The REAL Springfield. The Simpsons Movie needs a town to host the premiere, and what better town than Springfield? But WHICH ONE? (Flash) more inside

Strange Maps

Soprano Beverly Sills Passes Away at 78 American soprano Beverly Sills brought opera down to earth for Americans of the TV generation, worked for children's charities, and, a native New Yorker, directed the New York City opera and chaired the Metropolitan Opera and Linclon Center. She made her singing debut in a laundry soap commercial at the age of 8. She was the devoted mother of two disabled children and the spiritual mother of a whole generation of American singers. more inside

New Species of Electric Ray (fish) named after Vacuum Cleaner & other news of an electric kind concerning Robot Cops in extended. South African scientists have discovered a new genus and species of an attractively patterned electric ray and named it Electrolux. more inside

I built my first windmill when I was 15. stolen from letitrain right outta the Blue more inside

Twitter. Does anyone do this? Is this the most ridiculous social network ever? more inside

Surrealist, critic, bohemian bon viveur and jazzman George Melly is no more.

Daniel Greenberg taught a group of students of different ages six years' worth of arithmetic in 20 one-hour sessions. It's an example of the learning style at Sudbury Valley School, MA, and Mountain Laurel Sudbury School, CT. The schools are democratic: staff and students vote on everything from curriculum to clothing to hiring and firing. There are no exams and no grades.

Mr. Randolph's big break came after he sent a tape of "Yakety Sax" to Chet Atkins, then the head of RCA Records in Nashville. Atkins liked what he heard and hired Mr. Randolph to do session work for such artists as Perry Como and Homer & Jethro.

Top 10 Canadian political scandals. Searching for Charlie the Tuna to post in this thread reminded me of the 1985 Tunagate scandal, one of the reasons why I still won't eat Starkist tuna. It ranks as one of the top 10 Canadian political scandals on the CBC list above, but is also included on wikipedia's more complete list. The Munisinger Affair is one of the more fun ones. more inside

Hot Beeyotches on Canvas.

Mean Kid Will Ferrell's little daughter is mean. Mean, I tell you. (Embedded videos)

Suicide Food Is Not Funny. What is Suicide Food? Suicide Food is any depiction of animals that act as though they wish to be consumed. Suicide Food actively participates in or celebrates its own demise. Suicide Food identifies with the oppressor. Suicide Food is a bellwether of our decadent society. Suicide Food says, “Hey! Come on! Eating meat is without any ethical ramifications!" Suicide Food is not funny.

A Different Type of Periodical Table Just in time for the Fourth of July and summertime grilling--Table of Condiments That Periodically Go Bad! As a note, we did not write the above table. We stole it from some weird day planner we saw somewhere back in 1997. We're not trying to get credit that's not ours. It was more of a tribute. Really.

It appeared in a mock calendar diary for 1997 and was produced by Potlatch (the paper company) under the title "365 Ben Days." The concept and design was by Dana Arnett, Ken Fox, Fletcher Martin and John Naresky of VSA Partners, Chicago.

The BBC's Alan Johnston freed, after 16 weeks in captivity in Gaza.

Iglesia Maradoniana. Tired of Catholic Guilt? Finding the C of E old and busted? Judaism conflicting with your love of bacon? Then join the Church of Maradona -- hey, people have worshippped worse than the second-greatest player EVA (or third -- I'm perfectly willing to substitute Cruijff instead even if he did play for Ajax...).

Chim-chim reportedly bites somebody, catches a beating on set of Speed Racer. PETA on alert, Shaft called in to set things right.

.ʇdıɹɔsɐʌɐظ ǝ1dɯıs ǝɯos ɥʇıʍ ɹǝʌo ʇxǝʇ ɹnoʎ dı1ɟ [ɐıʌ] .sıɥʇ op uɐɔ noʎ ʇɐɥʇ 'uʍop-ǝpısdn sɹǝʇɔɐɹɐɥɔ ɹǝɥʇo ǝʞı1 ʞoo1 ʇɐɥʇ 8ɟʇn uı sɹǝʇɔɐɹɐɥɔ ɥbnouǝ ǝɹɐ ǝɹǝɥʇ 'ʎ1ʇuǝɹɐddɐ

ToM is Dead, Welcome to Ectomo.com.

What happened before the Big Bang?