World Hug Day

A mass hug is being staged today in Nottingham, England.

Chinese artists Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang encourage strangers to randomly hug each other for 15 seconds. Next, they’re instructed to form a group hug, accompanied by the music of JS Bach.

A video of the event will be posted on the Gao Brothers website.

The Utopia of Hugging continues in Marseille, France on June 9, 2006.

Keith Richards Falls Out of Coconut Tree

Caution: Beware of falling Stones


The BBC reports that Keith Richards fell out of a coconut tree in Fiji and has been hospitalized.

No word on what he was doing up a coconut tree. Presumably looking for his nuts.

FiveFingers Shoes – Gloves For Your Feet

Vibram FiveFingers have been touted as the shoe that fits like a glove.

FiveFingers shoes have individual compartments for each toe.

Pros: They promise the sensation of walking barefoot while offering traction and protection from injury.

Cons: Uncontrollable laughter by passers-by at your “foot gloves.”

Fish School

Goal!


Train your fish to play football and do the limbo. These and more tricks at Fish School.


Via [Cute Overload]

Keith Richards

Keef


“He’s the only dirty man I know who doesn’t smell.”
(Ron Wood, on Keith Richards)



Update: This pic is for First Nations who commented that there are no bad photos of Keef.

Slashbuster vs. Dodge Caravan

Mulching trees and demolishing buildings are no problem for the Slashbuster. But can it take on a Dodge Caravan? Watch and see. (Scroll down to Automobile Shredding to see video clip.)

Wouldn’t you like to set the Slashbuster loose on one of your crap cars?

The Many Faces of Clint Howard

Clint Howard as Clint Howard




Clint Howard as Balok in Star Trek




Clint Howard as the Ferengi Muk in Star Trek




“I’m infested!”
Clint Howard as Jarvis Tanner in Infested (aka Ticks)




Clint Howard as The Ice Cream Man

Sod Off!

Sod off.
Definition: Go away.
e.g. Oh sod off, you stupid git!

Got someone you want to insult? You can send them an insulting digital postcard courtesy of SodOff dot com.

Body Hair Time Lapse Diary

From the first pubic hair to letting it all hang out later in life, this guy documents the journey through time of his body hair.

Converse High-Tops for Babies

Baby Chucks


Converse All-Star Chuck Taylor crib shoes from PsychoBaby.

Paulie Walnuts

Sopranos character Paulie Walnuts Gualtieri (Tony Sirico) encourages a homeowner to sign up for Netflix.

Watch video clip of “Gangster” TV spot.

Bada bing.

Nun Dolls

Blessings Expressions of Faith is closing its doors. So get your Nun Doll order in before May 27th.

Or perhaps you would prefer a Catholic School Girl Doll.

Windup Hopping Lederhosen

Who doesn’t love hopping lederhosen? Wind up these Bavarian breeches and watch them hop about.

Available from my favourite retailer and cross-border shopping experience; Archie McPhee.

Try explaining a bag full of hopping lederhosen at the border.

Unconventional Hot Guys

Terry Jones


Today’s posting is inspired by Surly Girl’s discussion of strange looking men she has had crushes on. It appears that she’s not alone in her unconventional fantasies.

Although nothing here matches Surly Girls’s fantasy of a four-way with John Cleese and Eric Idle while Terry Jones watches, dressed as a woman… “Rooting for the Underdog” still makes for a good read.

Street Mattress

Streetmattress.com: the place to share your photos of abandoned mattresses.

So far, the UK leads in photo submissions.

Sorry, Gotta Go

Fed up with telemarketers? Your mother-in-law rings up just as your favourite TV show is starting? Debt collectors on your back?

When you need to get off the phone, SorryGottaGo.com is there for you.

Sorry Gotta Go offers you a selection of audio clips to play when you want to disconnect from unwanted callers. A few of the sound effects include:

- Static on the line
- My ride is here (honking horn)
- I can’t hear you (helicopter noise)
- Uh oh, something just broke

And many more. Sorry Gotta Go helps you get off the phone faster.

