Monkey Bee!

Yeah, I don't get it either, but I can't stop watching...

Here's the making of.

Update: Upon further examination, this appears to be a retelling of an ancient Chinese story by Jamie Hewlett (some British dude) and Damon Albarn of Blur and, appropriately enough, Gorillaz fame.

Here's a peek at the opera they produced based on the same story.

Via the magic of the interwebs, I'm learnding.

One man's quest for beard domination

Beard Style: "Rap Industry Standard"
Style Points: 9.0

Jon Dyer is a man on a mission of epic proportions: to boldly photograph himself sporting every beard/mustache style ever imagined by the mind of man. Judging by the dates on his entries, he's at least spent ten years on the project thus far though his dedication to the project appears to wax and wane. Still, a valiant and noble effort--bully for you, good sir!

Also, and this may be the mushrooms talking, it seems like Mr. Dyer has been profiled on this here blog before and he certainly deserves to have been, but my diligent keyword searches return no matching results. We PoFers have never shied from facial hair blogging, but let me repent in advance if I have repeated my esteemed co-bloggers efforts.

Via Rachael.

Mencken on Coolidge

"We suffer most, not when the White House is a peaceful dormitory, but when it is a jitney Mars Hill, with a tin-pot Paul bawling from the roof. Counting out Harding as a cipher only, Dr. Coolidge was preceded by one World Saver and followed by two more. What enlightened American, having to choose between any of them and another Coolidge, would hesitate for an instant? There were no thrills while he reigned, but neither were there any headaches. He had no ideas, and he was not a nuisance." - The Vintage Mencken

Not cool with Cal? You can get yourself a Calvin Coolidge Idiot shirt. All the kids are wearing them.

Build-O-Bama

Via Drawn!: Now you too can have your own cut-out of Obama thanks to Matt Hawkins. The goal is apparently to show support for Obama, but it does seem like these could lead to some mischief if they were to get in the wrong hands...

What your font choice says about you

Ever wonder why PoF contributors rely almost exclusively on Arial? Thanks to Lars Willem Veldkampf, now you can find out the truth:

Stick figures in peril!

Watch the slideshow. Here's a taste:



Via Rachael

Open wide, Santa

Craig sends in this exclusive item from Collections Etc., along with a lovely story that should warm your heart this holiday season:

"Back in Roanoke I had a friend getting divorced; he said, regarding the boyfriend of his soon-to-be ex-wife, that he wanted to 'rip off his head and shit down his esophagus.' This made me wonder if her boyfriend was Santa."

Is it a good thing that I know most of the guests?

Catch all 6 parts on youtube.

Krugman wins Nobel

NY Times columnist Paul Krugman won the Nobel economic prize today.

In his honor, here is an excerpt from his column on September 14, 2001:

"Ghastly as it may seem to say this, the terror attack—like the original 'day of infamy' which brought an end to the Great Depression—could even do some economic good. [...] the driving force behind the economic slowdown has been a plunge in business investment. Now, all of a sudden, we need some new office buildings."

Let's make some money!

In light of current affairs, this is presented without commentary:

"Did I...leave a bad taste in your mouth?"

In light of current affairs, this is presented without commentary:

Future debate idea: Judo match

It would be more exciting than the town hall variety.

First there was the book, now there's the Putin Judo dvd.

Eels leader writes a book

Things the Grandchildren Should Know comes out October 14. If the video is any indication, it should at least keep you guessing.

Full Sexy Dance

Via Steve.

Mackerel money

Via the WSJ: "There's been a mackerel economy in federal prisons since about 2004, former inmates and some prison consultants say. That's when federal prisons prohibited smoking and, by default, the cigarette pack, which was the earlier gold standard.

"Prisoners need a proxy for the dollar because they're not allowed to possess cash. Money they get from prison jobs (which pay a maximum of 40 cents an hour, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons) or family members goes into commissary accounts that let them buy things such as food and toiletries. After the smokes disappeared, inmates turned to other items on the commissary menu to use as currency.

"[T]he mack is a good stand-in for the greenback because each can (or pouch) costs about $1 and few -- other than weight-lifters craving protein -- want to eat it.

"So inmates stash macks in lockers provided by the prison and use them to buy goods, including illicit ones such as stolen food and home-brewed 'prison hooch,' as well as services, such as shoeshines and cell cleaning."

The day the music died

"By putting small notches in Lancaster's Avenue K, similar to those dug into the edges of freeways, cars driving over them produce part of Rossini's William Tell Overture - colloquially known as the Lone Ranger theme.

"Developed by Honda as part of an ad campaign, the notches are dug and spaced at specific intervals and sizes that produce different notes as the tires hit them, and the result is musical - although the quality of the song varies.

"Those grooves were (reportedly) tuned specifically for a Honda Civic, traveling at 55 mph over the road. Cars with different wheelbases or those traveling at different speeds produced a different tune.

"The musical road won't be around for much longer however. The citizens of Lancaster have apparently had enough of the noise, and convinced the city to pave over the road."

We're so doomed...