Worth1000's Photoshopping Contest: matte monsters into classic works of art. Michaelangelo's David with a facehugger! American Gothic Hannibal Lector! Norman Rockwell, also with a facehugger! There were too many great combinations to pick just one to feature with this post!

Photos Through a Microscope contest winners

Nikon's Small World contest gives prizes for the best photos taken through light microscopes. The 2005 winners are online now, and they are amazing! This 1st prize entry of a fly's face is stunning...in a strange way.

I'm getting in touch with my feminine side

"Right!"

AXIS OF EVIL WANNABES
by John Cleese

Bitter after being snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil", Libya, China and Syria today announced that they had formed the "Axis of Just as Evil", which they said would be more evil than that stupid Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush warned of in his State of the Union address. Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the new Axis as having, for starters, a really dumb name. "Right. They are just as evil... in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. "Everybody knows we're the best evils... best at being evil... we're the best."

Diplomats from Syria denied they were jealous over being excluded, although they conceded they did ask if they could join the Axis of Evil. "They told us it was full," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad." An axis can't have more than three countries", explained Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "This is not my rule, it's tradition. In World War II you had Germany, Italy, and Japan in the evil Axis. So, you can only have three, and a secret handshake. Ours is wickedly cool."

International reaction to Bush's Axis of Evil declaration was swift, as within minutes, France surrendered. Elsewhere, peer-conscious nations rushed to gain triumvirate status in what has become a game of geopolitical chairs. Cuba, Sudan and Serbia announced that they had formed the "Axis of Somewhat Evil", forcing Somalia to join with Uganda and Myanmar in the "Axis of Occasionally Evil", while Bulgaria, Indonesia and Russia established the "Axis of Not So Much Evil Really as Just Generally Disagreeable". With the criteria suddenly expanded and all the desirable clubs filling up, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, and Rwanda applied to be called the "Axis of Countries That Aren't the Worst But Certainly Won't Be Asked to Host the Olympics".

Canada, Mexico and Australia formed the "Axis of Nations That Are Actually Quite Nice But Secretly Have Some Nasty Thoughts About America", while Scotland, New Zealand and Spain established the "Axis of Countries That Want Sheep to Wear Lipstick". "That's not a threat, really, just something we like to do", said Scottish Executive First Minister Jack McConnell.

While wondering if the other nations of the world weren't perhaps making fun of him, a cautious Bush granted approval for most axes, although he rejected the establishment of the "Axis of Countries Whose Names End in 'Guay", accusing one of its members of filing a false application. Officials from Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chadguay denied the charges. Israel, meanwhile, insisted it didn't want to join any Axis, but privately world leaders said that's only because no one asked them.

from Boreme.com

Genius!

Remote control for, uhhh...Humans???

Japan developing remote control for humans

A special headset was placed on my cranium by my hosts during a recent demonstration at an NTT research center. It sent a very low voltage electric current from the back of my ears through my head -- either from left to right or right to left, depending on which way the joystick on a remote-control was moved.

I found the experience unnerving and exhausting: I sought to step straight ahead but kept careening from side to side. Those alternating currents literally threw me off.

I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced -- mistakenly -- that this was the only way to maintain my balance.

The phenomenon is painless but dramatic. Your feet start to move before you know it. I could even remote-control myself by taking the switch into my own hands.

Photos from undeveloped film in antique cameras

Really cool site with a gallery of photos that were taken from antique cameras before the photographer ever viewed them. There are several interesting rolls. One even had this photo of Abraham Lincoln. Check out this one. It seems to have been owned by a soldier from NY during WWII. Some of the photos look like they were taken over seas. Possibly Italy.

In Memory of Rosa Parks...

Civil rights activist who passed away on Monday at the age of 92.

Try this

This was sent to me via email from Bill "The Carpetbagger" Rice. Pretty funny.

CHECK THIS OUT!!!


No wonder so many people say google's search engine can find anything for you...............

1- Go to Google

2- Type in the word "Failure"

3- Instead of clicking "Google Search," click "I'm Feeling Lucky."

4- Spread the word before the people at Google "fix" it.

Thanks Bill!

Boy...he must have good aim!

David Copperfield to 'magic' girl pregnant

David Copperfield says he plans to impregnate a girl on stage - without even touching her.

Speaking to German magazine Galore, the illusionist rejected the theory that there were only seven different kinds of magic tricks.

