Links posted in May 2004
May 31, 2004
Forks Smash! MoFi Meet!
NEW YORK MONKEY MEETUP
Though I've been somewhat, er, busy; I am still down with the:
1st KING KONG MEMORIAL NY MOFI MEETUP
June 4th, Friday; 5:45 (we'll wait till 6:00) on the stairs of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
[more inside]
xxxchurch.com is on a crusade: they want you to stop watching internet porn.
Yeah right. They've begun a project in which they want to encourage young guys (no mention of the gals) to stop beating off. Check out the Wired.com article. Forty days? I call that Dark Night of the Soul.
I guess it's for real. I guess. Nothing on snopes.
monkeys=honry Originally published in the March 1995 issue of Scientific American, this summary of the sexual behavior of bonobo monkeys talks about common lesbian traits, massive sexual appitite, and a close link to humans. What?
Monkeys = Evil
So, we stole a monkey from a research centre, kidnapped him and took him out to a secret monkey concentration camp, where we basically kicked him around and did really mean stuff to him.
Real life people with rude names. Including my favourite, Randy Bumgardner.
Snip 'n send! Type in your cell phone number, choose a track from a CD and you got yourself a new ringtune! (Yeah, I know, my second post of the day. It's the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. and I'm stuck at work. Take pity on me.)
Washington scandal du jour: "A Pentagon e-mail said Vice President Dick Cheney coordinated a huge Halliburton government contract for Iraq, despite Cheney's denial of interest in the company he ran until 2000."
It's a Gas! With Ren & Stimpy
- FLASH - It's a Ren & Stimpy game!
Our pals are settling down for a restful evening. All of a sudden a deep sound comes from Stimpy's butt. Oh no! It's gas! Use your mouse to fix all the bursting patches & keep the gas trapped under the bedcover!
WARNING: Contains Ren & Stimpy. Also contains cartoon bed-sharing activities. Also: loud FART sound effects. If at work, please turn the volume WAY UP.
[more inside]
Curious George! Mad Libs verb & noun movie titles? Am I imagining some sort of pattern to movie titles like Chasing Amy, Raising Arizona (now Helen!), Stealing Harvard, Kissing Jessica Stein, Saving Silverman. Are there more? Who started this? What does this all mean? Where is the creativity? Help!
Kamat's Potpourri. The History, Mystery, and Diversity of India.
Curious George: Slashdot slashdotting itself? Might Slashdot be getting too big? The many fleeting news items posted daily bring upward of 1000+ replies. It escapes me what the motivation is to reply, when what one writes will be buried by hundreds of more replies in hours or vanish beneath a threshold. Can't a forum be too big? I'm not griping; I really want to understand! (On a slightly perpendicular note, 4758 reviews for this random Amazon bestseller -- why would one feel compelled to spend 15 minutes writing a review no one will be able to dig down to?)
May 30, 2004
Curious George: Music... Of the FUTURRRE See inside... [more inside]
Live Generative Music. Viragelic generates a soothing musical piece for you randomly using moving squares traveling random paths. It seems a little dull at first, but it slowly becomes quite entrancing and fascinating.
A beautiful Letter from the mother of a gay son. This letter is absolutely perfect. It sent chills down my spine. It's probably one of the most beautiful and tragic things I've read in a long time. [Via Seablogger via Eschaton]
Loretta Lux "imaginary portraits" of real children. Lux renders a vision of childhood that is beautiful, formal and chilling.
Chris Cooper, better known as Coop and the proud creator of Lesbian Devil Girls, screw-happy robots and supersize female vamps!
NSFW!! Cartoon art, rock posters, tattoos, originals, books. Welcome to the world of Coop!
Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox dead at 92 I remember that bow tie when I was a kid. Life was so innocent in those days.
Subversive Cross Stitching. Make Grandma Cry! [more inside]
The World's Most Dangerous Password:
Minutemen ICBMs were deployed in the early 1960s, and grew to over 1000 in number. They were allegedly protected from a "rogue launch" by an approach known as PAL (Permissive Action Link). The PAL required that the correct 8-digit launch code be entered by the missiliers before the missile would establish ignition. What if all the PAL codes had been set to '00000000,' and 'everyone' in the Strategic Air Command knew it? That is unbelievably what happened, as described in this article from the Center for Defense Information. Not exactly a great example for getting people to choose difficult passwords!
Via Slashdot
May 29, 2004
Curious George: Do you play video/computer games? If no, why not? And if so, what have you been addicted to recently? Finally, what was the most influential game on you, ever? Just a friendly "get to know you better" survey. [more inside]
Army attributes another death to friendly fire.
While his is a high-profile death, perhaps it should make us more aware of the United States' consistent problem with friendly fire - and that rates of "blue on blue" are getting higher, in spite of technological advances.
[more inside]
What The Billionaires Are Buying. What do you buy the guy who has everything?
22 panels that always work
22 panels that always work (sometimes)
Mordechai Vanunu: I squealed on Isreal to prevent nuclear holocaust. He went to the world with details of Israel's nuclear program. He did 18 years in prison for it and doesn't regret a single day. Now he's out and wants to leave his country, but the government has said "no way, Hosea."
A Hole. Its fascinating to watch it develop over the last five years or so. [more inside]
The first vienna vegetable orchestra: if you carrot all for music, consider these sal-lads.
Men with breasts. Probably NSFW.
An Uncommon Lama: Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, director of "The Cup" and "Travellers & Magicians."
May 28, 2004
Aaaaahhhhhhh! They're horrible! Horrible!!!
Actually, these photoshop jobs are really kinda sweet. This one is my favorite.
Via RealityCarnival
Thanks Nostrildamus!
Cold winter with fake snow
Dennis Quaid, starring in 'The Day After Tomorrow' recalls past winter: "Here we were in Montreal making a movie about a killer Ice Age and the weather channels were telling us it was the coldest winter Montrealers could recall."
Newsflash: Living in 1628 is hard work So that big reality show that had us all on the edge of our seat is finally over: that's right Colonial House! This is the latest in a series of programs done joinly with PBS and Channel 4 in the UK that explores what it would be like to live in a certain historical time period - modern people try to recreate that time with as much accuracy as possible. Hilarity, controversy and awesomeness insue (with video diaries!). [more inside]
Non-MacOS users need not apply.
But if you like little choo-choos, you might want to get access to some fruity machine just for this 3D model train simulator (3Mb .SIT file).
Need fresh air this weekend, SO keeps calling just to see if you're still alive, got plenty work piling up? Then DON'T look at this nifty toy. You've been warned.
This post goes in loving memory of someone I know would have really liked it.
Friday Funnies Songs that stick in your head, comics, art, literature, politics...lots of the recent monkeyposts are tied together here.
Rodeohead. Bluegrass tribute music. Found here.
Read books online for free - Read Print is a free online library that "offers thousands of free books for students, teachers, and the classic enthusiast." Authors include George Orwell, Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, and many many more. This makes me very, very happy. [more inside]
Art Imitating Life: So while cicadas have taken over large chunks of the United States, they now seem to have invaded the modern rock scene a theme song courtesy of the awesome band The Shins. Their song, Those to Come wasn't written with the red-eyed devils in mind, but the song appears to be a perfect fit, and band members seem happy to play along.
FreshHotGraphicArtFromRedChina!
It's always the equivalent of Cinco de Mayo somewhere in the world, dammit. For those of you who are always looking for an excuse to celebrate, DateDex lists every holiday, festival, major conference, "Awareness" day, celestial event and major sporting contest in the world. [more inside]
Medicine cabinet portraits:
"People really do subconsciously compose their medicine cabinets," says New York photographer Coke Wisdom O'Neal. "They make these beautiful little landscapes." The photographer has been surreptitiously looking into people's medicine cabinets for years and "I pretty much carry my camera everywhere I go." He works under difficult conditions when he visits: "I mean, how long is it okay to be in the bathroom? Maybe three minutes? Four at the most. That's not a lot of time."
A short Q&A with O'Neal about the exhibition can be found here.
Who is Rance? "Rance" claims to be an A-list Hollywood celebrity. But who is it? [more inside]
Curious George: Song in Your Head? Okay Monkeys, you've got a song stuck in your head. 1) How do you suggest getting it out? 2) What song is it? [more inside]
Scan your records
These guys scanned old records with a laser and used a software program to get pristine audio from old and scratched 78 rpm records and wax cylinders.
Mmm, I could have used this to rip my record collection before I sold all of them recently.
There is also a (not related to this research) commercial laser record player on the market and it's even on sale. Only $4980 for a demo model.
Wayne White
If you're lucky enough to be in New York, check out Wayne White's exhibition at the Clementine Gallery. White buys cheap trashy paintings at garage sales and thrift stores, and adds his own text, to amazing effect. You may recognise his work from Lambchop's albums.
Okay, maybe he's a one-trick pony, but what a trick. [Via http://www.kottke.org</a>].
How to fake UFO photos from Jr. Skeptic magazine, authored and photographed by Skeptic Art Director Pat Linse. [stolen from randi.org]
Mesopelagic woman with supraorbital ridge becomes compliant in linear accelerator lab
- Your Monkey Task for today is to slip that phrase into everyday conversation.
