All Of The Dead: A Zombie Lego Movie

See the film at spiteyourface.com

Lemur

More pics here.

Wiki about Lemurs here.

Taking Rose Parade By Stormtrooper

An Imperial legion of 'Star Wars' fans will be marching in costume when George Lucas serves as grand marshal."Jorge Candelas spent eight months perfecting the look of his Imperial biker scout uniform.

He watched the "Star Wars" movies over and over, making sure the plastic armor on his uniform sat at just the right angle.

He endured teasing from his father, who calls him his "8-year-old who never grew up."

But on Thursday, the 30-year-old computer engineer from Durango, Mexico, was marching proud. He joined 200 fellow "Star Wars" fanatics at a Pasadena high school football field, trying to march in unison on the commands of an Army Reserve colonel in preparation for the 118th Rose Parade. "

The rest of the story at Latimes.com

Update: video of the parade at youtube.com. Warning: Ewoks.

Also: Stormtroopers practicing for the parade photoset at Flickr.com

Pope Benedict or Emperor Palpatine?

"The new Pope Benedict XVI seems to bear more than a passing resemblance to Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars movies, in fact some suggest he might even be Emperor Palpatine, and this is just his latest scheme for galactic domination. I have decided to examine the subject more closely and have complied the following reasons why the new pope might actually be a Sith lord.

• Both of the wear long ornamental robes totally out of fashion with the rest of the culture. True the pope is more colorful than the emperor, but the emperor wears a purple thong under his robes. ..."

More at unsoughtinput.com

Tabby Cat Terror For Black Bear

"A black bear got more than it bargained for after straying into a family garden in the US state of New Jersey.

The unwelcome intruder was forced up a tree - twice - by the family pet, a tabby cat called Jack.

The terrified bear was only able to make its escape when owner Donna Dickey called the hissing cat into the house.

Ms Dickey said Jack liked to keep a close watch on his territory and often chased away small animals, but one of this size was a first.

"We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty', never knowing he'd go after a bear," Donna Dickey told local newspaper The Star-Ledger. "

The story at bbc.co.uk

Calvin & Hobbes Snowman Art

Click pic for larger version

More here.

80's Collage

Click here for the full size version.

Re-Imagineering

"A forum for Pixar and Disney professionals passionate about the Disney Theme Parks to catalog past Imagineering missteps and offer tenable practical solutions in hopes that a new wave of creative management at Imagineering can restore some of the wonder and magic that's been missing from the parks for decades."

The blog is at imagineerebirth.blogspot.com

High Resolution Photo Of Boston

"Complimenting the landscape work xRez is pursuing, some dense urban locations have been shot as well, providing great subjects for gigapixel detail. In Boston, a view from the Prudential Tower’s Skywalk provided a good base to cover a portion of the city in narrow-field high density. Unfortunately, an automated pano head was not available, but 612 overlapping images were shot manually with a 300mm lens. Proving it is possible (but not sensible) to do a gigapixel shoot manually, luck held out and a successful stitch was made, resulting in a 95,000 by 40,000 pixel size image. "

See the photo at xrez.com

Pac Man Hits The Road

"The Wright County sheriff heard from his deputies about the whimsical road art and decided to take a look for himself.

Sheriff Gary Miller cruised east from Buffalo to the stretch of Hwy. 55 with large, white ovals painted by the state to slow tailgaters by showing drivers how far apart to stay. About halfway through the stretch he saw the unauthorized addition: a giant rendition of a yellow Pac-Man, the jaws from the 1980s video game trailblazer, attacking an oval dot on the pavement."

The story at startribune.com

Skull Illusions

See the rest of the gallery at bizarrearea.com

Baby Is Sent Through X-ray Machine At LAX

"A woman places her month-old grandson in a bin for carry-on items. Doctors later determine he did not get a dangerous dose of radiation.

A woman going through security at Los Angeles International Airport put her month-old grandson into a plastic bin intended for carry-on items and slid it into an X-ray machine.

The early Saturday accident — bizarre but not unprecedented — caught airport workers by surprise, even though the security line was not busy at the time, officials said.

A screener watching the machine's monitor immediately noticed the outline of a baby and pulled the bin backward on the conveyor belt.

