Fiendish Is The Word

2004-02-20T11:23:00.000-05:00

Bye for now

Fiendish is the Word will be shut down until further notice. Real life has been asserting itself with a vengeance these days and I find myself falling further and further behind with this weblog. Rather than updating once in a blue moon, I figured that it would be better to take an (extended) break.

Much thanks to all the linkers and visitors--you validated my funny, little obsessions. Bless you for that!

2004-02-12T00:45:00.000-05:00

Even me

A gallery of wooden perfume bottles.

Charles S. Anderson design. (via Amberglow)

"Central to Darger's work is his 15,000 page, 12 volume, single-spaced, typewritten epic entitled The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, as caused by the Child Slave Rebellion."

There's some terrific photography at African Aperture.

Customized cars from television and movies. (via Grow-a-Brain)

The Legacy Project is "...a gathering place for people interested in the enduring legacies of the many violent traumas of the 20th century....dedicated to exploring issues of remembrance...in order to better understand the contemporary significance of historical tragedy."

Abbey Roads. (via Geisha Asobi)

Gallery of Chinese paper cuts.

Examples of milk glass, cloud glass, vaseline glass, slag glass and more here.

Topor Overzicht. (via cipango)

A site devoted to Vaudeville. Includes an essay outlining its history, and audio and visual clips of performances.

An odd assortment of informative articles at this site, including one about Soviet propaganda, instructions for how to breed your dog, a biography of Paul Kruger, tips for caring for someone with Alzheimer's and loads more.

The Critic Doctor: "Where movie critics get a taste of their own medicine." Also, a comprehensive list of movie taglines.

The Underwater Mouse Project. Current death toll: 11 mice.

2004-02-06T00:11:00.000-05:00

Nobody knows what the 'J' stands for

Mmmm...gagh! Klingon recipes and the Science Fiction Cookbook. (warning: geocities sites).

Decameron Web: "A growing hypermedia archive of materials dedicated to Boccacio's masterpiece."

How to make Pepsi bottle rockets.

Pop! The First Human Male Pregnancy. (via most art is boring)

Historical Anatomies on the web.

Surreal, clicky fun at superbad.com.

The Hidden Song Archive is "a comprehensive listing of hidden and unlisted tracks from albums by all types of artists." (via cup of chicha)

Cats wearing clothes, smoking cigarettes, and generally being badasses. And cat graffiti. (latter via gmtPlus9)

Photo galleries of silent movie stars.

Recruit, train and motivate: The History of the Industrial Musical. (via scrubbles)

A website devoted to collecting plastic rings. Be sure to check out the galleries.

Corinne Jones' jungle drawings; Wendy Judge has a thing for pools; Eric Joyner's robot paintings.

Modified bicycles. (via Totally Flabbergasted)

The trip wonker makes things go funny.

2004-01-28T01:25:00.000-05:00

Posting is getting to be quite erratic

Dog Island: "Over 2,500 dogs are already enjoying a better life at Dog Island. Separated from the anxieties of urban life, dogs on Dog Island live a natural, healthy and happy life." Even better: This winter "all dogs to be outfitted in thermal underwear made from rabbit hair."

Vintage record covers from Show and Tell.

MTV's photobooth pictures of famous people, (some plebs here), photobooth art, and the not-quite-there Photobooth Project.

Toast Art, Painting with Coffee, and The Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show. (all via Grow-a-Brain)

Finally! Find out what J.R.R. Tolkien officially said about elf sex.

An exhibit by the National Portrait Gallery: "Celebrity Caricature in America."

More fantastic photography links culled from Conscientious: David Heald; Lori Nix; Danny Moers; Afghanistan; Ulster Cowboys.

Steve Thomsen's 'fossils'.

A gallery of cereal boxes. (via muxway)

A manual by the Billboard Liberation Front: "The Art and Science of Billboard Improvement" and some examples.

Instructions for doing simple magic tricks.

The Dick and Jane Hamlet: "See Hamlet draw his sword. See Hamlet stab. Stab, Hamlet, stab. See Uncle Claudius's blood. See Uncle Claudius's blood gush. Gush, blood, gush." (via Sensible Erection)

A list of past and present winners of the Ig-Nobel prize. (Similarly, a weblog about "the scientific method gone terribly, terribly wrong.")

The Champagne Chair Contest finalists.

The Bollywood FAQ. (via Cup of Chicha)

Make your own Jackson Pollock, kaleidoscope, or lava lamp. (first via Amberglow)

2004-01-16T08:20:00.000-05:00

'Cause I'm back/ Yes, I'm back/ Well, I'm back

The Paper Costumes of Henri Matisse.

Brue's Super Hero Photos

Similarly, a great Superman website. Highlights include diagrams of the Fortress of Solitude, alternate costumes, reference guides, scans of a few of the comic books, and loads more.

The Utne Reader names America's 10 Most Enlightened Towns.

Maps of NYC illustrating mouse and rat concentration, ethnic composition, and asthma cases, among other statistics. (via Incoming Signals)

Scary memorial 'art'.

Godey's Lady's Book online.

Bonsai Potato: Achieve inner peace "quickly and efficiently" with this kit. (via Glubibulga')

"Interesting Motherfuckers are the artists, musicians, authors, filmmakers, actors and assorted creative types whose eccentricity forced them to stray from the path of normal humans and follow their own twisted visions."

Movie stills featuring Alfred Hitchcock cameos. (via Fimoculous)

The Juggling Hall of Fame.

LSD blotter art.

Matchstick Madness: the compelling true story of one man's quest to build instruments out of matchsticks.

Calvin and Hobbes Snow Art Gallery. (via Cup of Chicha).

A gallery of ghost photography.

"In an old cemetery just west of Waterloo, Ontario in Canada you'll find an unusual gravestone..."

Boxing posters. (via Grow-a-Brain).

The Gorilla Age of Comics and the Museum of Chimpography.

Photos from the 2003 Snow Sculpture Championships.

The Biblical Curse Generator: "Thou shalt be pursued into the mountains by sex-mad baboons, thou dabbler in abominations!"

2003-12-01T17:00:00.000-05:00

Tango

Juan Albuerne's movie star dolls.

Lots and lots of pictures of famous women wearing opera gloves.

'The Bureau Sequence', new and old. (via Boing Boing)

The Original Illustrated Catalogue of ACME Products.

Ohmori Seiko. (via Neurastenia)

"The Effects of Cannabis on a Web-Based Lifestyle."

Another magnificent obsession: This website is "[an] effort to list all derivations and interpretations of the famous theme 'La Folia.'"

Subway Life: drawings of people on the subway.

The Unique Stave Churches of Norway. (via Plep)

Tara Donovan explores the aesthetic possibilities that everyday objects contain, transforming humble materials into installations that are reminiscent of natural formations. Some images of her work here and here

Ackroyd & Harvey: Chlorophyll as a photographic medium. (via Monkeyfilter)

Vermeer's Camera Obscura.

On the same site: 50 Doors of San Fransisco and 50 Doors of Paris, France.

The Deviant Roadmap: a visual guide to fetishes.

An interesting article about tribute bands: "Although some may find the notion of copying a rock 'n' roll superhero laughable, many of the players toiling in tribute bands are first-rate. They have to be if they're to convincingly imitate the moves, licks, and harmonies of some of the greatest rock musicians of all time."

B U T A A A A A A A A A N O O O O O O O O ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Charming. Micro films.

2003-11-29T13:37:00.000-05:00

Merengue

The Nuclear Explosions Database, weapons effect and the Federation of American Scientists. (first two via plep & quasimeta, respectively).

The Disaster Center and Survival Research Labs.

A Wiki list of famous suicides. (via metafilter)

The Moral Life of Geeks: "The basic dilemma lies between, on the one hand, not developing one's innate and learned capacities, which can be a kind of harm to oneself and to others, and, on the other, developing one's capacities by working for evil institutions."

Dictionary of Victorian London.

The Erotics of Type. (via The Cartoonist)

Leonardo Right to Left: Type in a phrase and see it written in da Vinci-style mirror writing.

Famous Rejections: "“Mr. F. Scott Fitzgerald deserves a good shaking … The Great Gatsby is an absurd story, whether considered as romance, melodrama, or plain record of New York high life.” Saturday Review of Literature. (via cup of chicha)

A step-by-step guide to making a Daguerreotype.

Jurustic Park--Creatures from the McMillan Marsh.

Cool gift: Customized Classics. Who wouldn't want to star in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde? (via Joi Ito, or the real Joi Ito)

The Legendary Tube Bar Recording: "Made in the mid ’70s, The Tube Bar is a bizarre, enthralling, and wonderfully chaotic recording of a series of prank phone calls made by a group of callers (who were unknown until recently) to the small Jersey City taproom of the title. Originally passed around as an in-joke by the bar's patrons, the tape became an underground favorite with everyone from the New York Mets to the staff at Caroline records, an alternative label." Turned into a running gag on The Simpsons, too.

A chocolate fashion show. (via Grow-a-Brain)

Juggling tattoos.

Create your own Picasso with Mr. Picassohead. (via Sensible Erection)

2003-11-27T23:45:00.000-05:00

Having absolutely no connection to the holiday

Whimsical postcards by Quint Buchholz and Michael Sowa. (via Penny Dreadful)

Truly, truly outrageous body modification.

Themes: Parking Spots & Eleventh Pin (second via everlasting blort)

Vernacular architecture at Grottos of the American West.

Excellent online exhibition: Modern American Portrait Drawings. (via Neurastenia)

Face Jugs, face jugs, face jugs, face jugs, face jugs. Just what are face jugs?

Daruma dolls. More here.

Floraphilia. (via Metafilter)

The many faces of Gary Oldman, Bjork and Bob Hope. (first two via quiddity & Grow-a-Brain, respectively).

And Gurning Celebrities. (definition of 'gurning'.)

A Matrix-themed flash mob.

Circlemakers: The art and history of crop circles. (via most art is boring)

Pictures of the Sedlec Ossuary.

Photographs of signs enforcing racial segregation in the United States.

Carnal Cookies. (via Sensible Erection)

Dragstravaganza: A collection of drag queen recordings.

Instructions for fire breathing, stair diving and making your own prison wine. (Also, a poem)

2003-11-21T16:42:00.000-05:00

Salsa

'Log Frenzy: "The Weblog is a new form in the world of arts and letters. How could the Weblog 'form' be expanded in regards to narrative, not technology, to become exciting and valuable over time?" Follows with a long list of interesting suggestions.

Cartoons drawn on the backs of business cards. (via The Solipsistic Gazette)

The Epitaph Browser.

"Seppuku: A Practical Guide"

Irene Nordli's sculpture. (via cipango)

Fabulous Fakes: "20 contemporary artists accept a challenge to create new original works in the styles of famous old and modern masters." Results are uneven, at best. At the same site, "A History of Art Forgery" and information about Han van Meegeren, master art forger.

Photosurrealism by William H. "Dad" Martin.

From the Museum of Depressionist Art, A Gallery of the Unidentifiable.

Wearable art and edible art. (both via art for housewives)

Search for famous Jewish people at Jewhoo!

"Silophone is a project...which combines sound, architecture, and communication technologies to transform a significant landmark in the industrial cityscape of Montréal."

Adult movie posters from the 1960s and '70s.

Analyzing sex offender mugshots.

The Scary Baby Conspiracy. (via J-walk)

Masonic art. (via New World Disorder)

Penguin sweaters.

2003-11-14T21:27:00.000-05:00

Sha na na

The ICC's Weekly Piracy Report.

Victorian magic lantern slides.

An A-Z guide of common gravestone symbols. (via Grow-a-Brain)

Astronomy quilts and quilts inspired by Japanese manhole covers. (via Cup of Chicha and ikastikos, respectively)

Art on wheels: The Guitarbike.

"Face" by Bela Borsodi. (via everlasting blort)

Space age pop music and Cocktail Music for Robots.

Judy Garland dolls.

A Brief History of the Car Horn Organ.

Album covers done in legos. (via Boing Boing)

Pornolizer.

Cool cowboy boots and more at Maestro.

"Santeria: A Practical Guide to Afro-Caribbean Magic."

An International Catalog of Superheroes. (via Sugar'n Spicy)

The Bata Shoe Museum and Solemates: The Century in Shoes.

Matt Stuart's clever visual puns. (via b3ta)

"Dumbland". one and two: Strange (could it be any other way?) flash cartoons by David Lynch.

Whimsical animations from Fancyteeth.

2003-11-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

Fa fa fa

A nice site about Russian lubok or the popular print. Translations of the featured pieces as well.

Marvelous. Bembo's Zoo. (via Being Daddy)

Subtly Simpsons: explaining obscure references from the TV show.

Life in Elizabethan England: A Compendium of Common Knowledge. (via J-Walk). Also, an exerpt from The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium: An Englishman's World by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger.

Michael Kalish's license plate art. (via art for housewives)

The Classic Postcard Bourse.

Soccer (or should I say, 'football'?) songs and chants from all across Europe. Disclaimer: "Many of the songs contain bad language. They may be sexist, violent, racist, overtly nationalistic, homophobic or just insulting." Well, duh.

Alternative History Timelines. Speculation concerning the road not taken.

Songs about science. Oh no--not lame at all.

The Ultimate Guide to Shooting Rubber Bands. Astonishingly detailed.

R. Crumb's Heroes of the Blues series. (via LinkMachineGo)

The Beloit College mindset list is a quick summing up of each year's freshman class for teaching staff. Very interesting.

LouieLouie.net: a celebration of the song. Part of a documentary project.

"Hit Song Science (HSS) - Offers Singers, Songwriters and Musicians the opportunity to use the latest technology to test their songs for hit potential." Is this for real?

Photography: Jennifer Shaw; Satumaa; "White women"; The Empire that was Russia; "fotos aira". (all via Conscientious)

An exhibition about spy-fi gadgets at the CIA website. (via The Cartoonist)

Nails: Strange, interactive flash.

2003-11-09T23:54:00.000-05:00

Nyah nyah nyah

Pop Culture Monsters: photoshop contest at Worth1000.com.

Similarly, Fisher Price toys up to no good. (via Pop Culture Junk Mail)

Not to mention, Kewpie doll massacre. (Scroll down) And the Tattoo Baby Doll Project. (latter via Milk and Cookies)

Earth Pilgrim: photography by Sacha Dean Biyan.

Elevator Moods: Tiny play-lets set in the elevator.

Prints by Peeter Allik. (via Neurastenia)

Jorge Luis Borges' The Book of Sand turned into hypertext puzzle.

A gallery of antique radios.

15 Trends Taking Shape in Logo Design. (via Metafilter)

A website devoted to Classic Movie Kids, and one all about child stars of today.

