Cardboard Tube Fighting League

Via The Seattle Times: "Robert Easley, clipboard in hand, kept track of the duels. He's been tube fighting since he was 4.

"He said he organized the Cardboard Tube Fighting League because 'everybody's got a story of being young and having a cardboard tube in their hand, pretending it's a sword — and really liking it. It seemed like a great way to get people out and play.'"

Show off your tats and win!

It's time for the TFD / ND / MTTS Contest 2007!

"The sooner you send your entry in, the better. To make this fun and easy for everyone, please refrain from sending in joke/garbage entries. If you send me crap as a contest entry, you will not win a prize, and I might photoshop a big weiner next to your face like you're about to lick it, and email it to your mom. Thanks!"

The Law of Rock

Thanks to Josh Keesan, "you can learn complex legal doctrines through...digestible pop-rock gems." You can hear some of the tunes, such as "Promissory Estoppel" and "Sherwood v. Walker" at his MySpace page.

Hoff proves that America's Got Talent

New Ben Harper

Fans can burn one down and listen to "Lifeline."

T-Shirt contest winner announced!

And the winner of the 2007 Pieces of Flair T-Shirt Art Contest is...Mr. Miro!



Given that there were no other entries, Miro wins by default. Taking the message of his own t-shirt to heart, Mr. Miro submitted a small, grainy photo of his ex-wife for the "Hell isn't other people...it's you" t-shirt. At this point, the question is whether he actually wants a t-shirt printed up with his winning graphic included...

Looking for more than just Youtube?

Try Truveo: "This week, I tested four video-search engines, including revamped entrant Truveo.com, a smartly designed site that combs through Web video from all sorts of sources ranging from YouTube to broadcasting companies. Truveo, a subsidiary of AOL, is stepping out on its own again after spending three years in the background, powering video search for the likes of Microsoft, Brightcove and AOL itself. It unveiled its new site last week, though I've been playing with it for a few weeks now.

"This Web site, www.truveo.com, operates under the idea that users don't merely search for video by entering specific words or phrases, like they would when starting a regular Web search. Instead, Truveo thinks that people don't often know what they're looking for in online video searches, and browsing through content helps to retrieve unexpected and perhaps unintended (but welcome) results. I found that, compared with other sites, Truveo provided the most useful interface, which showed five times as many results per page as the others and encouraged me to browse other clips.

"In effect, Truveo combines the browsing experience of a YouTube with the best Web-wide video-search engine I've seen."

The inspiration of the carrot

Step aside turnip, rutabaga and kohlrabi - it's carrot time:


Yard sculpture, artist unknown


Balloon carrot, Don't Forget the Balloons


Crochet carrot, Midnight Knitter


Drunken Carrot with a Calla Lily, Dan Goodsell


Mohawk with Carrot Piercing, Cindy Rodriguez


Bunny with Carrot, Chip Simons


Carrot Top, artist unknown


Flaming Carrot, Bob Burden

Peasant stock

Just because we're all related doesn't mean you're invited over.

"Almost everyone reading this article has Julius Caesar as a common ancestor. Half of you can probably claim Charlemagne, as well. That's because both lived a long time ago and went about the business of forefathering con gusto. You are probably also descended from every sniveling peasant who ever managed to replicate in ancient times.

"It's not just that we have a common ancestor; by the time you go back 5,000 to 7,000 years, all our ancestors are the same."

According to Yale statistics professor Joseph T. Chang, "'No matter what languages we speak or the colour of our skin, we share ancestors who planted rice on the banks of the Yangtze, who first domesticated horses on the steppes of the Ukraine, who hunted giant sloths in the forests of North and South America, and who labored to build the Great Pyramid of Khufu.' Our genealogy is, in a word, identical."

Richard Conniff, "The Family Tree, Pruned," from the July 2007 issue of Smithsonian.

NMKY = Need More KY?

The back-up dancers pretty much rule.
via M&C

Texas Roadhouse as theology

Pasadena - PoF News reports that an important new text by the now deceased Southern Baptist theologian James William McClendon Jr. was recently uncovered. The book, Texas Roadhouse as Theology, was apparently intended as a follow-up to McClendon's earlier work, Biography as Theology.

While details are just emerging, it appears that McClendon was increasingly skeptical of faith claims and saw in "Willie's Corner" an apt metaphor for his existential angst. Below is an excerpt:

"And so, we are left with the question of what to make of Willie's Corner. That hallowed space is filled with indications of his presence, but was he ever truly there? Even if so, he no longer remains. We must abide in the absence of Willie. Indeed, can we dare hope that Willie will one day return? I can't go on; I'll go on."

While the surfacing of the manuscript raises a number of questions about McClendon's life and career it does also answer others, such as why a pair of "Willie braids" was found among his possessions.

Happy birthday, Natalie Dee.

Who wouldn't be happy to get a piece of fine art from Drew?

Get that dog out of here!

Via Neatorama: "Scamp is the live-in pet at an Ohio nursing home, but the Schnauzer doesn't just bring companionship to the lonely. He has an eerie gift that also allows him to bring comfort to the dying.

"Scamp can somehow sense when the end is near for one of the old folks. He then waits loyally by their bedside in the final hours.

"Scamp's owner, Deirdre Huth, is a staff member at the nursing home, The Pines, in Canton, Ohio. She says Scamp even tries to raise the alarm when he gets the feeling that one of the seniors is at death's door."

Unicycling results in

If you've been waiting for the results from the North American Unicycling Championships and Convention, the wait is over. Everything from the High Jump to Cross Country Mountain Unicycling is available online thanks to the Unicycling Society of America.

"'This is an event that draws unicyclists from all over,' said Jay Sinclair, a unicycling enthusiast and previous NAUCC attendee from Milan. Sinclair is a member of the Redford Township Unicycle Club, the hosts and organizers of the event.

"'When people think of unicycling, they tend to think of clowns and the circus,' he said. 'But that's a relatively small part of what we do.'"

Those looking to distance themselves from the clown and circus image even further, however, might want to consider this instead:

Latino 300

A More Dramatic Moment of Zen

A Moment of Zen

Credit: John.

Progressive Christians end silence

PoF News - According to the latest edition of Living the Questions, liberal Christians are finally voicing their opinions. As part of this trend, a new tract is now available for distribution at congregations, seminaries and street corners. Entitled "SHE: God is not an old bearded white guy, so you'd better avoid exclusive language," the text is fairly straightforward until the conclusion, at which point Betty Frieden makes an appearance as the divine and a non-inclusive sinner is sent to hell. These scenes have raised the concern of some progressive Christians, who feel that while anyone caught using non-inclusive language probably ought to burn forever, hell makes them uncomfortable and God will likely bring even these sad souls back into the fold eventually.






Apologies to Victor and thanks to Julie and Scot for inspiration.

Still thirsty?

Perhaps it's time to hire a witcher: "the American Society of Dowsers estimates [that there are] more than 1,500 water witchers in the U.S., many of whom are paid for their services.

"People who claim the ability to locate groundwater have been around for hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of years. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the witchers' divining rod was used in the mines of Western Europe in the 16th century. Witchers explain their abilities in myriad ways -- faith in God, electrical impulses, magnetic fields and intuition chief among them. Most witchers say anyone can learn to do it."

Thirsty?

Quench that summertime parched throat with some satisfying Pet Sweat.

Sad Skittle king

Via Steve.