You know those mange-tout? They're really nice, but I couldn't eat a whole one.

My dog was barking at everyone the other day. Still, what can you expect from a cross-breed?

I was driving down the motorway with my wife the other day when we both got a bit frisky and decided to do something about it. So we decided we'd take the next exit, but it was a turn-off.

I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any.

I bought some HP sauce the other day. It's costing me 6p a month for the next 2 years.

I went to the butcher's the other day and I bet him 50 quid that he couldn't reach the meat off the top shelf. And he said, "No, the steaks are too high."

So I went to the dentist. He said "Say Aaah." I said "Why?" He said "My dog's died.'"

So I got home, and the phone was ringing. I picked it up, and said 'Who's speaking please?' And a voice said 'You are.

My wife and I were married in a toilet: it was a marriage of convenience.

Man goes to the doc, with a strawberry growing out of his head. Doc says "I'll give you some cream to put on it."

A guy walks into the psychiatrist wearing only clingfilm for shorts. The shrink says, "Well, I can clearly see you're nuts."

So I rang up a local building firm, I said "I wanna skip outside my house." He said "I'm not stopping you."

So I said to this Chinese waiter, "Are there any Chinese jews", so he went away and when he came back he said, "no, there's only apple juice, pineapple juice...

I went to the doctors the other day and I said "have you got anything for wind", so he gave me a kite.

I went to the doctor and I said "it hurts when I do that", he said "well, don't do it."

My wife phoned me just before the show, and she said, "I've got water in the carburettor." I said, "where's the car?" she said, "in the river."

I backed a horse today, 20 to 1... came in at 20 past 4. He was so late coming in, he had to tip-toe back to the stables.

Oh, what a day I've had... I went to see the doctor today, I had to he's ill. And he said to me "can I help you?" and I said "Yes, I keep dreaming these beautiful girls keep coming towards me and I keep pushing them away... these beautiful girls keep coming towards me and I keep pushing them away." So he said "what do you want me to do?" and I said "break my arms.

I saw this girl across the room. I cocked one eye at her, she cocked one eye at me. There we stood, cock-eyed.

Doctor, I can't pronounce my F's, T's and H's. "Well you can't say fairer than that then".

I was cleaning out the attic the other day with the wife. Filthy, dirty and covered with cobwebs.... but she's good with the kids....

A blind man walks into a shop with a guide dog. He picks the dog up and starts swinging it around his head. Alarmed, a shop assistant calls out: 'Can I help, sir?' 'No thanks,' says the blind man. 'Just looking.'

I came home one night and my wife was crying. I said "whats wrong? She said "I'm home sick." I said "This is your home." She said "Yes and I'm sick of it"

My wife had a go at me last night She said "You'll drive me to my grave". "I had the car out in thirty seconds"

I went up into the attic and found a Stradivarius and a Rembrant. Unfortunately Stradivarius was a terrible painter and Rembrant made lousy violins.

This little old lady was frightened. She looked at me, she said "Do something religious". So I took up a collection

A policeman stopped me the other night, he taps on the window of the car and says: "Would you please blow into this bag, Sir" I said: "What for, Officer?" He says: "My chips are too hot"

I got stopped again last night by another policeman. He says: "I'd like to follow you to the nearest Police Station" I said "What For?" He said: "I've forgotten the way"

So I said to the taxi driver, "King Arthur's Close" He said, "Don't worry, we'll lose him at the next set of lights"

I went to Blackpool on holiday and knocked at the first boarding house that I came to. A women stuck her head out of an upstairs window and said "What do you want?" "I'd like to stay here", "Ok. Stay there"

I went to the doctor. He said "you've got a very serious illness" I said "I want a second opinion" He said "all right, you're ugly as well"

When I was in the scouts, the leader told me to pitch a tent. I couldn't find any pitch, so I used creosote.

I got home from work and the wife said, "I'm very sorry dear, but the cat's eaten your dinner." I said, "Don't worry. I'll get you a new cat."

I said to the waiter, I said 'This chicken I've got is cold'. He said 'I should think so. It's been dead for two weeks' 'Not only that', I said, 'It's got one leg shorter than the other'. He said 'What do you want to do, eat it or dance with it?' Anyway, I said to the waiter, 'Forget the chicken, bring me a lobster. So he brought a lobster. I said 'Just a minute, it's only got one claw.' He said 'It's been in a fight'. I said 'Bring me the winner'.

