Puppies and Flowers

Lots more with pictures 

This is a departure from what I usually post but this product is just so wonderfully strange, I had to do it.

From site:

The SiFeet Pussy Foot is the ultimate fantasy sex toy for foot fetishists. This size 6, 100% silicone foot is cast in pure silicone from a real life actual, beautiful female foot. In the sole of this lovely foot is a fully functional and totally fuck-able silicone vagina.

Link to site Thanks Jeff J

Maybe there's a theme developing today.

Found at Miss Cellania 

Photo: Alice and Indiana Jones

Dublin, Ireland: 

The theft of National Wax Museum figures will not stop next month's reopening of the tourist attraction, the museum's management insisted today.

Dozens of models, including Bob the Builder, the Teletubbies and Frankenstein , were stolen from a warehouse in central Dublin last month.

Replica uniforms from the Easter Rising and World War Two periods were also taken in the robbery, which occurred in the south inner city at some time between June 3rd and 20th.

Silence of the Lambs character Hannibal Lecter, Gollum from Lord of the Rings and guitars used by The Edge of U2 and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott were stolen.

A new Dublin location for the National Museum is expected to be announced in a fortnight. The museum's former building in Parnell Square was sold in 2005, but its stock of wax figures was purchased by new owners.

"The damage was quite extensive," museum owner Kay Murray said today. "Whoever did it was looking for uniforms, because most of our uniforms were stolen. They're really worth nothing to the person who has them, they're of no material worth. They can't wear them."

The museum's sculptor is working to repair damaged wax figures for the reopening.

"It's not going to stop the museum reopening. It will just delay us. We hope to make an announcement in two weeks," said Ms Murray.

"I didn't go to the press because I wanted the Garda to handle this themselves and do it their way. But as of yet, they have come up with nothing," she told RTÉ Radio.

The museum will feature previous favourites like the Chamber of Horrors, a Hall of Megastars and the Children's World of Fairytale and Fantasy.

Life-sized figures from the historical, cultural and political development of Ireland including WB Yeats, James Joyce and Eamon De Valera will also be on show.

Found at Ireland.com 

I think you'll find this site is interesting whether or not you work in the industry. 

Link via The Presurfer 

When traffic wardens started to blitz a quiet corner of suburban London, one shopkeeper decided it was his duty to fight back.

Martin Herdman put up a 1,000-watt public address system outside his shop near Twickenham and recruited a network of "spies" to alert him the instant they spotted a parking attendant in the area.

Then, as soon as the alarm was raised, he started playing a recording of a Second World War-style air raid siren over the system.

Mr Herdman's early warning system gives customers a chance to move their cars before they are ticketed by the warden.

The 50-year-old carpet shop owner and former part-time actor and musician said: "I put it up a few weeks ago. I get a phone call from other shop owners or residents whenever wardens are around, so everyone knows they are about to be nicked.

"It does work - it lets everyone know and then it's up to them if they get a fine or not."

Mr Herdman said that within a few days of his PA system starting, the number of wardens in the area had gone down, "although there were seven of them around this morning".

He said he had resorted to the "deterrent" because he feared trade at his shopping parade would be destroyed by over-zealous officers.

He said: "Richmond council put in 19 parking bays for the 39 shops on the parade. They are very busy, interesting shops that include art galleries and herbal clinics as well as butchers and cafés. It is a really useful, trendy place to go shopping.

"We have had roadworks for two months now that have knocked out five or six of the bays, but the wardens are still hounding the remaining bays.

"Now there is talk about turning the single yellow lines into double yellows, so there would be no parking at night as well."

He accused the Liberal Democrat-controlled council of favouring big supermarket chains such as Tesco, which has an Express store nearby.

Mr Herdman said: "If we ask the council for a loading bay for Crown Road, they would tell us to forget it but Tesco have got two loading bays in a road which is totally unsuitable for them."

He said that it was only fair his road should be allowed to have 39 parking bays so that each shop had access to one, particularly as supermarkets were routinely granted planning permission for huge free car parks.

Without urgent action, the traders would be driven out of business, leaving yet another corner of London bereft of the local independent shops that provide character

Mr Herdman said: "I shouldn't have to do things like this to get attention - I'm just trying to make it a better place for our customers and, hopefully, the council will come back with a sensible solution that will stop the decimation of our community.

David Trigg, Richmond's cabinet member for traffic, transport and parking, said: "Ideally, we would like to provide more parking for business but we have to juggle priorities.

"If we can benefit them that's what we will do."

Found on DailyMail 

Painting Likely Done While Artist Was In Asylum, Experts Say

From article:

Art expert and historians in Boston and Amsterdam announced Friday that they have discovered a valuable lost work by the painter Vincent Van Gogh hidden under an existing canvas at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, discovered the Van Gogh painting underneath the artist's painting entitled "Ravine," which is owned by the MFA.

MFA conservator Meta Chavannes was conducting a technical examination of "Ravine" and discovered the existence of the second painting below the paint surface of the work.

Upon meeting with the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam and Louis van Tilborgh, the Van Gogh research curator at the Van Gogh Museum, it was established that the underlying composition was most likely painted in June 1889, the museum said, during the early period of Van Gogh's stay at the asylum of Saint-Paul de Mausole near the Provençal town of Saint-Rémy, and was reused as a support for Ravine a few months later, in October 1889.

Van Tilborgh related the X-radiograph of Ravine to a drawing Van Gogh sent his brother in mid-1889 entitled "Wild Vegetation."

Scholars have suggested that this drawing, in the Van Gogh Museum, forms part of group of around a dozen drawn copies of paintings that the artist sent to his brother Theo in July 1889, but no painting was known upon which this particular drawing could have been based. As a result of this current research, the lost painting has been rediscovered, officials said.

Tables turned: Madigan flees a throng of reporters

This was an incredibly stupid move, especially as she refused credentials four times from the organisers. Hope for her sakes, she has up-to-date security on her laptop.

Link to YouTube clip 

From the Register:

A rare moment of drama came to Defcon when a woman fled the conference after being identified in front of hundreds of other attendees as an undercover television reporter on a crusade to expose collusion between cyber criminals and federal agents.

