JRR Tolkien reads and sings The Lord of the Rings

Fags cause AIDS It's official.

Don Walser, RIP. If you've never heard Mr. Walser, you can find clips of the Austin country and western singer/yodeller (who frequently opened Butthole Surfers shows) here. Enjoy the great open range in the sky, Don.

Booze hound? Yer woofin' me Kitties go to the library, Can't doggies go somewhere? Wine not!

Ticke-Me Elmo X Vibrating action is so passe. The new Tickle-Me Elmo (youtube) falls on his ass, has a seizure, and then stands himself back up while making horrible grinding noises that will haunt my dreams. more inside

God is Imaginary.

Star Diary via plep more inside

Smile (A Dental Drama) is as great as any comic about orthodontics can be. more inside

The Original Star Trek, Remastered for HDTV. It's! Fantastic and yet. Comforting! Familiar. via Retro Thing

British TV Adaptations. A little quiz about which/how British TV shows have been dumbed down adapted for a North American audience. Which shows should be adapted? Which ones should be banished forever from PBS Britcom nights? Which ones would be unadaptable? And which ones, if adapted, would be be simply fascinating, in a perverse post-9/11 sort of way?

The Little Girl Giant [youtube] On the morning of Sunday 7th May the little girl giant woke up at Horseguards Parade in London, took a shower from the time-traveling elephant and wandered off to play in the park...

You drilled into WHAT? Lake Peigneur, Louisianna, 1980: A drilling rig in the middle of a lake drills a hole 1500 feet down into a salt mine. "Hilarity" ensues. (youtube)

When the cat is away, the mice will play.... From the BBC site: Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has declared a state of emergency in Bangkok amid reports of a coup attempt.

Drop yer salmagundi ye hearties Tis talk like a pirate day, scallywags! No, not THOSE Pirates, THESE be the scurvy bilge rats we be speakin' of here.

The book of frogs and mice

Two siblings separated by the holocaust are reunited after 65 years. more inside

The Polaris Music Prize has been announced and the Canadian music journalists' top honour for this year goes to Owen Pallet's ambitious solo violin-rich post-classical pop project Final Fantasy for the album He Poos Clouds. more inside

Vintage drugs adverts

The gay menace Greensboro, NC, 1957: Based on a police informant, 32 men were arrested and tried for "unnatural relationships". The investigation really took off until prominent men in the community started appearing on the list, then suddenly there was less interest in pursuing it. A brief, but interesting, article about this fun episode in history, found at Pandagon. more inside

R.E.M. reunites for their induction into Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and to push "I Feel Fine", the best of the I.R.S. years. It may be time to replace some vinyl... more inside