From Reality Carnival
[more inside]
The Starry Messenger. Electronic history of astronomy.
Spot The Fake Smile. You'll see videos of twenty people's smiles. Decide which ones are fake, which genuine. Check you answers at the end. Discuss. [link swiped from avva] [more inside]
People of the forest. "Conrad Feather is only part way through his PhD but has already spent several years living with indigenous people in the Amazon, helping them drive loggers from their ancestral land. Recently he trained them to use GPS devices so that they could create the first map of their territory and make an ambitious bid to win legal title to it. This month the project won him the prestigious St Andrews Prize for the Environment." [Via Disinformation.]
Feral Argentinian Monk Parakeets on the Chicago Southside Legend has it these longtime Hyde Parkers protected a Mayor's tenure in office. The parakeets even had their own bodyguards. To me, they are the Hyde Park Wind-Up Birds. When I walk to work in the morning and hear them in their nests, I know impending doom will soon descend upon me.
I get so emotional, baby. It's emo night on Monkeyfilter! Here's a primer on methods for naming your "emo"/post-whatever band.
May 27, 2004
Where's the oxyclean guy when you need him?
In what's being called a local wardrobe malfunction, area resident and Klansman Arnie Stevens showed up at his latest Ku Klux Klan rally in a pink hood and a pink robe.
(i guess now's as good a time as ever to see if oxyclean does indeed "make your whites whiter...")
What does "Virtue" looks like? Graphic experiments depicting 'simple' concepts, part of the excellent Speak Up graphic design site. Just the thing for burnt-out pixel monkeys to unwind with... *cough*. And some are really funny too.
Let us celebrate our cultural diversity: the Racial Slur Database. For those times when you're at a loss for that malicious mot juste. Were you aware that a "big nose" not only means Jew, but that it's a term Asians use for all white people? I guess we all look alike to them.
The South Shall Rise Again! Looks like the other side of the fanatical base of the Republican Party has finally caught on to what the Free Stater's have been planning for a few years now.
Getting a foot in the door in Iraq.
Playing with paperclips, ending with art. [more inside]
Art or Bio terrorism? Steve Kurtz was already suffering from one tragedy when he called 911 early in the morning to tell them his wife had suffered a cardiac arrest and died in her sleep. The police arrived and, cranked up on the rhetoric of the "War on Terror," decided Kurtz's art supplies were actually bioterrorism weapons. [more inside]
A visual feast of images from over thirty collections. Choose from cartography, fine arts, architecture, photography. [via researchbuzz]
On-line Forums - which one? Curious George : When I'm not devouring the threads on MoFi, or waiting for the MeFi to come back on-line, I manage a sizeable database. I've been looking at ways of communicating better with the userbase (approx 500) and encouraging them to share best practice amongst themselves. An on-line forum seems to be a sensible way forward, I've seen Yahoo Groups and it seems to fit the bill, BUT under their Terms and conditions they own all of the information posted to the forum. Does anyone know of any other forum hosting sites or even have any experience of hosting on their own server with some off-the-shelf application,
Janakpur Women's Development Centre. 'The paintings are rooted in traditions which Maithil women have passed down through generations. On the occasion of marriage or for festivals such as Deepawali, Maithil women paint lively designs on the mud walls of their houses. During Deepawali, in order to attract Laxmi the goddess of wealth, they paint designs of elephants and peacocks which symbolize prosperity, as well as images of tigers, birds, and other animals. In monsoon season the paintings fade or wash away.' Gallery here.
Ghost photographed in Welsh Castle - It looks as fake as anything, but maybe worth having a gander. Also, does a ghost haunt the Tawas Lighthouse? Probably not. [more inside]
Rockfish
is impressive as hell.
yes, it's a qt link and i imagine it'll be a bit of a download, but WHOA.
Super Size Me I saw this movie today and it was excellent. It is nice to see that MTV is just a cog in the consumerism selling machine. To be a little more articulate, Super Size Me provides people with information regarding the negative health effects of eating fast food on a consistent basis over a months time. Call it unrealistic, slanted, but I thought that the arguments were well supported and thought provoking. For MTV to argue that the specter of defamation exists, and hence they will not advertise it is BS!!
Damn you, internet!
Apparently the "dont ask, dont tell" policy is being exploited by jilted gay military ex's to out their former SO's to give them the boot.
[more inside]
Eric Idle presents... The FCC Song. [Not safe for America, via Disinformation.]
Supersize Any Image With The "Rasterbator"! Create HUGE posters out of small image files! [more inside]
The Lost Museum: A virtual recreation of P. T. Barnum's American Museum
May 26, 2004
Feeling saucy, monkeys? Your "words of wisdom" could be published on the nearly 5 billion sauce packets distributed in Taco Bell® restaurants each year! Come on, what would your packet prose be?
Have you ever wondered what all those notes mean? I have been teaching music to people of varying ages, abilities and tastes for a long time and this is far and away the best music theory resource I have seen online. From the basics of pitch, duration and time to the nature of a musical score it is all here.
House of Ugoff! Ok, this could fall under the "monkeyproductfilter" category, but hell, I think the whole Ugoff (Flash, SFW unless you work at McDonalds or Wendy's)campaign for Burger King's salads is brilliant. I particularly like the pouch set up against the fashionable purses and bags in the style section.
Curious George: Getting out of frames jail. How can I close a Web page frame using a "javascript:" command on a browser address: bar? Of course this assumes I can find the frame name. An example: the frame at the top of this page. On sites like Delphi Forum boards I am frequently stuck in "frames jail" where 20% of the screen is occupied by dead space. No luck Googling on this one -- far too many nonrelevant hits to sift through.
Photoshop makes art safe for children Taking a hint from John Ashcroft, Worth 1000 makes the classics of Western Art SFW. [via boingboing]
When pop culture references collide! and have dancing skeleton babies. (Flash) [more inside]
Hell, by brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman, may also have perished.
Fafblog interviews Dr. James Dobson. [via boingboing]
Not only a lovely name but lovely tunes to boot.
Faking the books by Lali Puna was released last month.
Soft luscious voice, hacked up synth sounds, strong production.
nice site too.
courtesy of ink mathematics [dot] com
Farside, remixed.
So, you've got the IntarWeb as a source of images. You've got photoshop. And you love Gary Larson. What more fitting tibute could there be than to make his cartoons come to life?
[via skallas]
Phish is over..... Damm it.....
Darren Waterston's
art blends Japanese screens and silkwork with the organic and fluid.
Plus, monkeys.
Somebody should have seen this coming...
Spanky the Clown arrested on child pornography charges. There are just... no words. I am beside myself laughing at the headline alone. Just... no words. One would think his choice of clown name would have raised flags.
World's Largest Collection of World's Smallest Versions of World's Largest Things! [more inside]
May 25, 2004
Breedster's Output. A fascinating series of graphs representing the breedster community. Breedster was announced to the monkey world in an earlier post.
Crime: Texas style We're number one! We're number one! Eat that, L.A.! [more inside]
The Coca-Cola Nazi Advert Challenge Design a poster that accurately depicts the close relationship between Coca Cola and the Third Reich for a London exhibit. Unfortunately there are no entries yet, but the links are interesting. [more inside]
Hitler kin doesn't want rights to Mein Kampf, even though they may be worth millions. It's not like he's asking for them; but a scholar says he could successfully sue the government of Bavaria if he wanted to. What would you do with the money?
The Colorquiz A small cgi script that will stare deep into your soul.
Curvers for Choice: Curves, a women-only gym, is the largest and fastest growing gym franchise in the world with over 7,000 fitness centers. And most of those centers are women owned. So it makes for interesting politics when Gary Heavin, the founder and CEO of Curves was outed for being anti-choice. As the news has swept the Web, and main stream news outlets have picked up the story, many pro-choice women are faced with a dilemma- to boycott or not to boycott. Or perhaps fight fire with fire and make donations to pro-choice organizations like Planned Parenthood in Curves or Gary Heavins name. [more inside]
Strap this baby onto your bicycle (or, ok, on your R/C airplane if you must) and step into the spage age. A real jet engine that is 5 inches in diameter, uses real Jet-A fuel, and can be yours for $2795.
With Text Monkey's help, no more ugly e-mail!
Virtual Sea Monkeys
- (FLASH)
This contains nothing naughty, no big download, it's fun (debateable: somewhat as much as real Sea Monkeys..) safe for work, and it has 'monkey' in the title. You see?
[more inside]
Tanks for Sale Thinking of buying a new car? Don't. Get a T72 tank, a OT810 halftrack, or even a Vzor 77 DANA self-propelled gun.
Bogdan Raczynski
Don't ask, just click.
What Should I Put On The Fence?
E3 2004 has wrapped up. So, I just want to open a thread discussing where the video game currently stands as an artform. [more inside]
"more thinking and less shooting"
Bush Approval Rating at 41%
According to CBS News, George W. Bush's approval rating with the American people is now at 41%. It seems the bad news coming out of Iraq with the prison abuse scandal have taken their toll. Iraq was once an issue Bush polled stongly.
Independent voters seem to have been especially affected. Overall, 49 percent of registered voters now say they would vote for Kerry, 41 percent for Bush.
