Saturday, May 31, 2008

Woman in iron lung dies during power outage

Jenny Jarvie, writing for the LA Times, finds the silver lining:
For the first time in more than half a century, the Odell residence is quiet.

There are no squeaks and pops from the electric motor that powered an "iron lung" pumping air in and out of Dianne Odell's body.

Woman in iron lung dies during power outage

Jenny Jarvie, writing for the LA Times, finds the silver lining:
For the first time in more than half a century, the Odell residence is quiet.

There are no squeaks and pops from the electric motor that powered an "iron lung" pumping air in and out of Dianne Odell's body.

Good experience at StrangeKiss Art Toys

Last week, I took advantage of a sale at Strangekiss Art Toys and ordered Erick Scarecrow's Dizign. The figure arrived quickly, plus, StrangeKiss threw in a sticker and bonus Trexi figure. Very pleasant surprise.

Good experience at StrangeKiss Art Toys

Last week, I took advantage of a sale at Strangekiss Art Toys and ordered Erick Scarecrow's Dizign. The figure arrived quickly, plus, StrangeKiss threw in a sticker and bonus Trexi figure. Very pleasant surprise.

Vatican to celebrate 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of the Species

Honest. Via.

Vatican to celebrate 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of the Species

Honest. Via.

Desktop Wallpaper: June Calendars



Smashing Magazine has posted a bunch. I'm partial to this happy whale by Tim Newton.

Desktop Wallpaper: June Calendars



Smashing Magazine has posted a bunch. I'm partial to this happy whale by Tim Newton.

Wish Come True open blindbox, X-Games vinyl figure



Continuing my campaign against blind boxes, I note that Fugitive Toys has opened blind box Wish Come True figures on sale.




They also have the X-Games vinyl figure by Tristan Eaton.

Wish Come True open blindbox, X-Games vinyl figure



Continuing my campaign against blind boxes, I note that Fugitive Toys has opened blind box Wish Come True figures on sale.




They also have the X-Games vinyl figure by Tristan Eaton.

Monstrous Giraffe, Vampire, Fairy Godfather, Witch plush


One disturbed giraffe... by *ip2much on deviantART


Buck, the toothless vampire by *ip2much on deviantART


for a lovely friend of mine by *ip2much on deviantART


Nelly and her wiener by *ip2much on deviantART

Monstrous Giraffe, Vampire, Fairy Godfather, Witch plush


One disturbed giraffe... by *ip2much on deviantART


Buck, the toothless vampire by *ip2much on deviantART


for a lovely friend of mine by *ip2much on deviantART


Nelly and her wiener by *ip2much on deviantART

Vampire, Jackalope Trophy Heads



"Andy's" gallery is full of creepy sculptures. Via.

And here's a Jackalope trophy head. Details here.

Vampire, Jackalope Trophy Heads



"Andy's" gallery is full of creepy sculptures. Via.

And here's a Jackalope trophy head. Details here.

Poster by Jonathan Viner



On sale here. Via.

Poster by Jonathan Viner



On sale here. Via.

Desktop Wallpaper: Hovercars in Pakistan



Image by Kenny Irwin.

Desktop Wallpaper: Hovercars in Pakistan



Image by Kenny Irwin.

The opening act from the original, unused teleplay of Lost's pilot episode

Funny stuff from Andrew Bridgman for McSweeney's.

*Previously Lost desktop wallpapers.

The opening act from the original, unused teleplay of Lost's pilot episode

Funny stuff from Andrew Bridgman for McSweeney's.

*Previously Lost desktop wallpapers.

Yeah, putting the secret base on Hoth probably wasn't the best idea

Matthew Iglesias:
Hey, to defend my geek cred, I never said that the Hoth fortress wasn't awesome. Awesome, however, is not the same as practical. I'm pretty sure that making the place warm enough for humans to live in, lubricant not to freeze in X-wings, etc. would leave a huge, detectable heat signature. Also, building your fortress of material that's prone to cave-ins, etc., especially when your military equipment presumably isn't terribly easy to replace (it's not like they can waltz into the Coruscant shipyards and order up a new fleet of planes stat) doesn't seem like a very good idea, at least to me.

Yeah, putting the secret base on Hoth probably wasn't the best idea

Matthew Iglesias:
Hey, to defend my geek cred, I never said that the Hoth fortress wasn't awesome. Awesome, however, is not the same as practical. I'm pretty sure that making the place warm enough for humans to live in, lubricant not to freeze in X-wings, etc. would leave a huge, detectable heat signature. Also, building your fortress of material that's prone to cave-ins, etc., especially when your military equipment presumably isn't terribly easy to replace (it's not like they can waltz into the Coruscant shipyards and order up a new fleet of planes stat) doesn't seem like a very good idea, at least to me.

Photo of a Lego robotic claw



Flickr link. Via.

Photo of a Lego robotic claw



Flickr link. Via.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Sale on McFarlane action figures




Supposedly
prices as low as $1.50. Might be time to finally order the Phlebiac Brothers set.

Sale on McFarlane action figures




Supposedly
prices as low as $1.50. Might be time to finally order the Phlebiac Brothers set.