The woman, identified by conference organizers as a producer for Dateline NBC, bolted a few minutes after a panel called Spot the Fed began. After being tipped off about the covert operation - and knowing the producer was in the audience - organizers announced to the standing-room only crowd that the contest was being changed to "spot the undercover reporter."

Defcon founder Jeff Moss told the crowd that there was a real, covert reporter in their very midst and then asked if attendees thought she should be ejected for violating Defcon rules concerning the taking of photos and videos of conference attendees. Before the audience could respond, the woman bolted from the room and was quickly given chase by a throng of reporters.

For years, Defcon has imposed strict conditions on those attending. Video and photos are not permitted unless the subjects have given their permission. Those covering the event for news organizations must apply for a press credential and are subjected to greater enforcement of the privacy rules.

Defcon "is like Switzerland, its neutral territory," said a senior conference staff member who goes by the name Priest. "The feds come in and they don't arrest us. We don't turn their phones into 976 numbers," he added, referring to the telephone prefix used by phone sex operators and other to automatically charge the caller a set fee.

Priest said organizers were tipped off about the producer's plans by someone who was thoroughly familiar with the story. According to Priest, the producer told the informant that "the people in Kansas would be very interested in knowing what was happening at Defcon."

Organizers were able to confirm that the woman had a camera in a small black bag that allowed her to surreptitiously video tape people attending the show. She hoped to tape people admitting to breaking the law and then attempt to tie them to federal agents who also attended the show. At one point, she was observed panning a room with her hidden camera.
Picture of reporter in car as she drives away

The woman was identified as Michelle Madigan, an associate producer for Dateline. As she exited the conference room, a Defcon staff member suggested she accept a press credential and continue covering the conference.

"Like a thief in the night, she decided to flee," said Priest.

The woman declined to comment at least four times as several dozen people, many of them reporters, followed her through the parking lot of the Riviera Hotel, where the conference is being held. She eventually got into a silver Infinity and drove off.

After being tipped off, conference organizers asked Madigan on four occasions if she might want a press credential. Each time, she declined. Once she arrived at the conference, organizers kept her under surveillance.

Despite the unusual scrutiny Madigan received - and the fact that her picture and alleged plan had been posted on Wired and other publications for hours prior to her outing - the producer never suspected her cover was blown, said Priest.

"Not very bright," he said.

Video and performance artist Amber Hawk Swanson ordered a life-sized, realistic sex doll made to look just like her, and named it Amber. The couple scampered off to Vegas and got married. "Their wedding video and other footage documenting their relationship will screen for the public this week," reports the Chicago Reader. Link.

Previous doll posts on P&F: 

Real Dolls and the men who love them…

Over the last few weeks I've been running into articles on this topic including an excellent documentary by Channel 4.

Link to documentary 'Guys and Dolls'.

Link

I find it hysterical that because "Simple warnings no longer work" they have to mete out such a harsh deterrant!

From SFGate:

Thai police officers who break rules will be forced to wear hot pink armbands featuring "Hello Kitty," the Japanese icon of cute, as a mark of shame, a senior officer said Monday.

Police officers caught littering, parking in a prohibited area, or arriving late — among other misdemeanors — will be forced to stay in the division office and wear the armband all day, said Police Col. Pongpat Chayaphan. The officers won't wear the armband in public.

The striking armband features Hello Kitty sitting atop two hearts.

"Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor," said Pongpat, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.

"(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It's not something macho police officers want covering their biceps," Pongpat said.

He said police caught breaking the law will be subject the same fines and penalties as any other members of the public.

"We want to make sure that we do not condone small offenses," Pongpat said, adding that the CSD believed that getting tough on petty misdemeanors would lead to fewer cases of more serious offenses including abuse of power and mistreatment of the public by police officers.

Hello Kitty, invented by Sanrio Co. in 1974, has been popular for years with children and young women. The celebrity cat adorns everything from diamond-studded jewelry, Fender guitars and digital cameras to lunch boxes, T-shirts and stationery.

Artist Cayetano Ferrer posts an image of what's hidden behind the billbooard onto it, then takes a chunk of it and posts on an adjacent building.

Link 

Really how much can you get in damages?

From article:

August 6, 2007 -- A man says he was unjustly fired after spurning the advances of his boss - who bared her breasts to him repeatedly, tried to touch his genitals and offered to help him quit smoking by substituting "real" kisses for cigarettes, according to a blockbuster lawsuit.

"She'd leave [her blouse] unbuttoned lower than the cleavage area," said José Carrion, 46, who has a common-law wife and two kids. "Basically, keeping herself on display." 

Kevin Mitnick

From marvequin: 

1. Kevin Mitnick.

Mitnick is perhaps synonymous with Hacker. The Department of Justice still refers to him as "the most wanted computer criminal in United States history." His accomplishments were memorialized into two Hollywood movies: Takedown and Freedom Downtime.

Mitnick got his start by exploiting the Los Angeles bus punch card system and getting free rides. Then similar to Steve Wozniak, of Apple, Mitnick tried Phone Phreaking. Mitnick was first convicted for hacking into the Digital Equipment Corporation's computer network and stealing software.

Mitnick then embarked on a two and a half year coast to coast hacking spree. He has stated that he hacked into computers, scrambled phone networks, stole corporate secrets and hacked into the national defense warning system. His fall came when he hacked into fellow computer expert and hacker Tsutomu Shimomura's home computer.

Found at biggeekdaddy 

The Princes are practical jokers, here's one they played on the Queen when she asked for help with her new answering machine: 

From FoxNews:

Princely pranksters William and Harry have been accused of recording a bogus message on Queen Elizabeth II's answering machine. 

Big Broccoli Ocarina:Angels We Have Heard On High

Wacky broccoli song:

Classic Dana Carvey: 

This clip is hysterical! via 416Films

Equally as funny via growabrain 

Farmers in Isle of Ruegen, Northern Germany have used Global Positioning System (GPS) to plough a huge pig image (37,000 square metres) on a cornfield. Not the best quality of crop art, but looks cute…

Link via spulch 

Link to YouTube via BBC 

If you didn't know the name Rhain Davis before, you almost certainly do now.

The nine-year-old, a recent recruit for Manchester United's academy, is now the talk of football - thanks to a DVD of him in action for Brisbane club Redlands United.