The infant was taken to Centinela Hospital, where doctors determined that he had not received a dangerous dose of radiation...."

More at latimes.com

Japanese Woman Finds Scorpion In Jeans

"A Japanese woman trying on a pair of jeans in a shop got a shock when she was stung by a scorpion hidden inside.

The woman, on the southern island of Okinawa, ended up in hospital for five days as a result of the sting, which was not life-threatening.
Local health officials captured the 5cm (2 inch) scorpion, which was believed to be a Chinese bark scorpion."

It is thought to have travelled inside the jeans from China, where they were made.

The rest of the story at news.bbc.co.uk

Large Sculptures Made with Legos

Artist, Nathan Sawaya, creates sculptures with Legos.

See more at his website at brickartist.com

Related: Life size Batman Lego sculpture for sale at Fao Schwartz for $27,000

Please Let It Be Whale Vomit, Not Just Sea Junk

"MONTAUK, N.Y. — In this season of strange presents from relatives, Dorothy Ferreira got a doozy the other day from her 82-year-old sister in Waterloo, Iowa. It was ugly. It weighed four pounds. There was no receipt in the box.

Inside she found what looked like a gnarled, funky candle but could actually be a huge hunk of petrified whale vomit worth as much as $18,000.

“I called my sister and asked her, ‘What the heck did you send me?’ ” recalled Ms. Ferreira, 67, who has lived here on the eastern tip of Long Island since 1982. “She said: ‘I don’t know, but I found it on the beach in Montauk 50 years ago and just kept it around. You’re the one who lives by the ocean; ask someone out there what it is.’ ”....

The rest of the story at New York Times

Sad Songs Say So Much

THE Drugs Don't Work by The Verve tops a list of songs which make us sad, according to a scientist.

"Dr Harry Witchel, an expert in physiology and music, analysed the physical reactions to music on behalf of Nokia.

Using a shortlist compiled by the Official UK Charts Company, he measured their "tune trigger quotient" measuring heart rate, respiratory response and skin temperature to find the saddest, happiest and most exhilarating tracks.

The happiest songs were measured by contentment judged on levels of sighs per minute (indicating the recall of happy memories) plus low level of boredom...."

More at news.com.au

History Of Video Game Consoles

I started off with the 2600. This is a comprehensive list of all the gaming consoles from the beginning up to the Xbox360.

The rest of the list at thegameconsole.com

Skeleton Bike II

More pics at cbr600rr.com forums

Related: skeleton bike 1 here.

The Most Dangerous Play Things Of All Time

"In the last year alone, some eight million units of toys were recalled in the U.S., according to W.A.T.C.H., a toy-safety advocacy group. But Kool Toys and Polly Pockets are kids' stuff compared to the hazardous baubles of yesteryear. In the spirit of the holidays, Radar presents the most dangerous toys of all time, those treasured playthings that drew blood, chewed digits, took out eyes, and, in one case, actually irradiated. To keep things interesting, we excluded BB guns, slingshots, throwing stars, and anything else actually intended to inflict harm. Below, our toy box from hell. "

See the list at radarmagazine.com

World's Tallest Man Saves Dolphin

"The world's tallest man has saved two dolphins by using his long arms to reach into their stomachs and pull out dangerous plastic shards. "

"Mongolian herdsman Bao Xishun was called in after the dolphins swallowed plastic used around their pool at an aquarium in Fushun, north-east China.
Attempts to use instruments failed as the dolphins contracted their stomachs.
Guinness World Records list Mr Bao, 54, as the world's tallest living man at 2.36m (7ft 8.95in). "

The story at news.bbc.co.uk

The Expanding Dining Table

"The Fletcher Capstan Table is the only table in the world with its unique properties. It is a circular table which, when rotated at its outer perimeter, doubles its seating capacity, yet astonishingly remains truly circular. The masterpiece is of course the operating mechanism which is beautifully engineered, yet simple and robust … and you can have one built to your exact requirements for a sum commensurate with this functional work of art.

The expansion leaves are stored within the table and, in just four seconds, smoothly and quickly emerge upon rotation, rising and radially expanding outwards as the entire top is turned through 30˚. Existing tables can seat six persons when small, and twelve or more when expanded, but there are other design possibilities."

