from "sperm tale" dept.

Engadget has a bizarro story today about how salmon sperm make LED lights shine more brightly:

See, the problem with bioengineering isn't moral or ethical dilemmas, or even
homicidal robo-droids enslaving humanity. It's that if you let researchers go
wild, eventually they'll find a way to make LEDs out of salmon sperm,
threatening the sanctity (and sperm-free-ness) of your entire gadget-based
lifestyle.

Read all about it HERE.

from the "funny pages" dept.

First up, the latest edition of The Modern World:

[click image for large view]

And next... this WaPo (via MSNBC) story on the now common ritual of the post-dalliance press conference featuring the stoic wife and the jutting chin:

[Honey, I think I might be... Republican.]

We are riveted, but why? Nearly every post-scandal news conference is like every other. There's a script to these things, as we all know, and New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer followed it to the letter yesterday in seeming to acknowledge his involvement with a prostitute and apologizing for it. [MORE]

And in sports: it's primary day in Mississippi!

More to come!

from the "would you like some stuff with your stuff" dept.

One of the great things about having no fixed address is that I'm not encumbered with stuff. No CDs, no books, no piles of unread magazines. Not having stuff is quite liberating. It gives you freedom.

On the flip-side, there are those that have too much stuff. They are surrounded by it and it begins to define who they are. "I'm a failure unless I have the biggest house, fastest car, loudest stereo."

And then there are those who are completely and utterly controlled by their stuff. Possessed is a documentary that takes you inside the world of people who hoard. It's fascinating and sad.


POSSESSED from Martin Hampton on Vimeo.

[h/t boingboing]

from the "theme song" dept.

Ramblin' Man is a great tune that Lemon Jelly released back in 2002.

I heard it this morning on the Sirius satellite radio Chill channel. It overwhelmed me with wanderlust... and, of course, brought back a flood of memories of past travels.

You don't need to watch this video as it's lame. But crank up the volume, close your eyes and listen to the WHOLE song. Prepare to be transported...



Feel like it's time to start packin'? Darn tootin'!

Cheers!

from the "birds of a feather" dept.

Love this photoshop mash-up... it's McBush!



Jeez, now I'm humming the MacGruber theme...

MacGruber!
He got some microdermabrasion and a tasteful brow lift!
MacGruber!
Some collagen injections and a butt-load of hair plugs!
MacGruber!
He's never felt better about himself!
MACGRUBER-RRR!!!!!

from the "Sunday morning telly" dept.

Here's some morning humour/hijinx from the folks at the Australian comedy programme "The Chasers War on Everything"...

Up first: A comparison of two different people filming "sensitive" sites. One is dressed like an American tourist and the other looks slightly more Middle Eastern...



And then they take this piss out of crackpot TV preachers:



Happy Sunday!

[Tip 'o the hat to Crooks and Liars]

from the "today's science lesson" dept.

The ocean is fascinating. Relaxing and peaceful one moment; scary as hell the next.

I've been lucky. I've lived on both the Pacific and the Atlantic. And I've actually lived on both side of the Atlantic. To say this prairie boy is drawn to the big pond is an understatement.

Most people enjoy walking along the waters edge looking for treasure. A nice shell, a cool piece of wood or a message tucked inside a bottle.

Some people are really into beachcombing and they find all sorts of stuff. From Friday's Globe and Mail:

In 60 years of scouring the gnarled shores of Canada's western fringe, Neil and Betty Carey have salvaged just about every strange thing that will float.

There were the empty survival suit, the closet's worth of Japanese shoes, the whale carcasses and the Coast Guard rescue dummy - all washed up along the Queen Charlotte Islands, which intercept and strain the great spin cycle of Pacific currents like a giant colander.

In and around their home in Sandspit, B.C., the Careys have pack-ratted about 4,000 glass fishing floats and numerous messages in bottles from schoolchildren, cruise ship passengers and lovesick sailors.

The rest of the story is HERE.

Mentioned in the story is something called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I've heard of this before -- as the North Pacific Gyre. A vortex of ocean currents rotating clockwise in a circular pattern. What happens there is not good. Stuff goes in. Years later some stuff comes out. And it doesn't have a very good effect on the environment.

It's like the Garbage Triangle. Except nothing actually disappears.

CBS News did a story on the Gyre a few years go. It's fascinating stuff and would be cool if it weren't such an environmental nightmare.

And if you don't want to sit through a 30 second pharmaceutical spot before the CBS item, watch this video.



Class dismissed.

from the "real fake news" dept.

Just how faux is Fox? Here's the facts, courtesy Crooks and Liars. Prepare to shake thine head.

And... if you feel the need to read more about that Marsden character, check out this SALON.COM piece from last year.

Her exploits always have me humming a familiar Dr. Suess tune.

Cheers!

from the "people in your neighbourhood" dept.

Worth1000.com has a great puppet/photoshop contest going on. Check it out... HERE.

from the "would you like some crackers" dept.

OK. I admit it. I'm white -- though it's not hard to tell.

But I've always considered myself rather worldly and a little bit different from average white folks.

Not so.

According to blog "Stuff White People Like," I'm no different than the rest of you crackers.

Here's the bottom part of the list:

• #84 T-Shirts
• #83 Bad Memories of High School
• #82 Hating Corporations
• #81 Graduate School
• #80 The Idea of Soccer
• #79 Modern Furniture
• #78 Multilingual Children
• #77 Musical Comedy
• #76 Bottles of Water

Argh! We're all the same!!

For #75 through #1 point your browser HERE.

And, a tip 'o the hat to my favourite Cheryl with an "L" for the link.