Sometimes I drink my whiskey neat. Other times I take my tie off and leave my shirt out.

My wife and I were fighting like hammer and tongs. She won, she had the hammer.

I hurt my back the day. I was playing piggy back with my 6 year old nephew, and I fell off.

I was in Margate last year for the summer season. A friend of mine said, "You want to go to Margate, it's good for rheumatism." So I did, and I got it.

A man walks into a greengrocer's and says, I want five pounds of potatoes please. And the greengrocer says, we only sell kilos ... so the man says, alright then, I'll have five pounds of kilos.

And he said "My dog doesn't eat meat." I said "Why not?" He said "We don't give him any"

I've always been unlucky. I had a rocking horse once, and it died.

I went out for a meal last night. I ordered everything in French. Everyone looked surprised, it was a Chinese restaurant.

The Top 100 Cult Films

2012-01-03T22:59:00.003-05:00

Top 100 Cult Films

Source: "100 Cult Films" by Ernest Mathijs and Xavier Mendik

There are still a few I have not seen yet... those I have seen or own have an asterisk next to them.

* 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick, 1968

Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo, 1988

Angel of Vengeance, Abel Ferrara, 1981

* Bad Taste, Peter Jackson, 1987

Baise-moi, Virginie Despentes, Coralie Trinh Thi, 2000

Begotten, E. Elias Merhige, 1991

Behind the Green Door, Artie Mitchell, Jim Mitchell, 1972

La belle et la bête, Jean Cocteau, 1946

* Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Russ Meyer, 1970

* The Big Lebowski, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 1998

* Blade Runner, Ridley Scott, 1982

Blue Sunshine, Jeff Lieberman, 1978

* Brazil, Terry Gilliam, 1985

* Bride of Frankenstein, James Whale, 1935

The Brood, David Cronenberg, 1979

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, Robert Wiene, 1920

Café Flesh, Stephen Sayadian, 1982

Cannibal Holocaust, Ruggero Deodato, 1979

* Casablanca, Michael Curtiz, 1942

Un chien andalou, Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dalí,1928

Coffy, Jack Hill, 1973

Daughters of Darkness, Harry Kümel, 1971

* Dawn of the Dead, George A. Romero, 1978

Deadly Weapons, Doris Wishman, 1974

* Debbie Does Dallas, Jim Clark, 1978

Deep Red, Dario Argento, 1975

* Dirty Dancing, Emile Ardolino, 1987

* Django, Sergio Corbucci, 1966

* Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly, 2001

Don't Torture a Duckling, Lucio Fulci, 1972

* Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton, 1990

Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, Aristide Massaccesi, 1977

* Emmanuelle, Just Jaeckin, 1974

* Enter the Dragon, Robert Clouse, 1973

* Eraserhead, David Lynch, 1977

* The Evil Dead, Sam Raimi, 1981

* Fight Club, David Fincher, 1999

Flaming Creatures, Jack Smith, 1963

Freak Orlando, Ulrike Ottinger, 1981

* Freaks, Tod Browning, 1932

Ginger Snaps, John Fawcett, 2000

The Gods Must Be Crazy, Jamie Uys, 1981

* Godzilla, Ishirô Honda, 1954

* The Harder They Come, Perry Henzell, 1972

Harold and Maude, Hal Ashby, 1971

Häxan, Benjamin Christensen, 1922

Hellraiser, Clive Barker, 1987

The Holy Mountain, Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973

The House with the Laughing Windows, Pupi Avati, 1976

I Walked with a Zombie, Jacques Tourneur, 1943

Ichi the Killer, Takashi Miike, 2001

* In Bruges, Martin McDonagh, 2008

* Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Don Siegel, 1956

Invocation of My Demon Brother, Kenneth Anger, 1969

* It's a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra, 1946

* The Killer, John Woo, 1989

Lady Terminator, H. Tjut Djalil, 1988

* The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, 2001–3

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, George Miller, 1981

* Man Bites Dog, Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde, 1992

Manos, the Hands of Fate, Harold P. Warren, 1966

* The Masque of the Red Death, Roger Corman, 1964

* Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, 1975

Near Dark, Kathryn Bigelow, 1987

Nekromantik, Jörg Buttgereit, 1987

* Night of the Living Dead, George A. Romero, 1968

* Pink Flamingos, John Waters, 1972

* Piranha, Joe Dante, 1978

* Plan 9 from Outer Space, Ed Wood, Jr, 1959

Re-Animator, Stuart Gordon, 1985

* Reefer Madness, Louis Gasnier, 1936

* Repo Man, Alex Cox, 1984

Ringu, Hideo Nakata, 1998

* The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Jim Sharman, 1975

Rome Armed to the Teeth, Umberto Lenzi, 1976

The Room, Tommy Wiseau, 2003

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1975

She Killed in Ecstasy, Jesús Franco, 1971

Showgirls, Paul Verhoeven, 1995

Soul Vengeance, Jamaa Fanaka, 1975

* The Sound of Music, Robert Wise, 1965

* Star Wars, George Lucas, 1977–2005

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Todd Haynes, 1988

Suspiria, Dario Argento, 1977

Tank Girl, Rachel Talalay, 1995

Tetsuo, Shinya Tsukamoto, 1989

* The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tobe Hooper, 1974

* This Is Spınal Tap, Rob Reiner, 1984

Thriller: A Cruel Picture, Bo Arne Vibenius, 1974

Thundercrack!, Curt McDowell, 1975

El Topo, Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1970

The Toxic Avenger, Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman, 1984

* Two-Lane Blacktop, Monte Hellman, 1971

* Two Thousand Maniacs!, Herschell Gordon Lewis, 1964

* The Vanishing, George Sluizer, 1988

* Videodrome, David Cronenberg, 1983

The Warriors, Walter Hill, 1979

* Witchfinder General, Michael Reeves, 1968

* Withnail & I, Bruce Robinson, 1987

* The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming, 1939

Cork Soakers

2012-01-03T19:11:00.003-05:00

Note, these guys are NOT cork soakers. They are cork harvesters.

A series of photographs showing how cork is harvested... here.

The cork soakers are here.

Almost worth getting an iPhone for...

2012-01-03T15:09:00.001-05:00

... particularly with the line in the article that goes 'the game ends when too many people violently shit themselves'... here.

The Transphobic Tampon

2012-01-03T08:01:00.001-05:00

This New Zealand advertisement is causing a bit of controversy at the moment... SFW video here. News story here with some interesting comments. Personally, I do think that people are overreacting and being too politically correct...

Daily Mail egregious typos and grammar #11

2012-01-02T02:00:00.002-05:00

Fixed the strange missing images... one suspects something or someone is not happy that I point these out...

Penn Jillette - An Antheists Guide To The 2012 Election

2011-12-30T23:09:00.002-05:00

Interesting stuff. Contains NSFW language... here.

A Cornucopia Of Links #30

2011-12-30T08:00:00.003-05:00

1. I believe this vision is flawed. Where does the bag of compost go? Where are the children? The guy does NOT win the race... etc Pretty cool though... here. More information here.

2. Time lapse, Saigon. Here.

3. The power of positive thinking... here.

4. The interesting psychological aspects of self-consciousness... it brings some interesting questions to mind... here. More information here.

5. Salon has an interesting article that looks into what it is like to work in a porn store. This 'diary' is based upon what one person experiences. Here.

6. Two pieces of weirdness... here.... and here (clearly he has time on his hands).

7. Look here and then take a look at your desk.

8. Was this woman the inspiration for Dervla Murphy?

9. What HAS she been up to? Here.

10. Famous people in one portrait. Hover over each one and you can follow a link through for more background on each one. Here.

11. Washington underground... here.

12. Facebook is ruining sharing... here.

13. Triple Whopper... 'Eat like a snake'... weirder than a weird person's weird thing... here.

14. Knowing the banks were robbed, the 'gamekeepers' did this... here. And did not tell you...

15. The 50 worst cars of all time... here.

16. Rude illusions (SFW)... here.

The Jeremy Clarkson Offensive Opinion Generator

2011-12-29T20:16:00.002-05:00

... here.