He even made the front page of The Sun newspaper - who have immediately, and somewhat inevitably, dubbed him the new Wayne Rooney.

An unnamed 'source' told the paper: "He has created a huge buzz and people are raving about him all over the world."

The video, which is said to have already had more than three million viewers on YouTube, is undeniably impressive. The youngster dances round defenders, performs some step-overs a la Cristiano Ronaldo and delivers defence-splitting passes. 

F Cup Cookies make breast implants obsolete. Making your breasts bigger is now as simple as eating 2 cookies a day. They come in packs of 4 for ¥290, each cookie containing 50mg of that miracle breast enlarging herb Pueraria Mirifica. How many cookies you'll have to eat to get size F Cup is unknown.

Link via neatorama 

Found here 

Wait a minute, homeless  world cup?

From Spiegel:

The Homeless World Cup brought 500 homeless people from around the world to Denmark to play soccer. But Copenhagen appears to have been too welcoming -- 15 players have overstayed their visas and gone underground.

The Afghanistan team parades in Copenhagen's City Hall Square during the opening ceremonies of the Homeless World Cup. One of their players has gone missing, along with 14 Africans.

Photo: Woody Norvell

From The Guardian:

Federal police said Monday that the beer tap failed aboard a special train carrying Bayer Leverkusen fans to Hamburg on Saturday. The fault was discovered half an hour into the journey.

"In order not to endanger the good mood" of the passengers, railway officials halted the train in Wuppertal for 25 minutes and had a replacement part delivered by taxi, a police statement said. It added that there was no trouble among the fans.

Their team was less obliging. Top-division Leverkusen's 1-0 elimination from the cup by second-division St. Pauli in a first-round upset left its fans with plenty of sorrows to drown on the way home.

 Link

Link to Flash movie 

Link to more pictures 

Link to YouTube 

This illusion can be pretty harsh on the eyes but worth it for some excellent results.

Link to Crooked Brains and more images 

From  ABC:

A giant, smiling Lego man has been fished out of the sea in the Dutch resort of Zandvoort.

Workers at a drinks stall rescued the 2.5-metre tall model, which had a yellow head and blue torso.

"We saw something bobbing about in the sea and we decided to take it out of the water," said a stall worker. "It was a life-sized Lego toy."

A woman nearby added: "I saw the Lego toy floating towards the beach from the direction of England."

The toy was later placed in front of the drinks stall. 

A woman insists her pet's name belongs on his tombstone even though others say the name is obscene and has no place in a cemetery.

Link via arbroath

Love the Spanish sub-titles 

Link 

Gimme Friction Baby by Wouter Visser is a fun, addicting game of angles, not unlike pool.

The omission of instructions was deliberate - Wouter believes that including instructions on such an abstract concept could potentially be more confusing than just letting the players figure it out for themselves.

A Chinese man has built a house out of two cement pipes.

Xin Yucai, 50, of Shenyang city, even turned down the chance to move into his daughter's apartment he enjoyed living in his unusual home so much.

"My father likes to do things differently," she explained.

"He bought two cement pipes from a construction company and turned them into a real house, with windows, door, and even a chimney."

The daughter says her apartment has enough space for her father but Xin still insisted on making a house of his own.

"We moved once, and he took the pipe house with him."

The house has become a city attraction.

"From time to time, people will come to have a look and take pictures with the pipe house," a neighbour told Huashang Morning News.

From Ananova 

Designer and Illustrator Bill McMullen silk-screens these wads as part of his "One Million." Shown here, 1 of 100 blocks, second edition.

Photo: Davydutchy

From article:

A German farmer angry with police for trying to confiscate his tractor wrecked three patrol cars and evaded capture for seven hours before an elite unit managed to arrest him, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

The farmer, 53, was pulled over by police for driving his tractor without a license, despite several previous warnings.

The officers called in three patrol cars for help before asking the farmer to get out of his vehicle.

He refused, and proceeded to ram the cars with his tractor, making full use of its attached muck spreader and hydraulic fork. Officers were only just able to scramble out of harm's way.

The farmer then drove into a forest, where he eluded a manhunt involving two helicopters and an armored car for seven hours.

He was finally found by an elite police team in a barn on his farm in Lauterbach, in central Germany.

"In the countryside we're used to people going at police with muck spreaders, but this was something else," a police spokesman said.

The farmer faces charges of assault and resisting police.

Link

From englishrussia: 

Lately some Russian newspapers post photos of these strange Chinese dolls. You can see the scanned piece of article from one Russian regional newspaper. The reason for the panic is that in Russian children toy stores have appeared strange Chinese dolls looking like a girl-doll but if fully undressed there can be something found that better would suit for a boy-doll.
People demand to band those dolls from being sold on the territory of Russia and claim that it maybe done on purpose by some evil forces from outside of Russia in order to form a bad perception of female/male orientation from the early age.

Found at Moillusions

If you look at the spinning girl's silhouette below, you will think it is spinning clockwise, probably. When you check her shadow below, momentarily the spinning direction changes in your mind, and now the girl is spinning counter-clockwise. It can be quite hard at the beginning to notice switch of the spinning direction, but eventually you'll manage.

 via yeinjee

80% are within a mile of my place, woo hoo! 

Link 

Very little coverage of this story in the US Media.

Link to YouTube clip of a story CTV ran on the banner unfurling

From CBC article: 

Three Canadians arrested by Chinese police following a protest at the Great Wall against China's presence in Tibet have been released.

The British Columbian activists — Lhadon Tethong, Sam Price and Melanie Raoul — left China after their release on Wednesday and flew into Hong Kong.

Lhadon Tethong, the driving force behind this protest, has generated a lot of online buzz through the smart use of internet technologies, blogging, live video etc. 

See also:

Technology for Tibet Trumps Tyranny!

Tech-savvy pro-Tibet protesters get message across

From London to Lhasa Students for a Free Tibet UK blog their stories, thoughts, and actions.

From article:

A controversy is brewing in this Cascade foothill town involving a famous bird on four wheels.

Hanna Dahlquist's pet rooster is one bird that's got game.

"He skateboards," says Hanna. "He thinks he can go faster when he's aerodynamic."

In fact, the rooster rides so well, Hanna named him Tony Chickenhawk.