Preserving the Movie Palaces.
The Soul-less Cineplex hasn't killed off ALL of these Glorious Gals----YET!
Browse through this lovingly-constructed database to rekindle old memories and preserve new ones...
[more inside]
May 24, 2004
"Orthodox Quaker Oatmeal Cookies are tasty." said Jesus, as he stood in front of the snack machine.
ZzzzZZZzzzap. See what happens when a power company rigs up a failure on a 500 kV power line.
Oh that Chalabi. What a rascal.
The Jesus Landing Pad.
Bush administration alters mideast policy to correctly align with second-coming-of-you-know-who.
. . . they object on the grounds that all of Old Testament Israel belongs to the Jews. Until Israel is intact and Solomon's temple rebuilt, they believe, Christ won't come back to earth.
[more inside]
Curious George: Ever lived on a commune? Communes or intentional communities have been around for a long time and have fascinated me from a distance. East Wind just celebrated thirty years (Via BoingBoing) and it's one of quite a few that I didn't know were thriving. Anybody had direct experience with something like this? [more inside]
Curious George: Why all the photos? I asked this question in this thread but thought I'd cast a wider net. Why are there SO many photos of the Iraq prisoner abuse that occured at Abu Ghraib? [more inside]
Andy Kaufman is still dead. Your weird press release update.
Curious George: So how old are you really? a comment from languagehat made me realize that some of my perceptions on the age range here are a wee bit off - for some reason i tend to assume that most people here are around the same age as me, which more often than not turns out to be untrue. so, in an effort to get a more accurate picture of the age range, without actually being indelicate enough to just bluntly ask for the number, please give me a clue, like, say, an important world event that happened when you were in high school, or some such. come on, spill it... [more inside]
The World Stephen Glover, one of the three founders of the British newspaper, the Independent is planning on starting The World, 'an "upmarket" daily devoted as much to good writing as to making sure that stories about celebrities and furry animals do not make headlines'. [more inside]
Cubic Eye
3D user interface and tools.
via BBspot.
A tour of Iceland with the poetry of Jonas Hallgrimsson.
Sears and the Mail-Order Home.
Sears, Roebuck sold EVERYTHING---including complete Ready-To-Assemble Houses-- by MAIL. Click on the
"Images" section for a veritable encyclopedia of early mid-century tract design. If you had $934, you had the American Dream...
May 23, 2004
High Quality Football Logos! .Download 'em! Collect 'em! (...and I don't even LIKE football! But I do like these logos).
Sisters. Excerpts from Lynne Cheney's tale of women in the Wild West. [more inside]
Firecrackers. A collection of over 400 firecracker labels, from old classics through to the present.
Security checkpoints to begin in Boston subways. And no more pictures in the New York subways. Slowly, the US transmogrifies into another Tel Aviv.
Exiles: Uncertain times for Iraqi Canadians. Flash presentation from CBC's Radio 3, profiling three Iraqi Canadians as they talk about their lives, Iraq and the war. [via airgid.com, the designer's website.] [more inside]
"Gukanjima - View of an Abandoned Island" Poignantly creepy.
Bush takes a Fall Michael Moore, on accepting the Palme d'Or from Cannes for his film "Fahrenheit 9/11", said of Dubya that he hoped "nobody tells him that I have won this award while he is eating a pretzel." No worries, Michael: he was riding his bike.
"Power in itself has never attracted me, nor has position been my goal. My aim has always been to defend the secular foundation of our nation and the poor of our country." So said Sonia Gandhi as she declined the position of Prime Minister of India. [more inside]
Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be a joke. This, however, does.
May 22, 2004
Who let bin Ladens leave U.S.?
Remember when the bin Laden family was allowed to be flown out of America by the FBI on Uncle Sam dollars shortly after 9/11 while the rest of America was grounded.? Now Democratics Senators are asking who approved this. The White Hose refuses to answer.
[more inside]
The Museum of Chimpography. This somehow seems appropriate here.
Curious George; What movies should I watch this weekend? I have reached a mental wall when it comes to picking out a movie to watch. Help!!! What can the monkeys recommend as good weekend material? [more inside]
Rassemblement de Weird Animal News - Within this post, Mean Uncle Nostril rudely collates angry lumps of spiteful animal weirdness to offensively violate copyright restrictions & convince you that Mother Nature truly is a bitch, via naughty words and invective. The theme: Animals Attack!! [more inside]
Fontastic! If you're like me, you have long wanted to be able to make your own fonts. Now you can. Open source. Free. It's Christmas!
Wharram Percy. A lost village in Yorkshire.
Curious George: Musically lost. Sorry for this stupid question, but I drove off the music roadmap around 2000; among my favorite bands at the time were Barenaked Ladies, Incubus, Sugar Ray, Train, etc. My problem is I have no idea who to listen to now. I don't know how this disconnect happened, but it seems all playlists, radio, top 100, media, etc are now saturated with hip-hop and rage/thrash alternative -- sorry, not my style. Meanwhile I can no longer dig out fresh listening ideas. Is there a resource that can help me get suggestions on artists I'd like, without the other stuff thrown in haphazardly? And yeah, I can accept that maybe the music I liked is out of style and I'm getting to be an old fogie, or that I'm just totally overlooking something.
Chemistry Comes Alive!
Plenty of fun, from the trippy to the explosive to the poignant to the dadaist.
Britain opens stem-cell bank. "The world's first national repository opened this week north of London, angering anti-abortion groups."
Is William Hung the Asian Buckwheat? (and what's up with the writers facial hair?)
May 21, 2004
From the makers of the legendary Emogame and it's occasionally distasteful sequels comes a new high (or low). Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, He Man, and an all star cast of others team up to taked down the Bush Administration and their new super-weapon, Voltron in Emogame2.5 The Bush Game. Set aside half an hour for this one kids, and remember to take notes. It's a doozy. (May not be SFW)
Holy Grail Vandals?
Here's the beginning of a conspiricy theory:
Could the reason "A gang of youths climbed on top of The Shepherd's Monument at Shugborough Hall and smashed ornamental sea shells at about 1500 BST on Tuesday" be linked to the fact that "Experts were called in recently to examine an inscription on the 250-year-old monument rumoured to reveal the location of the Holy Grail"?
If so, then who were the vandals? The Knights Templar?
Shop for your intern!
Imagine a world where hiring the right person is as easy as online shopping. You can search for the right skills, view product info, email for more information, or go ahead and put a good prospect in a shopping cart. But my favorite part was making all of the interns' heads swivel with every move of the mouse.
"Like many of you, we've seen the Mercedes-Benz commercial, No One Ever Poses With Their Toaster. And, also like many of you, the first thought that occurred to us is, This makes me want to pose with my toaster!"
Video Interview With Wonkette Editor Ana Marie Cox Ana is pretty cute for a blogger.
Washingtonienne is the talk of the District of Columbia today. The staffer's X-rated blog came to a screeching halt after Wonkette pasted some steamy passages and it was recognized by a fellow staffer. Reports indicate that the staffer (who has not yet been named - monkeys, start your investigations) was fired from Sen. Mike DeWine's office. Should the scandal - the blog includes Washingtonette accepting money for sex from a high-level Bush appointee - cause Washington to implement new Albany-style rules regarding legislator/staffer contact?
knotty
Knotplot(n):
1. A collection of knots and links, viewed from a (mostly) mathematical perspective.
2. An elaborate application to visualize and manipulate mathematical knots in three and four dimensions.
The Modern Compendium of Miniature Automata
May 20, 2004
Why you should never post your picture on the net.
Hassle the Hoff
- "Rap legend Ice-T is risking his massive reputation on his latest recruit - middle-aged former beach bum David Hasselhoff.The original gangsta believes he can turn the ex-Baywatch star into hip hop’s next big thing.Ice and Hasselhoff, 51, are neighbours in Los Angeles and have struck up a close friendship."
Someone please tell me it's not a joke. Because that would be awesome. [/W. Hung afficianado]
German Humor
[ Warning: 17 Mb WMV file with german sound track ]
Notwithstanding all these bad signs (size, WMV format and German) this instruction film about work safety ethics of a fork lift truck driver is absolutely hilarious. If you understand German it's probably more fun though. I do, and it's hard to unlearn it. So your mileage may vary.
The morning after!
It's always better with monkeys. A short ad for soda pop featuring sly humor and a monkey. Via Everlasting Blort.
Why am I so hesitant to bring the Blort to the Blue, yet here, less so? In this case, it's gotta be the monkey.
News item claiming Kaufman is truly alive briefly appears. And then is placed on dispute hold by Emediawire. A hoax, right? Right?
Curious George : Damn Dog will not Shut Up. The neighbors have two dogs, one mutt, and one doberman. When they let the dogs out for the evening, the animals will make a circle back to the porch and whine and beg and bark to be let back in. [more inside]
RichardPryor.com The official website of the funniest man alive. I got the link from the DVD of his short-run tv show, "The Richard Pryor Show" (advertised on the site as "one of the funniest tv programs ever" -- sadly, it's not even close, but it has its moments). Multiple Sclerosis has taken him from the spotlight, but in the man's own words, "I Ain't Dead Yet, M*therF@ck%r!"
