Portrait of the artist as a dead president

Wow. Mark Wagner's dollar bill art over at Smoke In My Dreams is really stunning. Make with the clicking to see embiggenized versions... (via growabrain)

Technorati tags: Mark Wagner, art

A chicken in every pot, a blog for every subject

Exceedingly narrow website topics:


Site: ClearlyClosed - Photos of obviously closed stores displaying an "Open" sign.




Site: Change Is Good - "Finding change since 1998. Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, everything. This is a log of what I have found."




Site: Cats That Look Like Hitler - Um, I think you know.

Technorati tags: niche, too specific

Tell It Like It Is

A couple of useful sites with no-nonsense URLs:


Can't get to a certain site and wonder if it's down for everyone or just you? How to find out?? Why, you go to downforeveryoneorjustme.com, of course.




And if it turns out that the site is really down for everyone, I might just like someone to notify me when it's up. How?? Notifymewhenitsup.com, natch.

Technorati tags: uptime, utilities, web

You be the (election) judge

I bet you thought the election season was over, but in some parts of the country, it just ain't so. Minnesota is in the midst of a recount due to the virtual tie between gubernatorial candidates Norm Coleman and Al Franken.

View and vote on six hundred challenged Minnesota ballots. Each is accompanied by a link to a PDF of the full ballot with the name of the challenging candidate and the reason for the challenge. (registration required) (via Metafilter)

Technorati tags: election, Minnesota, Franken, Coleman

The Cat By The Toilet Goes Round And Round, Round And Round, Round And Round...

I would be happy to watch this on an endless loop, I think. (via Cynical-C)

Technorati tags: cats, perpetual motion

How To Succeed In Parenting Without Really Trying

Hey all you n00b parents out there! Level up your mad parenting skillz with these Helpful Baby Safety Tips!

Technorati tags: funny, parenting

Dead Turkeys Aren't Much Fun

By now most of you have probably seen the surreal Sarah Palin Turkey Slaughtering video, but just in case you missed it, here it is for your consideration. Best part: the media-curious merchant of turkey-death behind her. Dude, didn't anyone ever tell you you aren't supposed to look directly into the camera? It breaks the Fourth Wall!






These turkeys gave their lives so that you could season your food with style and panache. Porcelain turkey head salt & pepper shakers over at Etsy for $65. (Unfortunately, since these were recently featured on Boing Boing, they are now sold out.)




All things considered, I'd take Dead Puppies any day of the week. (Okay, they're not really dead, just sleeping.)

Technorati tags: Sarah Palin, turkey, slaughter, Dead Puppies

Getting Down With Nature

6 Phases of Work Explained with Cat Pics




You know what they say about squirrels... They don't stop 'till they get enough. (via Yes But No But Yes)

Technorati tags: cats, work, lolcats, dancing, squirrels

Brains: The Other Grey Meat

Jonathan Coulton's "Re: Your Brains" + World of Warcraft = undead mashup goodness




Hey, Janet over at Waging Haiku! Have you seen this at the bookstore yet? Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry For Your...Brains. Get clicky with the link (or pic) to see an excerpt.

Technorati tags: zombies, world of warcraft, haiku, brains

Who knew the demand was that strong for grass-covered balls with googly eyes stuck on them?

A fun Friday game for you... Use logic to determine the correct steps to reproduce the ball pictured on the various boxes in Factory Balls 2.

Technorati tags: flash, games, Factory Balls 2

Watch out for Joe Swamp!

A 30 year-old Czech song about a swampland monster that eats city snobs made a huge inexplicable comeback earlier this year on the Polish music charts. The video is delightful, especially the sweet dance moves of the guy singing harmony. A translation is available for your sing-along needs. (Děkujeme for the link, David!)

Technorati tags: Jozin z Bazin, Czechoslovakia, Poland

Together we can find a cure for Madonna's fake British accent in our lifetime

CindyLou Romberg sounds like she could be from any number of exotic countries around the world. She sometimes rolls her "R"s like a Russian, chops syllables like a German or turns an unsuspecting "W" into a "V," like a Swede.

But Romberg is not Russian, German or Swedish. In fact, she has never even left her tiny hometown of Port Angeles, Wash.

Romberg suffers from what doctors call Foreign Accent Syndrome, or FAS, an extremely rare brain disorder that, as the name implies, causes its sufferers to speak as if they are from a foreign country.

You can't make this stuff up...

The full video and story here...

Technorati tags: strange, health, foreign, accent, syndrome

Tragedy + Time + Carefully Folded Paper = Disaster Dioramas

Download and assemble Disaster Dioramas of the Titanic, the Hindenburg, or the final hours at Pompeii!

Putting the fun back into misfortune!

Technorati tags: disaster, diorama

Pinball Wizards

Since I can remember, complicated, pointless Rube Goldberg-ian contraptions have always fascinated me.

When I was a kid, I could count on visiting the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago about once a year, where I remember there being some sort of rolling ball kinetic sculpture thing. Visitors would push a button, a ball would be set into motion and, after going through a dizzying array of loops, ramps, jumps, spirals, funnels and tunnels, finally arrive back at the starting point several minutes later, ready for another circuit.

