Wednesday, May 27, 2009

We're gonna need a bigger fish hook


Rating an 7.5 on the squick scale, a photo gallery of some big honkin' earthworms. (via Boing Boing)

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Thieves seize skis, Irish wristwatch





The Tongue Twister Database

Tongue Twister Poems

1st International Collection of Tongue Twisters, with 2790 entries in 109 languages. I have no idea how to start pronouncing this Norwegian one, but all the dots make it look very interesting:
Leika dåkkå dåkkå mæ dåkkå dåkkå då?
(translation: Are you playing with dolls, are you?)


Did you know that you don't even need to get the tongue involved? A finger-fumbler is the sign language equivalent of a tongue twister. I gather that one particularly good example is to sign "good blood, bad blood". I searched the Interwebs for a video of a finger-fumbler, but came up... (wait for it)... empty-handed.

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

All hail Joe!


Finagle that creamer just right to achieve the perfect blend using My Cuppa Coffee. The interior color strips help you find that perfect java/half'n'half sweet spot.





The Off/On Coffee Mug (via GracefulFlavor)




11 More Creative Coffee and Tea Mug Designs





A coffee artist hard at work

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With My Freeze Ray I Will Stop The Pain



Call me late to the party, but I finally got around to watching the 2008 Joss Whedon internet superhero musical "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". Totally great. The song currently lodged in my brain is "Laundry Day". Make with the clickinating below to see/hear.





Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog in its entirety is available right now on Hulu (and below). Yes, it doesn't fit nicely in the InfoNation column. Ah well... Check it out!


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Monday, May 18, 2009

Wanna make a geek cry? Say, "Elvish? Klingon? Aw, what's the difference?"


Learn how to write your name in Elvish script. It takes about 10 minutes to learn the mechanics, but once you've got it down, baby you are gonna be so in at the next Tolkiencon afterhours party. You stud, you. (via Everlasting Blort)




A Flickr set of Elvish tattoos.





What's that? You say you're not ready to commit ink to dermis? Hell, you're not even willing to take 10 minutes out of your life to learn Elvish script? Okay there, Mister Instant Gratificationpants... I bring you the Tengwar (Elvish) Transcriber. Protip: unless you've got the Tengwar font (hint: you don't), remember to change the output format to PNG.

Here's "captnkurt" in Tengwar:


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Saturday, May 16, 2009

I need change for the vending machine. Can anyone break a cueball?




If the presidents on US currency were bald. Please try to ignore the fact that a bald Ben Franklin is only about one pinkie away from being Dr. Evil. Coincidentally, it was Benjamin Franklin who invented sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads. (via Cynical-C)



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Thursday, May 14, 2009

[cue movie trailer voiceover guy] In a land... where Jug was king


What exactly is the deal with Jughead's crowny-looking hat anyways? A well-researched history of the Jughead hat, a/k/a whoopee hats, palookaville caps, devils caps, clubhouse hats, kingpins.



And the next time you watch Jeff Goldblum channel the grizzled genius detective he plays in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, think back to what must be a proud moment this must be in his storied resume, making his screen debut as "Freak #1" avec Jughead-style cap in the 1974 Charles Bronson classic Death Wish.




You may have heard the term "jug band" before but not really known what a traditional jug band sounded like. Here is Whistler's Jug Band performing "Foldin' Bed" on a 1930 Fox-Movietone newsreel.

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Tiny peaks and valleys


Simon Schubert creates incredibly detailed 2-D scenes by lightly crimping paper. The paper is not folded so this is not exactly origami. Is there another name for this technique? (via Kottke)

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

One of these things is not like the other


Any number of words come to mind browsing through the submissions at Awkward Family Photos. Words such as:
"awkward", "creepy", "yikes" and [retching sounds]. But by far and away the most common word that kept coming back again and again was "why??!" (via Andy's Blog)

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Saturday, May 09, 2009

Tangled Up And Blue

[SCENE OPENS -- Our hero is talking on the phone with the captain of the bomb squad. The readout on the timer is at 60 seconds, 59... 58...]

Okay, just take a deep breath... you're doing great, kid. Just follow my instructions to the letter and we can defuse this bomb and get you and the other hostages out of there.

First, cut the blue wire...




A selection of cabling nightmares






This is... unsettling. Take uncooked pasta, skewer it through hot dogs and boil. Pasta dogs! A couple of LiveJournal posts on the subject here and here. It's mostly in Russian, but hey, creepy food knows no linguistic borders.

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Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Endings, happy or otherwise


I scored a respectable-ish 80% on The Song Fade Out Quiz over at mental_floss. How did you do?



An extensive list of albums containing a hidden track, (usually, though not always buried at the end). Personally, I was a big fan of Cracker's "Eurotrash Girl" and Eels' "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues".




Open for discussion: The Top 50 Movie Endings of All Time




Lame Video Game Endings

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