Gay Cowboy Doll

Vintage gay cowboy doll. Marilyn Monroe hair, rainbow poncho, white high-heeled boots.


Via [Way Out Auctions]

MooTube – The Cow Cam

A couple of MooTube stars: ready for their close-ups

MooTube.com: The world as seen from a Texas Longhorn’s point of view.

The cows have wireless cameras attached to them, providing streaming video of their activities in the pasture.

If you enjoy such riveting activities as watching cows grazing and flicking flies off their derrieres, this is the cam for you.

All I saw was a lot of static as the cows had wandered out of the transmission range. Maybe you’ll have more luck with this cow cam.

No cattle were harmed in the production of MooTube.

Head Spa Massager

The Head Spa Massager. It’s like a spa for your brain.

Guitar Face

Guitar Face: A look of pain, passion or constipation, afflicting guitar players.

More guitar faces.

Urban Asshole Notification Cards

Is city life stressing you out? Fed up with jerks?

Do you know someone who has breached urban etiquette with any of the following faux pas?

- Cutting in line
- Talking really loudly on cell phone while riding public transportation
- Not tipping / not tipping enough
- Not dealing with car alarm

Let Urban Asshole Notification Cards do the talking for you.

Friday Is Casual Sex Day

World Cup Vibrator

Another merchandising miracle for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

England World Cup Victory Vibe

G-oh-oh-ooal! Come on England! Go 45 minutes each way with this mini orgasm machine and you'll feel like you've won the world cup of sex!

Via [Bratwurst]

Eggs in Hats & Lizards in Scarves

Oeuf sans chapeau

What’s that old adage? An egg without a hat is like a fish without a bicycle?

Eggs in Hats (tiny knitted hats for eggs)

Lizards in Scarves (self-explanatory)

Swing Your Partner

Can’t Get Your Kids To Leave Home?

By now, most Canadians have seen that Dairy Farmers of Canada TV commercial with the slogan, "Can’t get your kids to leave home? Stop cooking with cheese.” A couple of the TV ads are here.

Ikea has come up with an even more effective way to get those adult children to move out. View 'Time To Leave Home?' video clip.


(Thanks, First Nations)

Attention World Cup Widows: Visit Switzerland!

Switzerland is offering World Cup football widows an alternative this summer.

Dear Girls: Why not escape this summer's World Cup to a country where men spend less time on football, and more time on you?

A TV ad featuring hunky Swiss fellas, including Mr. Switzerland milking a cow, is meant to entice women to escape to Switzerland during the World Cup.

See for yourselves, ladies. Is this TV spot (German version) enough to lure you to the Alps? (link opens .mpg)
English version here ... see "Our World Cup commercial."


Via [Adverblog]

Sasquatch Detective Agency

He goes by many names. Big Foot, Yeti, abominable snowman. Here in Canada this hairy human-like creature is known as the Sasquatch. And they’ve yet to track him down.

Enter Red Grossinger from Whitehorse. Red founded the Sasquatch Yukon Organization to seriously investigate Sasquatch sightings in Canada’s north.

If you’ve spotted a sasquatch, contact Red at sasquatchyukon@hotmail.com

More details at CBC.

(Thanks, Margy)

Football Wurst

World Cup Wurst for Germany (left) and Brazil (right)


In the “Wurst of the World Cup” category, a Germany company, Texda Textildarm Ltd., is manufacturing football boots that look like sausages.

They’ve produced football shoes to represent every country in the 2006 World Cup.

World Marbles Championship

The Brits lost their marbles to the Germans at the 2006 World Marbles Championship.

Football World Cup Voodoo Doll

I put a spell on you


As the 2006 Football World Cup approaches this June and July in Germany, so too does the merchandising.

A German company, Fussi Deluxe, is marketing the FooTooKit: a football voodoo doll (That’s a soccer voodoo doll to Canadians and Americans.)

Kit includes voodoo doll football player, pins, and flags of the World Cup teams.


Do do that voodoo that you do so well

TTC Tunes: 'The Toronto Subway Song' & 'Spadina Bus'

Yes, we’re gonna have a subway in Toronto.
We gotta get the working man home pronto.

