More ambient fun: Music for Airports is a QuickTime™ interpretation of Brian Eno's work, very well done; The Epicentre has a nice bit of BGM from B12; and where would ambience be without some microtonal pieces from the Huygens-Fokker Foundation.
posted by Michael Onken at 10:21 AM

Today's lesson in Industry!© is, "why mathematicians make lousy engineers," or "fluid dynamics for grade schoolers."

Proud of their theoretical acumen, shunned by an uncaring reality, a group of glassblowing mathers are selling Klein Bottles: the volumetric versions of Möbius strips. Neat huh? So... where does the air go when you try to fill it with a liquid? Look at the mug again: it's like one of those magic pitchers that looks like it's pouring but nothing comes out. How many rounds of adding a little water, tilting the mug over, adding a little water, tilting the mug over do you think it took to get that picture?

Boy, that's a drinking experience I could miss.
posted by Michael Onken at 12:48 PM

We're back from our trip, and I'm finally finished wading through my e-mails - apparently, there's this guy in Nigeria with this massive, unclaimed bankaccount, who promises to make my manhood bigger through herbal supplements. One of the more welcome posts was about my dear old friend, Conrad Cthulhu (few outsiders know his rightful givenname). As a fan of H.P. Lovecraft's goofy brand of horror, I was thrilled to read the homage at Tales of the Plush Cthulhu. You can buy your own Cthulhu plushy at the Toy Vault, which also sells plush Old Ones, mislabelled as "Nyarlethoteps" - tsk, tsk. There are also the Hello Cthulhu and PokeThulhu sites for more great Cthulhu action.

IA! IA! CTHULHU FTHAGN!
posted by Michael Onken at 11:41 AM

The wiff and I are taking the sprogs on Holiday for a fortnight, so I won't be "blogging" for a bit. To make up for the forthcoming lapse, here are some random links from various sources:

• CiaranSkye's World is a collection of links to English slang dictionaries, including my personal fave, "What a load of codswallop, Pet."
  
• Before Prohibition is a collection of medicinal labels from the days when cocaine and opiates were still legal and widely available.
  
• The Gallery of Blotter Paper Art: it says something about a drug that the counter culture surrounding it puts so much energy into decorating the vehicles of administration.
  
• The Egg Spell: this spell gives anyone who reads it the ability to laugh out loud whenever someone admits to being Wiccan - oh wait, you can do that anyway.
  
• The Jack Chick Web Parody is not really that funny, since the real Jack Chick is far more ridiculous; however, it is a great intro to those unfamiliar with Chick Publications®.
  
• Speaking of parodies, Doug Anderson's Web Parodies hasn't been updated in years, which is a shame since the first few were pretty funny. I e-mailed Doug and he said he had been far too busy to construct another one, but he would e-mail me when he posted something new. I don't think he's lost my address...
  

Now, it's off to Spofford Lake with the Hubers.
posted by Michael Onken at 1:02 PM

Ah, beautiful Hokkaido! For all of my love of what bits of Japanese culture seep through their media, there are some things that still don't translate well. I was touring the Engrish website of Shiraoi this morning and thought I'd share my findings. I first arrived at the Specialties page - I can't imagine ordering "Boiled Hair Crab" outloud. On to more specialty foods: not content with simply counting cattle by heads, the Japanese count their chickens by wings, I guess to more closely match their value in ¥en. The handcrafts are nice; AAH! CARVED BEAR! There's a great picture of a Tanegashima on the Histrical Remains / Museum page - I did a term paper on the impact of the Tanegashima on the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate long ago. The festivals are, indeed, Vigorous as the picture would lead us to believe - that, or the participants use ancient, Ainu hallucinogens. I think the latter would explain the "persons curling" event. Finally, we delve into successional Ainu culture at the Ainu Museum. Fish boots.
posted by Michael Onken at 11:28 AM