Tom Waits Interview in the Observer "Waits talks like he sings, in a rasping drawl and with an old-timer's wealth of received wisdom. It's as if, in late middle-age, he has grown into the person he always wanted to be. His tales are often tall, and his metaphors and similes tend towards the surreal. 'Writing songs is like capturing birds without killing them,' he quips. 'Sometimes you end up with nothing but a mouthful of feathers.'" via linkfilter

Did you ever stumble into an online community that made you feel like you'd stepped through the looking glass? Warning: Lots of crappy, pop-up-laden webhosting. (Possibly NSFW, depending on how seriously you want to be taken by your co-workers in the future.) more inside

A transcript from Frontline on the De Beers diamond cartel. This aired over ten years ago, but it's still relevant, I think. I found it fascinating. I've read about the diamond cartel before, but this had more history and info than I'd seen before. (Warning: pretty long.) more inside

Curious George: 60s Fancy Dress Help me with some fancy dress ideas for a 60s themed party on Saturday. more inside

The Skool Rules Also nowen as Klassrooms & Matrons ... more inside

PASTE!!!!!

Fixavote.com Election Consultants "provides unparalleled results by focusing on the outcome rather than the process. Using state-of the-art technology, we overcome the challenges of competition and ensure election results for our clients." (To make it even more evil, it's Flash-based) more inside

Hot Rod Cartoon Mags - Hot hot rod action

Slow news-day filter This showed up as a headline on Yahoo! News. more inside

A friend of mine went to Chernobyl last week more inside

Trainwrecks. Many of us get a bit gleeful when we come across a truly priceless flame-out or pile-on *cough*Daisy May*cough* but they can be hard to find. If only there was some site that filters out all the boring, rational threads for us...

Stevie Wonder's live 1973 performance of "Superstition". Performed with members of his Wonderlove backing band on "Sesame Street", of all places.

The Highest Scrabble Scores Ever Doubters and haters say: good players wouldn't have given Michael Cresta the chance to make quixotry for 365 points, and good players wouldn't have shot the moon for it. Scrabble fans say 830 points by one player? Hot damn!

Yesterday: "Q Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives? THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's a no-brainer for me . . " Today: White House denies Cheney hailed 'water boarding' Tony Snow, White House Press Secretary: "You know as a matter of common sense that the vice president of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding. Never would, never does, never will," Snow said. "You think Dick Cheney's going to slip up on something like this? No, come on." (emphasis added) And now today's Pop Quiz: How Dumb Do They Think We Are? more inside

Rahner's Rotten Rentals [embedded Real video], Seattle Times critic Mark Rahner's Halloween movie roundup, pays tribute to the heroically shlocky TV horror hosts of the 60s and adds a grateful nod to the horror hosts of today.

Curious George wants to play house. Idly thinking about Jan Smithers yesterday, I got to wondering: who was your childhood / pre-adolescent celebrity crush? Who did you want to play house with? Play doctor with? Cuddle up with and have them all for your very own? more inside

Are you a girl? Is it Halloween? Now why don't you come down to Girls' Costume Warehouse? Ostensibly a commercial for a costume store that ran locally in New Joisey.. funny. *WARNING: NSFW requires FLASH contains SWEARY WOIDS* more inside

Got a sense for geography? Test your knowledge of world geography alone or against another online player. more inside

100 Million Year Old Bee Experts believe pollen-dependent bees arose from carnivorous wasp ancestors. With the arrival of pollinating bees, flowering plants blossomed on Earth. Prior to 100 million years ago, the plant world was dominated by conifers which spread their seeds on the wind. Do we have bees to thank for all the flowers in the world? Mayhap! more inside

World Press Freedom Index The association Reporters Without Borders just released its 2006 Worldwide Press Freedom Index. The UK is 27th and the US is 53rd. more inside