He said: "Bull s**t! There is a great deal of new territory to conquer. In my next show I'm going to make a girl pregnant on stage."

He added: "Naturally it will be without sex. Everyone will be happy about it, but I'm not telling you any more."

The magician is currently on tour in Germany with his show, An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion.
From Ananova.com

Not to worry...

"We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job. That's what I'm telling you."

-Actual George W. Bush quote, Washington, D.C., September, 2005.

Get 'em while you can!

It appears that some of those responsible for the republican canditate of our next election already have someone in mind. If you hurry, you too can become a part of the madness in promoting the new candidate buy purchasing one of the following items. I prefer the "classic thong" personally.

I've heard of Sharp Cheddar, but...

PALM COAST, Fla. Oct 11, 2005 — A 16-year-old student bit into a razor blade while eating a chicken sandwich he purchased at his high school, authorities said. Craig Beat was not injured when he found the blade in his chicken patty Sept. 21, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office said.
Beat told school officials that he bought the sandwich at Flagler Palm Coast High School and sat down to eat it in the school's lunchroom, according to a sheriff's report.

Investigators did not know how the razor blade got into the sandwich. A spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based company that prepares and distributes the sandwiches said an internal investigation concluded that the razor blade must have been inserted into the chicken patty after it left the plant were it was cooked and frozen. No razors are used in the manufacturing process, and all food leaving the company's plants pass through metal detectors, said Gold Kist Inc. spokeswoman Karla Harvill. Gold Kist products have since been removed from all cafeterias in the school district, officials said.

Christian children's coloring book from 1954

Scan of a page from a Christian children's coloring book called "Listen and Do"

Man fashions his hair into a hat The Jamaica Star reports that a 40-year-old barber styles his hair to look like a hat.

Darain Housen has not taken off his hat for the last 20 years. He bathes, he sleeps and does everything possible in it. It is a perfect fit. But unlike other hats, his is not made of cloth but from the very hair on his head...

...Housen said that he was once stopped by a policeman while coming from a dance early one morning who insisted that he removed it. "Him shine di light pon mi an' look. When him see it seh a mi real hair him frighten an' seh mi mus come check him a di station di following morning. When mi go him shake mi han' an' seh mi have talent an' mi fi keep it up.

Video: plants with lots of eyes. Ew ew ew ew. This photo-realistic anime video (more here) of slow-moving plants with tentacles, tongues, beaks and lazily blinking eyes actually made my stomach do one of those slow somersaults you get when you step on a turd. Something about these evinces a genuinely atavistic reaction, a whole-body squick. There's nothing overtly gross here, but the net effect makes me go all ooey-gooey. Link (via JWZ)

UNICEF bombs the Smurfs UNICEF has produced a short Smurfs movie in which the Smurf village is bombed into rubble, leaving behind dead and dying Smurfs in a scene reminiscent of an Hieronymus Bosch painting. The video is part of a public education campaign on the ravages of war.

The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.

Tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs.

The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children..."

"We wanted something that was real war - Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head -but they said no." Link

Update: There's a slideshow of stills from the video, along with the audio track, here in Quicktime and WMV.

HOWTO Build a pinhole camera from legos This build-log details an ingenius project to build a largemedium-format pinhole camera out of legos. The maker hasn't yet uploaded any of the photos from it yet, but I'm looking forward to them. Link
Update: Some photos on Flickr and in a gallery.

I want some!

Bedroom slippers with LEDs in the toes. Lighted bedroom slippers are a damned clever use for LED technology. However, these suffer from a distinct lack of bunny-ears. Link

Emaciated man gets by as a living skeleton Gopal Hadar is an Indian man who was badly malnourished as a child, which led to a hormone imbalance that left him emaciated all his life. His career has been covering his body in charcoal in order to look like a living skeleton and travel from town to town, pretending to be a ghost and scaring children as a sort of precautionary entertainer. Most of the money he earns he spends on hemp, which he is "addicted" to smoking.

"Wherever I go children call me 'Uncle Ghost' and peep at me through windows," a smiling Haldar said. "Women and children are even scared of going out at night in case they meet me."
His friend Sunil Chakraborty helps him perform on candle-lit stages in Sunderban villages yet to be reached by electricity and where people prefer to confine themselves in their homes after sundown.

