Don't Adjust Your TV Set

If you look closely, you will see circles overlaid on this idyllic postcard of Vercorin, Switzerland. It's not a Photoshop: These holes are as real as the ones in Emmental cheese. It's a startling optical illusion. 2500-pixel panorama ahead.

Zoom in the image above to see the panorama in full detail

As you can see in the gallery, the circles were placed in segments over different houses around the town. They only become visible from certain vantage points, which should be quite a dizzying experience as you go by. The whole thing is an art installation by Felice Varini, called "Cercle et suite d'éclats." Oh really? Well, cherchez la Vache to you, laeedee.

Source [Varini]

Geocities Is Dead, Long Live Geocities!

 

Today's the day: Yahoo has officially killed the once-ubiquitous free hosting service, taking down thousands of the ugliest and least-updated pages on the web. It's really the end of an era. A moment of silence, please.

 

Source [Computerworld]

How to be a Domestic Goddess... and get up from a hangover

During the cold rainy days and sometimes the immense chilly environment of our offices we tend to catch a mild cold if not a horrifying one when you have boxes of tissue around making a litter of dirt and germs all.

In the end I would want a cold drink that makes me feel immensely soothing yet provide some boost of healthiness that is Berocca. Its that tablet form that sizzles, bubbles and melts once you dunk in a cold glass of water provide nourishment in terms of vital vitamins and minerals, and it also relieves hangovers.

My twist in this drink is called Berocca Bomber. Adding a shot glass worth of vodka makes things interesting. Though I consider this form not a health drink or recommended medicine but it does knock the winds back into your sails.

You must have...
1 Berocca tablet
A glass of ice cold water
A shot (25ml) Vodka
Ice for added subzero calmness

Simply decant the Berocca tablet into a glass of ice cold water. Once the tablet has dissolved and the drink fizzily emanating bomb down the vodka, don't mix it and add ice as desired.

Cures one person's hangover.

Would Homer Approve???? [NSFW]

They're finally here!!!!

Marge Simpson's seksi pictorial from the November issue of Playboy has arrived!

Thoughts????

Missle Silo becomes a Kickass home

Apartment hunting sucks, so I can't blame Bruce Townsley for just plain giving up and moving into an abandoned nuclear missile silo. Actually, after seeing more pictures of the place, I kinda wanna follow his example.

It started as a 2,200 square foot fixer-upper with 6,000-pound blast doors and a "185-foot hole in the ground where a missile armed with a nuclear warhead used to be." It's still a bit of an ongoing project, with the big hole at least covered up, but Townsley seems to love it. I do too. Blast doors and all.

One would have to get used to life without sunlight peeking through shutters, and a gigantic shaft in the center of every round room, but there is a bit of novelty to living in a home like this. If you're interested like I am, then check out Wired for many, many more pictures of this kickass home as well as some pointers on shopping for your own abandoned missile silo.

Source [Wired]

Man Plays Grand Theft Auto For 40 Hours Straight

What did you do between September 4 and September 6? Twenty-six year-old private equity broker Chirantan Patnaik played Grand Theft Auto IV — for 40 hours and 20 minutes straight.

The Indian resident started playing at his home on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. and wrapped up on September 6 at 2:00 a.m., taking only four breaks. His marathon play session was observed by observers and has earned its place in the Guinness Book, surpassing the previous record of an American playing GTAIV for 28 hours and 1 minute.

"There are so many other games which I have played for long hours," says Patnaik. But I had never tried playing this particular game seriously. However, I knew that I can do it after I saw my brother playing it ... I enjoyed the game very much. It's fun playing long hours. It wasn't that exhaustive for me, as one might feel."

To train for the event, he exercised, ran and did yoga, and while playing, he guzzled coffee and munched on dates. Next up, Patnaik plans to play for 48 hours straight.

"I enjoyed the game very much," he says. "It's fun playing long hours. It wasn't that exhaustive for me, as one might feel".

Mumbai youth makes world record in video gaming [ZEENEWS]

Nothing Is Sacred! Rainbrow Brite 2.0 Has Arrived!

