Awesome Woodccuts by Paul Roden & Valerie Lueth

Tuesday, 26 August 2008 07:59

Check out this beautiful series of limited edition woodcuts by Paul Roden and Valerie Leuth for sale over at Tugboat Printshop. I want the one pictured here but I have five or six prints that are waiting to be framed right now so it is a bit hard to justify. Will one of you go buy it and get it framed real nice and then invite me over to dinner so I can steal it from you? Thanks in advance!

(Via OMG Posters)

Newsweek's Visions of China Blog

Saturday, 23 August 2008 11:27

Speaking of cool Olympic photos, Newsweek has a great blog going right now written by photographers at the Beijing Olympics. It is called Visions of China and is chock full of great photographs and insider information on what it takes to get just the right shot. Here is a great post about getting the finish of the men's 100m. I also like this photo documentation of how Vincent Laforet packed all of his gear for the games.

This is kinda cool, too.

360º View From Olympic High-Dive Platform

Friday, 22 August 2008 08:59

I have to say that I have spent more time exploring this 360º view from the high-dive platform at the Water Cube in Beijing than I have watching any actual Olympic competition. It's true. I spent about three minutes exploring that pool yet I have watched 0.00 minutes of this years Olympics. Someone please tell the government how unpatriotic I am. kthxbye

(via Gizmodo) 

The Peloton

Friday, 22 August 2008 08:26

The Peloton is an awesome set of photographs (however presented in a website with crappy navigation) from Timm Köelln . The cyclist on display have been captured moments after they crossed the finish line of the grueling 2005 Giro D'Italia that runs around 2,100 miles. Koelln set up a tent at the finish line and as soon as the riders crossed, they would get off their bike and walk into the tent to immediately be photographed capturing some wonderful emotive portraits. If you were to tell me they were long lost Richard Avedon portraits, I would have believed you.

(via mathowie at Metafilter)

Inperial Fleet Week in San Francisco

Friday, 22 August 2008 07:43

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(via The Presurfer)

Maybe there Really is a Conspiracy

Friday, 22 August 2008 07:32

The Farting Preacher (Plus Bonus Flatulations)

Friday, 15 August 2008 08:00

This may be a testament to my childlike personality and sense of humor but I am not ashamed to admit that a fart still make me giggle like a school girl. In the Kurt Vonnegut book, "Galapagos" (one of my personal favorites), hundreds of thousands of years in the future, it is hypothesized that humans will evolve into these seal like creatures. Yet, as K.V. points out, as evolved as we humans are to become, we still laugh when we are all lying on the beach and one of us farts.

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Above is the Farting Preacher. It is a four minute giggle fest for me. I admit it. (via Boing Boing)

Try the Puzzle Farter game. Funner than it sounds, really.

When you need to hear just the right one, visit The Ultimate Fart Soundboard.

Thing to say after farting. ("Hey, did somebody step on a duck?")

One of my favorites, Mister Nice Hands.

And look at the bright side: at least you can't smell a fart on the internet.

The King of Tonga Likes Pork

Friday, 15 August 2008 07:22

Tonga coronated a new King and as his reward he was presented with over 100 cooked pigs.

It's good to be the king.

(via The Big Picture)

Speaking of Turds…

Thursday, 14 August 2008 08:06

A giant inflatable pile of dog crap by American artist Paul McCarthy broke loose from it's moorings and took to the skies. It took out some power lines and a window before coming to rest in the yard of a children's home. I think my favorite headline from all of the ones on the Internet is, "Paul McCarthy's Art is Complex Shit on the Run."

This guy does some odd pieces, most of which I wouldn't want in my yard or any public space no matter how funny I think they are (like "Santa With a Buttplug." Seriously?) The joke kinda wears off pretty fast in my opinion and then you are stuck with a giant inflatable doggie land mine that you have to take down every time the in-laws drop by. Just seems like a hassle to me.

Xena the Turd Burglar

Thursday, 14 August 2008 07:52

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Do I hate the dog for being this dumb or do I blame the owner for allowing it to happen? And why the slo-mo? It adds nothing.

Singing Puppies to Sleep

Thursday, 14 August 2008 07:10

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I Love Dogs

Wednesday, 13 August 2008 07:04

Good boy!

(via The Goat)

The Global Rich List

Tuesday, 12 August 2008 07:00

Ever wonder how rich you were in comparison to the rest of the world?  Now is your chance to find out where you really stand over at Global Rich List. Perspective is so wonderful…

(Via On Paper Wings)

The Pashley Guv'nor

Monday, 11 August 2008 07:30

Check out this beautiful hand built ride from UK bike builder Pashley: The GUV'NOR. Ain't she a beaut? The cost is over $1500 and it looks like you gotta fly to the UK to pick one up but it sure looks like one sweet ride.