The rest of the article at gizmag.com

Video of it in action on youtube.com

Tattoos Gone Wrong

"When tattoos go bad, they can be the single most embarassing form of self expression available. I'm not getting down on self expression, but when your tattoo's statement is "look at my toddlers portrait" or just a poorly executed ripoff of a Disney character, you have no right to express yourself. Below is a listing of bad tattoos and their secret prison meaning."

The gallery at mudpiglet.com

Related: more bad tattoos at wallstreetfighter.blogspot.com

Tunisia Shares 'Star Wars' Set

"MATMATA, Tunisia — I have never been a "Star Wars" aficionado, to tell you the truth. The closest I ever came to appreciating the movie was singing along to the "Star Wars" ring tone on my colleague's cell phone.

That is, until I took a trip to the planet Tatooine itself — a real place in the middle of the north African desert, a well-kept secret of Tunisia.

While ruthless Hollywood knocks over the set of each movie as soon as the director shouts his final "Cut!," Tunisia, where George Lucas shot most of the "Star Wars" scenes, still keeps the original set from the '70s, protecting it from the burning sun and the evil winds of the Sahara. ..."

Read the rest at mysanantonio.com

"Licentious" Plate Tribute Rejected

Virginia woman says "STFU" license tag was to honor late friend"DECEMBER 11--The way Kirsten Norman tells it, the vanity license plates on her Volkswagen Jetta were meant as a tribute to a friend who died from cancer. The Commonwealth of Virginia, however, had a different interpretation of "STFU-PLS." Acting on a September e-mail complaint that the acronym stood for "Shut The F*ck Up Please," the Department of Motor Vehicles quickly recalled the plates, sending Norman a letter noting that the tags were "issued in error" and no longer valid. Along with the correspondence, DMV officials sent Norman new plates (the less distinctive "KDA 347") and asked her to return the personalized plates in a self-addressed envelope they provided. Norman responded with an amusing October letter in which she explained the supposedly true meaning of "STFU-PLS." Norman noted that she would not allow the state to "tell me what I can and cannot say on my license plates because of what you THINK it means. This goes against my first amendment rights."

I especially like her B.S. story about the plate meaning: Stay True For U and the initials of her dead friend, Paul Luke Stanford. Yeah, right.

The story at thesmokinggun.com

So This Manatee Walks Into the Internet

"The skit, as scripted for the Dec. 4 installment of “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” was about absurdist college sports mascots that the host and his writers would like to see someday.

Among them were “the Boise State Conjoined Vikings,” who had been born locked at the horns, as well as something Mr. O’Brien called “the Webcam manatee” — said to be the mascot of “F.S.U.” — which was basically someone in a manatee costume rubbing himself or herself provocatively in front of a camera (to the tune of the 1991 hit “I Touch Myself”). Meanwhile a voyeur with a lascivious expression watched via computer.

Who knew that life would soon imitate art.

At the end of the skit, in a line Mr. O’Brien insists was ad-libbed, he mentioned that the voyeur (actually Mark Pender, a member of the show’s band) was watching www.hornymanatee.com. There was only one problem: as of the taping of that show, which concluded at 6:30 p.m., no such site existed. Which presented an immediate quandary for NBC: If a viewer were somehow to acquire the license to use that Internet domain name, then put something inappropriate on the site, the network could potentially be held liable for appearing to promote it...."

The rest of the story at Nytimes.com

Scared Of Santa

"Nothing says Happy Holidays like a photo of sweet little toddlers screaming at Santa. A couple of years ago, the Chicago Tribune asked readers to send in their "Scared of Santa" photos. Those photos are included here, as well as additional photos sent in by SouthFlorida.com, Sun-Sentinel.com and Chicago Tribune readers in subsequent years. Enjoy!"
Look at that mask, I'd wanna scream, too.

Too much, eggnog?

More at SouthFlorida.com

Velvet Underground Rarity Sells on eBay

"NEW YORK - Forty years after it was made, The Velvet Underground's first recording has become a financial hit _ in cyberspace. Bought for 75 cents four years ago at a Manhattan flea market, the rare recording of music that ended up on the influential New York band's first album, "The Velvet Underground & Nico," sold on eBay for a closing bid of $155,401.