Some of the comments are brilliant too...

Viz's Roger Mellie does a year end news review...

2011-12-29T20:10:00.001-05:00

... brilliant piece of self-parody for the Guardian... here.

Heart warming...

2011-12-29T02:48:00.000-05:00

... a Life report... here.

Mary Worth - A comic strip transposed to film...

2011-12-29T00:54:00.001-05:00

... literally 'as is'... brilliantly odd... here. The comic strip is here.

"You absolutely should drive drunk"

2011-12-28T22:29:00.000-05:00

... here.

Just for men...

2011-12-28T20:03:00.001-05:00

... big snake in pool... story here... video here.

Hospital tragedy.... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggghhhhh!!!!!! Did you get that aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggghhhhh!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhh!!!!!! ... here.

A fishing tale... the pacu fish... here.

Four goals in 22 games... keep you eye on the ball my son... here.

A kettle, teaspoon, and jar of instant used to suffice...

2011-12-27T16:25:00.001-05:00

... until recently I had a Jura S90 and that was the DB of coffee machines... the Scanomat TopBrew is utterly amazing though.... here. Want!!!

Mrs. Hughes at the Ice House

2011-12-27T12:24:00.001-05:00

... thanks to DF for introducing Mrs. Hughes... brilliant comedy... here.

Live for today - A rather fascinating point of view...

2011-12-26T21:56:00.000-05:00

... expressed here.

Daily Mail egregious typos and grammar #10

2011-12-26T02:00:00.004-05:00

Something to do on Christmas Day afternoon...

2011-12-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

... there are enough differences in these spots to make acne disappear... here.

Glitch. I mentioned it before so I will mention it again... here.

Skoften has some very good game links... here.

Word stuff with Eggoboo... here.

Shopping Cart Hero... here. Version 2 is here.

A Merry Christmas To One And All

2011-12-25T01:57:00.000-05:00

... here.

Thoughts For Christmas Day

2011-12-25T01:33:00.000-05:00

There is a poor (but accurate) scan here (PDF - If you have Firefox install this add on here. It allows you to view PDFs in your browser... brilliant). More on Rowe... here. And there is a wonderful detailed proposition here.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Understanding Engineers

2011-12-24T19:15:00.000-05:00

Thanks to MV for these...

Understanding Engineers #1

Two engineering students were biking across a university campus when one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?"

The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday, minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike, threw it to the ground, took off all her clothes and said,
"Take what you want."

The first engineer nodded approvingly and said,
"Good choice, The clothes probably wouldn't have fit you anyway."

Understanding Engineers #2

To the optimist, the glass is half-full.

To the pessimist, the glass is half-empty.

To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Understanding Engineers #3

A priest, an ophthalmologist, and an engineer were golfing one morning behind a particularly slow group of golfers.

The engineer fumed, "What's with those guys?
We must have been waiting for fifteen minutes!"

The doctor chimed in,
"I don't know, but I've never seen such inept golf!"

The priest said,
"Here comes the greens keeper. Let's have a word with him."

He said, "Hello, George. What's wrong with that group ahead of us?
They're rather slow, aren't they?"

The greens keeper replied, "Oh, yes. That's a group of blind firemen.
They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year,
so we let them play for free anytime."

The group fell silent for a moment. Then the priest said,
"That's so sad. I think I'll say a special prayer for them."

The ophthalmologist added, "Good idea. And maybe I could examine
them to see if there's anything I can do for them."

They were silent for a moment.

Then the engineer said, "Why can't they play at night?"

Understanding Engineers #4

What is the difference between mechanical engineers and civil engineers?

Mechanical engineers build weapons.
Civil engineers build targets.

Understanding Engineers #5

The graduate with a science degree asks, "Why does it work?"

The graduate with an engineering degree asks, "How does it work?"

The graduate with accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?"

The graduate with an arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?"

Understanding Engineers #6

Three engineering students were gathered together discussing who must have designed the human body. One said, "It was a mechanical engineer.
Just look at all the joints."

Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer.
The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections."

The last one said, "No, actually it had to have been a civil engineer.
Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline adjacent to a recreational area?"

Understanding Engineers #7

Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.

