Whatever Dude... From 2001 to 2003, the internets' early Cenozoic, there was a fantastic time vacuum called 'Whatever-Dude'... more inside

Nauru is a tiny island nation (the smallest republic in the world, even) in the South Pacific that is about to collapse. The island has been purged of its one asset -- phosphate deposits from bird guano -- and after a century and a half of mismanagement the deposits are about to dry up. Meanwhile the country can barely afford to provide fresh water and electricity to the citizens and the vegetation has been stripped back to bare coral. Parts of it are still beautiful, and apparently tourist-worthy. more inside

Greg Dulli Radio Interview The interview is from 1994. It's hysterical. Dulli is in total shock having his own lyrics read back to him. MP3 file on the page linked.

Ladies' Night or Set-up? A bar in Maryland decided to open its doors only to women between 9-11PM this past Saturday night, while offering 1¢ beers, funnels and other cheap drunkenness-enablers. Then at 11, the men were let in. Was it a chance for women to bond, man-free? Or was it throwing chum to the sharks?

Retro viral? Research leaves one mired in information, much of it speculative. Could this be an illness related to modern high density populations or has it been with us throughout history? "Researchers have long suspected and searched for a virus as the cause. It is now suspected that chronic fatigue syndrome, like cancer, represents a cluster of clinically distinct diseases whose origins may lie in a combination of factors: one or more viruses, environmental toxins, stress and genetic predisposition."

Pimpfants. This is a joke, right? Right? more inside

Don't trash the 'stache? There was a lot of talk about NDP Leader Jack Layton's moustache in the last Canadian election and the one before, about facial hair in politics as it relates to perceptions of trustworthiness and authenticity, blah blah blah. But what about facial hair as it relates to a woman? more inside

Could this be the WORST music video EVAR? (Google video). It is quite likely this 80's Finnish pop vid called "I Wanna Love You Tender" by Armi and Danny is the worst music video ever made. If it isn't, it's in the top 5. What puts it over the top? The superb dance group, their costumes & choreography. The set appears to be from Starcrash. Komea!

DarwinFilter When you lock yourself out of the house and rappel nude down the inside of the chimney with the cable TV line, as they say, hilarity ensues. Yes, drugs were involved.

Favorville Is it the next Craig's List (except nicer)? more inside

Code Monkey A song by Jonathan Coulton. (Code Monkey likes Fritos)

A short film strip that sort of explains who the monkeys are, what the monkeys are, and why we're monkeys. Via MeFi (I can't believe they posted it first, what were you people doing all night anyway!).

New York Times Magazine Syndicates Jaime Hernandez login: spambobby password: password In case you don't know, Jaime is one of Los Bros Hernadez, authors of Love & Rockets. more inside

Shot For Having PTSD PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) was recognized even by the Greeks, who called it "war exhaustion". Yet hundreds of British and Commonwealth soldiers serving under British command were shot for 'cowardice' in WWI, even though those ordering men - often only teenagers - before the firing squads knew about what was then called 'shell-shock'. They shot them anyway. more inside

Free Starbucks Coffee for Canadians today. Bring yer own mug for teh free coffee. Canadians only. Saturday 22nd. Ta celebrate yer Earth day.

Spineless book Including 2002: a Palindrome Story. more inside

Gunshot suicide in a police interrogation room - surprisingly, this is not from rotten.com or ogrish.com but instead snopes.com. [WARNING: disturbing streaming .wmv] I'm even more surprised that the Mikkelsons didn't put a warning on the page as per their usual protocol, considering this is probably the most disturbing thing I've seen on that site by far. Albeit the title of the link should have given me paws. more inside

Water Bottle Jet Pack [Google Video]

Friday Flash: Orangutwang Swing from tree to tree, eat bananas, avoid spiders...the usual stuff.

Humans Are Cat Food? "The theory of Man the Hunter as our archetypal ancestor isn't supported by archaeological evidence. . . Is Man the Hunter a cultural construction of the West? . . . Our species began as just one of many that had to be careful, to depend on other group members, and to communicate danger. We were quite simply small beasts within a large and complex ecosystem." via Arts & Letters Daily