Those Darn Celebrities 3-10-10

“Lindsay Lohan is suing the financial company E-Trade, insisting that a boyfriend-stealing, “milkaholic” baby in its latest commercial — who happens to be named Lindsay — was modeled after her. And she wants $100 million for her pain and suffering…” (source: NY Post) Read more

In Time For the Holidays: A Calamari Wall Hanging

“Here we have one big ass tentacle. Add a touch of eerie goodness to your home decor.
Bursting through a wall of faux bricks, this fabulous bit of cephalopod is sure to delight young and old alike.” -Says the artist – Etsy username ArtAkimbo

And really, what little girl wouldn’t want the carbuncle of Cthulu jutting out from over her bed? Or, older girl, under her bed… The look on a little boys face when he opens that box Christmas morn and flashes back to the run in with the squid at the beach line a few months prior….

“I’ve included a couple of photos of how it might look in your gracious home, specifically if you happen to live in the American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” – ArtAkimbo goes on to say.

Snide comments aside, it’s a rather nifty looking art piece. Not my cup of tea, but I’m sure it’d fit in some seaside villa or cultists livingroom.

The tentacle is made of foam and fiberglass, and juts out about 44” from the wall. The piece weighs in at 25lbs , though I don’t know how much weight it can hold – meaning you may not be able to use it as a coat hook a la the Adams Family. Come on, you know you thought of it too.

It’s one of a kind and sells for $1,200, though if Spencer Gifts had any brains (muffled comment) they’d license this bad boy.

Akimbo has some other unique (and affordable) Surreal and Dadaist pieces and prints in his shop. Definitively worth a look see.

Holy Cow, Cartoon Network’s Showin’ Cartoons Again

I was just channel surfing and came across the Pink Panther on Cartoon Network. Cartoons, on Cartoon Network! Who’d a thunk? They went down that slippery slope of changing formats – showing non-cartoon movies and shows – a while ago, something they’ll never be able to back away from now, but they got classics on.

They also got Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry! They’ve been edited for political correctness’ sake, but its something. So if you got kids, here’s something for them to watch rather than totally sterile rehashed gags of cartoons that are being made today. If you don’t got kids, who cares… its something to watch rather than the totally sterile rehashed gags of sitcoms that are being made today.

In an unrelated note, Nickelodeon still appears to not be acknolweding their existance prior to 1999. Come on guys, Classic Nick Network on 3! 1… 2…

PS, don’t go to the CN website… there’re pedophiles in the comments : 0 And no trace of a channel line-up.

Normans finally develop WMDs!!!

Nine-hundred and forty-three years since the first mechanically fired bolt streamed across the battlefields of Europe, the crossbow has been upgraded for the 20th century (yes, yes I know its the 21st… read on). Read more

Just Watch This

This is a video everyone needs to watch. It’s Clay Shirky at the Web 2.0 Expo SF 2008 giving a speech about “Cognitive Surplus” and what we can do with all our wasted time.
Read more

Science Round-up

Humans – The Original DVD

Human cloning ‘flawed’ (if the link is dead, here’s the txt version)

Well, it seems the evil scientist crackpots have hit a stumbling block in the area of cloning. Apparently genetic material in primates, much like that which they create, are a fickle lot. When the cell splits, it’s feast or famine time when it comes to divvying up the DNA, thus putting a stop to illegal copying.

Because of this, much doubt has been cast upon those Raelians who, as we all know by now, claim to have made not one, but many clones. Well, either Clonaid is lying through their hats… or should it be true, maybe there is something to all this descended from aliens stuff.

And speaking of DNA….

I knew I should have taken that left at Adenine

Human Genome Finally Complete (if the link is dead, here’s the txt version)

Not only are humans on the map, they get their own. The Human Genome Project has announced that they are almost done with figuring out what makes us all tick. The implications for this are tremendous! Why with the sharing of this research, all sorts of diseases, syndromes, and ailments will be cured. That is, of course, if it is shared. But since many companies were vying to crack the code first, the key to life itself will most likely become just another consumer product.

And a cheap consumer product at that. Remember, they say they’re almost done: “The decoding is now close to 100% complete. The remaining tiny gaps are considered too costly to fill and those in charge of turning genomic data into medical and scientific progress have plenty to be getting on with.”

Ever get the feeling were just cheap chairs from IKEA? It’s always those small missing bits that seem to make a difference between comfort and quickly relocating to the basement.

I, being the great scientific mind that I am, know what a few of those gaps are, however. One is the number troubleshooter’s hotline, the other is the “do not remove under penalty of law” tag.

Do me a favor guys, pay the extra 50 cents for the insurance.