Celestia is an OpenGL based 3D space simulation for Windows, Mac and UNIX. I just like it because it appeals to the nerdy astronomer in me. Free yourself from the earthly perspective! more inside

Italy convicts blogger for defamation Better watch what you say, Monkeys... "It looks like the blogger is being punished for his bad language and not because he posted false information, which is unacceptable," Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said in a statement Friday.

Oldest Known Living Animal Isn't: Harriet the Tortoise has died at age 175 (+/-). more inside

James K Polk - One Tough Mother!@#$%&! James K Polk did not mess around. If you live in the western US like me, you can thank your American-ness to James K Polk. He even inspired a song [YouTube] by They Might Be Giants, not to mention many quirky high school history projects. With Manifest Destiny and all that, this must have been a completely different sort of country. Seems a lot crazier than what we have going on now...

Physics Limericks Warning: perceived humour may be knowledge dependent. more inside

Roses and many pictures of Roses more inside

On's imaginative planet Miyazaki is one Japanese genius, On is another, working on a somewhat smaller scale than the former, writing small highly entertaining Flash games. Is it only me that sense a certain spiritual similarity between the art of On and Miyazaki?

Do Not Press

Miyazaki Vs. Miyazaki Studio Ghibli is well on its way to completing its latest film, Tales From Earthsea, based on the fantasy series by Ursula Le Guin. The trailer is up, and it looks beautiful, but the film is already generating controversy. more inside

July 1st Kickball Invitational. There's a International Kickball tourney going on in New York on Canada Day / Moving Day / next weekend. Seems they're still debating the rules. Man, I wish I lived in Brooklyn... more inside

DMC is the World DJ championship. Not like "DJs" or "DJs" but turntablists. Champions: 2004-2005, 2003, team champions 2003, 2002, team champions 2002, 2001, 1998-2000 . [warning: wikipedia and youtube] more inside

Walter Benjamin on drugs. "Hashish, Benjamin believed, gave its user...a sort of X-ray vision providing access to the inner workings of time and space, culture and history. In a 1933 entry, he writes, 'There is no more valid legitimation of crock'--Benjamin's code word for hashish--'than the consciousness of having suddenly penetrated, with its help, that most hidden, generally most inaccessible world of surfaces.'" Benjamin's On Hashish is online here. more inside

Artists interpreting preschoolers interpreting Disney Preschoolers from The Hollywood Schoolhouse were asked to draw their favourite scenes from the Winnie the Pooh storybook. These drawings were then handed off to some up-and-coming artists, who were asked to render the child's drawing in their own style and vision. The child's artwork will be sold alongside the artist's work. (Via Neil Gaiman's blog.)

What?? What???? I don't watch the Grammyses because they're incredibly stupid, but that may change seeing as I missed LINKIN' PARK, JAY-Z, and PAUL McCARTNEY SHARING THE STAGE SIMULTANEOUSLY. I had never seen this. WHAT IS GOING ON??

Don't you know you're gonna mock the monkey? Weird Al is a personal favorite of mine, and his version of "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt [W: auto-loading audio] was not approved for release by Blunt's label, so Al's letting you have it for free on his site [mp3]. This reminds me of when Coolio [W: auto-loading audio] got his panties in a wad over how Al treated his very profound "Gangsta's Paradise" with a parody of the Amish lifestyle (which is friggin' genius, if you ask me). more inside

Curious George - The Great Dictator? Pugnacious Pundit Bill O'Reilly would fix things in Iraq by reinstating acting like Saddam. Quote: "That's me. President O'Reilly, curfew in Ramadi, 7 o'clock at night. You're on the street, you're dead. I shoot you right between the eyes. OK? That's how I'd run that country -- just like Saddam ran it. Saddam didn't have explosions. He didn't have bombers, did he? Because if you got out of line, you're dead." What would you do if given free reign? (In Iraq or Monkistan?)

Daniel McGowan is one of 14 people apprehended between December and March 2006 as part of Operation Backfire. more inside

Hockey is the greatest sport of all, according to Canada's National Post columnist Andrew Coyne. Better than the top quality football/soccer? Rugby? Aussie Rules? In an era when Celebrity Poker occupies a prime spot on weekend TV programming, and even RPS getting better exposure in the US, is this belief true, misguided, or just wrong? (warnings - it is a National Post article / lots of flash / slow loading / poor layout)

Sums Solve Space-Station Scrape more inside

The Fate of Greenland's Vikings Archaeological excavations of the settlement founded by Erik the Red in the 14th century. Not a happy ending. (Via anastasiav.) more inside