Understanding Engineers #8

An engineer was crossing a road one day, when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess."

He bent over, picked up the frog, and put it in his pocket.

The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn back into a beautiful princess and stay with you for one week."

The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it
and returned it to the pocket.

The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want."

Again, the engineer took the frog out,
smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.

Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess and that I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"

The engineer said, "Look, I'm a busy engineer.
I don't have time for a girlfriend. But a talking frog, now that's cool!"

A Cornucopia of links #29

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

1. I had forgotten... it´s like that... (check this out)... (music)... here. Mind you... the frocks might be different but... here.

2. ¨Mommy´s nose is scary¨... here.

3. Pierre Van Dormael... look him up... he is part of ¨Mister Nobody¨... this movie is by his brother,,, the previous link is a ¨video burst¨ of the whole movie. Do me and the producers a favour and simply go and buy it. I will not even provide a link. You will find it yourself. ... listen first... here. try ¨Undercover ¨" as a little starter. Please DO search out ¨Djigu¨ by ´Djigu´. Also incredible. [NB: Sponsored by my ears and eyes.

4. Read the text first... here.

5. Russian bears begging... here.

6. Living on an island... not just any old island... here.

7. Baby dolls... weird and odd... here.

8. With a Christmas feast just around the corner... Eating for pleasure... article here. While the web site (absolutely definitely certainly NOT SFW) is here. I suppose it IS one excuse of sorts...

9. Meanwhile... this IS SFW and shows what can be done when playing with your food... here.

10. Golf courses... including one where it is important to keep your eye on the ball... here.

11. It takes some bottle to build these houses... here.

12. Playing guitars... here. A little more on Trimpin here.

13. Sand between your toes... here.

14. Woman´s mother-in-law is toast... here.

15. At Christmas you may at some odd things but... here... and this one (really odd) here.

16. And... there is some interesting history behind Christmas food... here. While you celebrate, others do it differently here.
.
.
.
.
... and, given the evening that approaches, I give you this... here. My ´Piece On Earth´... take care. Their style is ´curiously odd´ but beautiful... e.g. here. However... this is a perfect way to wish you all a ´Merry Christmas´ ... here.

DJBC has released his latest Christmas Mashup for 2011 - Santastic6

2011-12-20T22:48:00.000-05:00

Lots of your favourite (and some perhaps not so) Christmas music all wedged together in interesting combinations... here. Free to download and donations accepted. The other mashups from previous years can be found at the bottom of the page...

The LG Optimus Hyper Facade - Berlin

2011-12-20T22:14:00.003-05:00

Totally and utterly amazing video, totally and utterly amazing FULL STOP... here. Many thanks to LD for this... again, totally amazing.

The video starts with a real building onto which an image of the same building is projected. The projected image breaks up and the image becomes a robot. LG demonstrate the latest projection technology whereby the robot morphs back into the original building. After that? It goes through a range of impressive changes. The building ripples, there are colour shifts and the facade freezes over. From there it switches to an underwater world with whales and fish swimming around the building... and the rest? Watch and enjoy. Wow!

Guideline

2011-12-19T06:30:00.000-05:00

A minor amusement but also very interesting... here.

Daily Mail egregious typos and grammar #9

2011-12-19T02:00:00.005-05:00

Hagfish v Shark...

2011-12-17T02:00:00.001-05:00

... article and videos here.

A Cornucopia of links #28

2011-12-16T02:00:00.005-05:00

1. The perception of accents... here.

2. Bell end... here. (not what you may think)...

3. Rather odd... here.

4. Drive recklessly... here.

5. Captcha art... here.

6 .Jobs worth... here. Huge and incredible...

8. Satire is not dead... here.

9. The 7 greatest Esquire stories... here.

10. The World´s Most Embarrassing Dad... here.

11. It is only a cement factory... here. (Scroll down to the photo gallery of one of their cement works)

12. The 10,000 Year Clock (the Clock of the Long Now)... here.

¨I want to build a clock that ticks once a year. The century hand advances once every 100 years, and the cuckoo comes out on the millennium. I want the cuckoo to come out every millennium for the next 10,000 years.¨

13. Gun and Badge... here. (some NSFW language)

14. This is quite simply THE best beer commercial ever... no question... here.

15. Yoyogi park in Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan... here.

16. Jake Shimabukuro plays "Bohemian Rhapsody" ... here.

I heartily recommend these...

