Melvin Vaniman (1866-1912) was an American mechanic, dirigible and plane designer, opera singer and near polar explorer but most famously he pioneered the art of panoramic photography. His fame was established for the most part during his sojourns in Australia and New Zealand. [Some Hawaiian panoramics at Library of Congress (search on Vaniman)]

Walken in 2008.

We Jam Econo. The Minutemen were a punk band out of San Pedro, California in the early 1980s... but that's not the half of it. Think punk is about safety pins and dyed hair? These guys will show you differently. Here's the trailer. Or listen to stuff here. more inside

Is it Gutenberg 3 already? Summer's almost over... The 13 month calendar, devised by good ol' Auguste Comte in 1849, didn't go anywhere, despite its conversion fun,. Enter George Eastman and a few other industrialists and their accountants, and the idea was reborn in a simpler way. Regular months and weeks, predictable holidays, extra month's rent, that sort of thing. Obviously, it didn't catch on except in the offices of Kodak itself -- the one place where Eastman could control time -- where the calendar was used until 1989 (presumably, to co-ordinate the dates on all those layoff notices with the pogey office). more inside

I ♥ Daniel Clowes (some images NSFW) Sure, many of you already know and love Daniel Clowes, one of the best underground comics artists ever. But have you bothered to visit these websites, or read these articles and interviews? more inside

Happy Melon Day, Love Turkmenbashi "Let the life of every Turkmen be as beautiful as our melons," President Niyazov said in a statement.

A history of Pi, and a trivia quiz. more inside

Idiot America: Not Just a Song -- It's the Law The U.S. Federal Government's cap on the number of highly skilled workers allowed into the US has already been reached for the year. That means they'll be turning away geniuses, scientists, engineers and others who are the best in their fields. At the same time the tide of unskilled illegal immigrants will continue. The rationale for this policy is that the cap protects homegrown "highly skilled" workers - as if skilled labor isn't outsourced to wherever the best workers are, anyway.

How to Reinstall Windows Without Losing Your Data and How to Reinstall Windows XP Without Having to Reactivate With Microsoft.

We'll all live online - Or at least, that's what this guy is saying...Very interesting, because I agree with him on most of the points.

Historical Fencing Manuals more inside

What is happiness? Research shows that happy people are healthier and live longer. But what makes for happiness? It isn't intelligence. Nor is it good health. Having money doesn't make one happy. It may be that by our nature we are better designed for the pursuit of happiness than for the attainment of it. more inside

Saturday mornings at my house and your house, and your house, and your house. . . American kids TV listings for the 60s, 70s & 80s. Through this, I found ARK II, my most favorite TV show EVAR and that led me here, which is the source for all the theme songs you might ever want or need, including the truly wonderful theme song to my second favorite Saturday morning cartoon. more inside

Pot before beer or beer before pot? Why not take the middle, path?

Monkeys for Helping For many things Monkey (and many things not) wander over to see this blog-oddity. If it tickles your monkeybone (sorry), be sure to peruse the archives. more inside

Here we go Again (Newsfilter)

Daredevils of Niagara Falls
A chronology of supreme human achievement stupidity. Kayaks, tightrope walking, washing machines, barrels and anvils. The mind boggles. Some disorientating photos.

Free Vista Icons - download the icon sets from Microsoft Windows Vista (previously Longhorn), if you're like me and like to play with icons & microangelo etc. Seen at the days start here

Tapes (tapes)

This is just a little amusing tidbit of randomness in the world.