Link roundup

1. $230,000 bodyguard dogs.

2. Philip Taylor Kramer:

(July 12, 1952 – February 12, 1995) was a bass guitar player for the rock group Iron Butterfly during the 1970s. After this he obtained a night school degree in aerospace engineering, worked on the MX missile guidance system for a contractor of the US Department of Defense and later in the computer industry on fractal compression, facial recognition systems, and advanced communications. His disappearance on February 12, 1995 caused a mystery lasting for years.

Via.

3. "[T]he largest landslide in New York's recorded history."

Mr. T got his necklaces from people who lost fights

Wikipedia on Mr. T:

Tureaud next worked as a bouncer. It was at this time that he created the persona of Mr. T. His wearing of gold neck chains and other jewelry was the result of customers losing the items or leaving them behind at the night club after a fight. A customer, who may have been banned from the club or trying to avoid another confrontation, would not have to re-enter the club if Mr. T wore their jewelry as he stood out front. When a customer returned to claim the item, it was readily visible and available with no further confrontations required.

His Wikipedia page reads like an American tall tale:

He then enlisted in the United States Army and served in the Military Police Corps. In July 1976 Tureaud's platoon sergeant punished him by giving him the detail of chopping down trees during training camp at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, but the sergeant did not tell how many trees to stop at, and so Tureaud had single-handedly chopped down over seventy trees from 6:30am to 10:00am until a higher ranking major in shock relieved him, superseding the sergeant's orders.

And his real life was more interesting than the A-Team:

He eventually parlayed his job as a bouncer into a career as a bodyguard that lasted almost ten years. During these years he protected, among others, sixteen prostitutes, nine welfare recipients, five preachers, eight bankers, ten school teachers, and four store owners. As his reputation improved, however, he was contracted to guard, among others, David Fricker, seven clothes designers, five models, seven judges, three politicians, six athletes, and forty-two millionaires. He protected well-known personalities like Muhammad Ali, Steve McQueen, Michael Jackson, Leon Spinks, Joe Frazier and Diana Ross, charging $3,000/day. with the highest charge of $10,000 per day depending on the clientele's risk-rate and traveling locations. With his reputation as "Mr.T", Tureaud attracted strange offers and was frequently approached with odd commissions, which included: assassination, tracking runaway teenagers, locating missing persons, and large firms asking him to collect past-due payments by force.

His autobiography is available at Amazon.

Hello Kitty anatomy toys (link roundup)

Hello Kitty Anatomy Toys by Dr. Romanelli and Hello Kitty. See more photos here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Sam Mendes will direct a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical.

2. I'm really enjoying SuperFreakonomics, and this paragraph does a great job of demonstrating how good the writing is, and how interesting the topic choices are:

Such birth defects aren't as rare as you think. Douglas Almond, examining U.S. Census data from 1960 to 1980, found one group of people whose terrible luck persisted over their whole lives. They had more physical ailments and lower lifetime income than people who'd been born just a few months earlier or a few months later. They stood out in the census record like a layer of volcanic ash stands out in the archaeological record, a thin stripe of ominous sediment nestled between two thick bands of normalcy.

Yes, they provide the answer. There's a similar heightened occurrence of birth defects for people born in certain months.

3. Former Army Ranger Gustavo Zamora Jr. rescues/recaptures people's children when they've been taken to another country as part of a custody battle. Via.

*Previously: Papercraft Willy Wonka.

*Buy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory toys at eBay

Hello Kitty anatomy toys (link roundup)

Hello Kitty Anatomy Toys by Dr. Romanelli and Hello Kitty. See more photos here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Sam Mendes will direct a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical.

2. I'm really enjoying SuperFreakonomics, and this paragraph does a great job of demonstrating how good the writing is, and how interesting the topic choices are:

Such birth defects aren't as rare as you think. Douglas Almond, examining U.S. Census data from 1960 to 1980, found one group of people whose terrible luck persisted over their whole lives. They had more physical ailments and lower lifetime income than people who'd been born just a few months earlier or a few months later. They stood out in the census record like a layer of volcanic ash stands out in the archaeological record, a thin stripe of ominous sediment nestled between two thick bands of normalcy.

Yes, they provide the answer. There's a similar heightened occurrence of birth defects for people born in certain months.

3. Former Army Ranger Gustavo Zamora Jr. rescues/recaptures people's children when they've been taken to another country as part of a custody battle. Via.

*Previously: Papercraft Willy Wonka.

*Buy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory toys at eBay

Abandoned NASA projects (link roundup)

Gallery of abandoned NASA projects. Pictured is the X-33. Note the Skunk Works logo. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Bizarre - - the Chinese basketball league has a height limitation, and player Hu Guang might be a little too tall. You'd think finding out his height would be a simple matter. And you would be wrong. League officials "admitted they had 'limited ability and technique in measuring,'" and declared him eligible. So far, one team has forfeited a game after refusing to play in protest, and another game ended after violence including smashed cars. Via.

2. Heather Jansch makes driftwood horses and other sculptures. Via.

3. Interesting article about the "James Bond villain-like" new owner of SAAB.

*Previously: Desktop Wallpaper: Rick Astley is James Bond.

*Buy Skunk Works collectibles at eBay.