Reminder: Ottawa Meetup Ottawa Meetup: the date is upon us. We meet tomorrow at Pub Italia at 7pm. Hope some of you Ottawans can make it! And bring implements for shoutouts. Possibly also a banana, so we'll recognize each other. ;)

Built on a Haunted Naive American Burial Ground Ah, noble savage, the Naive American. The term 'Naive American' is widely recognized as meaning a person who is of a tribe or people indigenous to the United States. When Naive American men got together to make peace or conduct their business, they often shared a long-stemmed pipe of tobacco called the calumet, which they believed induced "good thoughts." more inside

MoFi has had a tough past few days, even losing several beloved monkeys along the way (we miss you Christophine, Path, Beeswacky, *sigh*). It's time for something fun... something perky, something to improve our lives... it's time for THE CUP-A-CAKE! "This unique container will hold a frosted cupcake in place with protrusions positioned in such a way that the cupcake will not move within the container if bounced, jiggled, or turned upside down."

The guillotine. Not, in fact, invented by Dr Guillotin: last used in France in the 1970s. And, er, nothing to do with the previous post. No, indeed.

Princess Michael of Kent Britains most famous Nazi puts her foot in it again. She really should have married Prince Philip. It is time the Commonwealth was disbanded, and its members made republics.

Where do you steal your music? I assuage my guilt by using a credit card and buying music from allofmp3.com which, BTW is a great fucking website if you are comfortable with the Russian Republic's royalty rates. It's still a rip-off if you think the "old laws" apply. I am an anomoly, though: I don't buy new music at all, ever. It will take me another 10 years to "re-buy" all the music I used to have, and I am happy to have the opportunity. Jesus, I just watched the "Live Aid" DVD last night and saw massive gaps in my jukebox. But tell us where you get your tunes and don't worry about it. There is no harm in opening the door, right?

It Could Be Worse Banana Snarfers; Our Pagan Rituals Could Suck... more inside

Fuck dem' bitches! This is my first post ever and I am looking cute and feeling cute.

You've never heard of Tchoukball? Wll, neither had I until I visited this site. As a rather active monkey interested in the philosophy and ethics of sport, Tchoukball provides an interesting example of how different starting points can influence the direction of a sport's rules and culture.

Korfball, the world's most popular Dutch-made sport. Probably closest in description to netball or handball, korfball was created so boys and girls could play together "on equal terms". It's catching on around the world (need more words!) and has been a demonstration sport at the Olympics (Okay, in the 1920s, but still). And if you don't want to join a club right now, you can "bet" on tournament winners! more inside

How YOU doin'? Missouri #1 State For Getting It On! I, of course, was totally clued in from the get-go. more inside

Canterbury's final voyage. The HMNZS Canterbury was built in the Clyde shipyards and launched in 1971. It seems likely to end up as a dive spot, but it's most famous moment was when the Labour Government of 1973 sent it to escort a flotilla of private vessels protesting French nuclear testing in the Pacific, an action which lead to the ending of open-air tests. more inside

What have I become? my dearest friend..... I gave up on baseball when those overpayed, primma-donna bench jockeys went on strike years ago, and I think I'll do the same for hockey.

Communication, George Without realizing I was being offensive, I accidentally insulted an on-line buddy of mine (who is gay) by calling a member of the opposing team a "fag" for hoarding weapons and hiding. During our subsequent discussion, I noted that he had used the term "raped" (as in: "We sure raped those jerks") to describe a particularly spectacular victory over another team. On-line communication is informal, but are we going too far in speaking without thinking? Or is the non-PC, speak first, think later formula fine for most. more inside

Blue America: The land of the easily offended Dennis Prager argues that blue people (i.e., liberal Democrats) are more easily offended than red people (i.e., conservative Republicans), and more readily take umbrage at any comment about women, African Americans, Jews, American Indians, gays, etc. than others. more inside

Kodomo no kuni Children's books in 1920's Japan. A gallery of illustrations and songs. more inside

Guardian article on Christian Marclay, avant-garde turntablist, in advance of his upcoming Barbican retrospective. "You could say that Marclay is obsessed with records.... But it would be more accurate to say he is obsessed with examining the way mass-produced objects act as filters, intercepting the signal as it travels from a source to the organs of sense. 'For me the record is this strange object that has completely transformed the way we think about sound. First of all it turned sound into something material that you can hold in your hand, and it turned it into a commodity you can make money with, which pretty much changes everything.'"

The Craig's List Experiment I guess this is the risk you run when answering anonymous ads. Pretty harsh, though.

In what year was your first name most popular? What percentage of people had it? I just killed an hour playing with this thing.

Godzilla thinks of the children. Photos from a stone-cutting shop in Japan. A bit of fun for a bleak day [via boingboing]. more inside