Schizoaffective disorder sufferer speaks. “You’re such a fool, a loser, idiot! They know your every move.” The voices I hear are abusive and critical. They can also be bizarre: “We are stoplights”, “You’re just cheap chocolate”, “Crazy lazy point-blank bicycle”... I once sewed nine buttons on to my sleeve because someone said “nine or so” in conversation. It seemed terribly important to do so. It is not uncommon for people with schizophrenia like me to make up new words. More about the diagnosis. [Via]

Curious George the Nostalgic Audiophile. A simple, yet not-so-simple question: What three albums changed your life? more inside

Is Netiquette going down the tubes? Lifehacker's guide to posting on weblogs. With comments! Apt? more inside

Weddings - Japanese style So many choices - Western (no not cowboy outfits) or traditional style? more inside

Scottish soldiers forced to share kilts due to shortage. No word on sporran supplies. In related kilt news, the EU has decided not to classify kilts as women's clothing after all.

No power after massive storm in Seattle Photos 12/14, Photos 12/15, Photos 12/16, Photos 12/17 more inside

Curious, George: Baby, It's Hot Outside So it's unseasonably balmy where I live right now (Southern U.S.), which is just fine with me but has other folks complaining that it's just not Christmas unless it's cold enough to kill you if you get lost in the woods overnight. Which got me wondering: Are there Southern Hemisphere Christmas songs about the weather? Dashing through the sand in a one-horse open ... dune buggy, maybe? Chestnuts roasting on an open barbecue? In the Bleak Midsummer?

The Clapper improved? That's impossible! The Clapper has now joined the 21st century with the all new Clapper Plus -- a remote controlled Clapper system that makes using and turning off your appliances even easier than clapping your hands! more inside

What does a food stylist do? What are the career prospects? How hard is it to replicate what they do at home? more inside

BBC's 'The Sky at Night' is 50. The longest-running show on the beeb, presented by the fantastic Patrick Moore reaches its 650th show. more inside

The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame

Happy Beethoven's Birthday! more inside

Jonathan Glazer's Motorola Red ad faces chop. Jonathan Glazer, famous for creating conceptually and visually [YouTube links] stunning music videos for Radiohead and engendering controversy with his film Birth, has created a hauntingly beautiful TV spot [YouTube] for Motorola Red [embedded wmv] as part a global corporate campaign against AIDS. The response from Motorola? "[It will] never see the light of day." more inside

Gentlemen: Soy beans are making you gay and shrinking your penis. This public service message brought to you by Jim Rutz, nutritionist, chronicler of the miraculous, and former Amway distributor.

Elephant Serial Killer, nicknamed Osama bin Laden, shot in India. There is, however, a suspicion of mistaken identity. Pictures of the late pachyderm. more inside

Nope, that's not a typo. From the Elder Days through assorted other ages Tolkien's work, brought to life (or undeath, not trying to be vitalist) as Sims.

Salgado in Sudan [Flash required]: photographs of the Dinka tribal group of southern Sudan. Here is a site with more pictures (sadly not Salgado) of Dinka life. more inside

An amazing first: the Giant Moray eel & the Roving Coral Grouper collaborate to hunt, the first example of coordinated hunting seen in fish, and apparently the first known instance of cooperative hunting between species seen outside humans.

Police arrest a 5 year old girl The fraternal order of police finally does the job we all want them to do. Now you can do your part. more inside

Ben's, 1908 - 2006. Ben's Deli in Montreal is no more. One of the giants for smoked meat sandwiches along with (the better) Schwartz's and The Main, Ben's fell victim to the first strike in its history, where workers of 20, 30 and one of even 52 years' service were trying to get a forty-cent raise over just above Minimum. more inside