"The embroideries are laboriously produced copies of pieces of text taken from sources ranging from great books to candy wrappers....copies are of less value than originals. However, when I copy by embroidering, the value of the copy is increased because of the elements of labor, handicraft and singularity....The copy is now an 'original.'" (via art for housewives)

Egg carving. (via Boing Boing)

Cool French Comics.

Yet another spin on the HotOrNot thing: Am I a Poet or Not?

TalkBackwards.com: Upload an audio file and hear it played backwards. No download or special software required.

A website devoted to Paint-by-Numbers.

A Keyword Map for the Whole Internet.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

2003-11-06T15:28:00.000-05:00

Blah blah blah

Talk about yourself, constantly: The Haircut Story Site; Grouphug; I used to believe; My Miserable Life; Fray. Other people's stories doesn't really count but I'm including it anyway.

Hello Kitty--The Remarkable Story: An interview with the designer of Hello Kitty. (via Pop Culture Junk Mail)

Monobrow.com: Celebrating the unity of your eyebrow.

Tankens Bilder: Images of Thought. Wonderful. (via The Solipsistic Gazette)

Anonymous answers to life's Embarrassing Questions. Example: "I have a third testicle. Is this something to be concerned about?"

A Tight History of the Corset.

Female Images in American Cartoons and Japanimation. While we're on the subject, the Wonder Woman Comic Page and a gallery of Superheroines, in general. (via obliterated, scrubbles, and Cup of Chicha respectively)

Images of Cocktail records.

Pimp hats and other paraphanalia.

Methods of execution around the world. Top three methods: firing squad, hanging and stoning.

How to eat fire. (via J-Walk)

Also, How to swear in foreign languages, from Afrikaans to Yiddish. Special French guide, too.

The Joy of Shards has updated its photo galleries, including the London Hitchcock mosaics.

BBC test card gallery.

"Mark Twain was a lifelong creator and keeper of scrapbooks. He took them with him everywhere and filled them with souvenirs, pictures, and articles about his books and performances....In 1872, he patented his “self-pasting” scrapbook, and by 1901, at least 57 different types of his albums were available. It would be his only invention that ever made money."

Yellow Submarine Ascii pictures.

2003-11-04T17:01:00.000-05:00

La la la

Cool stuff by Daniel Martin Diaz, Nathan Henderson, Peter Goode and others at smog.net

Crane porn. (via metafilter)

Cooking By Numbers will give you recipes based on what you already have in your kitchen.

Recession Recipes will tell you how to make on-the-dole delicacies like Lettuce Soup and Bran Gruel.

Meredith Allen's popsicles. (via obliterated)

David Lynch posters.

Online fortune cookie.

Art and nature come together in the work of Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey. (via asecretsmile)

"For over 20 years the artist Stan Herd has worked the earth using indigenous materials to produce evocative and mystical works. From 160 acre plowed portraits to one quarter acre intimate stone designs, his work has become a platform for discussion of mankind's contemporary relationship to the land."

From Trees to Buildings and Alex Erlandson's living tree sculptures. (via Amberglow and Cup of Chicha, respectively)

The Natural Building Colloquium.

Valerie Hammond's hands. (via Neurastenia)

Pavement Terror: Man makes loud noise, takes pictures of people's reactions.

The Bolt Gallery and Lawrence Northey's robot art. (both via iconomy)

The Museum of Black Superheroes.

An Eye-Placement Principle in 500 Years of Portraits: an inquiry into the placement of eyes in portraiture. Also has a nice little 'Who's eye is it?' quiz. (via cipango)

Mise en Page: The art of composing on paper. (via plep)

Screw Batman. Now you can get your very own personalized action figure!

2003-10-31T23:30:00.000-05:00

One!

Miss Mary's Victorian Halloween, being a Compendium of Gothic Images, Tales & Whimsy from the Victorian Era.

And Victorian ghost stories. (via iconomy)

A gallery of stills from horror movies.

Extreme Pumpkins. (via muxway)

A compendium of New Mexico's ghost towns.

Retro Halloween costumes and a Disney costume collection.

Krypt Kiddies. (via Sensible Erection)

Pixel horror.

The Creepy Clown Gallery..."Can't sleep. Clown will eat me. Can't sleep. Clown will eat me."

Rare occult books and the vampire library. (both via quiddity)

Gothic Miss Manners' Halloween Dos and Don'ts: "DON’T be soooooooo caught up in your own gothic attitude that you can’t laugh at yourself, and admit that you want the blinky, light-up skeleton lights."

Severed head gallery. (via Cup of Chicha)

Find info. about various kinds of beasties at Demonology: A gallery of demons. (via Incoming Signals)

And send an unnerving greeting with BloodyFingerMail.com.

2003-10-29T13:23:00.000-05:00

Three

Kikko-man!

A Boke of Gode Cookery: medieval recipes.

"Thou gorbellied, fat-kidneyed pignut!" Elizabethan insults.

"Baby got back" translated into Latin. (via memepool)

Celebrity driveways.

A civilian's guide to the art of pratfalling.

Human cross-section videos and The Virtual Autopsy. (former via Sensible Erection)

A gallery of Japanese wood block prints.

The fly plane.

Transcripts and other info. about The
Trial of the Chicago 7.

License plates of the world.

Guess the film: Invisible Quizzes. (via Cup of Chicha)

Porn star action figures.

"The Invisible Library is a collection of books that only appear in other books..." Reminds me of Morpheus' library in the Dreaming.

300 love letters.

And if you haven't accidentally crushed Very Important Things to death by petting and stroking and loving it too much, then you must run over and do so, right quick.

2003-10-26T23:35:00.000-05:00

Five

Vote for the new 7 wonders of the world. (Only 703 days left to cast your ballot!)

Objects by Achille Castiglioni.

Photographs of carnival strippers. (via Scrubbles)

Bodyscapes.

Immortal Geisha--very nice. It's got biographies of famous geishas, info. on hairstyles and makeup, galleries of vintage photographs, links and lots more.

Doctor Foxglove's Polaroid Triptych Project. (via Penny Dreadful)

A virtual tour of The Watts Tower.

See the people stare at the camera van.

Lennie Mace's ad-lib series and vandalized oil paintings. (latter via asecretsmile)

And UFO's in 15th century European art. (via The Solipsistic Gazette)

Cut And Paste: A History of the Photomontage.

Duct tape art by Mona Superhero--pioneer of duct tape portraiture.

Mosaics by Jason Mecier and Ken Knowlton. (via Geisha asobi and Grow-a-Brain, respectively)

Embroidery by Jenny Hart. (The White Stripes portrait is awesome).

The Twisted Copper Art Gallery and South African street wire art. (latter via art for housewives)

Disturbing: "A LifeGem is a certified, high quality diamond created from the carbon of your loved one as a memorial to their unique and wonderful life."

The Philosopher's Magazine has some nice little thought-provoking quizzes on art, morality, religion and philosophy.

2003-10-24T00:46:00.000-04:00

Hello, Cleveland!

Sexy furniture. (via Sensible Erection)

The Strange Science goof gallery.

A website devoted to Awful Plastic Surgery. (via b3ta)

Serial killer nicknames and artwork.

Coop's Poster gallery.

Plus, a huge collection of groovy '60s rock posters and flyers for SoCal punk bands. (latter via The Ultimate Insult)

August Strindberg + helium = surreal fun.

Groupies rate rock stars'...erm, assets at Donna's Domain. (via Daze Reader)

"A History of the Musical Burlesque: A misunderstood genre."

The WPA Dolls of Milwaukee. (via gmtPlus9)

Etch-a-Sketch art.

Excellent site: Vintage Technology. (via The Solipsistic Gazette)

The Ultimate Fake Band List: "Finally, all the fictional bands and singers from TV and movies listed in one convenient, scarily obsessive place."

Cool public art via Project Blinkenlights. (via asecretsmile)

Hats Off! A salute to African headware.

2003-10-21T23:46:00.000-04:00

Fog machine!

Learn about Kabbalah with this interactive Tree of Life.

Lurid Paperback of the Week: "An archive commentary on the Vintage Paperbacks of the 30's, 40's and 50's, featuring artwork and editorials on the history of what was a uniquely American approach to the development of various forms of marketing for the newly invented paperback."

Billy Name's Film Stills From The Warhol Screen Tests. (via gmtPlus9)

The Artistry of African Currency.

Mini Loteria cards, candy, old cookbooks and many more Things to Look At.

The Drawing Club.

The medical history of American Presidents. (via Excitement Machine)

Super cool gig posters.

Galleries of coloured alchemical emblems.

An article about Scottish charms and amulets. (via Quiddity)

Can't shake the feeling that I've linked this before, but am too lazy to find out for sure...Celebrity tarot readings (You can get your own done, too.)

Ink drawings by Pavel Aubrecht.

Flowering Nose. (via Sensible Erection)

Domino and tri-onimo art.

24 years in the making, The Butterfly Alphabet.

Art clothing from Fancy Deluxe. I particularly liked the handbags.

And finally, The picture of everything. (via The Presurfer)

2003-10-13T17:34:00.000-04:00

Sexy posturing

Is your family prepared for a Zombie attack? Consider these sobering facts: Ninety-five percent of Americans live within two miles of a cemetery or mortuary; Most Americans use and value their brains -- the natural food of zombies; Ninety percent of zombie related fatalities occur in the home; The only proven defense against zombie attack is an effective early warning system....

The Eye Project, The Toy Project, etc, etc. at waferbaby. (via Cup of Chicha)

Virginia Rose Kane's botanical papercutting. Hm, I only wish there were more.

The Album Cover Challenge..."there are sixty album covers...from which the artist and title information has been removed. Can you identify all the albums and provide the missing information?" (via Travelers Diagram)

A history of the skirt. With graphs!

ShouldExist seeks to "combine good ideas, donations from the public and people willing to work as volunteers or for living wage towards building prototypes of things that would make the world a better place."

Facts, images and profiles of famous dancers at the Belly dance museum.

Brilliant: Programming language inventor or serial killer? (via Geisha asobi)

Retromedia.tv is an online showcase for TV artifacts from the 1960s and '70s. Mmmm...nostalgia.

English actors at the turn of the century, paintings and photographs. Also, Theatres on postcards.

Opera: A Philatelic history.

Great big stuff. It boggles the mind. (via Sensible Erection)

Funny, yes. Fun with Microsoft Paint.

Celebrity hand-writing analysis. (via Sharpeworld)

And OnceFamous, the final refuge of forgotten celebrities.

(Smooth segue to...) The Voice Actor Page. (via Metafilter)

Robots have feelings too...a group art show.

And finally, sexy with sideburns. Oooh baby.

2003-10-09T19:57:00.000-04:00

Wild cheering

Crayola Crayon Chronology notes the debuts (and retirements) of crayon colors.

Mugshots and Russian prison tattoos. (via amberglow and J-walk, respectively)

And Elizabethan and Victorian color names. (via Incoming Signals).

Belief-O-Matic and The Political Compass.

Drawings by Cindy Kim, Marcel Dzama, and Rachel Sumpter. Just because.

Tarocchi 2000: tarot art.

The Worst Romance Book Covers. It's almost too easy. (via Cup of Chicha)

The story of an iconic portrait: Korda's Che. (via gmtPlus9).

In Transit: Interviews and photographs of people on the bus in the Bay area.

Untitled Magazine. Terrific photography site.

The Page of the Dead: the final resting places for various artists. Also, Scotland's Graveyards. (latter via thingsmagazine)

Freaky art, emotionally-scarring toys, and other bizarre E-bay finds at Disturbing Auctions.

Tools as Art. (via Penny Dreadful)

MiceAge.com - A different look at Disney and more. Also, a 1960 Disneyland Souvenir Map.

The Figurative: a gallery of contemporary dolls.

Pop Goes The Page. An online exhibit of movable and mechanical books. (via plep)

"}-{ello my future girlfriend..." Just came across this page. Oh dear.

2003-10-04T17:36:00.000-04:00

Drum roll

A chronological history of conjoined twins as well as some fairly disturbing pictures.

Different styles of knife throwing.

Skull art by William Max Miller. (via The Cartoonist)

Classic Mayan beauty tips.

Hairstyles of Victorian Gentlemen. (via Penny Dreadful)

Paintings by Arturo Lini.

The best, the cleanest, the most depressed? More at World and Regional Rankings.

Interesting article from The Guardian about framing artwork.

Eric Wayne Patterson. (via Cup of Chicha).

A possibly exhaustive list of things that have been sold in vending machines.

Building with cardboard...Corrugated Construction.

The Gender-Neutral Pronoun FAQ. 'Zie, zirself wasn't sure if they understood zir words.'

Magic posters and fortune teller postcards. (via muxway and Penny Dreadful, respectively)

Everyone against everyone: The art of Cire.

Luces y Sombres: antique photographs. Loads rather slowly but lovely nonetheless.

Just in time for Hallo'een: DemonKidz.

The Sandwich Project. Some of these are rather...unique. Slightly ripened bananas and english mustard on white bread? (via Sensible Erection)

Also, In-N-Out Burger's secret menu. (via Grow-a-Brain)

Flag: hot or not?, The Mormon Name Generator, and especially Story Elements: "I don't want to sell my penguin, but the drug bust has caused a lot of things in my life I don't want." Awesome-o.

2003-10-02T21:23:00.000-04:00

Spotlight

"Males do have a penis, but it is almost as small as a human female clitoris and is the same color as the tail; it is hardly visible (this is the only plausible explanation to why no one has ever seen a penis on any of the male mermaids)." Mermaid anatomy.

Fairy tales for the erudite.

Mountain Monograms: "What is it with these Arizona towns putting huge letters on mountains?" (via Grow-a-Brain)

A website devoted to that famed unknown, the character actor.

Dictionary of Antarctic slang.

Variations on the Russian nesting doll. (via Sugar'n Spicy)

"One flying buttress short of a cathedral. " Heh. Canonical List of Fulldeckisms.

African writing systems.

What you talking 'bout, Willis? The Meaning Behind Songs of the Eighties. At the same site, Top Five Songs About Masturbation From the 80s.

Crash Bonsai: Mini auto wrecks. (via Incoming Signals)

"'It's not only happening to the Dan Rathers of the world, but its happening to millions of people.' It is in this spirit that we at oldmencrying.com are working to amass the largest collection of images, audio and video files, and narrative accounts of weeping men ever assembled."

Photographs, trade cards and other Circus Ephemera

M.C. Escher in Legos (scroll down a bit).

Labor Arts Sampler. (via dublog)

Kodak as you go: A History of Kodak Advertisements 1900-1926.

2003-09-30T16:52:00.000-04:00

Bread and jam for fascists

What is Maneki Neko?