(Via The Goat)

The Liver Is Evil

Saturday, 09 August 2008 18:52

(Via The Photo Basement)

Citing Poor Conditions, China Refuses To Send Delegation To Olympics

Thursday, 07 August 2008 22:12

Given the unconscionably bad environmental state of the area in and around the site of the 2008 Summer Games, we cannot in good conscience allow Chinese athletes to compete in China."

God bless The Onion.  This is a great example of "Kidding on the Square."

Obama Could Be the Antichrist

Thursday, 07 August 2008 18:03

It is now official: I will put my town's crazy religious zealots up against any other town's. Any town. Anywhere. That includes all of the southern states as well as those in the mid-west. Yep. Even Mississippi. Bring it. This woman's letter to the editor today is my grand champion nut-job proof that southern Oregon can grow a Christian as crazy as anywhere. Sure, she is 87 but what Mildred lacks in age she make up for with an amazing amount of ignorance and audacity. And you have to hand it to our local editor for printing this gem, too. Way to go, Vicki!

As I watch, listen and think about what is happening in the world, I'm getting a stirring about the predicted Antichrist who will come upon the world scene. He has been described as having darker skin and black hair and his heritage is from some vague Mid-Eastern area. He has a very charismatic persona so that he is able to charm everyone around him, eventually most of the world's peoples. He will get more and more powerful and before the people realize it, he will be the world's dictator-king, just as predicted.

But he won't be a Christ-like world leader. He will be insufferable and become known as the Great World Destroyer.

No one really knows much about one of our present-day presidential candidates and how he was able to rise to such prominence so quickly. Even though he hasn't even received his party's nomination, already he is telling the entire world all about the great "change" he is going to bring. No one is able to pin him down to any real answers to questions because he is a master at being elusive. Frankly, he scares the hell out of me literally, and as an 87 year old lady, I don't scare easily.

Wake up, people.

Mildred Kaunas

Roseburg

I have two Melville quotes that sums up my feelings for this letter:

Fear is the child of ignorance."

And, one of my personal all-time favorite quotes:

Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian."

Better, indeed. Mildred, you're nuts. Certifiably nuts.

(Read the letter at the News-Review)

Cyclists, Health and The Olympic Bureaucracy

Wednesday, 06 August 2008 07:30

Oooh…pretty!

Olympic fever. Do you have it yet? I don't. I feel as if the countries of the world are being dragged to a party where it is no secret that the hosts beat their children on a regular basis and the other parents in the community choose to do nothing about it. Let the awkwardness begin!

When four American Olympic cyclists arrived in Beijing the other day, they got off the plane wearing smog masks to protect their fragile athetic lungs from the air in a city that is know to have some of the worst pollution levels in the world. Apparently, this pissed off the organizers of the games as pollution in Beijing is a "touchy subject". The cyclists had to apologize to the citizens of Beijing for this thoughtless offense .

Apologize? "Touchy subject"? Really? Would you apologize for wearing a mask to protect your health if you were flying to a city who's pollution was so bad a few days ago - even after the government ordered half of Beijing's cars off the road and the closure of many factories - that the Olympic stadium could barely be seen from a few hundred yards away?

How truly dumb, disturbing and embarrassing. Is it just me or is there an Olympic sized elephant in this room?

Strange Crap For Sale On Craigslist In My Town: Part 14-20

Monday, 04 August 2008 21:01

14. 7 FOOT-TALL, Inflatable Stork! NEVER OPENEND! Yeah, they just aren't as good when they are opened.

15. Scenic painted axe head

16. cheerful clown!!! Guaranteed to creep out everyone in the house with it's light up face.

17. Cameron Diaz & Drew Barrymore Collectors Dolls. I don't think the poster knows what collectible means.

The next three are from the same poster, each with some amazing misspellings:

18. A childs originer. A what!?

19. All this jewelry for one money. I guess if you don't have a five dollar bill you are out of luck.

20. Two picture.

Cruising to Hubbard Glacier

Sunday, 03 August 2008 09:41

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This is a time lapse video of a cruise we took last month to Alaska. We sailed through Yakutat Bay and onward into Disenchantment Bay and right up to Hubbard Glacier. At about the 5:13 mark you can see some glacier pieces calving off into the water. Shot with a Canon G9.

Google Maps has a nice satellite image of the glacier.

More of my photos from the trip here.

Music:"Si, Paloma" by Sun Kil Moon