Video

Rooster causes controversy

Raw: Scateboarding rooster

"I named him after Tony Hawk because he is like a really famous skateboarder and my chicken skateboards," says Hanna.

Link 

Drunk driving defendant says he needs the source code to the Intoxilyzer 5000EN to fight the charges in court. Without seeing the code he claims it may just be a random number generator.

He won the argument. This is unfortunate because typically, CMI, the maker of the Intoxilyzer 5000EN refuses to release the source and the case is subsequently thrown out. like what happened two years ago in Florida:

"Unless the defense can see how the breathalyzer works," the judges wrote, the device amounts to "nothing more than a 'mystical machine' used to establish an accused's guilt.

It appears that CMI will have to comply with the Court order now.

Here is an unrelated but another funny ruse that apparently worked.

Photo: elindbloom

Zappa, another brilliant unsung American talent, good for Baltimore I say.

Thursday, August 9th is Frank Zappa Day in Baltimore, MD, as proclaimed by Mayor Sheila Dixon. Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore in 1940 and, coincidentally, wrote and recorded a song entitled “What's New In Baltimore?” Dweezil Zappa, his son, is bringing the ongoing Zappa Plays Zappa/“Tour de Frank” to the Ram’s Head Tavern there on the day designated to honor his late father. Far from a “tribute band,” Zappa Plays Zappa underscores the compositional genius of Frank Zappa much as a symphony orchestra would perform pieces by a master composer. 

photo: digikuva

From Yahoo news: 

EDINBURGH - Joseph and Mary boogie on down to Bethlehem with their loud-mouthed donkey in a disco version of the Nativity that is pure kitsch.

If awards were handed out at the Edinburgh Fringe for camp humour, then "Discotivity" would be a leading contender for top honours at the world's largest and zaniest arts festival.

Michelle McManus, winner of the reality TV talent show "Pop Idol", was understandably nervous about taking on the part of the Virgin Mary in the boisterous production.

From article:

It looks like a scene from 101 Dalmations but without the spots.

Macey, the Great Dane, went through a gruelling 20 hour birth to produce the amazing litter of 15 puppies.

The two-year-old pedigree blue shocked her owners who had been told by vets to expect just four.

Xingu is said to be intelligent and fond of salty biscuits

From article: 

Explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell has had close encounters with vampire bats and angry bees, but his latest brush has been with a rather odd dog.

He spotted a rare breed of Double-Nosed Andean tiger hound, which has two noses, on a recent trip to Bolivia.

The chairman of the Scientific Exploration Society said the dog, named Xingu, was "not terribly handsome". 

Bella is Xingu's mother and was spotted on an expedition in 2005

From news article:

Bay Area zero-emission advocates got their first test ride Thursday on a zippy new all-electric motor scooter that can take two commuters on a silent freeway ride that will cost them just pennies in electrical power.

The plug-in hybrid automobile crowd, in the news these days because of advances in the technology of fuel-efficient hybrids, gathered at San Francisco's Presidio to see the latest wrinkle in emission-free transportation - an electric motor scooter called the Vectrix that can whiz along at 60 miles an hour.

At $11,000, the Vectrix may be a bit pricey, but it is a first of sorts and it will probably appeal to the same high-income people who have ordered the $100,000 all-electric Tesla sports car. "We want to get to the right consumer demographics," said Jeff Morrill, Vectrix's managing director for marketing. "It's for urban commuting, and it targets environmentalists, active (electric power) enthusiasts."

The second half of this clip, where the kid rocks out is my favorite.

Link via Arbroath 

Just like any baby, Mary Two loves cuddles, her comfort blanket and her cuddly toys.

But her gummy gorilla grin hides a sad story as the tiny primate nearly died after being neglected by her mum.

Link to more pictures 

I've been a fan of Banksy's for a long time. Don't think I'll be able catch this show though. He has pulled some stunts in America: NYC, Brooklyn and LA.  Pictures link

The Wooster Collective round-up of Banksy links.

Pictures of the London exhibition: [1]  [2]  [3]

Link

Link 

Ad for Mondo Pasta in Hamburg, Germany.

Found here 

Funny, but it sounds exactly like why the US shouldn't have invaded in 2003. 

Link 

Link 

Link via 

Link to video

Photos: Allyscha

Thanks Smith 

photos: Annie Leibovitz

Link to article

An Iraqi carries a Russian-designed machine gun at a funeral, July 27, 2007, in Karbala, an Iraqi city dominated by Shiite Muslim militias. Italian authorities have broken up an alleged illegal plot to ship 5,000 such machine guns, along with 100,000 assault rifles, into Iraq. Iraqi police supposedly would have been the end users, but Shiite militias are known to have obtained weapons through police channels. (AP Photo/Ghassan al-Yassiri, File)

For one thing, The Associated Press has learned that Iraqi government officials were involved in the deal, apparently without the knowledge of the U.S. Baghdad command _ a departure from the usual pattern of U.S.-overseen arms purchases.

Why these officials resorted to "black" channels and where the weapons were headed is unclear.

Article 

This is a very cool resource… 

Photo: kuba.wawa (Russian roulette, sex and vodka. Nothing to do with article)

Moscow - A Russian region of Ulyanovsk has found a novel way to fight the nation's birth-rate crisis: It has declared Sept. 12 the Day of Conception and for the third year running is giving couples time off from work to procreate.

The hope is for a brood of babies exactly nine months later on Russia's national day. Couples who "give birth to a patriot" during the June 12 festivities win money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes.

Ulyanovsk, about 550 miles east of Moscow, has held similar contests since 2005. Since then, the number of competitors, and the number of babies born to them, has been on the rise.

Russia, with one-seventh of Earth's land surface, has just 141.4 million citizens, making it one of the most sparsely settled countries in the world. With a low birth rate and a high death rate, the population has been shrinking since the early 1990s.

In his state-of-the-nation address last year, President Vladimir Putin called the demographic crisis the most acute problem facing Russia and announced a broad effort to boost Russia's birth rate, including cash incentives to families that have more than one child.

Ulyanovsk Gov. Sergei Morozov has added an element of fun to the national campaign.

The 2007 grand prize went to Irina and Andrei Kartuzov, who received a UAZ-Patriot, a sport utility vehicle. Other contestants won video cameras, TVs, refrigerators and washing machines.