Not for Kids stamp drawings. (via Sugar 'n Spicy)

FoodStyler. The characters are especially fun.

Australian Aboriginal art.

A nice interview with Liza Lou, bead artist, MacArthur Fellow, and all-around insomniac. (Maybe not, but it makes sense, eh?)

Similarly, Steve DeFrank's Lite Brite art.

Gallery of school uniforms in the UK. (via iconomy)

Communist store windows. (via Grow-a-Brain).

Player Piano adverts.

Seasons Greetings: Holiday Cards from the Archives of American Art. Some of these are beautiful, but I wonder: Why is the giant angel setting fire to that tree? And what the hell is going on here?

Anti-smoking stamps.

Florence through the lens of Helmet Newton is a strange place, indeed.

Vaudeville slang. (via Incoming Signals)

They That Go Down To The Sea In Ships: a photographic essay.

Broton Labs: death rays and killer robots. Cool. (via Boing Boing)

Bigger isn't always better...Tumbleweed Tiny House Company and The Mobile Hermitage, "a freestanding moveable miniature house that operates entirely from battery power."

Konzentrationslager: concentration camps depicted using Legos.

Commercial animation art from Ray Patin Studios. (via milk and cookies).

NB: Apologies for the long silences between posts, but the real world is taking over with a vengeance. An RSS feed has been installed--an adequate but not entirely satisfactory solution. But it will have to do for now. Until next time, comrades. (And thanks to vril for the suggestion.)

2003-09-20T22:31:00.000-04:00

We're jamming, we're jamming, we're jamming...

Mini-Kiss.

British politicians trying to lighten up. (via b3ta)

Penny postcards.

The Reverend Bunny's Secret Henna Diary. (via J-walk).

Sushi fortune-telling.

"The Nazi-Era Provenance Internet Portal provides a searchable registry of objects in U.S. museum collections that changed hands in Continental Europe during the Nazi era (1933-1945)."

Also, a Virtual interview with Adolph Hitler. Very well done. (via b3ta) And some of his artwork. (via Grow-a-Brain).

Post-It Theater.

Darwinian Poetry: using 'natural selection' to create poetry.

Atari artwork. (via Pop Culture Junk Mail)

Speech accent archive at George Mason University: people of various national activities talk about Stella and grocery shopping.

Minimal porn.

Popular Science puts together a list of the worst jobs in science. Aw, the poor bastards. (via Sensible Erection)

Movie title screens.

Swedish band postcards and Mexican wrestling lobby cards. (via Excitement Machine and Incoming Signals, respectively)

Customized hearses.

The instant ramen homepage has detailed timelines of ramen history, a guide to making instant ramen and even details "Instant Ramen Contribution to Society".

Life magazine's classic photo essay, "W. Eugene Smith: Country Doctor".

2003-09-16T19:55:00.000-04:00

Jammin' on the One

Goreyography.

A beautiful website exploring the personal and artistic relationship between Paul Gaugin and Vincent Van Gogh.

Butter sculptures by Tibetan monks. (via iconomy)

Poetry Moodmatcher, courtesy of The Guardian.

Flowers in ultraviolet. (via Incoming Signals)

Devices of Wonder. Lovely.

Graphic Design in travel ephemera from the '20s and '30s.

Afghan war rugs. (via Grow-a-Brain)

Game theory in pop culture.

Identifying animal scat. And fecal tongs (latter via The Presufer).

Mozart's Musikalisches Würfelspiel: composing music with dice.

Similar ideas: So, There and FutureMe. (via Cup of Chicha & Sensible Erection, respectively)

Nude Messenger. Ha!

What Badgers Eat and Mr. X.

The internet's favorite color: a sort of lavender?

2003-09-12T22:50:00.000-04:00

Belated, behind & bothered

"How to paint your own Vermeer". Imitation, sincerity, flattery, etc.

"Self-defence with a Walking-stick: The Different Methods of Defending Oneself with a Walking-Stick or Umbrella when Attacked under Unequal Conditions (Part I)". Part I? (via Incoming Signals)

Forensic art.

Terrific watercolor journals. (via Sugar'n Spicy)

Victorian studio portraits.

Animal babies. Hm. Not quite sure why they're included with the other projects at the Neuroscience Art Gallery. Oh wait, here we go.

Embodying Indus Life: Terracotta Figurines from Harappa.

The New York Surveillance Camera Players: "We protest against the use of surveillance cameras in public places...[and] manifest our opposition by performing specially adapted plays directly in front of these cameras. We use our visibility to explode the cynical myth that only those who are 'guilty of something' are opposed to being surveilled by unknown eyes." (via J-walk)

Forgotten NY. A fantastic site brimming with NYC photos, history, trivia. Highlights include the annual Mermaid Parade, door carvings in lower Manhatten and the parrots of Brooklyn College.

Also, Weird New Jersey: a travel guide with a twist. All manner of curious beasties (see the chicken with the human face!), people (Wavin' Willie says hi!) and locales (Midgetville!) I'd direct link but blame the frames.

Bagpipes go to the Movies: Bagpipes in movies and the people who make obsessive websites about the phenomena.

Atari industrial design drawings. (via Pop Culture Junk Mail)

Photographs of statue's asses. (via b3ta)

Hee. What some people think guitars sound like.

2003-09-07T21:11:00.000-04:00

Is it really September already?

An article about Chinese tattoos. The more you know...

And on a somewhat related note, "10 reasons why when you make chinese food it doesn't taste good." (via I forget)

Ink art by Michael Phillips.

A gallery of mushroom clouds. (via Grow-a-Brain)

Beautiful landscape monoprints by Ernestine Ruben.

Bedouin portraits. (The rest of the site is very worth checking out.)

The Body: A lovely interactive work by Shelly Jackson. Click and read, click and read. (via iconomy)

A collection of Beatles concert tickets.

Hee. Robert Frost Greeting Cards.

Cool stuff by Dave McKean (of Sandman fame), Shephard Fairey (of Obey Giant fame), and others at the Mary Karnowsky Gallery. (via dublog)

Dust jackets from Whitaker's Almanack, Tom Swift and the Modern Library.

Find out how much you'd weigh on other worlds.

"Associations is an interactive internet installation designed to allow you to ponder the relationship between some central terms and concepts. You are presented with five words....[and] invited to contemplate the relationship between the central word and the surrounding ones, and select the one which you think is more strongly associated...When the installation has collected enough data about you, it calculates your normality index score, an indication of how your associations compare to those of other visitors." Interesting idea, but I never did get to the end of it.

Ja! (via Conscientious)

Nota bene: As you and I both know, weblogs are all about freshness. So I humbly beg forgiveness if I've bored you with any of the above links. Have been away for ages (two months) and still need some time to catch up. Merci.

2003-06-24T15:34:00.000-04:00

Ishkabibble, diddle diddle

Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America.

The stranger side of Leonardo da Vinci. (via iconomy)

Feral children, also known as wolf children, are children who've grown up with minimal human contact, or even none at all. They may have been brought up by animals (often wolves) or somehow survived on their own. In some cases, children are confined and denied normal social interaction with other people." Fascinating, but ultimately rather sad. (via J-Walk)

Lunch box adverts.

A gallery of vintage phonographs.

"What They Really Get: A Discussion of Stellar Salaries From the Press-Agent's Typewriter to the Cashier's Desk": an article discussing silent film stars' salaries.

Images of singers, composers and more at Historic Opera.

Backmask Online: "This site is the absolute best source on the Internet for information about hidden messages in popular music. We have only the cream of the crop of satanic, suicidal, funny, and weird messages compiled from various sources." Has mp3 examples and brief notes about each song.

James Joyce's Ulysses for dummies. (via Sensible Erection)

A small collection of bloodletting images.

Typewriter art. (via Grow-a-Brain)

Author pseudonyms and autographs.

Stanford's Dime Novels and Penny Dreadfuls site is very nice. Includes guided tours of the genre, a timeline of its development, and of course lots and lots of images.

2003-06-22T20:17:00.000-04:00

Crunch crunch burble buzz

Sculptural robotics by Dan Roe.

Mosaic lampposts. (via obliterated)

Contemporary pop art paintings.

Children's drawings of U.S. presidents.

"Both the origins and the eventual abandonment of Destino are for most, a mystery. No one seems to know exactly where or when Walt Disney and the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali met...." (via Sensible Erection)

The official Josephine Baker photo gallery.

Love graffiti. (via iconomy)

Wilson Bentley's wonderful photographs of snowflakes.

Leather puppets of India. (via Plep)

You Must Choose: "A lunatic is cutting off your arms. A) Chainsaw B) Circular Saw. (via The Ultimate Insult).

Final meal requests .

Hindu Hells. (via Cup of Chicha).

2003-06-12T05:35:00.000-04:00

Whistlin' Dixie

A Beginner's Guide to Flying Indian Fighter Kites. Combat rules. Some background on the different varieties. A photo essay about Makar Sankranti, an Indian kite festival.

An article about kite-flying from The Seattle Times, with pictures. A gallery of non-fighter kites, very nice ones here and here. Also, miniature Chinese kites (more mini kites). And Robert Trepanier.

Tragic Beauties. (via Plep)

Lipsticks of the stars. I don't know.

The Army Women's Museum has an odd collection of costumes used in Army recruitment shows. The connection seems a bit tenuous to me: "During the four years of war in Europe, fashion came to a virtual standstill. Although this emerald green suit is sumptuous and fashionable, the long flared tunic and shorter fuller skirt were also typical of women's military uniforms which were designed for utility." Right.

Calligraphy by Hassan Massoudy.

Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo. (via Incoming Signals)

The Art and History of Street Painting: "Street painting has been recorded throughout Europe since the 16th century and is considered an important expression of popular art. In Italy, street painters are called "madonnari" after their historical practice of creating chalk paintings of the Madonna." A gallery of photographs, another, and another, yet another, last one, I promise.

Theatre Emphemera.

Photographs of neon signs in Times Square.

Stamp art. (via Sugar 'n Spicy)

Manimals, which reminded me of Le Brun and the 'science' of comparative anatomy.

Japanese big rigs. (via Metafilter)

GI Photo Joe: Combat Photographer. Excellent. (via J-Walk)

Phil Borges' photographs of indigenous peoples. Lovely, though they're probably not saved, so you'll have to pray for them.

The Web Fridge Project. This one is perfect. Similarly (well, not really), The Clown Sweater Project. Truly frightening. (second via Sarcasmo's Corner)

Movie parodies...with thumbs.

eugenemirman.com. Hee! (via Geisha Asobi)

Public Service Announcement: I'm going to be away for a little while, but expect new posts beginning June 22nd. Thanks.

2003-06-10T12:59:00.000-04:00

Widdershins

Scottish clan tartans, crests and origins.

Haight Street Fair posters. (via iconomy)

Info. about Kabuki makeup, some Kabuki faces, morphing Manjiro, a few pictures (his other photographs are great. More--not his--here), and Kunisada's woodblock prints.

Also, The Noh Mask Effect. (via Sensible Erection)

Firecracker labels.

A list of people who've gone over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Now why would you bring your elderly pet turtle with you?

Environmentally-friendly sex. The Ecological Footprint Quiz. Find out your community's environmental scorecard (US only) and if you have a car, get its fuel economy. (first two via Incoming Signals & Grow-a-Brain, respectively)

"Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!" (via Incoming Signals)

Love and courtship during the Victorian era: "The following actions were considered extremely rude in the presence of company; crossing your legs, adjusting your hair, winking your eyes, laughing immoderately, beating time with your feet and hands, shrugging up your shoulders, placing your hand upon the person with whom you were conversing, looking steadily at one, and so on." The fan flirting info. is especially fascinating. And a snazzy little ragtime midi to boot!

The Futuro House! (via Retrolounge)

Lip tattoos.

The Strange Story of Napolean's Wallpaper: "....[S]amples of Napoleon's hair, when analysed using modern scientific techniques in the 1960s, [were] found to contain significant quantities of arsenic. Suddenly the cause of Napoleon's death was being debated all over again....[H]ad the British really poisoned their most famous prisoner? Or were the French Bourbons so unwilling for Napoleon to return that they had had him poisoned? Did one of his staff have a secret grudge?"

Drawings of Paris music hall costumes.

"Shakespeare and the Players is a survey through postcards of the many now unfamiliar English and American actors who played Shakespeare's characters for late Victorian and Edwardian audiences." Aw, This guy didn't even bother with the pancake makeup. Lazy!

Ahem. What Bird Did That? The art of 'orinthological dejecta'.

Anagrammed versions of "Jabberwocky". Brillig!

2003-06-08T15:17:00.000-04:00

Slithy toves

Herbarium Berolinenesis digitalis. Very nice.

And beautiful radiographs of flowers.

Whimsical road signs at Changed Priorities Ahead: "The closest thing we've got to an agenda is a desire to re-enchant some of those many people out there who've got stuck in a very dull, rigid version of reality."

The Electric Ballerina: Quicktime animations of dance steps.

Also, a huge collection of ballerina photography.

The Inflation Calculator. What cost $100 in 1900 would cost $2075.60 in 2002. Eesh.

A photo gallery of mehndi hands and feet.

Bollywood LP covers. (via Retrolounge).

"It is clear that the word cunt is a powerful taboo within Western society, and has been so for over five centuries, though there is also evidence that, at one time, it was a word with no social stigmas or offensive connotations..." Interesting paper, if your eyes can take it. (via Empty Bottle).

NY City Snaps. Excellent.

Famous monkeys through history. (via J-Walk)

Mandala art by Dagmar Krasna. (via Sensible Erection)

The symbolism of hand mudras. (via Plep)

"Bottle whimseys...are constructions or scenes assembled inside bottles. The earliest known examples of the art form date from the eighteenth century, but most seem to date from 1880-1930. The most well-known form is a ship, but almost anything that can be built or whittled has been put into a bottle..." (via iconomy)

Unusual pianos here and here.

4000 Years of Miniature Books: Thumb Bibles, miniature libraries, and some modern examples.

A fun beatbox thingy. (via b3ta)

2003-06-06T17:18:00.000-04:00

Cabbages and kings

British pub signs. More here, here and here.

Also, microscopic views of beers from around the world,

Marquee signs. (via iconomy)

Press and backstage passes for Joan Jett, The Rolling Stones (more), Genesis, Berlin, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, David Bowie, The Grateful Dead (more), The Beastie Boys, etc, etc.

Musical automata by Maxime de la Rochefoucauld. "Alentour" is quite sexy.

The Art of James Bond and a guide to James Bond teasers. (first via retrolounge)

Wayang Kulit: Indonesian shadow puppets.

Surreal photographs of food. (via amberglow)

"Sally decides not to become a veterinarian after all."

Anamorphosis.