The buyer is a mystery, only identified by the eBay screen name: "mechadaddy."

But a greater mystery endures: How did the 12-inch, acetate LP end up buried in a box of records at a flea market?"

Read the rest of the story at comcast.net

Update: The winning bid was bogus. Read about it at theglobeandmail.com

Truly Awful Star Wars Collectables

C3PO Tape Dispenser? Apparently these came out before color photography.

More awful collectables here.

I'm In Ur Website...

Click pic for larger version.

These have been making the rounds for a few months now. See more at iminurwebsite.com

Related: More cats here and here.

An excellent gallery here.

Top 10 Coolest Vehicles in Film and TV

9. Drag-U-La – The Munsters TV show
"The Drag-U-La only seats one (of course) and gets a mere 4 miles per gallon of embalming fluid but it more than makes up for those defects with it’s groovy ghoulie design and style. This coffin rocket sports a 360 cubic inch engine, 4-speed shift, bat shaped air scoops, and an exhaust system shaped like the organ pipes they’ll play at your funeral when you hit something while traveling in it."


4. Pursuit Special – 1981 film The Road Warrior
"Last of the V8 Interceptors, be a shame to blow it up.”-Some weird crippled guy.

"Mad Max has it rough. His world’s nuked, wife’s murdered, and yesterday’s dinner was eaten straight from a dog food can. All in all, it didn’t turn out to be a very good year. About the only thing Max has going for him is that he has the coolest damn car on the Australian continent. Of course having a vehicle like that forces you to roam the wastelands searching for gas and that leads to it’s own host of problems. You ever try siphoning a gallon of unleaded while a guy with a pink Mohawk swings a chain at your head? It ain’t easy. "

The rest of the Top 10 list at yesbutnobutyes.com

Related: The Pursuit Special is the car driven by the main character Max Rockatansky in the films Mad Max and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. It is a Ford Falcon XB GT coupe customized to become a police "Interceptor" of the Main Force Patrol. The same car was used in both films.

Pursuit Special on Wiki

50 Smiley Faces On Real Objects

More smileys at fun24-7.blogspot.com

GR8 TaT2 Maker

"Open up your very own pretend play tattoo parlor. This easy-to-use tattoo maker kit includes an electronic tattoo pen and funky stencils. Using soft, safe pulsating action, the tattoo pen creates realistic, washable designs with dramatic effects. Requires two AA batteries (not included). "

Get 'em started young, and on the right path for success. Nothing compares to the respect you get on the playground having full sleeves.

Buy it at etoys.com

The 50 Worst Artists in Music History

47. GOO GOO DOLLS

Mediocre band, woeful balladeers Buffalo, New York’s Goo Goo Dolls are former garage-rockers who, since their 1995 acoustic hit “Name,” have successfully flogged a pallid brand of Bon Jovi–lite “rock.” “Iris,” their smash 1998 weepie, gives power ballads a bad name. Worst CD Gutterflower (Warner Bros., 2002)

44. MANOWAR

None more metal. None more gay. An American answer to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, Rochester, New York’s Manowar embody every conceivable heavy-metal cliché: Bodybuilders all, the four wear leather and animal pelts onstage; singer Eric Adams shrieks only of death, warfare and the glory of metal; Joey DeMaio performs solo bass renditions of “The Flight of the Bumblebee.” They’re quite possibly the most ludicrous people in rock & roll history.Appalling fact In 1993, Russian youth voted Manowar above the Beatles and Michael Jackson as the act they would most like to see perform live. Worst CD Sign of the Hammer (EMI, 1985)

It gets even worse from here.

The rest at Blender.com

Related: www.youhavebadtasteinmusic.com Check out the video documentation.

Spilled Doritos Wash Ashore

"A cargo container that apparently fell from a ship washed up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Thursday and spilled thousands of bags of Doritos brand tortilla chips on the beach. People collected the chips, which were apparently still fresh due to their airtight packaging. It was unknown which ship had lost the cargo or to what port it was bound."

That's just bad timing. Why couldn't this happen in July? Eh, I'll just wait for the beer container to wash ashore.

Cool Ranch? And some salsa.

More photos at hamptonroads.com