Eat my dust Lance and Floyd On April 22, 1884, Thomas Stevens set out from San Francisco on a penny farthing. Arriving in Boston on August 4, 1884, he was off again the following April en route through Europe, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and China. He returned to San Francisco in December 1886. With minimal supplies, no support team, few roads, and despite hostile natives, he managed to travel around the world. more inside

Shift. Some Friday Flash Fun for you all. If you enjoyed Samarost and its sequel (mentioned here before) you might get lost in this game. Enjoy! more inside

Taking your service monkey to the airport. The TSA screeners are trained professionals. They know how to handle your monkey. Stand by for the diaper inspection.

Bulldogs: brutal, loyal, or lovers of funny mischiefs and dressing up? more inside

Sarcasm Defined Ryan Air is just a little perturbed about the new screening features.

The Tesla Engine Builders Association "was formed in April of 1993 to provide accurate information and assistance to those interested in building reproductions of Tesla’s engine that would perform properly." more inside

The True Christian Church of Christ, like other Xian domatists, takes care in quoting the scripture . Less than serious is the treatment. Is this site an attempt at humor against the hatred of fundamentalism only or does it seem to implicate all Xians? References to Reginald Finley and Matthew Shepard (don't forget the shadow of Fred Phelps). Of course, Creationism gets a treatment. more inside

Who's whose in the DC universe? more inside

Sept. Toronto Meetup? Any interest in a Toronto meetup Sept 8 or 9 (Fri or Sat)?

Curious George: Is Mark Lanegan A Horrible Performer Live I say yes. He has been singing with the Twilight Singers. TS is playing E Street band tight. Lanegan mumbles and doesn't move through Live With Me, Where Did You Sleep Last Night, and (his own song) Sideways In Reverse. more inside

Read faces, spot the terrist. According to this article, Airport Security in the U.S. searches people's facial expressions. Profiling by different means. [NYT, reg. req'd.] more inside

Curious George. I need a website(s) that lists jobs in Germany for English speakers. more inside

The Forger Who Fooled the World During the exhibition, van Meegeren would loudly proclaim the painting a forgery, a crude pastiche, and listen as the finest minds of his generation persuaded him that his painting was a genuine Vermeer. His triumph was now complete. He had only to do what he had promised himself: to stand up and claim the work for himself, thereby making fools of his critics. Instead, within a month, he was working on a new forgery. Greed, sex, money, art, - the story that has it all. A great tale of what happens when talents are used for good, then evil, then . . well, that's about it really. via Arts and Letters Daily

Mental Floss Magazine's Top 25 Questions. A fun little fluff piece about those little things we just sat around and wondered about in the days before the Internets. Kind of an electronic Cliff Clavin. There's a link inside to the AOL "You've Got Mail" voiceover guy's website, where you can order custom messages.

Mythical Creatures. more inside

Scientific method for 5th graders Is microwaved water bad for plants ? Compare and contrast: . here: 2 plants (1 experiment, 1 control) . here: 48 plants (24 experiments, 24 controls) and double-blind. more inside

The BBC pronunciation blog. Via The Hat.

Penis Plants to problems solved by Macgyver, Lists of unusual deaths and films including a gory death scene, as well as strange units of measure and sexually active popes, it seems Wikipedia has an article for just about everything. And not to be outdone, a list of unusual Wikipedia articles.

The Origin of the Ridiculous Whales are ridiculous thanks to their history.They evolved from mammals on land. Their swimming, reproduction, breathing, and other adaptations to life in water are all the result of tinkering with a terrestrial animal's body. Fossil discoveries have documented how coyote-like mammals moved into the water about 45 million years ago and became more and more adapted to the marine life. Coyote howl = Whale song, anyone? more inside

Corn, Jim, but not as we know it. A corn maze near York, England pays tribute to Star Trek's 40th anniversary. If you've ever wanted to get lost inside Spock's head and go "Jim!! His brain's gone" you can now. Some other striking corn mazes. If you want to grow a maze of your own, contact these folks. more inside