Link to article

Martin Klimas destroys a lot of clay to make his art. Combining the silence of Eadweard Muybridge’s horse pictures with the association-rich composition of a still life, Klimas breaks recognizable objects so they become something else, and stops us just at the moment of transformation.

Link to artist's site 

AP Photo/Brian Kersey

British singer Amy Winehouse is reportedly addicted to heroin, according to her mother-in-law Georgette Civil.

Winehouse and husband Blake Fielder-Civil have checked into a rehab clinic in the U.S., according to British newspaper reports, after the singer collapsed following three days of hard partying last week.

And now Fielder-Civil's mother tells the Daily Mirror newspaper, "You can't blame Amy, you can't blame Blake. They're just as bad as each other. It's the hardest thing in the world for me to say in public that my son and his wife have a drug problem...

"I know my son has had a drug problem ever since he was 20 and moved down to London. I needed to know about Amy's problems and we had a chat -- just the two of us. She told me she was addicted to heroin and cocaine."

Fun blog full of submitted images of what creatives have on their desks.

(Shouldn't this be an upper and lower case?) 

Shown here: 

Toniduran, Graphic Designer & illustrator
Cherbourg, France
www.toniduran.ouvaton.org 

Link to blog 

Los Angeles Pop Art involves an art form commonly known as Micrography. This art form has been around for centuries and has primarily been used by artists of Israeli decent; it is the style of creating an image strictly using the words that tell the story of that specific image. 

LA Pop Art

Give me an idea 

photo: htmlnerd

From ZDNet article:

German scientists claim to have broken the light-speed barrier, which could blow away the known limitations of modern networking, but the technology is unlikely to make it into a product--if at all--until most administrators working today have retired.

Exceeding the speed of light, approximately 300,000km per second, is supposed to be completely impossible. According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, it would take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate an object through the light barrier.

But two German physicists claim to have forced light to overcome its own speed limit using the strange phenomenon known as "quantum tunneling." 

Photo: aremac

From Yahoo News: 

A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas base, U.S. officials said.
ADVERTISEMENT

The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.

From article: 

A Chinese couple tried to name their baby "@", claiming the character used in e-mail addresses echoed their love for the child, an official trying to whip the national language into line said on Thursday.

The unusual name stands out especially in Chinese, which has no alphabet and instead uses tens of thousands of multi-stroke characters to represent words.

"The whole world uses it to write e-mail, and translated into Chinese it means 'love him'," the father explained, according to the deputy chief of the State Language Commission Li Yuming.   read more

Then there is the couple that tried to name their kid 4real

Pat and Sheena Wheaton were told by the government registry in New Zealand they could not register the name because it included a digit.

Other wacky baby names:

1. Kal-el Coppola (Son of actor Nicolas Cage)

2. Audio Science (Son of actress Shannyn Sossaman)

3. Bluebell Madonna (Daughter of Singer Geri Halliwell)

4. Daisy Boo (Daughter of chef Jamie Oliver)

5. Pilot Inspektor (Son of actress Beth Riesgraf and actor Jason Lee)

6. Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily (Daughter of television presenter Paula Yates and Singer Michael Hutchence)

7. Dixie Dot (Daughter of television presenter Anna Ryder Richardson)

8. God'Iss Love Stone (Daughter of Singer Lil'Mo)

9. Jermajesty (Son of Singer Jermaine Jackson)

10. Apple (Daughter of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and singer Chris Martin)

Link to lots more pictures 

Apparently the doll is edible —jelly perhaps? Anyhow it was too good to pass up for all its edible goodness. Note the 'hand stick' on the side that you can use for whatever…

From BBC article:

Author Stephen King was mistaken for a vandal when he started signing books during an unannounced visit to a shop in Australia, according to local media.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said staff at the Alice Springs book store did not initially realise the writer was autographing his own novels.

Bookshop manager Bev Ellis said: "When you see someone writing in one of your books you get a bit toey [nervous].

"We immediately ran to the books and lo and behold, there was the signature."

Link 

Copy: Horror Film Festival 10-11 Feb. 2007

If traditional methods of advertising don't work, try scaring people into trying your product. In this case, for the horror film fest, it seems to work. These blood transparencies were placed under doors to make people think they're living their own nightmare, if only for a few seconds. Scary good work by Rediffusion Dyr, Bangalore, India.

Link via

#3 The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read "Are You Lactating?"

Link to list  via GeekAlerts

Photo: RainAtDawn

From article:

New research suggests an extract of cocoa powder that occurs naturally in chocolates, teas, and other products might be an effective natural alternative to fluoride in toothpaste, according to Tulane University doctoral candidate Arman Sadeghpour.

Sadeghpour said his research revealed that the cocoa extract was even more effective than fluoride in fighting cavities, according to a news release from the university. Read more

Prtevious good news on P&F 

Link to larger JPG image

From neatorama:

The pottery, named Yuanyang II, is one of the collections of Hong Kong Museum of Art now displaying at the Central Concourse of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). It is produced by Tsang Cheung-shing, a ceramic art tutor and product designer.

Yuanyang II is modeled in a distinctive form with two figures indulged in kissing each other. Their heads support two elegant cups for drinking tea and coffee. The form and concept design fully complement the theme “Yuanyang” (a typical Hong Kong beverage of mixing tea and coffee), a symbol of marriage and love, with a touch of humour for artistic creation.

Like the directions on the packaging of the Irish pill, "put between knees and squeeze". 

Link to site via

"No comment"
— Bill Clinton

Don't know where Arbroath found this…

"A delightfully understated Irish traveller wedding"

Adobe, very clever (as usual) and witty to boot. 

From the SJMercury news:

The code is cracked.

And for anyone who thought a simple message was being transmitted by the rotating disks atop the Adobe tower in downtown San Jose, boy, were you wrong.

The message of San Jose Semaphore is the entire text of the Thomas Pynchon book, "The Crying of Lot 49."

The solution was discovered by two Silicon Valley tech workers, Bob Mayo and Mark Snesrud, who received a commendation at San Jose City Hall today.