2011-12-15T15:13:00.001-05:00

... for when you need to unwind... There is a full listing here.

There is some AMAZING stuff at the Echoes Living Room Concerts website... here.

Celebrate Life with this music video...

2011-12-14T01:14:00.000-05:00

... you will be tapping your toes... here.

Rebel Yell...

2011-12-13T07:01:00.000-05:00

... Smithsonian video of American Civil War veterans demonstrating the Rebel Yell. The rest of the site contains some amazing and interesting stuff as well...

Meanwhile, this is THE Rebel Yell I am familiar with here (music)... Just out of curiosity, when did musicians STOP wearing mascara?

A simple quiz for you...

2011-12-12T02:00:00.005-05:00

No cheating...

Thanks go to LD for this one...

They are straight questions with straight answers..

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.

2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters ' dw' and they are all common words. Name two of them.

7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?

8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.

9. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter 'S.'

The answers can be found here.

Daily Mail egregious typos and grammar #8

2011-12-12T02:00:00.002-05:00

18TB hard drive - you want fries with your salt?

2011-12-11T04:34:00.000-05:00

... nanotech... changing our lives a ´little´ at a time... here.

Enough food for everyone and more...

2011-12-10T02:00:00.002-05:00

The source of obesity perhaps???

Voice Recogniton Elevator...

2011-12-10T02:00:00.000-05:00

... thanks to DF for this gem... here.

Rape Axe...

2011-12-09T12:35:00.002-05:00

... a condom that bites back... here.

This takes a lot of bottle...

2011-12-09T10:07:00.000-05:00

... whereby the normal term refers to a level of bravado in the face of adversity... in this case it is slightly different and very environmentally friendly too... here.

There is some more information here.

Love the tyrant, not the hype...

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

... fascinating stuff about T.Rex... here.

This is far better... here. (music)

From over there...

2011-12-09T02:00:00.000-05:00

... here. Guy recovers from anesthesia...

A Cornucopia of links #27

2011-12-09T00:52:00.003-05:00

1. Let´s face it we are all WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) in the head... interesting point of view re research into psychology... here.

2. It is all in the blood pattern analysis... here. Mind you, the bourbon article is equally fascinating... here.

3. How confident are you about this? Here. Given our human history of destructive behaviours... here.

4. You look well preserved... here.

5. So, what is wrong with the iPhone 4S then? Here.

6. Apart from looking like a complete plank, my only real question is ¨Why?¨... here. Well, that and the point regarding wearing a mask in public being illegal in some places. Now, what if this was made of real hair? From the same person. What would be the difference between a natural one and an artificial one? NB: I have a real one...

7. Wonders of the world recreated in sand... here.

8. The Problem With Social Media... here.

9. Productivity on your Android Mobile - 10 Tips & 40+ Apps... here.

10. iPod oddities... here.

11. Radiation proof underwear... here.

12. Mix this here with this... stir...

13. The Video Coat... here.

14. Don Hong-Oai Photography ... absolutely stunning photographs... pictorialism... apparently he died in 2004 at the age of 75... here. SOme background information here.

15. October 18th 2011... after 24 years of research... here.

16. Gravity hills... here.

17. The Rainbow Sponge... here. ¨I just love wiggles¨...

Music NGram

2011-12-08T02:00:00.000-05:00

... explanation here.

A lapse in time... 4.5 years to be exact...

2011-12-07T03:00:00.000-05:00

... video of woman who took a photograph of herself every day for 4.5 years... here.

A Still Life Portrait

2011-12-06T08:29:00.000-05:00

I am unsure where this pic came from... very clever though...

Kazakhstan = Beautiful

2011-12-06T06:24:00.003-05:00

... and many more pictures to thrill the eye... here. More on Kazakhstan here. It is just one of those places you here little about despite its size.

Daily Mail egregious typos and grammar #7

2011-12-05T02:00:00.003-05:00

If you are looking for that 'special' Christmas gift...

2011-12-04T23:04:00.001-05:00

... look no further than here.