Childless Couple told to Get Fucked
A German couple visiting a fertility clinic after eight years of childless marriage discovered why they weren't bearing crotch-fruit - they weren't doing it.
Yes, it sounds like an urban legend, & yes it's from Ananova so it probably is, but I couldn't pass up the chance of using that title which I also stole from a commentor on Bifurcated Rivets which is also where I pinched the link. So screw me.. I mean sue me. Your pal, Nostril.
[more inside]
Monkey College. [via Fark]
Live Nude Cats YES, I am 18 months or older, show me LIVE NUDE CATS. (NSFW)
Desktop Gaming
Gorgeous videogame wallpaper.
I've been alternating between this (damn dog!) and this for the past month.
[more inside]
Operation: Take One For the Team [more inside]
I always wanted to be the Professor:
Now there's a show for me! "Can you make a telephone out of a coconut? Have you dreamed of being stranded on a deserted island with a movie star?" The creators of a new Gilligan's Island Reality Series are recruiting a Professor to join their real-life skipper, first mate, millionaire couple, Kansas farm girl and movie star in this exciting new reality show. Any and all academic backgrounds considered.
via Annals of Improbable Research
Accidental Art. Found Photographs. From Chicago. It's about how we lived
Commercials From The Eighties. Warning: Nostalgia, Remorse, and .Wmv files...
May 19, 2004
History is Made. Don't know how many of you monkeys are sports fans, but this should be recorded for posterity. Randy Johnson has become the oldest pitcher in history to pitch a perfect game. In a sport that gets to be more and more broken every year, it's the legends that keep it breathing. [more inside]
Jon Stewart's commencement speech at William & Mary
STOP THE PRESSES! Martha Stewart-brand matches recalled because they may ignite and cause a "fire hazard." Really.
Marketing with an attitude. (NSFW if your boss has good reading glasses)
The Cruelty of British Kids If you're from the UK, and of an age, you will almost certainly have called someone - or have been called - a "Joey", a "Deacon", or suchlike. Now there's an irreverent tribute to the man himself, complete with pictures of people who really should have grown up to recognise that they were nasty, not funny.
Your birth certificate may be worth $1,000,000 "Lutfee Abdul Waalee, convicted of trying to pass a fake U.S. Treasury check for $25 million, is a member of a black separatist group called the Moors who believe in the 'redemption theory.' That's the notion that the United States has been trading birth certificates on the open market as a form of capital since 1933 and that citizens can 'redeem' the value of their accounts and write gigantic checks." [more inside]
Canned laughter box. Ever wonder about the canned laughter heard on Brady Bunch, Bewitched, M*A*S*H, The Flintstones, et al? It was brought to you by the Mackenzie Program Repeater, an outgrowth of the early 1960s organlike Laff Box (an obscure device -- I could find no original resources online!) Its most popular use was to provide canned laughter in 1960s and 1970s sitcoms. Around 1975 networks found that it was better to pony up a real studio audience, casting these devices into the shadows. (Also see an interesting quantification on audience laughter!)
Gambian rodents risk death for bananas.
Shake that ass and let me see what you got
Seems like a natural for BLORT if you ask me.
This one's all about the Machine Man cameo.
The infamous DiMelza Painting. (shudder). * Warning * Disturbing image that will haunt your dreams. Oh yea, there's actually a nice photolog as well.
The Condiment Packet Museum. Free. Edible. Art.
May 18, 2004
Taleban USA From this side of the pond (Europe), this story appears too far-fetched. Someone tell me it's a hoax. Show me how gullible I am.
100 Worst porn titles. "Moulin Splooge", "Anal Chiropracter", "Brianna Lee's Red Hot Weenie Roast", and other timeless classics.
Yang Shan-Shen, a Chinese artist of the Lingnan school of painting, has died at the age of 92. [Via wood s lot.]
Do penis enlargment pills work? I'm no curious george; however, this blog seeks to answer this question with one man's anecdotal experience. For some reason, I trust this man and don't think he's just a shill for spam. [via Unfogged]
2004 Editors’ Awards for Online Excellence - The Morning News has come out with a list of their editors' favorites for 2004. There are some great sites listed that are worth checking out. And guess what? A fellow monkey made their list. Go forksclovetofu!
NEW YORK MOFI MEETUP
Curious George:As threatened sometime earlier, I'd like to do a NYC MoFi meetup down at the Met, maybe to see the Byzantium exhibition and get some food and hang.
I need times, dates, suggestions of possible other activities and a list of interested participants.
Let's do this, monkey types!
Has he returned or is this all a big hoax? 'Sorry about faking my death. It was the only way to seal my status in history as a legendary performance artist. I want to be remembered for so much more than having played Latka on Taxi. The worst part was lying to my family and closest friends.'
George W. Bush and the Constitutional Contractors: Defending marriage by 'rebuilding' America.
Ladies and Gentlemen-- The Game Bike. Addicted to Playstation? Need to lose a few pounds? Then step this way...
Personal Ads.
I have moles in odd places and should probably clip my toenails more often. I prefer sitting around playing video games to doing things. I drink a good deal and make fun of people I don't even know.
Ah Love. Find it online without the glamour shots and half-truths. Or something.
To let -- cheap Anyone looking for housing, there's a flat available somewhere in the US. Pictures available.
Caxton's Chaucer: View the Original Canterbury Tales. British Library site.
A USA Today storm chasing article carried scavenged quotes off our phpBB discussion board without asking any of the participants. I may be biased since I am one of the Stormtrack admins, but I was a bit surprised to see sketchy journalism from a national newspaper firsthand. Fair use or foul? I'm really curious, and if it's ok then I'm cool with it. Our users are kinda miffed though. Would a good TOS deter this kind of thing?
Crank.net. Your guide to the truly lunatic fringe, from old favorites to newly found gems.
Thai Elephant Orchestra:
A CD of elephants in the Thai jungle playing specially designed musical instruments. The elephants improvise the music themselves. The Thai Elephant orchestra was co-founded by Richard Lair of the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang and performer/composer Dave Soldier(Real Media Audio).
shell explodes in Iraq - or does it? While sources are reporting that a shell filled with sarin "misfired" earlier today, the chemistry of sarin gas leads me to believe otherwise. According to agonist, sarin has an exceedingly short shelf life. To extend it, Iraq made binary bombs that contained only one component. The secondary component needed to be added at the last minute - by hand! In other words, the "botched" sarin shell likely contained only isopropynol - which we use in a mildly diluted form as rubbing alcohol.
Gamelan Nyai Saraswati.
Geshundheit.
Seymour Hersh's Article On Abu Ghraib Seymour Hersh breaks another story. He was working on this before 60 Minutes. His article is going to bury Under-Secretary for Intelligence Stephen Cambone. It turns out the CIA and JAG tried to shut the black op that was going on in the prison. The military and spooks are going to bury Rumsfeld and Cambone before this is over.
May 17, 2004
Okay, I'm not ashamed to admit it, I'm going to get a vanity plate. For whatever reason I'm NEVER able to remember my plate number, so I'm using this as an excuse to get a vanity plate. Come on inside for the details! [more inside]
Should Narnia be allowed to join the EU? [more inside]
Curious George: And now... the thread we've all been waiting for... well, at least the more lascivious of those among us: SHOW US YOUR ASS TATT! Or any (insert other body part here) tatt, for that matter. SideDish's famous ass tatt starts us off, brought to us courtesy of IggySlut!
TheAmerican Military Operation Name Generating Device "
I have a lot of questions about the Berg assassination video. I'm glad to see someone else has also. Like...why didn't Berg struggle more when the killers applied the knife? Why is the tape edited in such strange ways? Lots of other weird things I hadn't considered.
EU, UN Betray World Folding under pressure from the Bush Administraion and following lasts weeks capitulation by the EU, the United Nations formally backs genetically modified food, citing "it hasn't spread fast enough".
Getting Drunk to Cure Breast Cancer I'm all for supporting your favorite charity, but the disturbing bourgeois trend of partying for a good cause seems a bit unseemly to me. As they say over in EviteLand, "It's up to us to fight breast cancer and I think a good night of drinking just might do the trick!!"
A vote for Kerry is a vote for boobies: "Alexandra Kerry, daughter of John Kerry, left movie fans gasping at the Cannes Film Festival in her daring see-through dress." (All links NSFW, as they show thinly-veiled breasts.)
Curious, George: Give me your rights! I've got an idea for a story I'd like to write, but it's loosely based on (i.e., uses a character from) a copyrighted song. Does anyone know how to contact an artist/agent to ask permission to use copyrighted material? If it's throught the agent, how do you locate the artist's agent?
Curious George: Greetings, monkeys! I've been overseas for a week and missed all of you. My question: The man whose name is tattooed on my ass has just accepted a job in D.C. Hurray! But he's going to miss Europe terribly; he's lived in Germany for nearly a decade. Anyone know of any good resources (books, Web sites, personal advice, etc.) to help expats adjust to life back home?
Kids fight cancer in Ben's game. The videogame, created in part by young cancer sufferer Ben Duskin, provides players with an insight into cancer treatments while allowing sufferers a way to relieve some of the pain and stress involved with treatment. The enemies include standins for such sideffects as barfing, fever and hair loss.