Photographs of the American West by Edward S. Curtis. Larger scans here. And controversy, of course.

Zane Grey dust jackets.

The Art of Illustration.

Word game images. More than 1300 images to load...rather hypnotic, actually. (via Incoming Signals)

Invented and artificial languages. (via New World Disorder)

Modern Living: darkly humorous flash.

2003-06-04T14:36:00.000-04:00

Of shoes and ships and sealing wax

Torture methods of the Spanish Inquisition. (via Sensible Erection)

Bootleg toys from around the world: Super-deformed superheroes, Coca-cola Batman, sad little Mexican Darth Vadars, and more amusingly bad knockoffs.

Miniature Chinese liqueur bottles.

Trench Art of the Great War: "Prolonged entrenchment of troops and a vast supply of the detritus of war provided an ever-expanding canvas for the talents of soldier-artists." Some highlights include vases made out of spent shells, a holy water font, painted helmets, embroidery, and this 'hate belt'. (via The Solipsistic Gazette)

Baby mops.

Gloriously Colorful Kodaks: Very cool art deco cameras.

Authentic voodoo dolls.

Some terrific mosaics in the London underground, all inspired by Alfred Hitchcock films. (via iconomy)

Philatelic philosophy.

The Periodic Table of Dessert and The Periodic Table of Poetry. (first via Apothecary's Drawer)

How to write your name in Mayan glyphs.

"Tijuana Bibles were pornographic tracts popular in America before the advent of mass-market full-color glossy wank-fodder such as Playboy. A typical bible consisted of eight stapled comic-strip frames portraying characters and celebrities (eg. John Dillinger, Popeye, Disney characters) in wildly sodomistic situations. Many could be considered grossly racist, sexist, and otherwise wholly 'politically incorrect'." (via Daze Reader)

The Medieval Macabre Gallery and Grotesque, Marvellous And Monstrous Images. (latter via iconomy)

Propaganda leaflets from the Vietnam War.

Someone's turned their llama barn into an outsider art gallery: "We have a different situation than most galleries as there are llamas wandering in and out all of the time. They are rather critical of some of the paintings, judging by the green spit on some of them. Another problem we have is that a few of our llamas love to chew on the paintings....To stop the llamas from eating the paintings, we spray the paintings occasionally with a mixture of water and llama droppings. This works quite well, even though it may be construed by some as a comment on the quality of the art."

2003-06-02T17:46:00.000-04:00

Quickly, before Blogger betrays me once more

Peter Max's tennis shoes.

The Internet Museum of Flexi/Cardboard/Oddity has a nice collection of odd records, like these record stamps from Bhutan, yodeling hankies and that #1 smash hit from 1968, "Nixon's the One".

BDSM on a budget.

Dicks. (via dangerousmeta)

Kids from Cleveland High School take on the masters. I kinda liked Corey's Picasso and Xochitl's Kahlo.

A history of pop-up and moveable books.

Macrame owls.

Twists, Slugs and Roscoes: A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang: "You dumb mug, get your mitts off the marbles before I stuff that mud-pipe down your mush--and tell your moll to hand over the mazuma."

Parisian metro entrances by Hector Guimard. (warning: site loads very slowly and is in French).

Find out what your name would be in Latin.

Imagery from the history of medicine. (via Sensible Erection)

Tokens and Treasures: Gifts to Twelve Presidents. Pretty San Francisco for Hoover, kickass boots for Ike, but Bush Sr. was gifted with this scary chair.

Drawings done with the non-dominant hand. The first one is amazing.

The Artist's Inner Vision tarot and The Playing Card Project. (latter via The Solipsistic Gazette)

Fantasy coffins from Ghana. (via Grow-a-Brain)

The World's 100 Best Real People Websites. Oh, that title just killed me dead, it did.

You in 1905: "Get a snapshot of your life as it might have been had you been living in Britain 100 years ago"...based on gender and father's occupation. (via The Presurfer)

2003-05-31T16:49:00.000-04:00

Dreams walking in broad daylight

Robots are always fun.

Interesting article from The Guardian: "Some critics...got so irritated by Gould's singing that they dismissed his seminal recordings of Bach's Goldberg Variations and Partitas...But was Gould's singing - and is the humming of pianists in general - an embarrassing encumbrance, even a sign of mental instability, or might it be inseparable from the expressiveness of their playing? " (via ArtsJournal)

The Guitar is Art. (via J-Walk) and South African oil can guitars.

Fluxus manifesto and history.

Van Gogh's letter sketches and illustrated letters by others; Ray Johnson; artistamps and Dia de Los Muertos artistamps; collage postcards; mail art envelopes; eraser carvings and rubber stamps; "The Devil's Picturebook" playing cards; paper penguins; The Naked Gaymes; Mona Lisa (warning: midi) and Rt. 66 mail art; Monster Behind The Door.

Also, Australian censored letters and the Postal Censorship site.

A collection of artists' books. May be worthwhile to poke around a bit, while you're there.

Cynical children's books here and here. (first link via The Presurfer)

The Pope on coke.

Surreal photographs of figurines of Japanese authors (more midi goodness). (via Geisha Asobi)

Sewers of the World, Unite! Artists' riffs on the manhole cover, real Japanese ones. (last via Sensible Erection)

Nikki S. Lee, camouflage artist. (via Grow-a-Brain)

Shoebox sculpture. (via obliterated)

The Doomsday Diet: "The following conditions will probably prevail in the event of a nuclear attack. Fresh milk will be impossible to obtain and canned evaporated or dry powdered milk must be substituted. Fresh eggs will be scarce. Since chickens have great tolerance for radiation, fresh eggs will probably be one of the first staples available after a nuclear attack."

Propaganda leaflets from WWII.

"Wants pawn term, dare worsted ladle gull hoe lift wetter murder inner ladle cordage, honor itch offer lodge, dock, florist. Disk ladle gull orphan worry putty ladle rat cluck wetter ladle rat hut, an fur disk raisin pimple colder Ladle Rat Rotten Hut."

2003-05-29T16:50:00.000-04:00

Fiddle faddle

New Russian media: drink labels, lapel pins, monuments and posters. (via The Solipsistic Gazette)

The Cross Subject Gallery. Interesting stuff, including pics and articles about cross tattoos, why Chick-fil-A closes on Sundays, sculpture, government posters, the Cross man and more.

Microcars on cards.

Drawings of Prodigies: "As curious a collection of Anomalous Humans as one is ever likely to see gathered together on these shores! They are pronounced by all who see them as the Greatest Curiosities in Existence! This Congress of Oddities awaits your intimate and learned inspection!" (via The Presurfer)

Also, 19th Century Medical Curios.

To The Hilt: "Being the definitive website on the history, traditions and performance of the perilous art of sword swallowing."

The liger? The wolphin? Cross-breed animals. (via Plep)

Figurative Mixed Media Sculpture. Especially this gallery, and this one, and this, and these.

Photographs of dead birds.

Aircraft nose art from World War II, the Korean War, Royal Canadian nose art, the pinup influence. Lots more here.

Japanese kites. (via Geisha Asobi)

Kodak girls: images of female photographers.

I love this site so much. Get an apology, look at chewed-up gum, knock down teddy bears, make some music, or just do a little dance. Lots and lots and lots more.

A handlebar mustache gallery. (via Grow-a-Brain)

Famous asthma sufferers.

2003-05-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

Erratic excursions

Every American born will need...846 lbs. of zinc?

The Lost Synagogues of Detroit: "They are beautiful. They are poignant. In their totality the former synagogues of Detroit outline a once closely knit neighborhood from the days when Detroit was a conglomerate of vibrant immigrant and ethnic communities, of a time when families walked to places of worship which stood in the midst of their neighborhoods."

Photographs of outdoor art by Cleveland artist, Scott Radke.

Portraits of Chairman Mao. I liked this one. (via obliterated)

Lovely little carved fruit pits. (via The Presurfer)

Mechanical Marvels of the Nineteenth Century: History of robots in the Victorian era.

Creativity with weiners. Which reminds me: Penis Origami. (via Geisha Asobi & Sensible Erection, respectively)

A gallery of candy cigarette packages.

Drawings by comic artists of cliffs and jars. (via iconomy)

Calculate how much money you spend on drugs and booze each month.

A website about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Includes articles, player biographies, photographs, rosters, etc. More bios and photos here.

How to Name Your Emo/Post-whatever Band: Formula C (Unusual male/female name) + 'of' +
(Noun/verb, usually something odd) = '13 Degrees Of Larry'

Crepuscular rays and anticrepuscular rays.

I thought this collection of chants, jump rope rhymes, and clapping games would make me all nostalgic, but it actually just reminded of how disturbing childhood is in reality.

Last Words: A collection of famous last words, epitaphs, obituaries, farewells and last stands. Poor Eugene O'Neill, "Born in a hotel room--and God damn it--died in a hotel room."

2003-05-25T16:10:00.000-04:00

Brain stew

A brief history of spirit photography, and a gallery of pictures.

The Art of Shoplifting: "Shoplifting is a topic that is practically relevant to many and it should therefore not become an exclusive craft confined to a small shoplifting elite. On the contrary, shoplifting is an art that deserves the widest possible dissemination. For your convenience we have printed below a step by step guide to shoplifting. Good luck."

A phrenological chart and images.

Russian desk games of the 19th century.

A small collection of Polish circus posters.

GPS drawings: "GPS Drawing is about recording lines using one's journey as a mark making medium. The GPS receiver automatically records your journey like a geodesic pencil." (via obliterated)

Stained glass windows by Marc Chagall.

The Bromoil Homepage: "Bromoil combines the skills, nuances and attibutes of fine art photography,
printmaking and painting. This historic process is truly a happy marriage of craft and art." Some very cool stuff in the members' gallery. I just wish the images were a bit bigger. (via Grow-a-Brain)

Instant Sensual Karma: "This time you brought someone the unmistakable sensation of explosive urination right in the middle of a 'moment of silence' at a state funeral."

"Oh my God! There's an axe in my head!" (via Sensible Erection)

Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories.

"The Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch Hammer), first published in 1486, is arguably one of the most infamous books ever written...It served as a guidebook for Inquisitors during the Inquisition, and was designed to aid them in the identification, prosecution, and dispatching of Witches...It set into the general Christian consciousness, for all time, a belief in the existence of witches as a real and valid threat to the Christian world. It is a belief which is held to this day."

Female merit badges. (via geisha asobi)

The Silicon Zoo, teeny-weeny pictures of animals on silicon computer chips. (via Metafilter)

Unsettling flash at r-a-n-d-o-m. (via iconomy)

2003-05-23T17:10:00.000-04:00

To see your shoes and your spirits rise

Aubrey Beardsley's "Salome".

And Art Nouveau doors.

Mermaids sculpted out of sand.

"Les Grimaces", "Statuaire" and "L'ataque". More at Dididuc.

Needlework after Pablo Picasso.

Cereal box fan art.

"Trepanation is the oldest surgical procedure practiced by mankind. The earliest evidence of trepanation dates back 10,000 years." Trepanation related artwork, interesting articles, pictures and bios of people who've had the procedure done, and even a coloring book!

How to create a Golem. (via Metafilter)

Freakshow In My Pocket is quite freaky indeed. (via iconomy)

Chinese paper cuts and Mexican papel picado and Polish wycinanki and Jewish ketuba and Japanese kirie and German scherenschnitte. (most links via this page)

Info. about the symbolism of Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs.

Hello Kitty: variations on a theme and Hello Tarot. (via quasimeta).

The antique vibrator museum. (via Plep)

Really terrible projector humor from Hewlett-Packard.

A guide to indie rock hairstyles. (via Gawker)

Tales of Mere Existence. Funny comics and little Quicktime clips. I especially liked "Horny" and "Pickle".

2003-05-21T17:36:00.000-04:00

And I'll meet you at the station

How to become a werewolf: "DISCLAIMER: If you choose to follow one or more of the instructions on this page, you're doing that on your own risk. I cannot be held responsible for eventual side-effects, loss of money or property, loss of humanity or death itself." (via The Presurfer)

Check if it's going to be a bad hair day. Sorry, the U.S., little bits of Canada and the top of Mexico only. [warning: loads rather slowly]

Karagoz: Shadow theatre in Turkey.

Pics of 'latrinalia' around Tokyo, MIT, a lot more here, and another one here. And it looks like someone's trying to put together a coffee table book.

The Chairman Smiles: Posters from the former Soviet Union, Cuba and China.

The Knockoff Project. [warning: zillions of images on one page] (via iconomy)

A gallery of antique police photographs.

Whaletooth scrimshaw.

Some really nice optical illusions. (via Plep)

Terrifically bizarre wax anatomical models.

A collection of swizzle sticks.

Paul's dead? (via Grow-a-Brain)

Pick up some ancient rude words at The Charles Bukowski Center for Classical Latin Studies.

Spank the naughty secretary. (via Sensible Erection)

P.S. The 'J' doesn't stand for Jonathan, silly :)

2003-05-19T15:07:00.000-04:00

Nicht, Nien, Frankenstein!

The Favorite Poem Project: "Robert Pinsky, the 39th Poet Laureate of the United States, founded the Favorite Poem Project shortly after the Library of Congress appointed him to the post in 1997. Since its launch, the Favorite Poem Project has been dedicated to celebrating, documenting and promoting poetry's role in Americans' lives." Includes RealVideo clips of people reciting their favorite poems and a favorite poem database. (via plep)

Library cats from around the world! (via iconomy)

Odd Books has some fun things to read, including silly poems about constipation and breastfeeding, pages dedicated to obscure writers, and reviews of well, odd books (including this wacked-out specimen).

Bad Porn Scrapbook. [warning: highly unerotic nudity] (via Sensible Erection)

Bible-Approved vs. Bible-Forbidden Undergarments. Will your knickers send you to the lake of eternal fire?

And for the gents, Vintage Skivvies.

A 3-D recreation of The Beatles' roof-top performance of "Get Back". Kickin'. (via Grow-A-Brain)

Nerd gym. (via Geisha Asobi)

The Miracle of Dolphin-Surfing: "The marine deities and sea gods that ride on the backs of fishes or dolphins are embodiments of freedom of movement in the water; or metaphorically, of universal possibility. Adapting to the spirit of the times, the elegant exercise of surfing has replaced the simple action of riding a marine creature. Paradoxically, however, this miracle has not always figured in the curriculum at Valhamönde because the instructors were divided. Those responsible for course content felt that, aside from athletic ostentation, surfing monks would impress very few people in the age of jet skis and waverunners." (via dirty beloved)

A collection of poison bottles.

Photographs, postcards and stereoviews of Tunnel trees.

Someone who loves slurpees a lot. A whole lot.

Wonderful posters by Eduardo Munoz Bachs, 'el maestro del cartel cubano de todos los tiempos'.