Link

RMF Radio Station in Poland Occupies 21st Century Facility

Found at Deputy Dog

Satellite picture here 

C'mon folks, that's what we're all about here at puppies and flowers. 

Link 

I 'heart' Miss Cellania. Busy as she is, she still has time to find the ol' fart in in the duck song! 

Awesome I tell you. 

Link  via yesbutnobutyes 

Something about Louis Armstrong's demeanour, when he shakes his head and sings, makes even Johnny Cash (who's music I love) look like an amateur... but you have to watch this clip.

Link Oct., 28, 1970 Johnny Cash Show clip

Link to a classic version of "What a wonderful world"

i

Kinda Totally cheesey 'Top-of the Pops' circa 1970's video effects.

Beautiful music if you close your eyes.

Should you need any advice on building, repairing, restoring a stringed instrument, Andy Carruthers is an amazing craftsman, he used to have a really cool website, but now there are just plain pictures. 

Found at Ursi's 

At the Brevard Zoo, the 7-week-old baby jaguar has finally come out to play. This was the baby's second day playing outside with mama Masaya. Its sex is still unknown.

10 more pictures 

That's what was going on behind The Iron Curtain?

Link via MissC

Oh crap. Link 

From Speigel online: 

One hundred German women braved broken heels and sprained ankles in Saturday's second annual "Stiletto Run" 100-meter race in Berlin

The distance was 100 meters. The field was 100 women. The prize was €10,000. The setting was Berlin. And the shoes were stilettos.

Link

A ringmaster's top hat doubled as a font when a circus troupe gathered inside a big top for the christening of two performers' godchildren.

Honey Hunt, three, and her sister Poppy, 10 months old, were baptised inside Zippo's Circus ring on Hove Lawns on the Sussex seafront.

The service was performed by the Rev Roly Bain, from Bristol, who is a clown - and a Church of England priest.

Link 

not to be confused with the curate that became a magician... 

Found here then click on public projects

Aletsch Glacier/Switzerland 8.18.07: US-Installation artist Spencer Tunick and Greenpeace Switzerland present a living sculpture: hundreds of naked people symbolise the vulnerability of the glaciers under climate change.

Link to more images 

realated post 

From c|net: 

Joybubbles (the legal name of the former Joe Engressia since 1991), a blind genius with perfect pitch who accidentally found he could make free phone calls by whistling tones and went on to play a pivotal role in the 1970s subculture of "phone phreaks," died on Aug. 8 in Minneapolis.

He was 58, though he had chosen in 1988 to remain 5 forever, and had the toys and teddy bears to prove it. The cause of death has not been determined, said Steven Gibb, a friend and the executor of the Joybubbles estate.

Joybubbles, who was blind at birth, was a famous part of what began as a scattered, socially awkward group of precocious teens and post-teens fascinated with exploring the phone system. It could then be seen as the world's biggest, most complex, most interesting computer, and foiling the phone system passed for high-tech high jinks in the 1970s.

Contains supposedly useful phrases, however "Who's your father referee?" (scroll down to #44) and "Scottish kiss" seem to be missing.
From book:

- 'Le coup d’envoi est à 15 heures' The kick-off is at 3pm

- 'Où en est le match?' What’s the score?

- 'On prend une bière?' How about a beer?

- 'C’est ma tournée' It’s my round

- 'J’ai la gueule de bois' I’ve got a hangover

- 'J’ai la tête qui tourne' I feel dizzy

- 'Au secours!' Help!

- 'L’arbitre' The referee

- 'Les joueurs' The players

- 'Un pilier' A prop

- 'Le talonneur' The hooker

- 'Le demi de mêlée' The scrum half

- 'Un ailier' A winger

 Link

Not quite sure what this means…

Link to more 

Previous funny bathroom signs 

How many metaphors and sexual innuendos can you get?

From Brentter.com's advertising blog: 

I’m surprised Steve Hall from Adrants hasn’t already snagged this spot for Sky Television’s Fresh TV - one of New Zealand’s adult television programs. It’s pretty funny and I dare you to try and find all of the metaphors used in the 1:10 promo. Hint: As the ending tagline reminds us, “Think Filthy.” I was only able to recognize 16, but there were a few items that I was unable to identify.

If you’re at work I can assure you that this piece is SFW, however I guess that depends on what industry you happen to be in. There’s nothing even close to nudity, but I have to warn you that you get to hear banter like:

(Man walks up to bar)
“Man: Hey love, I’ll have a little hand shandy please.
(Bartender brings him an overflowing beer)
Bartender: Ooo, Sorry about the head.
Man: Nah, that’s great. Nice beef curtains.
(Camera pans behind bartender to show the cow-print curtains leading into kitchen)
Bartender: Thanks.”

This jovial look at sexual innuendos was brought to us by DDB, New Zealand and was directed by Nic Finlayson from Film Construction, Auckland. Regan Grafton & Bridget Short were the Creative Directors for DDB (where Toby Talbot resides as ECD) and was produced by Phil Liefting.

The micro-site for the “Think Filthy” campaign is currently hosting a “Be Back Soon” image, but you can view accompanying print pieces, all featuring various sexual metaphors, here: Pub, Cottage, Farm.

Thanks Brady 

He spent 15 years, from 1983 to 1998, typing out all of the numbers from one to one million (in letters not numerals), simply because he “wanted something to do.”

Link

Burritoeater.com aims to be the Web’s most complete source of information on San Francisco taquerias – where they’re located, what they look like, if they’re open late, whether they serve breakfast, what the SF Department of Public Health says about them, which ones double as cell phone retailers, etc. etc. And while we realize that food may be one of the most objectively regarded things in life, we’re not shy about offering our opinion on any given burrito shop in town.

Link 

Researchers have figured out how to give an entire community a drug test using just a teaspoon of wastewater from a city's sewer plant.

The test wouldn't be used to finger any single person as a drug user. But it would help federal law enforcement and other agencies track the spread of dangerous drugs, like methamphetamines, across the country.

Oregon State University scientists tested 10 unnamed American cities for remnants of drugs, both legal and illegal, from wastewater streams. They were able to show that they could get a good snapshot of what people are taking.

Link 

This is nothing new, I read about a similar experiment in Washington DC last spring and one in another in a large Italian city last year but having difficulty finding links to the articles. 

Stay tuned or post links in comments.