Monkey man robs milk bar. [Via Fark.]
Smarter than most? Get along with others particularly well? As usual, you're too modest.
Speed Cup Stacking
My offering for official game of monkeyfilter.
Ach! My retirement grease!
Oklahoma police are looking for grease bandits who made off with 5,000 pounds of used cooking oil and grease from three restaurants.
If you have to ask about the Simpsons reference. . .
Cicadas are dangerous?
Several children fell off bikes, Baker said. "We had a concussion, a 9-year-old who was fleeing a cicada on her bicycle and fell off," he said.
But Brood X members of a friendlier demeanor really love children.
May 16, 2004
The Gladiatorial Games in surviving descriptions; in lurid Fifties pulp prose; as reenacted today.
Yoshimi Battles the Hip-Hop Robots There hasn't been a MoFi mashup post in a while, so... let the "This isn't music" discussion begin!
Here we go again: my E-mail box is getting copies of one of those poorly-written all-caps chain letters suggesting a May 19 gas boycott. What is sad is that some people I know are among those cc'ing it, and I know it's hopeless to even bother suggesting something meaningful like carpooling or selling that damn Dodge Durango. A glimmer of hope: the soaring costs are just now starting to hurt SUV sales, according to an industry report. I'll leave you with this stinger left by one poster, epitomizing the futility of a boycott: "I am definitely in on the boycott. I will get enough gas [to get through May 19] today or tomorrow."
Shocking!
A do it yourself stun gun:
When you live in fear-driven times such as these, having grown up with MacGyver as a role model has its advantages. Kevin and I thought it would be cool to MacGyver our own shocking device in glove form, using simply what we had lying around the house. What was lying around the house was a simple one-time-use camera.[Via /.]
The Tale of the Remake of Zatoichi
With Takeshi Kitano's promising new version of the Zatoichi saga due in U. S. theatres on June 7, why not revisit the inimitable classic films, which chronicle the story of a blind masseuse who avenges injustice with swordsmanship learned from a samurai.
You can rent the films on DVD, or if you have the Independent Film Channel here in the U. S., you can catch the Zatoichi-thon on June 21.
Play with the Trojan Pleasure Organ.
Basically SFW, but if you're wearing headphones or have your speakers turned up, be VERY cautious.
May 15, 2004
I love ewe: Very NSFW.
I drink Blackcurrant Tango - come and get me! Remember the legendary Blackcurrant Tango advert on UK screens for all too short a time? Ray Gardner, the letter from Sebastian, the boxing ring on the cliffs of Dover, the harrier jump jets? Here it is, in all its glory. [more inside]
Curious George: Converting Flash Are there any utilities (preferably free or shareware) that convert .SWF Flash animation to Quicktime or MPEG? I've been wanting to put some of the funnier Flash stuff posted here onto DVD where I can more easily show them to friends and family... but I haven't been able to find a utility that can do the conversion.
Curious George: Holy Cereal Batman!
I got a glow-in-the-dark Shrek watch, whaddidyouget?!
What's the coolest thing you've found in your cereal box? [more inside] (first FPP, please don't hurt me!)
[more inside]
OK, I've been researching Islam since the late '70s, and there is no "Peace" in this religion.
"To: President G.W. Bush
From: Craig Winn
Date: April 1, 2004
Re: Islamic Terrorism
Enough already. Your political future isn’t worth the blood of 600 American boys. How many more fathers and sons, husbands and brothers will you allow to die?
[more inside]
Eat too much wasabi and...
I'm sorry; did I actually post this?
My bad. Musta been hypnotized by that twitching philtrum.
An Introduction to Biophilia and the Built Environment [via WorldChanging.]
Bunny Sutra Offended? But they're just wuvvable cartoon bunnies!
May 14, 2004
Killer Coke.
We are seeking your help to stop a gruesome cycle of murders, kidnappings and torture of union leaders and organizers involved in daily life-and-death struggles at Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia, South America.
(Not to be confused with Coca-Cola's own killercoke.com.)
Find out why Coke is the Drink of the Death Squads. (This last one is a RealPlayer link.)
Homes. My wife and I live in a nice enough run-of-the-mill apartment in Brooklyn, but are yearning for a little more. I like this missile silo but it's a little spendy. Something like this feller's airliner would be closer to our budget, but it isn't quite big enough. We'd have plenty of space in this imposing, 4 storey limestone Victiorian school building (no bids so far, and only $150,000), but maybe this old church would be a little more inviting... (a bit MI) [more inside]
Huh?
Bwahahahaaahahahahah!
I know that I've fallen victim to a couple of hoaxes in the past, but I couldn't resist this one....
[more inside]
They Rule.
They control the worlds most powerful corporations, have access to the highest levels of government, they make descisions that affect every aspect of our lives. They are the most powerful men and women in the world.
THEY RULE.
[more inside]
More quality programming from Fox and the WB. I do not understand why people are so cruel.
Murray the Martial Arts Monkey Flash movie.
Tell an American to vote
7.1 million Americans live abroad. Less than 30 percent of them voted last presidential election. This site tries to mobilize people of many nations (in many languages) to tell American friends to register as a foreign voter. All the necessary paperwork can be downloaded from this site.
Their mission is to kick Bush out of the White House.
It seems like a good idea to me.
[more inside]
80's Tarot cards:
Beginning with Ferris Bueller (The Fool), and ending with Wang Chung (The Ten of Pentacles). Robert Smith is Death.
Like to try out your dream job? Here's a chance to do that. Not too many jobs listed yet, but I think this is a great idea...I wish I could be a lavender farmer in Oregon...
Greenpeace prosecuted under 132-year old law. Your meme for today: "sailor mongering".
Just Say No (to Flies) The effects of various drugs on spiders. It may make you rethink drinking the caffeine laden coffee.
Whispering keyboards. No need to get completely paranoid but did you know that eavesdroppers could be reading every word that you type into your computer simply by listening to the sounds of your keystrokes? Every key on your keyboard emits a unique sound and a computer with a microphone and some neural network software could be set up to recognise it and record it with an accuracy of 80%. This issue also applies to keypads on door locks, ATM machines and telephones. [more inside]
What the hell? Mmmm. Viewpoints. [more inside]
Tontie
will steal your free time, your patience and your soul.
So much for Friday productivity.
I guess they're finally getting even with us for that "pee-pee in your Coke" punchline
May 13, 2004
Customers who bought Owl Puke also bought... One person's list of the weirdest items you can buy from Amazon. While some verge on the mundane, I'm forced to admit that A Lobster, Natural Skunk Scent and Mr Poopy the Octopus are fabulous... [more inside]
The Shining in 30 Seconds. You've seen The Exorcist in 30 Seconds, performed by bunnies. Well, here's Johnny! Via ABS.
Strong stomach? Then join a surgeon and perform a total knee replacement on a (flash) patient.
To ban or not to ban the cucumber
From the land of the free and the home of the brave, of course.
Last July, an 83-year-old grandmother called Loretta Harrison visited her local library in Marion County, Florida. A brightly covered book with a funny title caught her attention. After reading just a few pages, she filed an objection with the library that the book was "to [sic] obsene [sic] for general reading".
Library politics, state politics, sex, scandal, farce. A great read!
Curious George I'm having some problems with customs charges that i don't want to pay. I bought an item on ebay and it had to cross the boarder into Canada. Anyone know any loopholes on how I can get out of this? [more inside]
"Elves and fairies are usually considered to be part of our folkloric and literary heritage, not creatures we might actually meet. MOYRA DOORLY certainly thought so until, living on a Scottish Island, she had a series of unnerving encounters with the Little People." [Via Disinformation.] [more inside]
Bad Scrabble: "The following pages are real, unmanipulated examples of Scrabble-tile-chooosing ineptitude, hands so mind-bogglingly unfair in their horribleness that pictures just had to be taken."
Kurt Vonnegut: Cold Turkey
Here dude, take a hit of that beautiful sweet rolling cynicism that only the Kurtster can dish. Come for the rant, stay for the song.
/Wolof
[more inside]
Weird Animal News Roundup - No monkeys, but news of a man bitten to death by a sexually aroused horse, the sad but inevitable death of the world's fattest raccoon, the cutest vicious guard cat in the UK that ever prompted the Royal Mail to ask its owners to get a proper letter box, and a turkey who tried to kill an SUV. I sense a pattern emerging. [more inside]
MonkeyView photo server. Just a bunch of other people's photos. Even more fun than random google images, if you're into that sort of thing.
MonkeyView photo server. Just a bunch of other people's photos. Even more fun than random google images, if you're into that sort of thing.
iruses share a common ancestor that existed over 3 billion years ago and may even have even preceded cellular forms of life. Researchers at Montana State University have come to this conclusion after comparing the protein coating of an exotic virus strain, recently isolated from a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park, with a range of vastly different virus types. Unlike most viruses, this new virus doesn't reproduce by infecting living cells but through a chemical reaction and yet it has been found to share a common protein structure with the other viruses. Furthermore, these proteins have shown no significant similarities with the proteins of living cells and this suggests that viruses must have split of from other forms off life very early on. There are even wilder possibilities: that viruses may have preceded cellular life on Earth or even arrived here from outer space.