Her-cu-nut gives me the giggles. And he's only $8! More Folk Nuts.

2003-05-17T15:20:00.000-04:00

Diversionary measures

Lego sculptures by Henry Lim. His works include incredibly detailed mosaics, sculptures and even a working harpsichord!

"Wigs, Coifs and Other Idiosyncrasies of English Judicial Attire". Another article on the same subject at the NY Times (reg. req'd).

A gallery of Gustave Doré biblical illustrations .

A gallery of Hans Bellmer's photographs of dolls, a small collection of prints and an article about the artist.

Photographs of gargoyles from around the world. More gargoyles here

An illustrated glossary of architectural terms for cathedrals.

Chinese pop posters. (via gmtPlus9)

The RMS Titanic's dinner menus.

The food timeline.

Super neato: The Simpsons...if they mated. Lisa + Milhouse = haha. (via Milk and Cookies)

We may have art in our house that we are unaware of! (via obliterated)

Things that look like monsters. More cute, funny drawings and such at have some hats.

Textile postage stamps.

A picture guide to the changing face of Barbie over the years.

Crackpots & Visionaries Card of the Day! (via The Ultimate Insult)

2003-05-15T17:29:00.000-04:00

I say go, go, go!

Laver's Law: a timeline of style.

Parodies of Grant Woods' famous "American Gothic". (via iconomy)

The Gentleman's Page: A practical guide for the 19th century man.

A gallery of illustrations from The Divine Comedy. (via Sensible Erection)

The revolutionary art of Peru.

Soap that will never, ever be used for washing anything.

Guerilla Parenting. (via b3ta)

Bagpipe paintings and etchings.

Galleries of miniature shoes.

Images from the Ophthalmodouleia Das ist Augendienst. (via Incoming Signals)

Kaodashi Signboards.

Really terrific student artwork from the Sriwittayapaknam school (a real school, not a style of art). The recycled and paper art are particular highlights.

A history of paper dresses.

Mount Zion sepulchral portraits. (via The Solipsistic Gazette)

LSD blotter art.

2003-05-12T19:28:00.000-04:00

Understand we'll go hand in hand

"Chronophotography is the name Étienne-Jules Marey (1882) uses to describe the time (chronos) photographs of movement sequences..." (via The Apothecary's Drawer)

Instructions on how to make your own King Tut ceremonial death mask out of paper.

Edgar Governo, Historian of Things That Never Were. (via things mag)

A gallery of antique mouse and rat traps.

Favorite soups of the stars.

What are you? (via Sensible Erection)

Visual poetry at The Gates of Paradise. (via Metafilter)

Uh-oh...Shoe-size, Penis-size conversion charts. (via Cup of Chicha)

Tourorism.

Writers reading aloud.

SongMeanings: Submit and comment on song lyrics.

Create your own band online! (via Fimoculous)

Boyzz: Nude weirdness and a kicky little tune. (via Geisha asobi)

2003-05-10T19:54:00.000-04:00

Why is the path unclear?

Mary Read and Anne Bonny, Pyrates!

Cool idea: Echocloud is a music recommendation engine. Type in a favorite band and get back a list of groups you'd probably also enjoy. (via Reenhead)

Soviet Patriotic Music has lyrics and mp3s for all your favorite Red anthems. "Debout! les damnes de la terre/ Debout! les forcats de la faim!" (via memepool)

The Surgery of Ancient Rome: a display of surgical instruments from antiquity. Eek...the speculum shivers me timbers. (via Sensible Erection)

A detailed listing of calories burned during various sex acts.

Mystery books. (via iconomy)

"Sylvia Plath Stuck Her Head in an Oven . . ." & Disturbing Deaths in the Literary World.

Hell: A Biblical Description.

And, 211 Euphemisms for Death.

A Dictionary Of All-Consonant Words.

Simon Swears, now available in English, German, French, Portugese, Russian, Japanese and French Canadian. (via b3ta)

Web zen. (via Cup of Chicha)

How to make your own hooves.

The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

Funky clocks. (via Boing Boing)

66 Polaroids That Never Existed. (via Speckled Paint)

2003-05-09T14:34:00.000-04:00

Where do we go from here?

How to make a grass couch.

The Hans Holbein Dance of Death.

Strange Sisters: An archive of lesbian paperback artwork from the 1950s and '60s.

The Aberdeen Bestiary. (via The Apothecary's Drawer)

A gallery of mechanical automata. (via Sharpeworld)

Joseph Wu's origami page has articles, galleries, links and even tutorials on the ancient craft.

Hand-carved emu eggs. (via Speckled Paint--is it really over?)

"The Art of Urban Warfare (AUW) is a game that is played in the streets of our cities...promoting the movement of street interventions
in the name of art...The streets belong to us. Victory is in reach."

Treefiti: Fight the power...by, erm...attacking trees?

Mythical Plants of the Middle Ages.

The Table of Condiments that Periodically Go Bad.

A rather comprehensive site with pictures and information about products made from bakelite and plastic.

When I Was Little: The Baby Picture Project. (via Geisha asobi)

The Weekly's Hurrah/Bah archives are good for a giggle: "I am a whimsical fiction. I see you, reader."

2003-05-04T19:10:00.000-04:00

Oh, the places you'll go!

Food-Eating Battle Monkeys! I'm a gruel-eating cave monkey myself. (via Plep)

The sad tale of Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse.

Suicidal Mickey Mouse comic strips. (via Speckled Paint)

The Tacky Postcard Archive. I want to send 'Dance of the Diapered Nihilists' to my parents, for obvious reasons.

A terrific flash movie for The Beatles' "I'm in love with her (and I feel fine)." (via Sensible Erection)

"Imagine that the history of the universe is compressed into one year—with the big bang occurring in the first seconds of New Year’s Day, and all our known history occurring in the final seconds before midnight on December 31."

Coool...the World Processor. (via Geisha Asobi)

Vicar-sniffing: "Delightfully dusty. Hairpiece adhesive. Peppermints."

Panic Encyclopedia: The definitive guide to the postmodern scene.

And the postmodernism generator.

Gum wrapper origami. (via The Ultimate Insult)

The Angel Tour has all kinda of fun stuff including a gallery of Charlie's Angels logos, screen captures, instructions on how to replicate the hairstyles, and even a page with pictures of 'counterfeit' Angels.

A Flash juggling sim. (via Milk and Cookies)

Some nicely cheesy thrift store album cover art here.

Speaking of cheesy...

Get slap happy.

2003-05-03T12:54:00.000-04:00

We can go where we want to...

CarLiving.com: the survival guide to living in a vehicle. (via The Presurfer).

How to make your very own flogger. [warning: mature content.]

Needlepoint frogs.

LP covers done in cross stitch

Cool idea: "Art*o*mat machines are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to vend art. Currently, there are 49 active machines in museums and various locations throughout the country." (via memepool)

"Oh please draw me a rubbish monkey?"

Lamp doodles.

Body Play...not for the faint of heart.

Some funky purses, or 'Mixed Media Wearable Sculpture', if you want to be snooty about it. (via reenhead)

A gallery of origamic architecture.

The art of the illustrated letter. (via Cup of Chicha)

These lucky kids got to make edible sculptures for homework.

I hope they didn't repay the favor by giving their teacher a cheesy gift.

A gallery of amazing vegetable and fruit carvings.

The Delphion Gallery of Obscure Patents. (via Speckled Paint)

You can do anything at Zombo.com, anything at all!

2003-04-27T14:11:00.000-04:00

A sea of troubles

Friendly dictators trading cards.

Propaganda stamps.

"Was there a time or place in history in which censorship did not exist? Was there ever a group of human beings that was able to survive without censure?...Despite the impossible nature of attempting to define censorship, The File Room is a project that proposes to address it, providing a tool for discussing and coming to terms with cultural censorship."

A mutual fund catering to the unethical investor. (via Sensible Erection)

More fodder for the revolution: the CEO Wealthmeter.

"They Rule is a website that allows you to create maps of the interlocking directories of the top 100 companies in the US in 2001." The map with the seven most powerful people in America was particularly eye-opening.

Forbes lists the fifteen wealthiest fictional characters. (via LinkMachineGo)

Apocalypse soon?

Apocalyptic Dreaming provides a forum for exploring the ways in which fears of a cataclysmic end have permeated our collective psyche.

Learn about nuclear blast 'zones of destruction' here.

A picture history of death.

Confess your sins, before it's too late.

Atheist: the game. (via BoingBoing)

Gangrule.com "is a historical look at the emergence of organized crime since 1890. The site has a database of known gang members, historic events and family histories, along with photographs, newspaper cuttings and official documents." (via thingsmagazine)

A Freedom Fighter's Manual en Español, con dibujos!

"Scorpio: You are shrewd in business and cannot be trusted. You will achieve the pinnacle of success because of your total lack of ethics. Most Scorpio people should be stamped on with hiking boots." More brutal horoscopes here. (via Sensible Erection)

2003-04-24T17:40:00.000-04:00

Existential lemonade

"Son of a gun"...Nautical expressions in the vernacular.

A Bruce Lee Stamp Collection. (via Sharpeworld)

Films about tough Jews.

Arrr, What be yer pirate name? (via Reenhead)

Ominous needlepoint.

Instructions on how to make your very own sock monkey and sock elephant.

Another person with far too much time (and legos) on his hands... (via everlasting blort)

Clayton G. Bailey's website features some nifty folk/outsider art, as well as his own sculptures. Some highlights include The Crimefighter (a full-sized suit of armor for the devil), face jugs, A Visit To The Dentist, and A Coin Operated Electric Chair.

Road Side Memorials.

"Hello Jesus™ is the friendly little savior who brings joy to the young in heart. Hello Jesus™ is living in a kingdom of fun and play. I never wish to displease Him!" (via Sensible Erection)

How to make a Dadaist poem.

Puppet tool...rather disturbing, actually. And yes, there is a naked woman. (via b3ta)

From An Introvert's Lexicon: "Alone, adj.

Extrovert's def.-- Lonely.

Introvert's def.-- Enjoying some peace and quiet." (Amen)

2003-04-22T19:17:00.000-04:00

Oh, what can it mean?

An illustrated guide to sculptural forensics, the art of head reconstruction.

Printing techniques. (via Sensible Erection)

"It's all lost and stoof."

Fashion tips from The Flightless Hummingbird.

All sorts of lovely and curious things at Grand Illusions, including Roman photography, magic mirrors, dual sculptures and nifty optical illusions.

A-kam-beh! (via Quasimeta)

About Wiley Brooks: "A Breatharian is a person who can, under the correct conditions, live with or without eating food. Wiley was first introduced to the world back in 1981 when he appeared on the national TV show "THAT'S INCREDIBLE" demonstrating his strength by lifting 1100 lbs of weights, nearly 10 times his body weight. When in a non-polluted environment, (Air or Electro) he sleeps 1 to 7 hours a week. Although Wiley is now 66 years of age he is still able to lift 600 to 900 lbs of weight without ever working out."

He really loves his toys. (via The Excitement Machine)

A small collection of satiric postcards from the early 19th century.

From Lileks, The Orphanage of Cast-Off Mascots.

Who were you in a past life? An Australian watchmaker, apparently.

From the SAQ, the answer (kinda) to the famous Zen koan: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" (via Geisha Asobi)

Nebuchadnezzar! The Bible Pronunciation Guide (via The Ultimate Insult)

Arsole, Dickite, Moronic Acid, Draculin...Molecules with Silly or Unusual Names. (via everlasting blort)

"We didn't start the fire..." (via Metafilter)

2003-04-20T15:19:00.000-04:00

Chewing gum for the eyes

Oooh...sexy: the erotic art of ancient Rome.

A gallery of Presidential portraits...done by Neo-futurists. (via reenhead)

Vertigo: Then and Now. (via Sharpeworld)

Images in Practice seeks to "promote image centred learning" Loads of cool stuff to check out, including cute animations of famed mathematician Pythagoras, exhibitions of student work, and images of everything from war bangs to dirty dolls.

Vagina paintings. (via milkandcookies)

Stinkbombs, Jacques Derrida impersonators, government conspiracies and smoked mackerel--"Never, ever pick a fight with a surrealist."

A weird and lovely Bosch flash game thingy. (via The Presurfer)

Artcars in Cyberspace, the Artcar Museum (via memepool) and a few pictures of cars painted by Cuban artists.

A gallery of match label artwork (via The Excitement Machine) and a gallery of cigarette rolling papers. (via Speckled Paint)

Stuckism: "Radical international art movement for contemporary figurative painting with ideas. Anti the pretensions of conceptual art. Anti-anti-art. The first Remodernist art group." (via artnotes)

Pictures of Japanese Ningyo, a short history, illustrated articles about the various types, and a journal.

Deathmasks: Mahler, Wagner, Gericault, Newton, Voltaire, Dante, Joyce, Grant, Cromwell, Swift, Hitchcock, Napolean I, Agamemnon, Tutankhamen, Henry IV, Chopin, Mozart, Edison, Pushkin, Keats, Dillinger, Kelly, Berlioz, Pascal, Lincoln, Beethoven, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Stalin, a gorilla.

2003-04-18T14:34:00.000-04:00

Lighthearted calamnity

Praise be. (via Quasimeta)

A gallery of Depression-era art.

Horrors of war trading cards. (via Incoming Signals)

"Corporate Mascots: Their Stunning Secrets Revealed".

"You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake." (via MilkandCookies)

Chunkiest NYC neighborhoods. (via Gawker)

The Gothic Lolita.

Scary German money.

"Are your parents making you clean your room? Wash your face? Put clothes in a hamper? Nobody should have to live with that kind of abuse...run away." More reasons to run away here.

Way Too Personals...for the desperate loser in us all.

How to be a good housewife, in 18 easy steps: "A good wife always knows her place."

A little flash game to get you in the mood for Easter. (Not for the easily offended.) (via Sensible Erection)

And if you enjoyed that last link a bit too much...Which Enemy of the Christian Faith Are You?

Cooking for losers. (via things mag)

Some guy tries to give his cat an enema, hilarity ensues. And he has even more fun stories, complete with lovely illustrations. (via b3ta)

2003-04-14T16:08:00.000-04:00

The same thing we do every night...

MasterEvilGenius.com has specs for building your very own Alterium Trace Manifold! Whatever that is!

Peter's Evil Overlord List offers common sense advice for the would-be evil overlord: "If it becomes necessary to escape, I will never stop to pose dramatically and toss off a one-liner."

Similarly, a guide to minions, henchmen and assorted goons.

And there's "If I Became The Hero's Sidekick"

Feeling lazy? The Evil Plan Generator makes world domination a snap!

'Hungerdrool'? The Evil Name Generator.