Canada’s first subway opened on March 30th, 1954 in Toronto, Ontario.

The Toronto Subway Song was composed during construction of the line.

(Composed by Mel Hamill and sung by Betty Carr and Charles Baldour with Ozzie Williams Band. First recorded January 1, 1950)



Shuffle Demons

My favourite Toronto Transit Commission tune hands-down is Spadina Bus by the Shuffle Demons. Listen to a sample of Spadina Bus.

Well, I start to cuss on the Wellesley bus
And you can't go far on the College Street car
You know the Yonge Street train is a real pain
And the LRT well that’s not for me
Well, you can't have fun on the York U. run
And the Ossington trolley is just a big folly
Well, I don't give a damn about the Bathurst tram
So I'll make a fuss about Spadina Bus



(Inspiration for today’s transit post came from viewing a You Tube TTC subway ride over at Come on Pilgrim.)

Penguin Sweaters

Sweaters for penguins!

Oil spills off the coast of Australia can leave hundreds of Little Penguins in peril. Read the article,“Knitters save endangered penguins' lives” in the Sydney Morning Herald and “LDS women doing their darndest to save penguins” in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Little Penguins, also known as “Fairy Penguins,” are the world’s smallest penguins at only 12 inches high.





This isn’t the first knitting project for penguins. Several years ago, Linda Parker of Salt Lake City, Utah received a letter from a friend on a church mission in Australia. She wrote to Linda that women around the world were knitting sweaters for penguins in Australia that had been damaged by an oil spill.

Linda and her church group got busy with their knitting needles and knitted hundreds of penguin sweaters. Word of the project spread and soon the Philip Island Nature Park was inundated with sweaters for penguins.

Canadian singer/songwriter James Gordon was inspired to write a song about penguin sweaters when he heard Linda Parker interviewed by Arthur Black on CBC Radio’s Basic Black. Listen to “Sweaters For Penguins.”





Why penguin sweaters? The wool sweaters act as insulation, keeping their bodies warm. The sweaters also keep the penguins from preening themselves and swallowing any toxic oil that hasn’t been washed out.

The sweaters must be pure wool as synthetics won’t hold the penguins’ body heat. Unfortunately, some sweaters that have been received are unsuitable for the penguins because of very loose knitting or greasy wool. Rather than throwing them away, the Pet Porpoise Pool is selling them on toy penguins in the souvenir shop. All the monies received are being shared between the Penguin Rehabilitation Centre and the South Gippsland Native Animal Rescue.





I’ve found penguin sweater patterns on a couple of sites but the measurements vary somewhat. Rather than post the patterns here, it may be best to contact the Pet Porpoise Pool in Coffs Harbour, Australia who are gathering the penguin sweaters (or penguin jumpers as they’re called in Australia and the UK) for the cause. If the pattern is in British or Australian measurements, Canadians may want to refer to a knitting conversion chart.

**NOTE: Please ask them if more sweaters are needed before you take up your knitting needles!

Pet Porpoise Pool email: info@petporpoisepool.com

What are you waiting for? Knit a sweater for a penguin today!

Bellagio Chocolate Fountain

Mmm...chocolate


Yes, chocolate lovers. It’s a glass-enclosed, floor-to-ceiling chocolate fountain in Las Vegas.

Emerging from the Jean-Philippe Pâtisserie in the Bellagio Hotel, it’s the world’s largest chocolate fountain at 27 feet tall.

Infomaniac wonders if the maintenance crew keep an industrial-sized bottle of Windex on hand to remove tongue prints from the glass.

Nap Strap

I’m debating which is more embarrassing: nodding off on public transport into the passenger next to me? Or restraining my head with the Nap Strap to avoid the problem?

Name That Candybar

Take the candy bar quiz. Identify these American candy bars by looking at the cross sections.

Candy bars is American-speak for what we Canadians call chocolate bars.

And have you noticed that certain chocolate bar brands common to both countries taste different depending which side of the border you’re on? For example, our Canadian Kit Kat bar tastes better than the American Kit Kat.

Sphincterine

Feel minty clean with Sphincterine.