Fairfax, VA Takes Part in Unusual Wastewater Experiment 2006

Link to wtopnews

Link to Washington Post article 

Link to timesonline (Italian tests)

THE rivers of Italy are flowing with cocaine, say scientists who have adopted a new approach to measuring the extent of drug misuse. The biggest river, the Po, carries the equivalent of about 4kg (8lb 13oz) of the drug a day, with a street value of about £20,000.

TOKYO - Lose a game of chess to a computer, and you could bruise your ego. Lose an arm-wrestling match to a Japanese arcade machine, and you could break your arm.

Distributor Atlus Co. said Tuesday it will remove all 150 "Arm Spirit" arm wrestling machines from Japanese arcades after three players broke their arms grappling with the machine's mechanized appendage.

"The machine isn't that strong, much less so than a muscular man. Even women should be able to beat it," said Atlus spokeswoman Ayano Sakiyama, calling the recall "a precaution."

"We think that maybe some players get overexcited and twist their arms in an unnatural way," she said. The company was investigating the incidents and checking the machines for any signs of malfunction.

Players of "Arm Spirit" advance through 10 levels, battling a French maid, drunken martial arts master and a Chihuahua before reaching the final showdown with a professional wrestler.

The arcade machine is not distributed overseas.

Link 

No, I'm not going to Burning Man but hooking up with some folks who are on their way. Precompression as opposed to decompression party. I'm bringing my fishing gear to Siskiyou County — in case things get too crazy... hahaha.

If you need a dose of puppies and flowers instantly, click here 

When I get back, I hope to 'design' the site properly and have a blogroll of friends and sites that I frequent, but until then, for your viewing pleasure, may I suggest these:

• neatorama
• MissCellania (congrats on your two year anniversary)
• Nothing To Do With Arbroath
  
• Spluch
  
• growabrain
  
• yesbutnobutyes

From BBC:

Daleks bid to make world record

A bid to create a new world record and have the biggest number of people dressed up as daleks in one location has taken place in Manchester.

The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester brought together 67 home-made Daleks on Sunday afternoon.

Their original creator, Raymond Cusick, who was there to judge the world record attempt said the initial design 40 years ago was very basic.

The museum is currently featuring an exhibition on Dr Who and the Daleks.
An official decision is yet to be announced as to whether the daleks succeeded in the world record bid.

Link to Flickr set 

Link to YouTube 

"Four tiny orpahned hedgehogs are snuggling up to the bristles of a cleaning brush - because they think it's their mother.

The four inch long creatures are being hand-reared by staff at the New Forest Otter, Owl and Wildlife Park in Ashurst, Hants.

Workers say Mary, Mungo, Midge and Slappy get comfort from playing with the centre's cleaning brush and enjoy rubbing against it."

Continue reading via Arbroath

From article:

The unusual sporting event was dreamed up by mastermind and organiser Dmitry Bulawinov.

He said the idea of floating down the river in the embraces of a rubber woman was conceived as a joke at a party where the men got drunk and the women didn't show up.

While considering the possible uses for a rubber woman on a camping trip, someone suggested that a sex doll would make a handy flotation device. Thus the 'Bubble Baba Challenge' was born.

Article with two more pictures

YouTube clip 

Link to more lamps 

Link to artist's bio 

Just watch it...

Follow up:
Miss West Carolina responds to Miss South Carolina

Thanks Brady! 

photo: gailatlarge

From article:

On Sunday evening, Murray hit the town with some golfers who had participated in the Scandinavian Masters tournament. When the evening's festivities at Café Opera drew to a close, he hopped into a golf cart and made a beeline for his hotel.
…

The officer, who described Murray as "very pleasant", added that he had never before come across a golf cart in the city centre during his thirty years in the force.

Link via dethroner

photo: mummajinx

Skippi Eluded German Authorities For Almost A Month After Escaping Zoo

BERLIN Skippi, a wily kangaroo on the run since early August was returned to his home at a petting zoo Monday in southern Germany, but not after a chase through the German Alps that left the animal with a strained leg.

The injured marsupial was captured in a cornfield near Leutkirch im Allgaeu, almost 10 miles from where his journey began, police in the nearby town of Ravensburg said.

Cris Siqueira or Cris Vector, is a commercial llustrator whose works are created as vector art (using Adobe Illustrator). Lovely stuff.

Thanks Christo 

Link to YouTube 

Thanks Brady! 

found photo: lafrancevi

From article:

KABUL, Afghanistan —  The U.S. military regrets any offense it may have caused by handing out a soccer ball emblazoned with the name of Allah on it as part of a public relations exercise in Afghanistan, a spokesman said.

found photo: JPaul23

From article: 

ABBOTSFORD, Wis. Two men, driving the same pickup truck, have been cited for driving drunk in central Wisconsin.

Police stopped their truck in Abbotsford, Wis. recently and found 43-year-old Harvey Miller was steering the truck. Miller has no legs.

Officers say 55-year-old Edwin Marzinske was operating the gas pedals and brake.

The police report says Miller admitted he was too drunk to drive, but argued he wasn't actually operating the truck because he couldn't push the gas pedal. Officers disagreed and cited him for drunken driving, third offense.

Marzinske was cited for his second drunken driving offense.

Both men were also cited for operating a vehicle after revocation.

Link to CBS13 

According to Scott Beale at Laughing Squid: 

Wow, this is a shocker. At around 3 am Tuesday morning at Burning Man 2007, during a rare lunar eclipse, the Burning Man sculpture was set on fire prematurely (it is normally burned on Saturday). The Black Rock City Emergency Services Department was able to put out the fire in time and salvage the sculpture (it had not yet been loaded with fuel or explosives). It is still scheduled for its normal burn on Saturday and they will be working throughout the week to repair any burn damage and re-install the neon.

Lots more info, pictures and updates at Laughing Squid 

UPDATE: arsonist arrested 

Link to SF Bay Guardian blog 

Installation at Havana Biennnial

Lots more work available on his website 

Hilly Kristal, who founded CBGB, the Bowery bar that became the cradle of punk and art-rock in New York in the 1970s and served as the inspiration for musician-friendly rock dives throughout the world, died in Manhattan on Tuesday. He was 75.