Strike back at your enemies, the passive-aggressive way...Digital Voodoo. (via Sensible Erection)

U.S.-friendly dictators trading cards. (via Incoming Signals)

Kinda off-topic, but some fun Terminator/Jane Austen fan fic (via Daze Reader)

2003-04-12T11:50:00.000-04:00

In da house!

Paintings done on a PalmPilot. Bitchin'. (via Memepool)

Nobody ever says, "When I grow up, I wanna be a Mascot."

Horror monster trading cards. (via Sensible Erection)

A great thread at Metafilter about movie one-liners.

The 'Clan of Psychogods' has a nice ring to it...The Superhero/Supervillain Organization Generator.

Tips on looting, from a professional: "Achmed, I know we're part of the party militia right now, but if something, well, you know, happens... will you loot with me?"

Really Bad Country Song Titles (via The Presurfer)

This month's Samson. More manly, long-haired men here.

According to Norman Mailer, Jonathan Franzen lives in Wonkville Hollow, large ideas never bothered Truman Capote and D.H. Lawrence is "Hitler in a teapot". More here. (via Arts Journal Daily)

There is no way to adequately capture this page in words. (warning: loud audio) (via Backwash)

Newsflash: God created the world while, erm, polishing the monstrance. (via Holy Weblog!)

Donald Rumsfeld on dirty talk: "Dirty talk is just like normal talk, except dirty. Your wife wants dirty talk, so give her dirty talk. Something like, "Those breasts are first-rate," or "I am going to give you a darned good orgasm," or, if she likes the rough stuff, "I'll tell you this, I am about to give you the business and I don't want to hear any guff about it." (via Gawker)

2003-03-15T16:46:00.000-05:00

One for the road

Cat Bathing as a Martial Art.

This gallery of unusual musical instruments has pictures, information and even short sound clips. Just really cool pieces of art: the Serpent, the Stamenphone, the Pikasso. (via Sensible Erection)

Which celebrity with a deathwish are you? (via Backwash)

Very, very, very sketchy. (via Dave Barry)

Speaking of...Disney secrets is a very interesting (and possibly lawsuit-worthy) site. (via Milk and Cookies)

America's Biggest Readers. (via Arts & Letters Daily)

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here's a little something from the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: "Irish Assurance: a bold forward behaviour: as being dipt in the river Styx was formerly supposed to render persons invulnerable, so it is said that a dipping in the river Shannon totally annihilates bashfulness; whence arises the saying of an impudent Irishman, that he has been dipt in the Shannon."

Librarian Avengers: Damn you, acidic paper!

And Revolting Librarians! (via memepool)

Social theorist trading cards. (via Incoming Signals)

Someone thinks there are Subliminal messages on soda labels.

Bum wines. (via Metafilter)

A gallery of belly dancing LPs.

Evil on a Budget...or how to threaten the free world on fifty dollars a day: "Over the past few decades, the cost of effective villainy has skyrocketed, outpacing the Dow, the Consumer Price Index, and even health insurance. These days it's hard to find a secluded mountaintop or isolated island that hasn't already been covered with condos. All the really formidable-looking abandoned warehouses have been converted into high-priced lofts. And don't even think about finding a "fixer upper" castle for a reasonable price"

There's only one word that can sufficiently describe this: Awwwww!. (via The Excitement Machine)

2003-03-14T18:21:00.000-05:00

Lookit!

Saigon poster art. (via Metafilter)

Movie posters from Ghana. (via everlasting blort)

Some rather strange 3-D art, posted daily. (via Sensible Erection)

Fantastic Zoology has illustrations of the various beasties featured in J.L. Borges "Book of Imaginary Beings." It's just fun to look at the names: The Eater of the Dead, The Lamed Wufniks, The Monkey of the Inkpot.

"Henchman of Classic Horror" Trading Cards.

Cute dead guy of the week. (via Reverse Cowgirl)

For a mere £20, you too can adopt your very own pub-going local! (via New World Disorder)

Bad Tattoos. Damn, these really suck. (via Dimished Responsibility)

Plants in motion has beautiful time-lapse (Quicktime) clips of flowers blooming, vines twining around poles and sadly wilting leaves. (via The Excitement Machine)

More Lego perversion...Blockdeath: A Museum of Horrors.

A shoe house.

A homemade, child-sized Sherman tank. (via b3ta)

Things I've pushed through toast. (via Geisha Asobi)

2003-03-11T16:14:00.000-05:00

A simple prop to occupy my time

Rubik's cube art. (via Boing Boing)

"Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village consists of 33 structures mostly made of bottles and cement -- all on one-third of an acre....She started building in 1955 at the age of 62 and used over one million bottles throughout the Village. Her first bottle house was for her collection of 10,000 pencils. Then she built another for her doll collection." More bottle houses here

Mmmm...sandwiches. (via Milk and Cookies)

"Collect them all! Minimum Wage Barbie™, Welfare Barbie™, Shotgun Wedding Barbie™, Divorcee Barbie™...Buy the whole set and get Deadbeat Ken™ for free! More Barbie™-bashing here. (via The Presurfer)

Japanese baseball cards.

Don't like the view from your window? You can always make yourself a new one. (via Magnificent Obsessions)

Gothic homemaking and gardening tips.

Stamps. With pictures of dogs. Soviet dogs. In space. (via things magazine)

Roman Catholics sure do know how to party: the Feast of Asses, the Feast of Fools, the Feast of the Boy-Bishop.

The Sibl Project (Songs Inspired By Literature) seeks to "...use music as a vehicle to engage, inspire and reinforce the magic of literature and the power of reading." Okay, but seriously now--Paul Anka was inspired by Camus?

Modeled on the Internet Movie Database, the goal of the Internet Book List is to "introduce some much-needed idle browsing capabilities for books on the web". Great idea, but will it be as successful? (via Fark)

Face lifting. Eegads.

Gearheads customize their cars. Geeks customize their computers. Sweet!. (also via Boing Boing)

"Do men and women behave differently online? Can you tell who is a man and who is a woman on the Internet based on how they interact with others? " Check out the Turing Game and find out for yourself.

2003-03-08T19:49:00.000-05:00

And you may ask yourself--Well, how did I get here?

Primitive Ways is a site devoted to (duh) primitive technology and traditional skills. Learn how to start fires with ice, cook rice using a banana leaf and bamboo, or brain tan buffalo hides. Good stuff for tree-huggers, survivalists, and the merely curious. (via memepool)

Ouch around the world. Unfortunately, you have to download each sound file, but if you've got time to waste...

Whoo! Vintage video game cross-stitch! Yeah! (via Boing Boing)

The Royal Journal of Found Art. Highlights include: A Very Gay Shopping List, Nude Descending Turkey, Jamie Clemmons Sex Sticker, and The Thumbs Up Guy. (via The Presurfer)

Here's a whole lot of little...molded...thingies.

What's better than miniature seeing-eye horses wearing shoes? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Well, maybe this.

Secret Plot of the Muffler Men.

"Imagine an ordinary baseball...Now imagine that same baseball with coat after coat after coat of paint. Getting the picture? Good, because that's exactly what my wife, Glenda and I have done for the past 26 years. Now that ordinary baseball that once weighed less than one pound now weighs 800 pounds!" Okay! More big stuff here.

My Obsolete Bank Notes.

The Star of David Shuriken is the favorite weapon of famed Jewish ninja, Bruce Levi. (via Sensible Erection)

An article about punk porn.

A cool drawing toy thing. (via Geisha Asobi)

Mess around on the virtual theremin.

2003-03-07T20:15:00.000-05:00

From your head down to your toes

President Leslie Lynch King Jr? Famous name changes (via Plep)

Interesting Ideas: The Outsider Pages feature folk and primitive art (Check out the bottle cap art and soap chairs), while Roadside Art Online explores the fun kitsch that lines American highways. Nice!

Miniature trailer parks and actual trailer parks.

Amazing string art. (via Boing Boing)

"Have you ever lost a picture of yourself? Left a photobooth in a hurry? Jilted a lover? If you have, you might be here."

My Tissue Box Cover Collection.

The MegaPenny Project, for those of us who have ever wondered what one quintillion pennies looks like. (via Sensible Erection)

Feline and human age comparison.

And the postgame analysis: "In the Iraqi sixth, a double, single and a triple put the game out of reach of the team from Korea, who demonstrated little or no serious offense"--Cosmic baseball. (via Incoming Signals)

Which religion is right for my complexion? (via The Presurfer)

Highly disturbing...The Tongue Page. (via Milk and Cookies)

Reviews, pictures and ratings of various fruit.

The Robot Zoo. (via quasimeta)

Build your own superhero!

The Anal Breathing Method. No, seriously. (via everlasting blort)

2003-03-06T15:21:00.000-05:00

Go insane and out of your mind

A comparison of average IQs in various countries. (via Fark)

For all the hapless Finns out there, How to eat Muffins has instructions and diagrams! (via The Presurfer)

"I don’t wanna know about Matthew Barney’s anus / But lately that’s all anybody talks about." The newest hit single? (via Gawker)

Prof Quotes: ""If we do not speak ill of the dead, who will?" --Harold Bloom.

What Type of Punk Are You?

How good can a Vegetable Orchestra be anyway? (Reg. required)

"Volare! Oho! Cantare! Ohohohoh!" And that's probably the best any of us can do. (warning: audio) (via Sensible Erection)

"You love Chinese food"...My Unusual Chinese Fortune Cookie Collection.

The Online Virtual Prostitution Museum. Whoa! Brothels gave away souvenirs? (via MilkandCookies)

Rocky Horror Muppet Show. (via Boing Boing)

A nice gallery of voodoo dolls. (via Geisha Asobi)

A is for Apu, of course: The Simpsons Alphabet. (also via Fark)

Ghoti does not spell fish!

2003-03-05T16:48:00.000-05:00

Gonna make you, make you, make you notice

This is Death. He flosses regularly, gets calls from his mother, cheats at poker, and looks for love in all the wrong places. He's just this guy. (via Sensible Erection)

A nicely set-up site devoted to old postcards. (via thingsmagazine)

"Row, Row, Row your boat/ Gently down the stream/ Throw your teacher overboard/ And listen to her scream" More playground songs here. (via MilkandCookies)

"Natal bananas taste best!" Hehehehe...Banana boxes.

James Lileks on bad publicity. Particularly amusing was the blatant insinuation about Bob Hope. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The pirate image archive has the best pirate picture ever.

A different kind of crafts project. (via Metafilter)

Some amazing Japanese art dolls here, here, and here (Beware evil midi music!). Slightly more disturbing ones can be found here. (first link via Geisha Asobi)

A very interesting (and somewhat lengthy) essay on the evolution of magazine cover design. (via Quiddity)

In Passing..."I got attacked by a poet this morning."

.-//--/---/.-./..././/-/.-./.-/-./.../.-../.-/-/---/.-./ (via Incoming Signals)

A website devoted to the history of paint by numbers kits. And here's another site with articles, links and a gallery of paintings.

The Secret Life of a Squirrel: " I had promised myself to make serious progress on my winter hoard of chestnuts today, but the way I feel now, I'm like, 'Forget it.' "

2003-03-03T20:06:00.000-05:00

Rocket through the wilderness

Apparently, there are 58 people named 'George Bush' living in the UK. Heh.

Some really lovely stuff at this gallery of fine art dolls.

Fall fashion show invites. (via thingsmagazine)

Mod boy fashion tips.

Seventh graders figure out that scientists are people, just like you and me. The before-and-after drawings are just a bonus (Inexplicably menacing scientist was my fave).

You've probably forwarded one or two of these...The Hoax Photo Gallery. (via Sharpeworld)

You know Dr. Pepper, right? But what about Dr. Thunder? Or his fine colleagues, Dr. Whatever and Dr. Cheaper? More doctor sodas here. (via Consumptive)

The squished penny museum. Take a wild guess.

Tag! You're IT! (via Memepool)

The Big Myth is a collection of world creation myths done up in Flash. Fun but a little noisy.

A little picture to help you visualize the actual distance between the earth and the moon. Makes ya feel kinda lonesome, eh?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy quote generator! (via The Presurfer)

Finally, What type of indie fuck are you? (via Gawker)

2003-03-02T19:12:00.000-05:00

Just another manic Monday

FUZhatz. Whatever happened to tough?

Okay, here we go.

A new peripheral for your Mac...the iBrator. (via Geisha Asobi).

Nude! Hot! 100% Natural!

Someone's spent just a little too much time trying to figure out Superman's sex life. (via Boing Boing)

Goop: Sole in a Jar.

Sorta along the same lines as Lileks' Gallery of Regrettable Food....Family Indigestion.

Another magnificent obsession: The Mountain Dew Memorabilia Guide.

Freakish baby heads. (via Metafilter thread)

Buffy animated art. (via I Love Everything)

Toilet seat art.

Startling Conclusions:

"Eminem is losing his interest in auto and apparel brands.

Eminem has an increased interest in kitchen/household products; including Saran Wrap.

Weapons and pharmaceutical products are Eminem's top brand preoccupations.

39% of all Eminem's pharmaceutical references are to Tylenol."
(via Metafilter)

2003-03-01T14:30:00.000-05:00

Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe

Strange and lovely dioramas, mini viewing stones and more at the Zymoglyphic Museum.

Mr. Rogers: Zen Master. (via Fark thread)

"On June 17th, every year, the family goes through a private ritual: we photograph ourselves to stop a fleeting moment, the arrow of time passing by." (via MilkandCookies)

Customized Rubik's cubes here and here.

"It was the chess computer Deep Blue of its time, a turban-wearing automaton that defeated all comers." The Turk. (via Quiddity)

Victorian mourning etiquette.

The House of David baseball team--buzzcuts need not apply.

King's Evil, Putrid Fever, Sanguinous Crust, Summer Complaint...Archaic medical terms

Alembic. infernal stone, oleum dulce, quintessense of lead...obsolete 18th century chemical terms. While we're on the subject: The Alchemy Web Site.

Stacked books = new stories. (via things magazine)

"He who steals this book
may he die the death
may he be frizzled in a pan..."
Medieval book curses.

Teeny books.

You are a product. (via buffoonery)

Have a nice cup of tea with George Orwell. (also via Quiddity)

Caring for your introvert--Spot on. (via Metafilter)

Info. and pictures from the Codex Seraphinianvs.

Which science fiction writer are you? (via threerivertechreview)

2003-02-27T18:14:00.000-05:00

A sad day

"...you don't ever have to do anything sensational for people to love you. When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.

So in all that you do, in all of your life, I wish you the strength and the grace to make those choices which will allow you and your neighbor to become the best of whoever you are."

--Dartmouth commencement address.