Reason #23 I'm looking forward to Castle Crashers



From the developer's blog: "The Weapon’s Frog in the game serves as a type of weapons locker where all weapons you find in the game will be stored. Each weapon will be inside of this frog and the player will be able to go inside view his current list, and switch to a weapon at any time."

Iron Giant made out of Lego



A terrific creation by Peter Aoun. There’s more photos in his Flickr gallery. I also like his Lego Bat Grappler.



While I was researching Iron Giant Lego creations, I stumbled across this fanmade set that I initially thought was an official product.




*Buy Iron Giant dvds and toys at eBay and Amazon.

Revolt of the Jungle Monsters



Kind of hard to go wrong when you start with a title like that. You can read Terrors of the Jungle #6 here.

Funny Penguin/Batman Bizarro strip



Also, the dynamite's a coded message referring to creator Dan Piraro's wife. Via.

Plush Charlie Chaplin



On sale at Etsy. Via.

A Seinfeldian argument against gay marriage

From a commenter at Independent Gay Forum:
Here's the problem with gay marriage: It used to be that if you were over 40 and unmarried, people thought you were gay. If gay marriage becomes acceptable, now, if you're over 40 and unmarried, people will think it's because you're unattractive! :(

Via.

Funny story about how much Thurman Munson hated Carlton Fisk



This is an anecdote from Dan Okrent and Steve Wulf's Baseball Anecdotes:
Thurman Munson, who died in the crash of his private airplane in August of 1979, was a great catcher, a pretty good hitter, and a team leader. He was also something of a mule, as this story told by former Yankees PR man Marty Appel attests:

Munson did not like being compared with Boston's handsomer, more stately catcher, Carlton Fisk. One day Appel quite innocently listed in his press notes, AL ASSIST LEADERS, CATCHERS: FISK, Boston 27; MUNSON, New York 25. Players rarely read the press notes, but on this day, Munson did. "What's the idea of showing me up like this?" he demanded of Appel. "You think for one minute he's got a better arm than me? What a stupid statistic!"

Munson stormed off. Then, during the game, he dropped a third strike, recovered, and threw to first base to get the batter. The same thing happened in the next inning, and it began to dawn on Appel what Munson was doing. A short time later, Munson dropped another third strike, thereby passing Fisk as the league's leader in assists by catchers.

Great story, although not necessarily exactly true as explained in this excerpt from the book Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Legends.

Photo found at Flickr.

UCLA Medical Center gave organ transplants to Japanese gangsters while law-abiding Americans died

John M. Glionna and Charles Ornstein for the LA Times:
UCLA Medical Center and its most accomplished liver surgeon provided a life-saving transplant to one of Japan's most powerful gang bosses, law enforcement sources told The Times.

In addition, the surgeon performed liver transplants at UCLA on three other men who are now barred from entering the United States because of their criminal records or suspected affiliation with Japanese organized crime groups, said a knowledgeable law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The four surgeries were done between 2000 and 2004 at a time of pronounced organ scarcity. In each of those years, more than 100 patients died awaiting liver transplants in the Greater Los Angeles region.

I've seen the disdain some of UCLA's high and mighty doctors show toward their average patients. I'm going to eagerly await developments on this story.

Superman vs. Wonderwoman



Just one of many political cartoons by Vedeze. Via.

Relatedly, religion is sure taking a beating in this election cycle.

Indiana Jones Fertility Idol Pencil Cup



I love this tacky little idol. You can preorder it here.

Desktop Wallpaper: Robot in a birdcage



Wallpaper by JaeYong.

What the Wonder Twins would take the form of and the shape of if they were sent to correct the subprime mortgage crisis



Ben Greenman for McSweeney's. (Art by Alex Ross found at Wikipedia.)

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Ganesha plush



Flickr link. My favorite god.

$40 million later, NY Times finally able to use hyperlinks

Jackson West for Valleywag:
Last week, Publishing 2.0 noted that the New York Times was finally using hypertext links in articles in a meaningful way. Welcome to the 20th century, Grey Lady! The Times invested in WordPress, which is used for the site's blogs, but the rest of the product? That required an expensive upgrade to CCI NewsGate, which comes with a $40 million price tag and is "very time consuming to integrate, especially across multiple properties," according to an editor at another major market daily.

Ricky Martin has endorsed Hillary Clinton



Link. Image link.

Surprisingly nice-looking cinder block speaker stands




Step by step instructions here. Via.

Astrodemonio and Evil King vinyl toys






Vinyl Figures come from Devilrobots + Tokidoki. On sale sometime in June. Link. Via.

Murderous bunny robots


Programmed 2 Destroy by ~cronobreaker on deviantART


RoBot doesn't like bunnies by ~cronobreaker on deviantART

Found while investigating this Threadless t-shirt design.

Threadless T-Shirt Design: The real Indiana Jones


The real Indiana J - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever

Trump sells a hotel that lost $249 million last year

Link.

Super Mario Galaxy Capsule Toys (Gashapon)



$2.90 apiece.

Brand Upon The Brain




Can't vouch for the content, but the dvd and cd covers are certainly striking. Here's the intriguing trailer:



Here's a positive review. And here's several videos of Isabella Rossellini graphically demonstrating the sexual habits of insects.

Cookie Monster internet joke



"Delete cookies" image link. Via these fine sites. And see this similarly-themed image: