Welcome to a celebration and study of TOY RAY GUNS!

I'm Sorry, it's too late for Christmas... but I could get you something more your style for your birthday. "These slippers are soft and Hygienic; Non-slip grip strips on the soles; Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh; No more bending over to mop up spills; Disposable and biodegradable; Environmentally safe; Three convenient sizes: Regular, Light day, and Get out the Sand Bags. "

Say it ain't so Stan! Marvel Comics consultant and former Editor in Chief Stan Lee has won a multi-million dollar lawsuit... from Marvel Comics. more inside

Bill O'Reilly & His Tales of Combat Bill O'Reilly attempted to mislead his audience about how he has seen combat. A caller made O'Reilly admit that he has never been in the miltary. James Poling is offering a reward to anyone that can find a reported incident of O'Reilly was actually in a firefight. Here is the audio of Reilly on his radio show.

Preparing the cadaver The challenge is trying to figure out the first step in disassembling the object. As is expected with Apple, every detail of this design has been thought through and there are no visible cues as to how the casing comes apart.

Metric USA Curious George: So will the US ever adopt the metric system? I can't understand it. I still think in terms of inches, feet, yards, and miles. Am I an anachronism, who is also teaching her kid the only measurement system I know because the schools aren't teaching it. Just wondering if it's relevant any more.

Curious Long Term Relationship George: what is "settling"? How do you know when you're doing it? Sometimes you hear people say someone is "settling", but what makes this different from the compromises we all must make to get along? You know that you're settling when... ? (Yes, I have a personal interest in this right now).

MonkeyFilter CD SWap III Inside are instructions for joining the new swap. The send date is February 25, 2005. Call your friends and fire up your burners. more inside

The Wire's website has a number of audio and video interviews with a variety of musicians, songs (some mp3's, some streaming), and editions of their weekly radio show available for download. more inside

Automatomania! Automata Cabaret! Automata Cabaret! Automaton History! And really expensive store! Monkey Automata! AND A CREEPY WEBSITE! SMOKING Monkey Automata! Miniature Automata! whew!

Geek tattoos.

"I am dreaming while I am awake." That's how Haruki Murakami describes the writing of his surreal fictions. Now out is his novel Kafka on the Shore, a fantastical Oedipal tale that was a bestseller in his native Japan, selling 460,000 copies in two months. Read an extract from the novel and check out John Updike's review in The New Yorker. more inside

Dr. Gene Ray interviewed on TechTV (Windows Media File - right click & save) - I had no idea that the Time Cube guy had been interviewed on TV. Here we can see him explain his ideas in his own words. If those are words. c/o Time Cube Central more inside

"Planes, Trains and Plaintains" From "this is my thesis statement" all the way to "this is my conclusion", Mr. Freeman may have not had a chance with his Comparative Lit teacher but I think he just won over jaded lit majors everywhere. via BlackTable

How to build a lightsaber in 20 minutes Either the coolest bit of geek DIY evah, of proof positive that there is such a thing as too much time on your hands.

Protest this! (Would've posted the link, but as far as I can tell this is pretty buried, via New York Daily News pg. 14 article) Three New York Emergency Vehicles to be included in Bush's inaugrual parade. more inside

Epi-curious George Has anyone been to the "soup nazi" that was made famous on Seinfeld? And if you have, was the soup that good, or was it just sort of fun being waited on by a surly chef? This leads me to my real question. Do you have any places that you like to go where the wait-staff/chef/bartender is a nazi? I remember hearing about a bar in San Francisco that only serves old school martinis and will bodily eject you if you order a "sour apple" martini (god bless them) and when I went to Philly I was taken to a cheese sandwich shop where I was told that I had to order in a local dialect ("one steak with everything") to get served. So monkeys, do you have any dining/drinking establishments with such strict rules?

Jesus Christ! A Condom! Apparently, Spanish Catholics are ready to make the leap into the 20th century...a hundred years late. more inside

Roses are red, Violets are blue, I got the clap, so you do too. Wow. This is just a cold way to do it. I'll exchange fluids with you, but won't call you about a potentially life threatening situation?

Yikes! A bill in California (PDF text of bill) may send the heads of some filesharing companies rolling by making it illegal to distribute the software without ensuring pornography or copyrighted material isn't being shared. But who has the time to take "reasonable care" to prevent copyright infringement of all those users? The bill's author: "Even if you aren’t selling crack, you can’t have a crack house." more inside