Murray the Kick Ass Monkey,
A little Friday flash fun...monkeyfied!
/via milkandcookies.com
Yippee! Through the miracle of the Internet, we can now download the unforgettable, Avant Guarde music of "The Monkees"
[more inside]
How Will I Know Her?
"When we meet new girls we ask them if they would like to participate in this project. They are photographed holding photographs of the ones they miss..."
Oddly effective.
pr0n as propaganda:
"Graphic photos appearing on Arabic websites of U.S. servicemen raping and sexually abusing Iraqi women were actually taken from American and Hungarian pornography sites."(NSFW)
Old news, right? But what does it mean when American politicians hand out those photos at a press conference and they make it into a major U.S. newspaper? (possibly NSFW)
[more inside]
May 12, 2004
La Fee Verte A compendium of absinthe information and ephemera including history, art, and a buyers guide of brands currently manufactured.
Tom's Temple of MST3K is a must-see for fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 [official], the decade-long show that aired movies we love to hate. Includes a lavishly-illustrated history of the show, a studio tour, sound bites, and more. Other must-sees: Booyaka's MST3K site is a great launchpad, and thumbs up to MST3UK, probably the most content-packed episode guide I've seen but sadly limited to a third of the episodes. Do you have any favorite MST3K sites?
Curious George: Mofi Users Does mofi have a user list like this? I KNOW i registered waaay back when, and then promptly forgot all about it. Thing is i dont remember the user name i used off the top of my head. (ok...and i'll admit, i want to go blog hopping too...)
The Hospital
Flash spookiness.
oooooooOOOOOOOooooooo.
Online Worshipping You shop online, chat online, even have sex online. Now, you can worship online, thanks to The Church of Fools, "the UK's first web-based, 3D church". [more inside]
Way Cool Computer Animation - borderline Banana Blue post, but it made me say "wow" out loud here at work. [Quicktime] [via TheMorningNews]
Mexican Airforce plane films UFOs.
Did a vehicle come from somewhere, out there? Just to land in the Andes? Was it round and did it have a motor, or was it something different?
Video here in mpg format.
Curious, George: English/Writing Reference? I would like to improve my writing skills. Which books on grammar, style, vocabulary or writing would you recommend? [more inside]
Famous monkeys throughout history. "Monkeynauts are monkeys that were sent into space. The first monkey in sub-orbital space was a squirrel monkey called Gordo." [more inside]
No seriously, why didn't this happen sooner? "Ever since I came to Google, they've been talking about putting up an official Google blog. And now, less than 15 months later, voilĂ ."
May 11, 2004
Bloggers Get Press Credentials?
The Boston Globe reports that Jesse Taylor of Pandagon applied for press credentials for the Democratic National Convention. I like Jesse and his blog so I hopes gets his press pass. Jesse will not be welcomed with open arms by the mainstream press if he does.
But this new form of media is colliding with old-hand political structures, such as the House of Representatives Press Gallery, the initial gatekeeper for credential requests. Officials there decided that independent blogs do not fit their standards of "media," and passed their applications down the ladder a rung, to the convention staffs that handle credentials for student and weekly papers.
Bush's People So my question is where did Bush outline in his 2000 campaign that the Neocons would be running the show? Invade Iraq, The Create of American Satellite States in the Mideast, all done with on credit from the US Tresury.
For those times when you absolutely, positively have to have a lifesize, wax Minnie Pearl in your bathroom.
The voiceover makes this even stranger than it already is.
Sorry if I doublepost over the next month; I've been gone for awhile.
When will the violence stop? (Definitely NSFW!)
You know, i just dont know what to think any more. Why cant we all just get along? Is USA vrs Iraq destined to be Israel vrs Palestine take two?
I've no solutions, no ready fix...but if this the state of the world me thinks its time to book a one way ticket to heaven (or hell...depending on who'll have me!) Sheesh!
Curious, George: HTML editor? i'm looking for a new HTML editor. and i'm picky. any suggestions? [more inside]
What it's like driving a train. Most people hate their job. But what about those who haven't lost their passion for it? Al Krug is a BN&SF railroad engineer and has a great website. Read about transporting Boeing 737s, a blown engine, derailments, and just pretty scenery.
Carpets from the Islamic world. A splendid exhibition, with lots of historical information. (Via Plep.)
Nyaaaargh!! Get 'em off me!!
Delusional Parasitosis. It's when people think there are tiny parastites infesting or crawling beneath their skin. Well, here's the rub: it might not always be a delusion.
Warning for the extra-squeamish: pictures of a nasty rash!
[more inside]
Kurds. I posted this link at Living in Europe once upon a time, but it's worth revisiting. It "traces the history of the Kurds by presenting photographs and accounts by colonial administrators, anthropologists, missionaries, journalists, and others who have traveled to Kurdistan over the last century." Do go and see. [more inside]
You can own a true piece of Americana. How can you resist? Get yer bids in now.
Ever consider making your own drinking horn? Yes, you too can make your own drinking horn. There are quite a few different sites out there. If you're not up to the task, you can always buy a horn that's allready been crafted. For not much more depending on the merchant. I found an old horn in my garage (came with the house) and fashioned it into a rather heroic drinking horn. All it takes is a horn, a few simple materials, and a wee bit of patience.
May 10, 2004
Osama Bin Laden's family to build world's tallest building "The Saudi Binladin Group has been short-listed to build the world’s tallest building. It is the only Arab company on the short-list for the construction of the 705-meter Burj Dubai in the emirate, scheduled for completion in 2008." [more inside]
Can swine help your ailing Aunt Fannie? An Israeli team has created via tissue engineering a biological "scaffold" that in pigs allows healthy injectable heart muscle cells to replace tissue that died as a result of a heart attack.
The Misunderestimated Man
"The question I am most frequently asked about Bushisms is, "Do you really think the president of the United States is dumb?"
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is yes and no. "
[via DayPop]
Ink Mathematics A link/MP3 blog, alternative and independant news. Great filter.
Practise your amateur psychiatrist skills and try to cure these little disturbed critters. [Flash]
The Successful Beach and Shallow Water Metal Detecting University. Link snatched from Far Outliers, a blog I would like to groom.
The mystery of Meroitic
could be on the way to a solution at last. (Nicest site run by a People's Front I've seen, by the way) There is a large amount of Meroitic writing and we know what sounds it represents - we just don't know what the sounds mean.
Meroe is often seen as a small southern afterthought to Ancient Egypt, but others argue that the civilisation of Egypt was actually drawn from the ancient black culture of Meroe.
[more inside]
Nine Naked Men: Cute, bizarre, and filled with nudity. How can you go wrong? (Oh an yes, probably NSFW.)
Got Beef?
"Welcome to the exciting world of Beefmasters! Whether you're a commercial or seedstock producer, Beefmasters offer you exceptional opportunities to add value - and profit - to your cattle program."
Trepanation is the ancient practice of making a hole in the skull in order to improve the brain pulsations and hence the overall well being.
May 09, 2004
Jesus H. Curious! Curious George: Can you come up with something funnier and mo'better? [more inside]
Shygirl.
Flash.
Snarfled from Blort
Heavy Little Objects. Mack Reed catalogues and glorifies the things he builds and finds. [more inside]
Where are you going on holiday this year? Spain? Greece? Turkey? How about the centre of the earth? If you've got $18,950 spare, you can join Steve Currey on his epic journey to the North Pole... And Beyond. [more inside]
Could I see some ID? Sure, I shamelessly stole the link from That Other Site, but this is almost as addictive as Hot or Not.
Leopolis. Photos of Lvov. Posted at glosses.net a while ago, but not everybody reads glosses, I've realized.
Could I see some ID? Sure, I shamelessly stole the link from That Other Site, but this is almost as addictive as Hot or Not.
Freedom is the problem!
Apparently the real issue isn't torture, it's digital cameras and that damn Internet.
Go, Internet, go.
[more inside]
Are you proud to be a merkin? Our operators are standing by.
May 08, 2004
Improve your self-esteem Play games! [more inside]
All right guys, you know you've done it: wanking, choking the chicken, bashing the bishop, buffing the banana ad infinitum. And now, a site dedicated to that most solitary of activities. Advocacy, tips, techniques, Q & A. And I thought I had already "mastered" this domain. Not much for the ladies, unfortunately. (Not pornographic in the least, but NSFW just to be on the safe side.)
Tyson, the Skateboarding Bullbog
Caption competition Submit a caption to the Litterati cartoon. Then go have a look at the rest</small>. [more inside]
Pen tricks
A great resource for those of us who spend too much of the day with a pen in our hands. Learn the "ThumbAround Normal", the "Fingerless ThumbAround", the "Reverse to BackAround", or even the "Leigun" (in which the pen becomes "a deadly weapon"). Shockwave videos, advice on what to learn first, and even a penspinners' forum.
Guaranteed first post, guaranteed Hole free.
Aerial photography from kites , model rockets, and helium balloons. You don't need to rent a plane or settle for Terraserver. Whatever you can push, shoot, throw, or kick into the sky is fair game!
