Curious, Amy: This young lady needs a middle name. Okay, I'm asking more for entertainment purposes but it's been over a week and we've run the gamut trying to choose Amy Hope's middle name. We want something classic, probably three or more syllables since her first and last names are short. Suggestions? more inside

Happy birthday, Koko! Koko the signing gorilla turns 34 today. Apparently she's spending the day shopping for a new kitten.

Postcards of airlines and airports. Everyone's got to have a hobby.

Googie architecture of the 1950s and '60s. Googie influenced retro-futurism (think The Jetsons) and Tiki/Aloha architecture. It's also known as Doo-Wop architecture. Classic examples are found predominantly in California and along Route 66, and preservation projects are in action to retain them.

Cheese chasing: Every May, a bunch of weirdos chase a wheel of double Gloucester cheese down a hill in England. What more can I say? Want to try it yourself next time?

BookCrossing. Release your old books into the wild, and track their movements. Or find a book and send it on its way. It's becoming a popular way for authors to get their books read, too. more inside

The MoFiWiki. A place to post your personal projects, ask for help, have a personal page, map yourself, find accommodation, explain in-jokes, or get a philosophical answer to the question that keeps you awake at 3am. Open to Monkeys only.

Ron Gilbert wants a car! Apparently Ron Gilbert got a little bitter around Christmastime because none of his fans sent him a car with a big ribbon and a sign saying "Thanks for Monkey Island". So someone decided, for whatever reason, to revive the Christmas spirit within.

Delphion Research - not the most thrilling intellectual property website, definitely not the best of the web. But their archives of obscure patents (complete with animated demonstrations)? Entertaining. And...odd.

The incredible Wing Wing is a Hong Kong native who immigrated to NZ ten years ago. She sings the greats for retirement homes and hospital patients. Now she's been discovered by the creators of South Park. You may have heard of Wing before, but if not then I highly recommend downloading at least one of her tracks to hear her unforgettable voice.

Curious George: Who wants my child? I'm using up my infinite Curious George quota lately: my dear son drew on our concrete driveway with permanent marker today. Any idea how to get it off, shy of waterblasting? It's one of those coloured-concrete dealies and I think waterblasting it would probably be bad.

Curious George: Mortgages Sad but true, I have a question about boring grownup stuff. Our mortgage has been on a two-year fixed term at around 6.25% and that term is due to expire in June. The current rate our bank is offering, right at this minute, is almost too good to resist (7.5%) because we know rates are going to increase. Should we switch to a new fixed term now and pay the extra interest for a couple of months, or wait and risk getting an even higher rate we're stuck with for two years?

I don't know who Longmire is, but he's got some amusing romance covers.

So you've met your first extraterrestrial. You'll need some coins, a flashlight, a pair of magnets and a loop of string.

Curious, George: sympathy gifts A friend and her husband have just lost their baby in her 30th week of pregnancy. What is an appropriate sympathy gift? I'm a boring/basic cook, so pre-prepared meals aren't really a good idea (plus a mutual friend is a chef and made her a ton of food). They have a houseful of flowers already and I want to give them something useful if I can.

A reminder: order your MoFi tee before the 14th! Just in case anyone forgot, orders close on the 14th so you'll need to get your orders in via email to me in the next four days (link is to original thread with ordering instructions). more inside

Today is International Women's Day. Celebrating nine decades (well, more, obviously) of "struggle for equality, justice, peace and development." Some global events listed here. Unfortunately, Turkey still has a very long way to go, and some say there is no country yet where men and women are equal. At least we can celebrate some great moments and people in women's history.

Order a MoFiTShirt now! If you want to be the hawtt sex0r this coming summer, or if you're in the southern hemisphere and need an extra layer and/or umbrella, now's the time to obtain a highly desirable MonkeyFilter tee. Go ahead, ask me how. more inside

A Flash animation sketching the female body from the skeleton out. (Might be NSFW if you consider a few seconds of drawn female nudity to be so.)

One Year Performance, by Sam Hsieh. (Quicktime movie, slow-loading.) Tehching (Sam) Hsieh made five "One Year Performance" pieces: the Cage Piece, in which he spent a year in a cage; the Time Piece (also see main link), where he punched a clock every hour for one year; the Outdoor Piece, spent entirely outdoors; Art/Life, collaborating with Linda Montano, to whom he was connected by an eight-foot rope; and the fifth, unnamed performance, marked by an absence of art (halfway down). more inside