2003-02-26T19:11:00.000-05:00

Dis, dat

Naughty origami. (via Milk and Cookies)

What do Connie Chung, Jean Chrétien and Harpo Marx have in common?

Ireland for dummies.

"Remote viewing is a novel perceptual discipline for gaining information not available to the ordinary physical senses. Used extensively by so-called "psychic spies" during the Cold War for classified military projects, it has a long history both as an intelligence gathering tool and as the subject of research and applications in the civilian world." More at the International Remote Viewing Association's website.

In other news, Katie finally got her vibrator.

1. begin blowing through your lips.
2. take a picture whilst still blowing.
3. send the picture to this guy. (via The Presurfer)

'Heeere, kitty kitty kitty.' (via Gawker)

Rocks shaped like shoes. (via Sharpeworld)

Scary: Testicle recipes.

Vintage television sets. (via Geisha Asobi)

Oh yes. Have some fun with The Economists. (via b3ta)

This is just really cool. (via The Presurfer again. Damn, he's good.)

Fun and games, pt. 1: Choose your own pirate adventure!

Fun and games, pt. 2: Alter Ego--What if you could live your life over again?

2003-02-25T18:34:00.000-05:00

Childish perversity

Tampon art. (via geisha asobi).

A robot gallery.

A Giant Robot Costume and robot sculptures (via Magnificent Obsessions)

Mmmm...puppy pie.

Pillow and Sheet Fort Wars! (via The Presurfer)

Check out this gallery of amazing treehouses. Then learn how to build your own with The Treehouse Guide.

Oh man--something that makes peeing in public even easier? There's even a version for the ladies.

A loving tribute to monsters. Includes pictures and information about zombies, fairies, freaks and even death itself.

Also, an encyclopedia of monsters, mythical creatures and fabulous beasts.

How Republican Are You?

Church of Satan founder, Anton LaVey's final interview in which he describes Sammy Davis Jr. as a "sensitive, articulate, and very Satanic individual", suggests that Jack London may have indulged in cannibalism, and talks about his research into android technology.

"Doing it with mom will take a little getting used to."--Radio commercial. Teenage immaturity = fun

Terrorize siblings, neighbors and significant others with a rubberband machine gun! (via Reenhead)

2003-02-22T16:03:00.000-05:00

Tastes great! Less filling!

BONEart: The artist's source for human bones. (via Sensible Erection).

The Bone Trade: "Corporeal memorabilia". Not for the squeamish.

Amazing portrait tattoos. (via Geisha Asobi).

The mysterious Mojave phone booth.

For the urban warrior, "Infiltration offers a mix of the practice and theory of urban exploration in areas not designed for public usage."

Another one from McSweeney's: All of Chewbacca's Dialogue in the Comic Book Version of The Empire Strikes Back.

Bert: The Rolling Stone interview.

Awww...a bloodthirsty pink bear! (via I Love Everything)

Liverpool's famous Banana-Dog sculpture.

A soulful (and comprehensive) tribute to Blaxploitation.

Tarot of the Blogger.

Brief articles and pictures of Joe Cocker's mom, David Crosby's dad and of course, The Jackson Five. More here.

Sex with cars. Hm. I don't think the word "sexy" can really be applied to a 1987 Buick Grand National. (via Milk and Cookies)

Student Poetry--in response to the Dead Poet's Society.

"Everything is gay and fresh
Everything is gay and fresh
I heard a little girl singing on the bus
I told her to be quiet
And she kicked me in the ass
...
It's all because of that little girl
Who doesn't take criticism well.
Next time I see her on the bus
I will kick her in the ass."

2003-02-21T18:43:00.000-05:00

And another thing

Forensic Aspects of Tattoos.

Japanese tattoos.

Smudges are creepy! Ghost web cams. (via dangerousmeta)

It's okay to be dull: The Dull Men's Club.

Good Death: "Falling into a black hole which crushes you to a near-singularity, so that you have to be buried in an incredibly tiny coffin that still takes six struggling pallbearers to lift".
Bad Death: "Being crushed by a bookcase, and some of the books fall open to reveal hidden pornography magazines, which you had no idea existed and were actually left there by the previous tenant".
More here.

Secret military codes discovered hidden in our road signs! (via New World Disorder)

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Sex. Not exactly comprehensive, but quality stuff, nonetheless. (via Dave Barry's Blog).

Brief articles about cannibalism, the Rapunzel Syndrome and more at Creepy Facts.

"It's not the men in my life, it's the life in my men." --Mae West. Chiasmus.

Also clever, but in a different way: Minims. (via Sensible Erection)

Online tarot card readings.

The Superbowl is gay! Everything is gay! Including my boyfriend! And Spiderman! (links via b3ta)

2003-02-19T18:14:00.000-05:00

It's the thing

Bzzzpeek: sound recordings of people from around the world mooing like cows and vrooming like cars. Fun! (via Diminished Responsibility)

Possible Follow-Up Songs For One-Hit Wonders

"Homo Sweet Homo". Subversive Cross Stitch. (via everlasting blort).

Something Awful's take on airtoons.

Nipple lightener, dog diapers, farty pants: The Museum of Weird Consumer Culture.

How to dress Emo. (via Sensible Erection)

For those days when you're feeling a bit smug...Things Other People Accomplished When They Were Your Age.

Let your inner child roam free. (via Metafilter)

What kind of sex toy are you? (via Dazereader)

Neato...A collection of magic spells.

Dirty! Roger's Profanisaurus. (via Scaryduck)

The Payphone Project. Take a wild guess.

This is just too funny. Um, maybe you should turn the sound down beforehand. (via Sensible Erection)

2003-02-17T16:20:00.000-05:00

POTUS!

Contrary to popular belief, George Washington was not our first President. Read more about The Forgotten Presidents.

"Uncle Jumbo"? Poor Grover Cleveland. More Presidential nicknames here.

Peanut farmer? Haberdasher? Rogue political activist? Presidents' Occupations.

Warren G. Harding: "Cox and Cocktails." WTF? A list of Presidential Campaign Slogans.

Presidential pay and perks.

What the hell is 'prune whip'? Another list of every President's favorite foods, heights and weights. Also, a list of pets, sports and hobbies.

The Presidents' signatures.

"...great presidents, besides being stubborn and disagreeable, are more extraverted, open to experience, assertive, achievement striving, excitement seeking and more open to fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas and values. Historically great presidents were low on straightforwardness, vulnerability and order." Uh-huh.

The infamous 20-year Jinx.

Secret Service Codenames. Cool.

Presidential sex scandals.

FDR was distantly related to 11 other U.S. presidents! More stuff about Presidential genealogy here.

Bust a move: the President Dance!

2003-02-15T18:52:00.000-05:00

Misc. etc.

Did you know you could use a tennis ball to stop snoring? Or that chalk repels ants and slugs? More "wacky" uses for common household products here.

Some kickass stencil graffiti.

Also very kickass: Pencil carving. (via Everlasting Blort)

Long Bets--Someone's already got $20,000 riding on this one. "A computer - or "machine intelligence" - will pass the Turing Test by 2029." (via buffoonery)

"What Dracula would say to his victims if he were the owner of the building in which I work whose name is Jay and who also happens to be Iraqi. Also: This is not meant as a racial slur, but a celebration of difference and idiosyncracy with the hope that people around the world will see how funny and wonderful Jay as Dracula is and put a stop to the possible war in Iraq." Phew! (via Excitement Machine)

The one, the only, the Tesh cam. (via Shift mag)

More things to look at.

Rolling Stone's 50 Best Album Covers. Um, whatever. Most of these album covers suck and the commentary is the usual lame, rock critic bull. Enjoy! (via Sensible Erection)

The Washington Post's Style Invitational asked people to write a very, very bad sex scene in a novel. Scroll about half-way down for gems like, "Wrapping his arms around her, he gently stroked her face..."

I had no idea they were different: The Visible Mars Bar Project. (via Pop Culture Junk Mail)

Ninjas 4 Hire--available for dismemberment, kidnappings, weddings, bar mitzvahs. Unleash a can of whoopass on your unsuspecting victim for only $40!

I guess kids who drop out of ninja school end up here.

I know where Bruce Lee lives. Unbearably cool flash thingy.

2003-02-12T15:15:00.000-05:00

Plagiarism or revolution?

Send art through the mail, and voila! Mail art

Dancing cranes. (via Boing Boing)

An overview of graffiti history and styles.

Look up some cool places to visit on your next vacation: The International Directory of Sculpture Parks and Gardens.

Claes Oldenburg's outdoor pop sculptures include Bat Column in Chicago, Clothespin in Philadelphia, and Cupid's Span in San Francisco. More information about Claes and his work at this excellent website.

And who could forget Christo? His latest project, "The Gates", in New York's Central Park, is scheduled for completion by February 2005. Another website devoted to this project.

Andrew Goldsworthy creates extraordinary works of art by using elements of the natural world: goose feathers, ice, twigs, leaves and pebbles. A short article and more pictures here.

Step away from the screen: Dirty mosaics.

Similarly, Bar Code Art. (via Sensible Erection)

Get the gig first, then make the demands.

Charles Webb wrote The Graduate but sold the film rights for a mere $18,000. Fred, his ex-wife, (Their divorce was due to "irreconcileable differences with the institution of marriage") shaves her head every day and has no last name. The "eccentric" couple have set up an award for "artists who are forced by society to behave like 'erratic weirdos'..."

Vincent van Gogh's letters. (via Metafilter)

Panties, loose elastic, celery, little dogs...The Peculiar Art of Arthur Frahm.

Beneath my feet. Photographs of some guy's feet.

And don't forget to vote in the 2003 Photobloggies.

2003-02-09T17:07:00.000-05:00

Lies! All lies!

A list of author pseudonyms. (via Metafilter)

Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens) on the "courteous lie" vs. the "brutal truth".

A lie generator.

"Hey, F/18/kALi*/blonde/blue/38DD here!" Chat Room Lies.

When Photoshopping goes baaaad...The Case Files of the Fake Detective. Warning: cheesy nudity ahead. (via Shift mag)

Who's had what done where: Plastic People Page.

How to lie like a politician. Similarly, the Fallacies List.

An investigation into the problem of false confessions, the Reid technique of interrogation, and at least one case in which the innocent 'confessed' to crimes they didn't commit. (via Sensible Erection)

2003-02-06T06:31:00.000-05:00

Distractions, Pt. 2

The Official Ramen Homepage

And you thought you'd seen all the porn the internet had to offer...MS Paint Porn.

Dog diapers. Now comes in models for both solid and fluid waste!

More scatology: How much is your poo worth?

Ted, meet Neo. Neo, meet Ted. Action Figure Theater.

Will someone please overthrow Jaime? He's ruled the universe for over five hours now!

Wrath of God. Punish away, Oh Great One.

The Ugly Mug Gallery. The last one is still giving me nightmares.

Is Prince Charles a shapeshifter? (via New World Disorder)

Check out freaky site referrals at Disturbing Search Requests. The horror.

Scandalous gossip, rumors and hearsay. God, I love the internet. (via Gawker).

Whoever thought of this is a genius. (via Fark thread)

The Google Dance. (via kuro5shin)

Learn all about the famous, northern Renaissance painting "Benjy the dwarf cops a feel" and other great works of art at The Museum of Depressionist Art.

Godawful Fan Fiction. Sample title: "Hermione and the Pizza Boy". Eek.

2003-02-03T18:17:00.000-05:00

Distractions

Lorem ipsum quia dolor...(via Reenhead)

Economy sucks, dollar's at a three-year low, everyone's getting laid off. These might just come in handy...Hobo Signs & Symbols.

A list of articles, stories and even poetry about Chuck Taylors.

Grover is Bitter: The Early Years

Michael Chricton is 6'10! WTF?

The History of Thongs.

"Sun is Real Culprit Responsible for Global Warming." It's like an article from The Onion...but it's not. So it's just sad.

Calculate your bra size.

Jesus winked at me!

Let's see, seven out of seven! I rock. The Seven Deadly Sins.

Sunset over Europe. (via Incoming Signals)

""The Halflings, cap'n, they will na take the strain" An amusing thread at The Straight Dope: If The Lord of The Rings had been written by someone else.... The Douglas Adams one is pitch perfect. (via Pop Culture Junk Mail)

Is Beck a Scientologist? Ho-ly shit.

Squirrel fishing. Yeah, Harvard.

"Swallow it all and be glad, for a shilling I've paid and a shilling's worth I'll be having!" The Victorian Sex Cry Generator. (via Buffoonery.org)

2003-02-01T07:25:00.000-05:00

Never, never land

Another one from The Straight Dope: Was the Pied Piper of Hamelin a child molestor?

Ever read "Where are you going? Where have you been?" by Joyce Carol Oates? (Recommended) I just found out that it was based on the true story of The Pied Piper of Tuscon.

"I'll take that one." During WWII, thousands of British children were separated from parents and placed with adoptive families in the safety of the countryside. More about Operation Pied Piper. (And, um, notice a trend?)

"Garden Gnome Waiting For Right Time To Kidnap Boy". Ah, Canadians do have a sense of humor.

Photographs by Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll). Yes, there's a few of Alice as well.

The case of the Cottingley Fairies. Also, transcripts of letters Arthur Conan Doyle sent to Elsie and Arthur Wright. And here's someone sticking up for the poor guy.

Real fairy clothing, made from flower petals, seeds, shells and feathers. Amazing!

Read side-by-side English and French versions of Oscar Wilde's "Salome".

Aubrey Beardsley.

Everyone goes through a Pre-Raphaelite phase.

Remember the dioramas you made for middle school science projects? Remember how lame they were? How very, truly lame? No, I don't think you do. Check out the miniatures and dollhouses on this guy made. Now revel in your pre-adolescent ineptitude. So lame. (via Boing Boing)

A bit about The Children's Crusade from The Medieval Sourcebook. Some more information here at the History Learning Site.

Kids can be so cruel...The Law of the Playground.. (via ScaryDuck)

Kumari: the living goddess of Nepal. Here's a photo gallery of a procession with the Kumari. And here's some information on Dashain.

Is ballet a form of child abuse?

And finally, a website devoted to Shel Silverstein's adult writings. (via memepool).

2003-01-29T19:12:00.000-05:00

How to waste time

Brush up on your pickup etiquette at BarBitches.com. (via Sensible Erection)

Here are some helpful suggestions on how to off yourself with "style and flare" [sic]. (via Spike mag)

No climbing in the window for me. Greg Miller's Guide to Lock Picking.

Things not to do on a unicycle. (via buffoonery.org)

This seems a bit counter-intuitive, but what the hell: How to shoot Candids.

A dumpster diving FAQ. Um, some people actually dive for food. Yum.