If you were a fabulous little girl or perhaps a guy of the late 80s, you remember Rainbow Brite and her friends, the Color Kids. Brite was super cute, with just a little pudge to her size and she had "the most magnificent horse in the universe" named Skylite and she was all together just awesome!

Well, Brite has been brought to the new millennium and someone thought she would look much better if she was taller and thinner and more of a supermodel anime character rather than a cute cartoon.

Just what little girls need - another image they can't conform to! Thanks Hallmark!

Even the Sprites look weird!!!

Guy Finds Missile Launcher In His Backyard, Government Lazy About Retrieving It

A resident of Comal County, Texas named Jarrette Schule found a military issue missile launcher in his backyard. Figuring that the government would surely be looking for it, he made some calls. Amazingly enough, no one seemed to care.

But Schule spent Tuesday afternoon calling the FBI, Homeland Security, the Sheriff's Department - every agency he could think of. He was stuck in a bureaucratic limbo.

"Everyone was handing it off to everybody else," Schule said.

He was surprised at the amount of work it took to get the military to pick up its lost missile launcher.

Schule called the military police at Fort Sam. But their jurisdiction doesn't extend off the post. Schule's information was passed along to an Army criminal investigator, who visited Schule on Wednesday morning - about 19 hours after he started making phone calls.

Markings identified the weapon as a guided missile launcher built in 1996. It still has the 13-digit military stock number that will be used to identify its origins and, possibly, how it might have wound up on the property of a man who lives miles from a military installation. Could there be crazy Texans out there hunting deer with black market military missile launchers? Honestly, I wouldn't be that surprised.

Source [MySA News]

Leona In Tears After Attack - She Was PUNCHED!

The lovely Leona Lewis was doing a book signing today, Wednesday, in London for her autobiography, Dreams, when a random guy went up and attacked her!

According to a rep, "She was doing a signing to launch her new book. Hundreds of fans had been queuing since last night. A guy came up and punched her to the side of the head. She is absolutely gutted she did not get the signings finished."

So horrific!

Leona sustained bruising to the side of her head and was left "shaken" by the incident.

Lewis was quickly escorted out and spotted in tears.

Thankfully, the douchebag that punched her was arrested, though no information has yet been released as to why she was attacked. We can only image the guy must have some mental issues.

Why else would he hit her?!?

So wrong!

Source [Yahoo! News]

R.I.P. Pro wrestling legend Captain Lou Albano

Pro wrestling legend Captain Lou Albano passed away on Wednesday morning at the age of 76.

Lou was admitted for hospice care earlier in the week following a hospital stay. The wrestler had struggled with his poor health in recent years, suffering a heart attack in 2005.

Albano, a former wrestler for the WWF, was most popularly known to the non-wrestling world as Cyndi Lauper's father in the video for Girls Just Want to Have Fun.

So, so sad.

You will be dearly missed, Captain Lou.

Source [Los Angeles Times]

Stabbing Random 15-Year Old Girls Will Not Fix Your Internet Connection

Here is a troubleshooting tip from me to you—stabbing random 15-year old girls on the street will not fix your internet connection. Unfortunately, this advice comes to late for one troubled Swedish Starcraft player.

Apparently, the 18-year old kid flew into a rage a few months ago when his connection dropped during an online game. He decided that the only remedy was to skip all of the traditional troubleshooting techniques and go right to stabbing an innocent girl walking down the street. Fortunately, this completely insane act of random violence did not end as bad as it could have—the girl managed to escape with wounds that are not life threatening. As for her attacker, he is currently spending some downtime at a psychiatric hospital with an attempted manslaughter charge in the works.

Clearly, this is one disturbed individual we are talking about here. I mean, a rational person would have yelled at his modem and smacked it around with tears streaming down his face right?

Source [Metro (in Swedish)] Other Source [Crunchgear]

Boyzone Gay guy Stephen Gately dead

According to the Mirror, Stephen Gately died from complications of drinking in excess.

The Boyzone star was discovered by his partner Andy Cowles in his Majorca apartment kneeling against the sofa with his face buried in the pillow.

