The Pending Banana Apocalypse. Frankenfruit battles The Fungus as traditional banana scientists look on helplessly. Action-packed collectors' first issue!

Home/Life was a project that culminated in a website, book and an exhibition. 121 children (most of them homeless) in eleven cities around the world were given cameras to document the environment in which they live. more inside

Worde Up. Trying to make the Canterbury Tales more accesible to schoolchildren, Baba Brinkman has translated them into Hip-Hop. I'm reminded of the South Park episode with the inspirational group "Butt Out." I'd love the see the kid's reactions.

Zombie 4 It's a infection sim/shooter.

Live Journal: The Latest 50 images uploaded & refreshed every minute. Somehow hypnotic, voyeuristic, addictive. Let's just assume that some/all/occasionally these images will be NSFW. Is 1 minute enough?

Speculation is rife that the IRA are due to make a statement winding up their existence as an armed force. The release of Seán Kelly seems to point to an announcement tomorrow. This momentous news may also serve to intoroduce the excellent Slugger O'Toole, a blog on Northern Ireland's politics and culture.

The Massacre of the Cathars at Montsegur. In 1244 a few hundred Cathars held out for 10 months in their mountain fortress against 10,000 soldiers. It was a pretty interesting period in church history. Rome started the Medieval Inquisition in response to the Cathars. And the direct cause of the massacre at Montsegur was the assassination of some Inquisitors at Avignonet by Pierre-Roger de Mirepoix, a dispossessed lord and Cathar who was sort of the main military guy at Montsegur. Although the current ruins on top of Montsegur are from a later period, they are still a striking sight on the granite pog on which they stand. Lots more info about the Cathars here. more inside

The most passionate dance! Of all the ballroom dances, Argentine Tango may be the most passionate and elegant. (The possible exception being the waltz) Learn a few steps from the rich vocabulary of movement in Tango, and you may never turn back. more inside

Maakies, by Tony Millionaire (comic strips)

Limerick Contest! Fed up with the stories of equine shenaningans? Feast on the delight of bawdy rhyme. a.k.a. "Hey everybody! Let's put on a show!" more inside

An Unusual Japanese Monastery "The Jingu is rebuilt every 20 years. This ceremony is called the Shikinensenngu. All the shrines in the Jingu, including the Goshoden, are rebuilt. In other words, the gods can live comfortably in newly built shrines (animation) at a cycle of 20 years." Sounds ordinary until you find out they've been doing this for 2000 years. And that up to 173,000 people participate. more inside

Cumming: The Fragrance

Robotic hand made from a bit of PVC pipe The owner/creator is a friend of mine and has asked for advice on his new product. I figured my monkey army could help out. Throw some advice this way.

Ogias and the Dragon he Slew - From the Manichean version of the Book of the Giants, a largely fragmentary book that has been omitted from all editions of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Via Dr Cathey's Blog more inside

Blame Canada!!! Tired of being called "polite" and "boring," Canada starts international incident with Denmark...

Grow RPG. Another cute little game from the people that did Grow. (via dalryaug)

Dark Alliance The late Gary Webb's classic series of articles written in the mid-90s for the San Jose Mercury News, detailing the links between the CIA, crack cocaine and the 'contra' campaign against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, are now available in full on line again, with added background and documentation.

Tea Culture Lately I've been spending a lot of time buying and drinking tea. I like both Chinese and Japanese varieties. Here is a pictorial archive of 19th Century Chinese tea production. Japanese tea ceremony instructions and information. more inside

GSAVE! God save us all.

"True story about my bitch wife" ("Jitsuroku Oni-yome Nikki") is one of the most popular blogs in Japan. It is written by a 30-something salaryman under the pseudonym "Kazuma" who documents the minutiae of his hen-pecked life. "His blog is a haven for thousands of male readers who write in to say their lives are just like his. More incredibly, he has many female fans who aspire to be just like his wife." Life may sound tough for this poor fellow, but he's making some serious yen off his blog ... and now book. Another Japanese blogger, who blogs in English, has written a little more about poor Kazuma in an entry here.