Cultural Mash-ups. . Reggae meet Japan [realaudio]. Calcutta meet Minnesota. I just love discovering over and over again that people all over the world are so fundamentally similar. Manifestations of the collective unconscious? Optimistically, perhaps.

Klueless If we monkeys hurry, we can figure this out before MeFi!!! more inside

Yes, we could have nice things. Not really Emily Post, just a string puppets advise on gentle living.

Disney Buys Pixar 7.4 billion USD isn't bad for a once-struggling CG company turned superstar animation powerhouse. Disneyfication and ensuing suckitude to begin in 3... 2...

Noam Chomsky As interviewed in The Irish Times. "States don’t seek security, they seek power. And the effort to extend power can increase insecurity." via linkfi

Curious George: Poe, Wilde, Fair Use A couple of questions for legal/publishing savvy/artistic monkeys: I want to use an image of a famous painting to go along with an article I wrote to be published in a print magazine with a small but respectable circulation. The painting is by Manet, "The Absinthe Drinker," and I'm wondering if I have to worry about copyright, fair use, and all that with such a classic well-known image. And, but, also, does anyone know where I can find a couple of high-res, fair-use images of portraits of Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allen Poe? For the same article. more inside

Curious Monkey Uncle George I got the news just recently: My younger sister is expecting a baby! Time to monkey-dance! It's her first child and I'd like to get her a book about babycare. You got any suggestions?

Big Bat Balls = Small Bat Brains

Life in the fast lane. Why fast? Mainly hiding in the rainbowy realm of Alternative Health, fasting is seen as a way to cure a plethora of ills, or just a means to better physical and mental health. Fasting features in several religions, and sometimes is done for whackier reasons. more inside

Bush And Bair At The Gay Bar. -- A satire set to the song "At The Gay Bar"-Electric Six. NSFW, Embedded Movie(Sound REQUIRED) Hilarious, and catchy. more inside

[W + (D-d)] x TQM x NA Today = saddest day, May 18 = best day for change, June 24 = happiest day. The dates above according to Cliff Arnall [warning: take painkiller before entering his website], who devised a formula to calculate these days.

Hand crafted doggy duds for the socially conscious canine Socially Conscious Companion (SOCOCO), has launched an array of handcrafted accessories for the pet who wants to help the world and look fabulous while doing it. The company has directly employed local artisans from Cape Town, South Africa, to create a line of hand-crafted made dog charms. Not only that, but SOCOCO donates 10% of the gross revenue from every charm sold to an AIDS orphanage in Cape Town. SOCOCO isn't just canine couture - it's canine couture for a cause.

Psst . . . Wanna See An Exploding UFO? Shhhhhhhhh!! . . . Riiiiight.

At the University of Florida, you must certify that you and your partner are "Doing It". Married people, on the other hand, do not have to certify that any sex actually takes place in order to get benefits.

"Whatever you do, don't mention the War." Dutch footie supporters are snapping up Nazi Helmets as a 'joke' for the World Cup, with fifteen thousand already sold. more inside

Underground History - disused stations on the London underground

Isaac Asimov's The Last Question.

This is by far my favorite story of all those I have written. After all, I undertook to tell several trillion years of human history in the space of a short story and I leave it to you as to how well I succeeded.

The 50 Most Loathsome People of 2005 Reading this list was very cathartic for me. I don't disagree with a single entry. Awesome.

Bizarre, Japanese comemrcial makes it to the internet. more inside

Ando Horoshige's Ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints. And a Monkey Reaching for the Moon. seen here.