Ye Olde Robottes

A fascinating history or some 19-century attempts at mechanical men. Read about The Electric Man, The Steam Man and The Automatic Man. Most interesting perhaps is the story of Boilerplate. Did he really serve in three wars and save the life of Pancho Villa? If this is a hoax, it's a very well-done one.

(via Slashdot)

Best of The Simpsons?

Some of the wittier lines from The Simpsons.

A touching story for the season

This moving tale of hope and courage brought a small tear to my eye.

(via Sarcasmo's Corner)

Gimme an A!

Alphabet found on butterfly wings and on the surface of human brains.

(brains link via The Presurfer)

If it sounds too good to be true...

My friend Marc recently forwarded me one of those email scams where supposedly Bill Gates and Microsoft are testing some new email tracking system, and would pay big bucks if you forward the email to 10 of your friends. There are a ton of these that have appeared in recent years, so when I gently informed him not to expect a check from Big Bill anytime soon, he joked that he was planning to use the money to buy some hot new swampland he had heard about.

He must have been talking about this.

But wait, Marc!! There's more!!

I can get you great deals on the following:
The Moon! (1 acre)
Venus! (1 acre)
Mars! (1 acre)
Scotland! (1 square inch)
Maine! (1 square inch)
Texas! (1 square foot)
The Ocean Floor! (1 square inch)
Australia! (1 square inch)
An English haunted house! (1 square foot)

Still trying to get you a bridge in Brooklyn, but I'll keep looking...

Bread! Wonderful, magnificent, exciting bread!!

Lilek's takes us through the thrilling Story of Bread, aided by the fairly scary Miss Sunbeam. Bread! If it's good enough for cavemen and the men who built your house, it's good enough for you!

I've suffered for my art... Now it's your turn

Click your way into the Louvre with Mr. Picassohead!

(via Itchy Robot)

Details are still sketchy...

It's the Etch-A-Sketch art gallery. I have found that even virtually I can barely etch (or sketch) a straight line, but at least now I know how they work.

Plastination Nation

Plastic people
Oh, baby, now you're such a drag - Frank Zappa - "Plastic People"

Well you should see Polythene Pam
She's so good-looking but she looks like a man
Well you should see her in drag dressed in her polythene bag
Yes you should see Polythene Pam.
Yeah yeah yeah
- The Beatles - "Polythene Pam"

You'll shoot your eye out!

December's here, and that means I can drag out my copy of A Christmas Story and watch it with impunity. Now don't get me wrong. I've watched ACS in the sweltering heat of August, but there's just something secretly embarrassing about watching a Christmas movie out-of-season. Someone unexpectedly drops by the house while the tape is playing, you almost feel like you got caught watching porn or something...

Speaking of which (and they don't call me The King of Segues for nothin'), did you know that Scotty Schwartz, who played Flick in "A Christmas Story" had such a difficult time finding work in mainstream film is now working in, uhh... "the adult film industry"? Recent efforts include New Wave Hookers 5, Dirty Bob's Xcellent Adventures 35 and the clearly superior Dirty Bob's Xcellent Adventures 36. Post your own joke about getting his tongue stuck to a pole here...

The Shaggs Love You!

"The Shaggs. Better than the Beatles--even today." - Frank Zappa
"They bring my mind to a complete halt." - Carla Bley

"Maybe the best worst rock album ever made." - New York Times

A musical about the Shaggs and their one-of-a-kind music-like sounds. Their 1969 album Philosophy of the World included such gems as "Who Are Parents?", "My Companion" and the ode to their cat "My Pal Foot Foot"(listen and be amazed!). Check out www.shaggs.com for all manner of things Shaggs.

(via Scrubbles)

What's better than a real live monkey of your very own?

A dead monkey. Lots of dead monkeys, actually. (via Metaphilia)
Speaking of dead monkeys, it's time to revisit the deceased simian cinematic classics with Dead Monkey Theatre!