Continue reading 

C'mon folks, what kind of blog do you think this is? 

The FBI has quietly built a sophisticated, point-and-click surveillance system that performs instant wiretaps on almost any communications device, according to nearly a thousand pages of restricted documents newly released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The surveillance system, called DCSNet, for Digital Collection System Network, connects FBI wiretapping rooms to switches controlled by traditional land-line operators, internet-telephony providers and cellular companies. It is far more intricately woven into the nation's telecom infrastructure than observers suspected.

It's a "comprehensive wiretap system that intercepts wire-line phones, cellular phones, SMS and push-to-talk systems," says Steven Bellovin, a Columbia University computer science professor and longtime surveillance expert.

Link to Wired article by Ryan Singel via boingboing

Via Neatorama:

When this 3-year-old girl was asked what she was going to do if a monster came after her, the girl’s answer was far more intelligible than the recent Miss South Carolina hubbub.

Link to YouTube 

The Twingo. Little did its creators know it would become the cause of so much marital strife

From article: 

Hundreds of angry Dutch women have complained to car manufacturer Renault after receiving handwritten letters purporting to come from a unknown admirer who called them "darling", suggested meeting soon for a drink and signed themselves "lots of love, M".

Some 30,000 letters were sent out - and Renault is now writing 30,000 apologies.

The letter was in fact part of an advertising campaign for a new version of their car, the Twingo, to be launched next month in the Netherlands where it has proved a particularly big seller.

Link to article

Entomologists are debating the origin and rarity of a sprawling spider web that blankets several trees, shrubs and the ground along a 200-yard stretch of trail in a North Texas park.

Officials at Lake Tawakoni State Park say the massive mosquito trap is a big attraction for some visitors, while others won't go anywhere near it.

"At first, it was so white it looked like fairyland," said Donna Garde, superintendent of the park about 45 miles east of Dallas. "Now it's filled with so many mosquitoes that it's turned a little brown. There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs."

Spider experts say the web may have been constructed by social cobweb spiders, which work together, or could be the result of a mass dispersal in which the arachnids spin webs to spread out from one another.

"I've been hearing from entomologists from Ohio, Kansas, British Columbia -- all over the place," said Mike Quinn, an invertebrate biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who first posted photos online.

Herbert A. "Joe" Pase, a Texas Forest Service entomologist, said the massive web is very unusual.

"From what I'm hearing it could be a once-in-a-lifetime event," he said.

Link to article

From Ich Bin Ein Beijinger's blog

The Midi Music Festival has become a real cultural phenomenon, drawing young people from all over the country and giving me increasing hope that the still-marginal rock culture has reached critical mass and momentum. This year, I hear there were 80,000 people on the first day, and the line for tickets was nearly a kilometer long, wrapping from the east gate of Haidian Park all the way around the north side. Organizers did a terrific job of crowd control and security, but I still worry whether the auhorities will squash the thing next year--especially if there's as much dope-themed stuff for sale as I saw this year.

Interesting Flickr set here 

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A loud explosion heard inside an Apopka home led a family to a 30-foot sinkhole swallowing their kitchen, bathroom and other rooms inside the structure.

Rodrigo Coronado, who is renting the home with nine other family members, said the structure could be heard cracking Thursday.
Click here to find out more!

Coronado spoke to Local 6 through an interpreter.

"(Coronado) said basically what happened was last night at about 7:30, the first thing he heard was an extreme explosion in the house," interpreter R.L. Colina said. "When he went to go investigate what it was, he said he looked in the bathroom, the entire floor was gone."

A 30-foot hole opened in the home and has taken the kitchen down 25 feet, according to the family.

Firefighters said they were not certain if the sinkhole will continue to grow and neighbors have been warned.

Russian police have detained a 45-year-old municipal worker for stealing a bridge.

The 5-metre span metal bridge disappeared from a river crossing in the Ryazan region, east of Moscow. Police said they tracked it down to the man, who had used his work truck to remove it and then chopped it up and sold it for scrap.

In a statement, Ryazan region police called it "the bulkiest theft of the year".

This is asinine:

The passengers on board the Vatican’s first flight to Lourdes may have been pilgrims in search of spiritual healing, but they still had to obey anti-terrorism rules, it has emerged, after several of them had their holy water confiscated.

The Vatican’s new service, a Boeing 737 painted in yellow-and-white papal livery, took off from Rome’s Fiumicino airport on Monday, serving swordfish canapes to 148 pilgrims reclining on headrests stamped with the message: “I search for your face, oh Lord”.

While the outward journey was smooth, turbulence struck on the return when anti-terror rules were strictly applied by the French police.

No bottles containing more than 100ml of liquid were allowed on board unless checked in, meaning passengers were forced give up the holy water they had just collected at Lourdes.

Many hoped to ferry the water back to sick relatives.

Instead, dozens of plastic containers in the shape of the Madonna were left at security, while one man decided to drink all of his.

Link 

'Kitty scratch attack' 

via neatorama 

From Rolling Stone Magazine: 

How is it done? How do you screw the taxpayer for millions, get away with it and then ride off into the sunset with one middle finger extended, the other wrapped around a chilled martini? Ask Earnest O. Robbins -- he knows all about being a successful contractor in Iraq.

You start off as a well-connected bureaucrat: in this case, as an Air Force civil engineer, a post from which Robbins was responsible for overseeing 70,000 servicemen and contractors, with an annual budget of $8 billion. You serve with distinction for thirty-four years, becoming such a military all-star that the Air Force frequently sends you to the Hill to testify before Congress -- until one day in the summer of 2003, when you retire to take a job as an executive for Parsons, a private construction company looking to do work in Iraq.

Now you can finally move out of your dull government housing on Bolling Air Force Base and get your wife that dream home you've been promising her all these years. The place on Park Street in Dunn Loring, Virginia, looks pretty good -- four bedrooms, fireplace, garage, 2,900 square feet, a nice starter home in a high-end neighborhood full of spooks, think-tankers and ex-apparatchiks moved on to the nest-egg phase of their faceless careers. On October 20th, 2003, you close the deal for $775,000 and start living that private-sector good life.

Continue reading (links to video also)

As per the instructions, use the arrow keys for movement, the space bar to glomp and just figure it out! Play the game