He says it takes him only 10 to 15 minutes to do his makeup and transform his emaciated self into a ghost-like creature -- mainly by painting his sunken face, protruding ribs and skeletal limbs with soot. Link

Where in the World is the Old Daily Show Set? Jeez, talk about trufans. The old set from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart on Comedy Central set was recently auctioned off for charity. The winning stalk... I mean, bidders now plan to drag the damn thing all around the United States, "Where's Waldo" style, with bloggy, podcasty, road-video hilarity likely to ensue.

There's even -- wait for it! -- a Jon Stewart lookalike contest in the works.

Where in the World is the Daily Show Set Today will be a daily show produced along the back roads, on the main streets, in the small towns and in between all the wide spots that make up this diverse land.

Jon Stewart look-alikes, in addition to towns and people interested in having the set come to their city, should log on to thedailyset.com and submit an email to us about who they are and why the Daily Set should come to their town. Link to "The Daily Set Accross America Without Jon Stewart, Rob Corddry, Samanta Bee, Ed Helms, Stephen Colbert, or anyone else from the actual show."

Move over Scientology!

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster



WWFSMD?

US Public Opinion

Americans Consider Next Invasion

Just in case you were curious...

The History of Bocce Ball
Unlike "Championship Bowling," bocce is not a game of roll, slam, crash, rack and have another brewski. It's a true sport involving skill, fitness, strategy and cunning. Yeah, okay.

Wow

Python Explodes After Eating AlligatorIn this photo provided by the Everglades National Park, the carcass of a six-foot American alligator is shown protruding from the midsection of a 13-foot Burmese python Monday, Sept. 26, 2005 in Everglades National Park, Fla., after the snake apparently swallowed the alligator, resulting in the deaths of both animals. Everglades National Park photo

uhhhh...

Bizarre proposed Indiana reproductive legislation Stefan Jones says: A proposed bill (PDF of text here) by Indiana Republicans would limit assisted reproduction services to people who have a "Gestational Certificate."
"It's probably not a surprise that only married heterosexuals would qualify, but the other information the bill suggests be collected reads like something from Eugenics manual:
Sec. 12.
(a) Before intended parents may commence assisted reproduction, the intended parents shall obtain an assessment from a licensed child placing agency in the intended parents' state of residence.
(b) The assessment must follow the normal practice for assessments in a domestic infant adoption procedure and must include the following information:
(1) The intended parents' purpose for the assisted reproduction.
(2) The fertility history of the intended parents, including the pregnancy history and response to pregnancy losses of the woman.
(3) An acknowledgment by the intended parents that the child may not be the biological child of at least one (1) of the intended parents depending on the type of artificial reproduction procedure used.
(4) A list of the intended parents' family and friend support system.
(5) A plan for sharing any known genetic information with the child.
(6) Personal information about each intended parent, including the following:
(A) Family of origin.
(B) Values.
(C) Relationships.
(D) Education.
(E) Employment and income.
(F) Hobbies and talents.
(G) Physical description, including the general health of the individual.
(H) Birth verification.
(I) Personality description, including the strengths and weaknesses of each intended parent. "If this passes, expect follow-up legislation that bans turkey basters." Link

A bit of Optimism

US nickel to get a facelift in 2006 Jamie Franki, an associate professor of art at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, beat 146 other artists in the competition to design a new US nickel. The artist said he gave Jefferson a slight smile (I don't see it, but I do like the design).
Link

Proposed Indiana law would make the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit criminals

If the Virgin Mary had been born 2000 years later, she might have ended up in an Indiana State prison, if Republican lawmakers there get their way. A proposed bill hopes to make criminals out of unmarried women in Indiana who conceive "by means other than sexual intercourse."

Peter Svensson says: "Under the proposed Indiana law, if [Mary] willingly accepted the Holy Spirit's visitation, that would be a misdemeanor:

As it the draft of the new law reads now, an intended parent 'who knowingly or willingly participates in an artificial reproduction procedure' without court approval, 'commits unauthorized reproduction, a Class B misdemeanor.'

The criminal charges will be the same for physicians who commit 'unauthorized practice of artificial reproduction.'"Presumably, if the Holy Spirit didn't give her a choice in the matter, she would have been let off. But in either case, the Holy Spirit would be charged." Link

The Beauty of Symmetry

http://www.zefrank.com/dtoy_vs_byokal/index.html