On August 7, 1974 a Frenchman named Philippe Petit walked a high wire [strung via fishing line and a bow & arrow!] between the two towers of the World Trade Center. He discusses his exploits here and here. Anyone, IMO, who is proud of being arrested more than 500 times around the world is worth a look! more inside

Fiat currency as folk art. I'm pretty sure this is a federal crime. more inside

Pay with $2 bills, get taken to jail. (site registration required) A guy tries to get a little revenge on a store by paying in all $2 bills. The store calls the cops and has him taken to jail. America: Conform or we'll call the cops.

Reach! (Quicktime) A musical lecture by Prangstgrüp. more inside

Family ties to the Royal Wedding calculated by the Family Forest, which tells us that, yes, Marilyn Monroe was indeed Prince Charles' half 14th cousin once removed, and the Wright Brothers were Camilla Parker Bowles' 15th cousins four times removed.

What the Dickens? Not to be confused with Dickensworld or Dickensworld. But it's an idea that's been around for a while, and has doubled in cost. more inside

Captain Cook's Endeavor Journal Online Digitised scans of 700 pages of the journal of the H.M.S. Endeavour, 1768-1771. Written by Captain James Cook. There's no transcript, so far as I can tell, and the thing is difficult to read in places, but, well, voom.

What with the Pope dead you might be cast adrift in a sea of Catholic angst. To whom do you pray about your syphilis? Luckily, there's patron saint for that (three,actually). more inside

Meet the Honey Badger. Also known as the ratel, this handsome beast is one tough mother. Besides digging into bee hives for their honey, they also fight leopards and eat scorpions. I love 'em.

Standard tap in phila This sunday at 5pm. Not to be missed!

Curious George: Theatrical Shorts I have been charged with the task of being a student director of a short play; the problem, well, I am at a loss as far as to which play. more inside

Curious, George: What do you wear to a rave? Especially, what should a 13 year old boy wear to a school sponsored (granted, super cool hippie school) all night dance party "rave"? more inside

Asheville NC Mofi Hodown Reminder! If you're in or near this audaciously beautiful spot on the map this Friday at 5ish, you ought to remember to swagger on over to the Flying Frog Cafe for real-time commenting and live chat with real humans. more inside

Curious George: Mac Help My Mac at work is running slow. If it were a PC, I'd defrag it. What maintainence (sp?) should I perform to keep my Dual 1 GHz PowerPC G4 running smoothly?