The Extreme Cellists are touring! Coming to a cathedral roof near you! In the same vein as Extreme Ironing, the Extreme Cellists pretty much do what you'd expect.

Sponsor an orphaned character today! Or attend the Pictoplasma conference.

The PictoOrphanage has a long tradition of helping friends of characters to find the right match for all their character needs, while helping characters reach their full artistic potential and freedom.

Via Daddy Types.

Curious George: sites gone platinum What sites do you check often that you wouldn't normally post to MoFi because they're probably known by half the Internet? I bet everyone has some infamous favourite that a few people here have never heard of and might appreciate. more inside

The Paul Daniels' eBay Transactions Blog. I'm sure many of us recall magician Paul Daniels' heyday in the 1980s with his lovely assistant Debbie. (He has his own blog, btw.) Someone discovered his eBay username and is blogging everything Paul buys and sells, including complex commentary on the bidding process. Another example of having too much time on your hands.

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.)

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

Screech from Saved By the Bell needs your money to save his home from foreclosure. Or you could, you know, help a starving orphan. Or get yourself a non-fat decaf latte with extra foam.

Your moment of zen. An assortment of stuff, updated daily. A few things we've seen before, and a few new things.

Genpets: the only bioengineered buddies. Available in the one-year- and three-year-lifespan models.

Squalor Survivors: Schadenfreude much?

Curious Globetrotting Husband George: #2 has another question for y'all. He's been asked to attend some training in Chicago around June 26th, and is trying to find useful work-related stuff to do at the same time. Does anyone know of or can anyone recommend any embedded software, software process or safety system-related conferences in the US around then?

Curious, George: Cultural misconceptions I recently met a Chinese woman who moved to NZ in January and is studying NZ English and cultural norms. Her English tutor told her class that in New Zealand, it is inappropriate to touch a child's head -- which is rubbish. What have you been told or otherwise heard about other cultures that turned out to be wrong? What have you heard that sounds wrong and you'd like to find out the truth? more inside

One girl was killed and another in a coma after an accident. The VanRyn family has kept a blog detailing their comatose daughter Laura's recovery since a truck hit the van in which she and Whitney Cerak were passengers. However, when "Laura" woke up, they realised that the comatose girl was not their daughter. (Warning: really depressing.)

A lesson on cleaning your hard drive before selling your computer. Amir sells his old laptop, claiming it works fine when it doesn't. The buyer, apparently unable to reclaim his money, finds some rather personal content on the laptop's hard drive including a doctored passport and lots of photos of women's legs.

Quotations about the Internet

The net's a cross between an elephant and a white elephant sale: it never forgets, and it's always crap.

Write zombie haiku and win! Yeah, you could win something, I can't remember what. But hey! Zombie haiku! Get practicing! more inside

Scientists pour molten metal down ants' nests.

Pouring red-hot aluminum in the bottom of a 2-meter pit runs the risk of having ones socks catch on fire from the radiant heat.

Those wacky scientists. Via

Global news, as it happens, via a nifty flash-based map of the world. May be an addictive way to get your news.

Stubbies. A thorough explanation of New Zealand stubbies (3.5mb mpeg ad). more inside

Five thousand days: press photography in a changing world. (Click the chapter titles for a rundown.) While we're on the topic, some cartoons about feeding the five thousand, a Jules Verne-style ebook called Five Thousand Miles Underground, and how to spend $5,000. more inside