TINSEL AND IMAGES .. Merry (insert festival name here)..

Balloon Hat

O Rly? "Curiously enough, the owl's feathers smelled very, very potently like marijuana," said Jeff Dering, of the sanctuary. "They examined the owl, looked at its eyes, ... and the owl was, in the vernacular, stoned." With picture. more inside

The Silent Night re-write that wasn't. Bill O'Reilly accused a Dodgeville, WI elementary school of re-writing Silent Night, to "secularize" christmas. But... he got it a little wrong. more inside

What to do when you encounter a Lone Magpie

Perform a long and disgusting virtual knee replacement operation with Virtual Knee Surgery! Slice through skin! Chisel bone! Thrill as you pound things into your poor, unsuspecting virtual patient, all while a guy drones instructions at you. more inside

Curious George: Amazon wish lists. I filled parts of someone's Amazon's wish list someplace else. There appears to be no way to mark the item as purchased. Is that correct? Or am I missing an option on Amazon's cluttered pages?

Whales Have Manners "It felt to me like it was thanking us, knowing that it was free and that we had helped it." Who knew?

Curious George: Image Slideshow effect? Webmasters: I need to display a series of images one after another in a loop. Just a simple effect right? I've had lots of trouble finding out how to do it . . . more inside

Curious George: Favourite Christmas Memories It's been a long while since I've had singularly memorable Christmas memories. Thinking back, though, I do have some good ones. What are yours?

Russian Climbing

Intel Motherboard George: GO! I need to buy 10, count them 10, new Intel "Cherry Creek" Motherboards (Part Number: D915PCY or D915PCYL) and I need them, like, yesterday. I have been calling Computer Parts Distributors ALL DAY. I wish to harness the Google Fu of many a monkey! I will send a 6 Pack of gorgeous Beamish stout made here in Cork, Ireland to the lucky monkey who finds me an online eTailer who has them in stock. THANKS!

Campaign 2006: Beer? Or Kids? In this, the dullest Canadian Election yet (a title which is ironically a more interesting contest than this snoozefest), there's only been one bit of excitement -- an offhand quote about kiddie-care allowances being used to buy 'beer and popcorn'. Well, the inevitable e-petitions have arrived: those in favour of kids, and those in favour of beer. more inside

Curious George Recently my mac has been reporting a lot of CPU useage (40%+ as reported by SysStat widget) by a process called "Isof". Spotlight can't find anything related to it, and I don't remember seeing it before this week (I've had the computer since the summer). Any ideas what's going on? more inside

The Wittenham Hill Cider Page Andrew Lea really knows a lot about fermenting apples. If you're at all interested in makin' cider, give this page a look. more inside

Bush in the Bubble Newsweek article on the insularity of the Bush White House, comparisons to good other Presidents' styles and a smattering of current scuttlebutt. Bush may be the most isolated president in modern history, at least since the late-stage Richard Nixon. It's not that he is a socially awkward loner or a paranoid. He can charm and joke like the frat president he was. Still, beneath a hail-fellow manner, Bush has a defensive edge, a don't-tread-on-me prickliness. more inside

Punk photos. A Flickr photoset by Andy Rosen, featuring some classic punk, new wave and New Romantic stars. more inside

Curbside at the WTO "a unique frontline perspective on the WTO meetings being held in Hong Kong" (Last link is to webcasts of the public sessions). Third World Network offers three briefings (in not so handy .doc format, links top of page) critical of the talks' agenda.

South Park Generator ...Really hope this is not a double...I totally searched, I swears.

Chimps are smarter than preschoolers. When given unessesary steps to a puzzle, chimps figure out to do away with them. Children to not.