I also remember wishing I could someday design something that cool, but for the time being was content to set up my own mini-contraption on the slanted surface of my desk, using a BB and a wide variety of strategically positioned books, pencils, rulers and straws.

While I never went on to create anything much grander than those humble desktop experiments, there are others who even as adults spend countless hours designing, constructing, perfecting, and yes, sometimes selling their own Rollerball masterpieces.

15 videos of amazing rolling ball machines.

Hypnotic and beautiful. Enjoy.

Technorati tags: rolling ball, contraption, Rube, Goldberg

How to Deface Your Face

piZap is a free online photo editor. You can upload your own pics or use the demo ones they provide, and there are lots of silly stickers you can apply as you see fit. (via The Presurfer)

Technorati tags: photo, editing, tagname

52 + 48 = 100

From 52 to 48|48 to 52 with love

Now that the 2008 US election season has reached a conclusion, the 52% of Obama voters have something to say to the 48% of McCain voters (and vice versa). Chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" optional. (via zefrank)

Technorati tags: tagname, tagname, tagname, tagname, tagname, tagname

Everything I Know I Learned From Forrest Gump

Young athletes levitating ping-pong balls using only the power of their minds.



This summer we looked at some viral videos that looked awesome, but were faked. This video of The Light Pong Masters seems to be in that vein. It's funny and cool. And fake.


Technorati tags: ping pong, fake, viral, video, light, pong, masters

Friday Timewasters

Here are a couple of fun little games to fritter away the tail-end of your workweek.

Come on. With all that watercooler election talk, just how productive do you really think you were this week anyway?


Open Doors is a one-rule game. Use your arrow keys to get your square to the X. Between you and your goal are any number of one-way doors that force you to, as our soon-to-be former president might say, "strategerize".




In Tower Bloxx you are a crane operator whose job it is to build high-rise towers by dropping sections on top of each other. You don't have to make them line up exactly, and chances are your final result wouldn't pass muster in real life, but in Tower Bloxx it's all good.

The closer to an exact drop on top of the previous level, the more people will move into your building, thus boosting the total population of the city you will end up creating.

Technorati tags: games

Vote to stamp out tramp stamps!

tramp stamp
n. a tattoo on a woman, especially on the back at or below the waistline.





Attention, American voters! There are freebies aplenty on Election Day if you just know where to look.

Starbucks is giving away a free tall coffee to people with proof of voting (or a pledge of having voted).

Krispy Kreme is giving away free star-shaped donuts with red, white and blue sprinkles (while supplies last) to people with an "I voted" sticker all day.

And yes, if you're in Dallas and are having buyer's remorse over that "Nader All The Way-der in '08-er" tattoo you got on your birthday, you can get a free consultation with a tattoo-removal specialist.

Read on for even more voter freebies...


Technorati tags: election 2008, freebies, tramp stamp, tattoos

The Spice of Language

Dr. Evil: My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark.

The origin of everyday punctuation marks. (via mental_floss)



Take a punctuation quiz! Do you, Dear Reader, think you'll pass???!?!?!

Technorati tags: language, punctuation, quiz

Hawaii Found!

To my newest addition to the Information Nation Guestmap:

Uh, George. Hawaii is in the same place it's been for the past few millennia. About 2,400 miles southwest of California. What I'm wondering is, where are you? 'Cos it looks like you are out in the ocean about 140 miles off the California coast. Do you need me to send someone out to get you? or are you trying to swim to the islands?!

Just keep treading water, brother, I'm on my way!

Technorati tags: welcome, Hawaii

Or I could just peel off the colored stickers and rearrange them...

How to solve a Rubik's Cube using only two moves. Watch an learn, kids. Watch and learn.

I have a nephew who is a Rubik's Cube solver. Give him a cube in any state of entropy and he can restore order in half a minute or so. I always have admired this skill but now I am on to you, Alex!!!

PS. Is this a legit solution? Or is this video a joke? I have no idea. Anyone? Bueller?

PPS. To be fair to my nephew, I don't believe he uses this technique (which, if it's real, involves zero active brain cells), and that he actually figures out how to solve a Cube, using, like, you know, thinking and stuff.



Also: You would think that a Rubik's Cube that was all the same color would be the ultimate in easy-peasy. You would be wrong. The New Rubik's Cube. (both links via growabrain)

Technorati tags: Rubik's Cube, puzzles

For the last time, no, you cannot "buy a vowel"

Think you're a good speller? Give the Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee a go! You will need headphones or speakers, because like a real spelling bee, the words are read aloud to you. Unlike actual spelling bees, you can make several guesses and even surrender and move on to the next word.

Here's a tip: make sure you check the definition over on the right for possible clues to the spelling, origin, and of course, its meaning. For example, one of my words sounded like "beetle". But, after reading the definition (a minor parish official who serves as an usher and preserves order at services), I realized it was actually beadle.

The spelling bee is adaptive, so the more words you spell correctly, the harder the words will get. Conversely, if you're not such a great speller, the words get easier and easier. Fun! (via Language Hat)

Technorati tags: spelling, bee, game, language

Face Dances

Watch Daito Manabe apply electric stimuli to his face in the name of art. (via Everlasting Blort)

Technorati tags: art, Daito, Manabe