Saddam's interrogation logs With the revelations of torture at Abu Ghraib one could logically ask, "If that's how they're treating low-echelon prisoners, how are interrogators handling the Big Cheese?" Over at McSweeney's, someone spills the beans.
Monkeyfilter: jest a bunch o' rednecks. Not yer style? How about Cockney? Or try Jive, Elmer Fudd, Moron, or Hacker. The Dialectizer. [more inside]
Damon Runyon A story by him here, a one-page parody of his distinctive style here, and some general information about the man. [more inside]
Gun safety presenter shoots self The title says it all. Maybe he was demonstrating what not to do.
I heard some guy on the internet dug a hole!
May 07, 2004
1000 styles of Rumsfeld.
With today's Senate hearings going on, this is a great guide to understanding the body language of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Crouching Tiger! Coffee Palm!
The Criterion Collection. One movie at a time.
Your Tax Dollars At Work? Since 1868, providing a different kind of homeland security: The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency. And they're still working today. Want to know how to stop the undead in your neighborhood? Ask Dr. Pecos. [more inside]
Boise, Idaho poised to become the video game capital of the world! Athens is known for the Olympic Games and Cooperstown is known for the Baseball Hall of Fame. But Boise? Move over potatoes, Boise may soon be known as the video game capital of the world. [more inside]
The World's Only Ass-Kicking Machine
"Does The World's Only Ass-Kicking Machine Really Kick Ass? We are almost certain it kicks big-time ass."
An oldie but a goodie. Happy Friday!
Tale of the tape(worm) Vincent Eaton tells the story of finding and ridding himself of a nasty little parasite. Don't read during lunch. [Via Boing Boing]
Rick's Cafe opens in Casablanca You'd have thought this would have happened ages ago! Despite the State Department's recommendation that Americans in Morocco "consider seriously their personal security", I can't help but but be shocked - SHOCKED - at this bit of whimsy by an American in these troubled times. Let's hope she sticks her neck out for nobody, that there is indeed gambling in Rick's Cafe, and the piano player is of sufficient talent. Cheers!
Spiderman... nobody knows who you aaaaare! That Tron guy's got nothing on this Spidey, cause this Spidey's got nothing on! And there's plenty more where that came from. [NSFW & NSWhileEating]
Bitkraft is reminiscent of the old puppet-style theatre layout. Thought I'd throw this one in while we're talking about funky flash sites.. (requires Flash, obviously) [more inside]
CGTalk. *The* place for 3D and other digital artists.
If you took even one psych class in college, you've probably heard of the "Stanford Prison Experiment." Take a group of college students, randomly assign them to two groups: prisoners and guards. Give both of them the accoutrements of their roles--uniforms, etc. Now, let them go and see how they act it out. [more inside]
Science made stupid [more inside]
Modern Living's Neurotica Series by Han Hoogerbrugge. Some freaky stuff. As I have joined the double-post club already, I'm hoping this will be successful. [more inside]
"Benevolence Survives Over Malevolence"
An article title that almost has nothing to do with the content. Anyway...
Stemming from NASA's Astrobiology Magazine, a little informal sociological analisis correlating social alienation with prejudices against aliens.
But beware confirmation bias.
Rubik's Cube
"We turn the Cube and it twists us." Erno
Rubik
Did you see the gorilla? [Via Crooked Timber.]
May 06, 2004
FAA official destroys 9/11 tape with his own hands. In a fit of simian rage, I've destroyed a couple CDs (don't try it, unless you like plastic slivers and a shower of silvery dust), but this sounds odd. Haven't they heard of shredders?
Once more, with feeling! Hot on the heels of the live-action badger reenactment comes a, um, stunning performance (Quicktime movie) of Weebl's "Only in Kenya." [more inside]
"The average woman is born into near slavery, leads a life of drudgery, and dies invariably in oblivion." [more inside]
Protect your banana - This is a post of poo, but I really just had to. Carry on. [more inside]
A chart showing the comparative prives of various LIQUIDS. Did you know scorpion venom costs nearly $39 million dollars by the gallon. I didn't. I also don't know why this interests me.
notice a pattern... The horrendous result of stupidity.
Apparently, BMW drivers get the most sex. Whaddya know. Which leads me to a Curious George: Just what do all you monkeys drive?
Our Daily Bread
Bread is not just flour, yeast and water anymore. And those other ingredients are not on the label.
I only eat biological whole wheat bread, but according this Guardian article only 2% of the British eat bread that is NOT made in factories.
South Africa's crime-fighting Gorilla has passed on. Max the gorilla got shot by a bastard, but didn't lie down and die, he kicked the dude's ass. And bit the ass of one of the cops sent in afterward (he was pissed off and didn't see his badge, presumably). But now nature has done what two bullets could not do. A true monkey (well, Great Ape) hero. I mourn his passing. Ook ook.
Hey, hey... I laughed, I cried, I got out my lighter and my Spectrum. [more inside]
Curious George: Iliad So with the upcoming movie Troy, I thought I'd get hold of an ebook of Homer's Iliad. The available translations are by Andrew Lang, Samuel Butler, Pope and the Earl of Derby. Any particular recommendations?
Techlepathize! scary extropian agendas aside, is this the path forwards to the good teilhard's noosphere? this guy and this guy seem to think so, according to the end of this book. in any event, the clock is ticking...
Debunking the hype, or missing the point?
One woman has set out to debunk the Super Size Me myth - she lost 10 pounds eating nothing but McDonald's for 30 days. Is she the voice of sanity and personal responsibility or did the whole point just go right over her head? I'm not sure how to feel. Thoughts?
[via Gastroblog]
[more inside]
The Department Of Hair Plugs: Matthew McConaughey Needling The Pretty Since 1998!
Will R Kelly ask him to join in the next video shoot?
Curious George: Chicago Meetup? I'm going home in June to celebrate my best friend's commitment ceremony. I'm wondering how many MoFites are in and around the Chicago area and might be up for a mini-meetup? The only down side is that this would need to happen on June 20, which happens to be Father's Day. Any takers? [more inside]
May 05, 2004
Giant Squid, Tall Tales and Truth
"With a length up to 75 feet, the giant squid, Architeuthis, is the largest invertebrate on earth. But it is also the most elusive. It has never been seen alive in its natural habitat."
Can we start a blog called "Squidfilter"?
The Secret Childhood Tales of pete_best & pete_best2? They're two *click*, two *click*, two Petes in one. [more inside]
There's the Great Canadian mascot and the Great Canadian Canoe company but have you heard about the Great Canadian Death Race?
In male monkeys, too much soy has adverse effects. [Via FuturePundit.]
RNA Based Life Forms. Carl Zimmer's got an article up on creating RNA based life forms. Bizarro world is that much closer.
Curious George: *Tweeee!* Grandpa? Where do the double-posts go? Who's double-posted the most? Which double-post thread went on the longest? [more inside]
Speaking of holes: It's nearly summertime in the U.S.! Which means, swimming hole time! There are good ole swimming holes all over America, including in the East, in the Southwest, in California. Those pages give locator maps, directions, photos and descriptions such as: "Stony slides, A good dunk for the little dippers." Are swimming holes just American, or do our overseas monkeys also enjoy them?
HiMonkey! is celebrating Cinco De Mayo, and MeFi is there. (Who's the copyfilter now?)
Click through a tour of "quirky" Japan. Skip the "Quirky Japan Photos" for the great section on odd museums, from those celebrating parasites or laundry (complete with Masters paintings of laundry-related scenes). The vending machine photos also improved my mood. For the more serious reader, "Understanding Japanese Buddhist sculpture" at the bottom of the site.
Are you a neocon? You know the drill. [more inside]
Monkey meetup! Blue Ridge gathering, Sat. June 5th, in lovely Asheville, NC. The day kicks off with a kickball game between Team Metafilter and Team Monkeyfilter. Later we'll head to our Irish pub Jack-of-the-Wood, and maybe take in a drag show. Or whatever we feel like doing. Interested?
The Dead Flag Blues. An excellent Godspeed You Black Emperor fan site. The bootlegs are pretty excellent.
The Magic Kingdom of Oceania declares Michael Moore a 'nonperson' I really don't know what to think about this. What's next: when he gets another (foreign?) distributor, it gets rated X?
McMurder Worldwide.
Systematic Global Population Control. The real American Psycho.
via [linkfilter]
Oh shit. Monkey see, monkey doo doo.
Environmental Porn ...
... whhhaaattt??? the link is to a Register article which is SFW ... pretty much anything linked from the article is extremely NSFW ...
It's a Scandinavian Porn site dedicated to raising money for environmental causes ...
Bizarre!
Honey, remember that trip to Canada we were talking about? it might end up being a little longer than we planned.
Unleash The Power Of The Ukelele! Meet The Duke of Uke. He Will Rock You. [more inside]
May 04, 2004
Badger badger badger badger bananaphone! [Flash]
Pat is F-cking Dead Maybe all this hoopla over Pat Tillman is justified. Google News about Pat [Via Metafilter] [more inside]
Newton's Manuscripts Online. [more inside]
Another American downer cow. Last Tuesday, a Federal veterinarian reported a downer cow at Lone Star Beef in Texas, one of the nation's top 20 meat packers. Curiously, the plant owner did not destroy or hold the cow for testing, but sent it off to be rendered, conceivably in an attempt to bury a potential problem. Reuters reports that foreign beef importers are in an uproar. Neither Lone Star Beef nor the USDA are talking to reporters.
