Well, whaddya know, it's the July Surprise. (More inside)

Jon Stewart talks to Ted Koppel. "I know my role, I'm the dancing monkey."

The Abyss - a dynamic artwork (Flash) An interactive journey, following one man's internal journey through grief, anger, loss of faith, understanding, acceptance, and healing.

Is it a picture or a painting? - There is recent speculation that 17th century artist Johannes Vermeer used a precurser to the camera, the Camera Obscura, to create his incredibly detailed paintings. The result is an interesting blurring between artistic and scientific mediums.

Phonebashing Do we believe that vandalism is a valid form of protest?

"for your veiwing pleasure, several movie clips depicting our work! All these clips have been recorded very recently and are no bigger than 1MB (all are in quicktime format). All the people concerned are real members of the public and no one was refunded for the loss of their mobile telephone."

I don't. I sympathise with the victims trying to get the police to take the crime seriously.

Francis Crick dead at 88. more inside

Fight fire with fire; fight dung with dung. I don't remember this in Dante, but it must appear somewhere within Malebolge: a smoky, stinky blaze in the dried crust of a three-acre manure lagoon on a dairy farm.

Kaleidoscope. Euh?

Are you a Claymate? No? Would you like to be Clayverted?. You might have a chance to score points with the Claymate of the Week if you do. Please note, that if you do clayvert, to bash anyone that says anything bad about Our Clay.

Great Hackers
(second post today, I know, but it's a great essay)

Wildlife getting in on the game

so you have a gaping wound, and don't know what to do? well, you can bleed to death. Or, thanks to potatoes, you can keep on living.

Kopi Luwak A food scientist has cracked the secrets of the world's most expensive coffee, Kopi Luwak (described by some as "earthy, musty, syrupy, smooth and rich, with both jungle and chocolate undertones"), whose beans pass through the intestinal tract of an Indonesian civet before being roasted and savoured. Maybe they could ask this Belgian artist to build a machine to make this coffee without the help of cats?

Be prepared ... after all you never know when those terrorists might strike ... but if you think it's all a bit silly ... then you could always take the piss But sady, the UK government has failed to see the joke

The Original Lord of the Rings Movie - 1956 - Long before Bakshi, long before Jackson, did you know Tolkien's master work was originally adapted and filmed by Warner Brothers, starring Humphrey Bogart, Marlene Dietrich, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre & Orson Welles? Raymond Chandler wrote the screenplay based upon the book from the year before, Bernard Herrman did the music, and all was directed by Howard Hawks. Amazingly, this forgotton masterpiece was never released.. (ahem).. for some reason. Now you can watch it. If you have Apple Quicktime. Right-Click the link & Save Link/Target As if you want to download it. 18.5 MB QUICKTIME movie. Courtesy of The Tolkien Sarcasm Pages more inside

Ouchie. Looks about as much fun as a poke in the eye. more inside

The Andhra Pradesh State Police Crime Investigation Department more inside

Marry Blaire dot com. I'm going to be 27 and I'm ready to get married. Actually, my goal is to be engaged by December 2004. As her "Countdown to My Engagement" clock warns, she only has 155 days left. Her current suitors include a guy who likes DQ Blizzards and "home manicures"; past suitors are catalogued here, and the whole thing is blogged.

Important information from the Ministry of Vague Paranoia And the response from the Cabinet office.

Best. Job. Ever. People wanting to work as strippers in Canada must submit a portfolio of their performances to convince immigration officers they deserve that visa. more inside