It is said that he died in his sleep when he choked on his vomit after drinking at a club until 6 a.m.

“The family have been told the most likely scenario is Stephen had a bit too much to drink, vomited in his sleep and choked. It was a terrible accident,” divulged a close friend.

And although he had suffered depression in the past, that was not the reason for overdoing it!

It was just a vacation turned tragic!

“There’s no foul play involved. There is nothing untoward. It’s not drugs, it’s not suicide, it’s not murder, it’s not a fight,” claims lawyer Gerald Kean.

But, the police are trying to locate a Bulgarian man named, Giorgio who met the couple at the club and returned with them to their apartment. Authorities feel that he may be able to offer more details into what happened.

Stephen will be greatly missed - especially by his bandmates.

“I’m devastated. I can’t believe it’s real," said Ronan. “We’ve lost a best friend and a brother. Stephen was loved by every one of us. He was one of the most caring, compassionate and gentle people I’ve known.”

Sad. Sad.

Source [Mirror.co.uk]

Fox Killed Off In Transformers 3?

A new rumor from In Touch Weekly suggests that Megan Fox is under consideration for being written out of the franchise in Transformers 3.

“Michael’s pretty much discovered Megan and now he’s very quietly looking for her replacement. He hasn’t decided if he’s going to kill her off in the next movie, but he just wants to be prepared.”

I recommend holding the moans (or celebration) as I doubt even so much as an outline of TF3 even exists. Right now I suspect Michael Bay, Ehren Kruger and others are still in the spitballing phrase and nothing is concrete except for a vague sense of what characters may return for the movie.

Megan Fox could choose to opt out of the next movie (being under contract for three movies doesn't really mean that much) so Bay would be wise to have a plan B under consideration just in case. However, Fox demonstrated she doesn't have the star power to open a movie with the box office failure of Jennifer's Body (to be fair the marketing of that movie was awful) so I don't see her turning down an opportunity to keep her fame flag flying high. Long story short, take this rumor with a grain of salt.

In a bit of a unrelated note, the above image is a before and after from GoodPlasticSurgery.com that shows a little plastic surgery can go a long way. Megan Fox had a tweak to her lips, nose and cheeks accounting for the change in look between the first and second films (beyond her tattoos). Makes you wonder if she has anything else planned before Transformers 3 gets before the cameras.

Harry Potter Star Struggles To Complete Filming

Dame Maggie Smith, who plays Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series, has been battling cancer since 2007, yet she has vowed to "stagger through" the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

She's surely a trooper!

"The cancer was hideous. It takes the wind out of your sails and I don’t know what the future holds, if anything. You feel so ghastly, you wouldn’t mind dying a lot of the time," divulged the actress. "The last couple of years have been a write-off, though I’m beginning to feel like a person now. My energy is coming back. Shit happens. I ought to pull myself together a bit.”

Chemotherapy left her weak and ill, yet she pulled through the Half Blood Prince without any sign to the audience that she was ill.

“I was hairless. I had no problem getting the wig on," she says. "I was like a boiled egg. The chemotherapy made me feel horribly sick. I was holding onto railings, thinking, ‘I can’t do this.’”

The woman is unstoppable!!!

Hope she's well and getting some well deserved rest!

Source [DailyMail.co.uk]

You'll Never Guess Who's Going To Be On The Cover Of Playboy Next Month!!!

No, we're not kidding. Why would I joke about this?

Marge Simpson will be the November covergirl of Playboy magazine in honor of The Simpsons' 20th Anniversary.

Aren't you curious what the totally recognizable (with an age totally undefinable) cartoon mom looks like NAKED?!!?

Even if you're not, you're going to find out, but don't worry, there won't be any reason to get blue-balled over the blue bush. All you perves yearning to scratch one off to a real woman will still get a real-life human Playmate to enjoy in the issue.

Oh Hugh Hefner, the shiz you pull!