This "Dumb Blonde" was Pretty Sharp! Joyce Compton Was Always The Girl Next Door, But She Was So Much More.
CACI: An interesting piece on NPR yesterday about the outsourcing of intelligence work In Iraq to private contractors. You can get a job there if you want. I call Interrogator. [more inside]
Look at the evil arab, how evil he looks
STOP THE PRESSES! Story of the day:
A band of cross-dressers has been stealing cars from dealerships around Alabama to drive throughout the Southeast to competitions for men who parade on stage in women's clothing, police said.
(I would not, could not, make this up.)
Monkey On Your Back. From the UCR California Museum of Photography. "This exhibition is a survey of people relating to their primitive cousins through humorous, ironic relationships and poignant indignities."
Indians abused at US military camp in Iraq [more inside]
Wil Wheaton puts his money where his mouth is - offering $1000 to combat comment spam in an attempt to catch the sick b@$tards that flooded his site with kiddie porn links... on a post regarding how sick Wil's cat Felix is. [more inside]
Monkey mystery ... worrying news from Serbia about the disappearance of 600 monkeys ...
I wasn't doing so good, but now that I'm dead... He had me sold on just the commentary, but the music is great too. [via Styleboost]
A hole: A great place to escape, take naps, and shoot animals [more inside]
May 03, 2004
The Super Friends You can now watch the unintentionially hysterical Super Friends online. [more inside]
ACME is a worldwide leader of many manufactured goods. From its humble beginnings providing corks and flypaper to bug collectors ("Buddy's Bug Hunt/1935") to its heyday in the American Southwest supplying a certain coyote, from Ultimatum Dispatchers to Batman outfits, ACME has set the standard for excellence.
The Black Mages play Final Fantasy battle music arranged in rock style.
Wizmark is based on one unwritten rule: When using a urinal, never stare at the person next to you. Every male knows that when he is using a urinal, he can look any way he wants -- except left or right. Realizing this unwritten code, the appeal of the concept is that it assures your ad will effectively reach the elusive male audience. Wizmark is undoubtedly the perfect advertising medium for men of all ages.
Afraid your dork isn't getting enough exercise? If not, you might like to load him up with WiFi equipment and cellphones and send him running all over Manhattan in a real-life version of Pacman.
Dust devil tears through Japanese soccer match [video]. This incredible dust devil materialized Sunday a week ago at a boys soccer conference in Matsumoto, Japan. No injuries were reported.
The Flight Attendant Uniform Museum. Working It at 30,000 Feet.
Healthy Hearts 4 U! "Everybody likes cookies so we combined the Gospel message with a box of delicious cookies. Each cookie contains a special message of God's love."
OGQ! Oxford has imaged pages of The Gentleman's Magazine, volumes 1-20, 1731 through 1750. [more inside]
Classic Chinese Literature in Comic Strip Form. One of the most famous of all is the story of the Monkey King.
Curious George: Move to Canada over health care? We are so close to filling out the Form IM0008 for Canadian residency. I'm comfortably self-employed (35, have wife and 4-mo old son) and after a long search finally got a good policy under USAA. But the volatility of health insurance access is scaring the crap out of me. After the first big claim (which is inevitable) I fully expect termination or a rate hike we can't afford. Then what? As a new father this whole thing has become especially disturbing, and I think Canada may be in the cards for us this year. Is there some option I am not thinking of? Are any US states progressive on this issue?
Pandrogenize your Throbbing Gristle
May 02, 2004
Survival Research Laboratories.
Producing the most dangerous shows on Earth.
I recommend video from the Austin show, particularly the tesla coil and burning pig ball.
Curious George: Email lists My job isn't the most exciting in the world so I like to read cool stuff to pass the time. Unfortunately, people can see my screen and I feel inhibited in my web surfing. I've subscribed to a few email lists like The Guardian's football Fiver and Complexity Digest that I can read without it being immediately obvious that it's not work. Any monkeys know of any other good ones? I'm primarily looking for interesting/amusing content rather than news stories.
Voices From Spirit Magazine, the national outlit for true Spiritism, and, the Awakening. Spiritism is an ancient Faith which its practitioners believe originated on an ancient world called Hades, and was brought to Earth over 500,000 years ago by the Survivors of a tragic war, that established colonies here on Earth, and later were destroyed in one final holocaust, which has been passed down in human legends as The Great Flood, or, Rain Of Fire. [more inside]
Contemporary graphic design meets porn. Obviously NSFW. [more inside]
Washington's Area 51. Built at a cost of over $1 billion in the 1950s, Mount Weather in the Virginia mountains is where key members from all branches would take control during a civil emergency. It is rumored to contain some of the most extensive underground structures in existence. While FEMA is open about its part, some conspiracy theorists call Mount Weather the future capital of an unelected government. Interestingly the public road nearby is to be routed away from the facility to expand the entrance. Also see a gallery on its sister, Greenbrier, which is now decomissioned.
The Desperado is a monkey; Long live Johnny Cash. [Flash, via MeFi] [more inside]
Anatomy of an Exhibition: Art Nouveau 1890-1914. An exhibition about an exhibition.
How Grammatically Sound Are You?
Were You Paying Attention?
WERE YOU?
"My Mind is a Web Browser" Autism fascinates me. Why? Because it causes such an alien way of thinking, of ordering the mad existence we call life. The author of the essay linked, Temple Grandin, is as close to an expert on autism as you'll find since, after all, she is autistic. [more inside]
Old Prom Pictures Damn prom was so awesome via SharpeWorld
Atmospheric Optics Ever wonder why the sun can look flattened at sunset? Or what a nacreous cloud is? You've heard of rainbows, but what about fogbows? [more inside]
May 01, 2004
Magnificent Offering Now Keeps Everybody Young The chain goes on (a little longer)... [more inside] [more inside]
Breakup Babe She describes her blog as "[t]he self-pitying yet witty rantings of a broken-hearted, boy-crazy, 30-something writer girl on the move (and on the prowl)." The blog started here, after a tough breakup where she had to see the guy everyday at work: "So I saw Loser in the hallway today and it was awful. I think because he seemed happy. And not only did I have to see him, I had to hear him, and the sound of his voice was a sense memory that cut like a scalpel – deep, clean, and to the bone. I lost it for a full hour and a half, missing a meeting and destroying my makeup for the rest of the day." That was 2 years ago. [more inside]
Plastic surgeon arrested with stash of stolen mouths! Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci et al's classic, The Day Today, is released on dvd. Hurray! [more inside]
I'd like a stupid image to go with my motorcycle, please. Early 80s motorbike and biker related ads. Some are NSFW, all are truly cringeworthy. This is probably my favourite (and is SFW).
A Salzburg house with a design inspired by the VW Beetle. [more inside]
One man and his vasectomy Quite simply, a website tracking the progress of a man having a vasectomy operation. (Some images not safe for work) [more inside]
Opsound.
Opsound is a record label using an open source, copyleft model, an experiment in practical gift economics, a laboratory for new ways of releasing music.
Day of welcome for EU newcomers [more inside]
The gorgeous Garden State teaser trailer
Have fellow MoFites seen this yet? (Quicktime)
Zach Braff of Scrubs fame wrote, directed, and starred in this film, with Natalie Portman costarring and looking like she's trying to put that whole Star Wars mess behind her.
[more inside]
Sinclair Broadcasting Group censored a Nightline program Friday night, blocking eight major markets from receiving Ted Koppel's tribute to 721 American soldiers. This morning Sinclair's web site carried a heated statement against Nightline for presenting a "political agenda". But here's the kicker: four of Sinclair's top executives each have given the legal maximum of $2,000 to the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. Sinclair owns 62 TV stations, mostly in medium-sized markets.
Czech WW I military postcards.
As Wal-Mart rolls out the new RFID labels on their products, should we be concerned about how easy it is to track someone by the items they purchase? At the moment there is no guaranteed way to turn an RFID tag off after purchase (apart from 'sploding it), so consumers are carrying around a pretty decent (maybe) tracking device. Then again, maybe it's better to keep them...?
As fresh as "Swiss mountain air." [more inside]
Worlds largest undersea LAN
will lay 3000km of telecom cable off the coast of British Columbia & Washington. (I can't even figure how to route ethernet from my bedroom to the living room!) The international VENUS project will provide scientists with "plugs" on the sea floor to power their instruments & robots, and control them in real time.
Oh yeah, and all the data collected will be available FREELY AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET except when the navy imposes data blackouts for passing subs.
[more inside]
Ball of Paint. Make sure to check out the chuckleworthy trailer; it's almost like a Christopher Guest movie, but, apparently, nonfictional. And if you're bent on touring the nation's superlative sculptures, don't miss the World's Largest Penny, Kielbasa, Mosquito, or Gas Pump.
JesusChristActionFigure! With Walk-On-Water Action!