Hehe. His name is Dave Cummings. Hehe. How to be a porn star. (via Daze Reader)

The DIY Network.

Magic tricks for beginners. And don't tell anybody, 'cause then we'd have to kill you. With our magic. Yeah.

Detecting baloney with Carl Sagan.

How useful is this? The Interactive Stain Removal Chart

Michiko Kakutani rocks. Ace!

2003-01-23T19:14:00.000-05:00

Paranoid Planet

A step-by-step guide to ditching your boring life and setting up a new one. Includes tips on disguising yourself, destroying evidence of your old life, and what to do in the event of a manhunt. Keen. (via Follow Me Here)

Dean and Nigel Blend In! Um, kinda.

Fight the power: Illegal Art. (Or at least pretend you are by watching one of the neat-o videos.)

Despite what they would have you think, Dilbert is not your friend!

The Quotation Comparer at Big Picnic is kinda funny, but in a gut-twisting way. (FYI: The first quote is not from current President George Bush, but dear ol' dad. Make you feel any better? No? Okay, then.)

FBI files on dangerous, commie scum like Jackie Robinson and Pablo Picasso. Courtesy of the Freedom of Information Act.

A page with FBI files on cattle mutilations, UFOs, the enduring popularity of collagen, and other unexplained phenomena.

But wait, here's The Skeptic's Dictionary.

And The Museum of Hoaxes

Don't forget The Quackwatch Home Page

Classic Straight Dope, straight up: 'Do tinfoil helmets provide adequate protection against mind control rays?'

Afraid someone's looking over your shoulder? Try Ghostzilla--makes goofing off on company time much easier.

2003-01-19T20:01:00.000-05:00

Cleanin' out my (Favorites) folder

A photo of the mysterious visitor. (via Fark thread)

And a rather un-romantic element to the story. (Also via Fark thread)

Twenty things you must eat before you die. Erm, okay. (First link via Follow Me Here)

Mmmm...Czech absinthe.

A lovely collection of vintage bellydance photographs. (via Iconomy. Check out her own collection of vintage mermaid images)

The Contortion Homepage. Don't try this at home. Obviously. (via Mimi Smartypants)

Monobrow.com (via Bizarre Mag)

Graham Barker's Naval Fluff Page. Ew. (via Magnificent Obsessions)

The Big Nose Appreciation Society. I don't know about the gallery, though. Just 'cause you don't have a tiny, upturned snub doesn't mean your nose is 'big'. I know, I know--Whatever. (via Sensible Erection)

First it was mullets, then it was combovers, now it's all about feathered hair. (Last link via Diminished Responsibility)

Real men wear kilts. Actually, I kinda think they look cool. It's all about attitude, baby. (First link via BB Spot)

I knew those Canuck bastards were up to something! Thankfully, a certain group of patriots have set up counter operations. Vive le resistance! (via Bizarre Mag).

And to end on a completely useless note, Figure out how many socks you've worn in your life. (via everlasting blort)

2003-01-18T17:40:00.000-05:00

"I roam around around around around"

What's your Eurotrash rating?

The French were right all along: "Almost all British men gay, reveals new research".

A really cute, really funny song that I first heard over the holidays. Hilarious video.

Why everyone should ignore Jacques Derrida.

On a slightly more frivolous note, this page is all about the various Disney theme parks, complete with pictures and commentary. Best part is the author's look back at a childhood visit to Disneyland. I was born a few decades too late, but I still got fuzzy nostalgia for the sixties.

More mid-century nostalgia, courtesy of Roadside Peek (via Flip Flop Flyin')

Some unusual (and cool) city guides by Underbelly. (via Boing Boing)

Hitchhiking on the Net for stories, tips and advice from a seasoned hitchhiker.

"Fly like an eagle/ To the sea/ Fly like an eagle/ Let my spirit carry me..." Here's a beautiful little flash game for you. "...Fly right into the future." (via Fimoculous)

Taking pictures of people taking pictures. Can you stand the meta?

Internet Project 1: The Mirror Project. (via Magnificent Obsessions)

Internet Project 2: Random Access Memory (via Hairy Tongue)

Internet Project 3: Other People's Stories. (via Excitement Machine)

Internet Project 4: The Dead Letter Office. (via Sensible Erection)

Finally, throw off the shackles of your white oppressors! The Louis Farrakhan African Name Generator. (via Bizarre Mag)

2003-01-16T19:08:00.000-05:00

Bright lights, filthy lucre

World's most expensive cities (And the least expensive. But I don't foresee a tourist boom in some of these places.)

Celebrity or Look-alike?

I bet I could snap Brittany Murphy's legs like the twigs they are. While I'm on the subject, check out various celebrities' body fat indexes.

And, celebs eating. Cool. (via memepool)

Also, celebs looking normal. Meaning bad. Cooler.

Finally, drunk celebs. Coolest.

Find out what famous people are reading. Unsurprisingly, Keruoac, Hunter S. Thompson and Anne Rice are popular choices, though there are a few head-scratchers--Anthrax reads Bonfire of the Vanities? (via The Guardian)

A '70s Celebrity Portrait Gallery. My faves are the Art Nouveau Barbra Streisand (#12), that smug bastard, Chevy Chase (#50. BTW, he was kicked out of my school), a Magritte-like Telly Savalas (#146), psychedelic Ike and Tina (#4), and an oddly touching drawing of Nixon and Kissinger...together, at last! (#160)

John Cusack for President, seriously.

Things we've learned from the movies #35 "When they are alone, all foreigners prefer to speak English to each other." (via BBspot)

Enjoyably snarky coverage of "The Two Towers" London premiere.

The cast of "The Fellowship of the Rings", together and looking kinda weird.

Average faces are the most attractive, according to these researchers. (via Fark thread)

"A wimoweh, a wimoweh, a wimoweh, a wimoweh..." A familiar tale of exploitation, greed and copyright shenanagins. (via Metafilter)

Another internet project: All-Con$uming.com, a detailed listing of all the stuff some guy bought in 2001. (via LuLu mag)

Who would buy that? (via Magnificent Obsessions)
.
Tired of mindless consumerism? Take a break with Adweak and Adbusters.

2003-01-15T19:34:00.000-05:00

Dark days

The skinny on the evil eye

Awwww...Home Of The Cutest Antichrist.

Getting a real job doesn't mean you have to give up your goth ways: Corporate Goth

Oh yeah, Jesus was gother than you (via Canadian World Domination)

Another spin on the weblog: Trashlog

What's your prison bitch name? (via Bizarre Mag)

The Evil Clown Generator.

There's a lot of things you don't want to pick up from porn stars, and decorating tips is one of them: Obscene Interiors. (via Sharpeworld)

Professor by day, vigilante crime-fighter by night. (via Incoming Signals)

The Crime Clock.

Used mannequins. (via Huge magazine)

L.A. isn't all sunshine and botox: The Los Angeles Grim Society. (via Frugal Fashionista)

The Freakatorium, for all your side-show viewing needs.

Chastity belts, lesbian pulp fiction book covers, nude stereograms--Brian's Page of Antique Wierdness (via Bizarre Mag)

Jaw-droppingly bad art, with price tags to match. (via Something Awful)

And to cleanse the palate: Goreyography (via The Guardian)

Skulking around abandoned buildings = 'Forensic Archaeology'.

Abandoned Places. (via Morbid Fact Du Jour)

And similarly, The Marsden Archive. Really beautiful pictures of castles, gardens, gargoyles and graveyards. (also from Morbid Fact Du Jour)

The Andrew Dickson White Collection of Architectural Photographs is an online archive of 19th and early 20th century photographs of "architecture, decorative arts and sculpture." One of my favorites is called 'Bitonto, Palazzo Siros, Loggia dei rinasciment '. I think that translates into: Bitonto, Siros Palace, home of the Renaissance?

Some of the people who modeled for these are long dead, so I guess they can't all be called 'life masks' (via Incoming Signals)

The Unheard Beethoven. Cool. (via Magnificent Obsessions)

2003-01-14T16:15:00.000-05:00

Outrage fading to outright frivolity

Hell in a handbasket: The Secret War On Condoms

North Korea is Dark. (via Metafilter thread)

If you're still willing to throw money at the stock market, at least do it responsibly.

An old article in Discover explains the evolution of skin color. (via Liberal Arts Mafia)

Hidden bias? Why does the new contraceptive patch only come in one color? What about band-aids? Hey, change can be good.

Will all humans one day be the same color? An interesting (though probably questionable) answer from The Straight Dope.

On a sexier note (heh), the color of your panties reveals your deepest, darkest thoughts. I hope this is a mistranslation: "The brown colour is basically preferred by constraining women."

The Buffy sex chart. (via BB Spot)

WWJD? (via Daze Reader)

If you're not one for the whole messiah thing, but still need guidance, then here's advice from dead philosophers. (via Metafilter)

An oldie but a goodie: "Jean-Paul Sartre's Cookbook" (via Metafilter thread)

2003-01-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

Infomomation

The Vice Guide to Getting Beaten Up.

I've always wanted to learn how to confuse and annoy undergraduates.

I don't believe in Him but He seems like a pretty sensible fellow.

Joshua Norton (or Norton I) was the first and only Emperor of the United States. He issued his own money, ordered the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, dissolved the Democratic and Republican parties, and declared those who uttered the word "Frisco" to be guilty of a High Misdemeandor. Read about him here.

Another internet project: The Degree Confluence Project. "The goal of the project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location." The pictures are posted on the website, along with a kind of travelogue about each confluence. Neat!

Another internet project: The Quiet American. A sort of travelogue but with sound recordings rather than photographs. Encantada.

Useful French phrases. "T'as une tête a faire sauter les plaques d'egouts!"

Finally, a cute little flash game. Is the circle a hole, the moon or a bubble? (via MilkandCookies).

2003-01-09T19:04:00.000-05:00

"It's Shake 'n' Bake and Ah haylped!"

The actual words to "Auld Lang Syne". Here is an interesting article about the origins and evolution of the Robbie Burns poem upon which the song is based. And this page has a little translation of the lyrics into English! (Scroll down to the bottom of page.)

The Brunching Shuttlecocks rate New Year's Eve (that's Hogmanay to you, sir!) traditions.

If you didn't make it to Times Square, here's a nifty, 360-degree panorama of the festivities. (Scroll down a bit and click on the first link).

The Ladder Theory.

Everyone 'knows' by now that symmetry = beauty, but this company claims to have discovered the archetypal, "perfect face" (which they're trying to patent, of course). There's even a print out of the face so that you can do a comparison with your own. Don't everybody all run to the printer, now.

The Makeup Gallery has pictures of actors in makeup. Duh. But some really funny pics. Like some rather frightening attempts to make people look like Elizabeth I, and a gallery devoted to white women trying to look like brown women. Ugh. (via Sharpeworld)

Speaking of good (or bad, depending) makeup jobs, here's a little test. Can you tell which are women and which are transvestites?

I've heard people claim that men either don't care about armpit hair on women or find it sexy. I'm highly skeptical. And fairly repulsed.

I'm an INTJ. So's Cuba Gooding Jr., Jerry O'Connell and George Lucas. Damn!

The Celebrity Atheist List. (via Excitement Machine)

A quiz to determine which religion is best for you.

Another real life sim to get all obsessed about: Jennifer Government, a site where you can create your own nation. Not very interactive right now (you can make up to two decisions per day) and site is very slow because of all the people trying to log on. But it's worth a visit, if only to check out the bonehead mottos that people have made up for their countries: "Gareth is God." (via Metafilter)

Why do books cost so much?

This article explores the phenomenon of 'alliteracy'.

People 'rediscover' Beowulf all the time. Seamus Heaney wrote a translation that made it onto the bestseller lists. Now a Tolkein version has turned up. I think I prefer the illustrated Beowulf though. It has pictures, you see.

2003-01-07T15:42:00.000-05:00

"People are strange, when you're a stranger..."

You control the vertical. You control the horizontal. You also control this guy's lamps and sprinklers. Coool.

The Bathroom Diaries.

Entrances to hell .

Redheads give me the shivers. And not the good kind. Here's someone talking about why redheads tend to be seen in clusters. Shivers, I tells ye.

The Stanford Prison Experiment.

It had to happen at some point, I guess. The Ultimate Hans Blix Fan Page. Superinspector!

Teeny-weeny sculptures in a needle's eye, on the head of a pin, carved onto a grain of rice. "In general, I work in the moments between the beatings of my heart. Because, while my hands are not shaking, the pulse produces motions which can destroy all my work."

A musical in a library. Rock on, you crazy kids.

Bringing the world together through balloon hats.

A scary, interactive face thing. The nostril-flaring is quite disturbing. (via. Milk and Cookies)

2003-01-06T17:40:00.000-05:00

Random: Let's stop using this word.

Dead Grandmother Syndrome.

The Straight Dope rocks my world. "Do The French Really Love Jerry Lewis?"

I have never, ever, ever been able to do the pen-spinning thing. This website is devoted to it. Please practice in area free of short, bespectacled girls with slow reflexes.

Silly doggy bodysuits. (via Metafilter)

Scenes from "Pulp Fiction" played out by characters from "The Simpsons". Excellent.

A fascinating list of film sound cliches. (via Metafilter)

And a hysterical short made up of clips featuring the "Wilhelm scream". Look it up if you don't know. (via Metafilter)

Wow your friends. Get the hottie. Impress the bartender (unless he beats the hell out of you for fucking around in his bar). Bar magic tricks.

Bar Signs, for when "Damn, I am sooo drunk." just ain't enough.

Photoshop fun = sex-change some celebrities.

David Bowie's "area". Rather frightening, actually.

2002-12-11T15:14:00.000-05:00

I'll take Potpourri for 300, Alex

All I really needed to know I learned by having my arms ripped off by a polar bear. True dat.

When Care Bears seem too saccharine, there's always Don't Give A Fuck Bears. Violent!

Don't lick toads, it's bad for you and other living things. But you can go ahead and lick other stuff.

Are you gay? Who cares? Is your dog gay? Probably.

Your dog humps things. So does this guy. And check out statue molestors while you're at it. I'm getting really jaded about inanimate object abuse.

"Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?" Vicar says no, Santa is dead. The reindeer are also dead. Then he tells them exactly what mummy and daddy do when they are "tired" and go to bed early.

Are you a scientist? Do you have luxuriant, flowing hair? Do you think you have luxuriant, flowing hair? Then time to sign up for Luxuriant Flowing Hairclub for Scientists. Hmm...I think I've actually had more bearded science teachers than ones with luxuriant hair.

For no reason at all, a gross eyeball thing. But here's a nice kitten thing, to cleanse the palate.

Finally, Which Sesame Street Muppet's Dark Secret Are You? I was Mr. Snuffalufagus' dark depression. Rock!