Source [E! Online]

How to be a Domestic Goddess... enjoying the simple facts of eating

During my younger days my family would have lavish Sunday lunches, complete with roasts, soups, everything. Sometimes it was tense given my Mom always made sure these weekly feasts where memorable, but on dinners on that same day was lavishly simple. Small course meals were a staple during dinners after a big lunch. We would spend time in the kitchen hanking up simple dishes with simple ingredients but the outcome is always remarkably ecstatic. Obviously, my influence in my everyday cooking has always been my Mom. So it would be selfish not to share.

Sort of a pre breakfast starter during the evenings my simplified version of Oeufs en Cocotte is always a blast. My Mom would always say it in its French term and I would be liberally ignorant since my dislike for the French language, but it was fabulous as comfort food. French for Egg on a Coccotte, and the Cocotte in question are those small bowls or ramekins. We always have a huge collection of ramekins and until now I still have them in my cupboard.

What you'll need:
An egg
Multi-purpose cream
Butter
Salt and pepper for taste, coarse if available
Bagels, or Okra shoots

Brush the insides of the ramekin with the butter with a pastry brush, carefully crack an egg not to break the yolk. I like my eggs salty so a pinch of coarse salt is suitable, pour in a tablespoonful of multi-purpose cream. An in a fashion set the microwave oven for a 1 minute on medium. Once done, throw in some pepper or your condiment of choice and just simply dive in with pieces of toasted bagels or steamed okra shoots. This reminds me of my childhood days prompting me foolishly thinking there is no school tomorrow.

Dennis Hopper Would Have Used the iBike Rider

Actually, he wouldn't have, but only because in the 60s you needed a thousand-mile cable to carry a telephone around. And because he's too cool for the iPhone. Still, the batmanesque iBike Rider looks great for bikers with iPhones.

You can get the basic iBike Rider, a weather-proof case that attaches to your arms with straps, and includes a space for an extra battery, for around $42. It's also available with a matching headset that attaches to the helmet for $85, and with the extra battery the whole thing will set you back $159. All plus shipping from la france. Like the page says: l'iPhone met les gaz! Oh really, well, je suis trop bourrée pour baiser! (I'm too stuffed to kiss!)

Source (En Francais)

How to be a Domestic Goddess...and be in a zen-like environment

I am a firm believer that sometimes a good chicken noodle soup is always good for the soul and for the body as well, but sometimes making a good noodle soup with chicken stock is so cumbersome and tiresome. My noodle soup for needy people always does the trick.

 

My weapon of choice is always instant noodles, of course chicken flavor with some extra ingredients. Well, when I super size my noodles the ingredients are pretty much endless adding in several foodstuffs along while cooking the eggy noodles. What I offer is just a template and you can add more ingredients that you prefer or whatever thats available in your cold kitchen garden, a.k.a., the fridge.

What I usually add:
2 packs of good instant noodles or 3 if you're greedy
Chicken stock either in liquid form or cubed
Crunchy veggies such as bak choy, mongo sprouts or squash
A tablespoonful of brown sugar
Soy sauce

Cook the noodles as per instructions on the packet, while the water is boiling, add in the accompanying chicken powder flavoring. To boost it's flavor add in the chicken stock or just throw in half a cube. Add in the brown sugar and a few tablespoons of soy sauce to add some earthy depth to the soup. Once the soup is boiling hot throw in the veggies and until tender to the touch. Decant the aromatic soup to a bowl. Once cool enough to eat, you can slurp as you work. Serves 1 lazy person.

Blast from the past

Maths wasn't my strong point at school, but I have always appreciated a good pie chart (and not just for its come-to-me culinary connotations).  Nothing, however, could ever beat the one here, to the left.  It was sent to me in an email by a friend (painstaking recreated for this blog) and I just had to put in. I mean, surely, there is nothing anyone truly funny, I think, than being made to laugh. And boy, did this make me laugh.  It obviously helps if you are of the right vintage and can remember the Rick Astley song in question, but if you aren't then I suggest you go onto itunes instanter, listen to "Never Gonna Give You Up"  and you will truly get the joke.  Though in fact the pie-chart prompted me, who needs no refresher course in 80s pop, to play it again, loud and proud.  I feel a poster coming on now.....