Me and My Avatar A cool series of photos pairings of people with their avatars from online gaming worlds in the NY Times. I'm fascinated to see how people see themselves. via.

Jet Power Do you remember the Sinclair C5? You know, the C5 -- that sedate, low-slung vehicle that travels at the speed of sound and blasts the driver's ears out.

GOTHS! The undead sub-culture.

We just need new dishes on the menu.... Current Plagues: Jellyfish (Japan/Pacific Ocean), locusts (Kansai) & hares (Milan).

Green dye, er, die in Dundee. New meaning to the words "tree huggers!"

The Victorian Surrealism of Jeffrey Michael Harp. [Via.]

The Star Spangled Banner. The song, as performed by the U.S. Marine Band (mp3), the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (mp3), Jose Feliciano (YouTube), Jimi Hendrix (YouTube), Marvin Gaye (YouTube), Carl Lewis (mp3), a nervous French-Canadian girl (YouTube)... more inside

"Committed To Parkview," was written for Porter Wagoner 25 years ago by Johnny Cash for Porter upon his learning that he and Wagoner had both spent time in the Nashville sanatorium. more inside

The world of Genji more inside

McDonald's UK is answering EVERY question posted to them. Stolen from the blue, but I honestly laughed until I cried

Stunning monkeys! At peacay's gorgeous site. The one on the right is Kitworthy, no?

I think of Dean Moriarty. It's the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of On the Road. The work itself is much older, and is still spawning controversy and lame rip-offs. Go back and reread the original, 'cuz Jack's America is long gone.

Another 5 ways to hustle free drinks Try these bets and you'll never have to pay for another drink again! This is a follow up to the Top 5 ways to hustle free drinks blog post that circulated around the internet a month ago.

LMNOPUZ is a collaborative, online crossword puzzle. I think it's gonna take them awhile to work out the bugs (it times out a lot and has occasional glitches), but what a killer app!

How to fly hassle-free with sex toys. If you're one of the 500,000 (half a million!) people traveling to San Francisco for this year's Pride Parade, before you pack your one suitcase of sweaters and hot pants (you'll need both) and your five suitcases of sex toys, think about the TSA for a minute. (Ugh, not like that.) Sure, uniforms are hot, and some of you may have those nonconsensual cavity-search fantasies rarin' to go, but save your fetishes for Pink Saturday and pack your sex toys with care. Otherwise, be prepared to have your expensive toy collection ripped apart by security dogs and your favorite dick detonated by the feds. Imagine arriving and having to explain, "Honey, they blew up the Ballsy Jeff Stryker 10-inch."

Coal Fire Burns Beneath Town Since 1962 The town of Centralia, Pennsylvania is all but abandonded now. 46 years ago, a carelessly set garbage fire set a vein of coal in the mines below the town on fire. more inside

The problem of man boobs.

"Gold Farmers": video with associated links. Maybe I'm out of the loop, but this, the developmental speed of the internet from social appendage towards full corpus, initially surprises me.

BBC headline: "FBI tries to fight zombie hordes" This made me really happy just now, despite the less-than-exiting contents of the article.

Ebay cuts all advertising with Google "San Jose's eBay cut its advertising Monday shortly after Google unveiled plans for a party in Boston to hawk its online payment service, Google Checkout. Attendees of eBay's user conference, eBay Live, which starts today, were all invited for free drinks, food and massages." From Article