Big fish that turned up on Philippine beach is either a giant dolphin or a small whale. This might clear things up: "'Dolphins are small whales, whales are big dolphins. This one is a giant dolphin so it must be a whale,' Avila said."

An explorer has bought a Russian icebreaker and is heading out to the North Pole to determine if the Earth is hollow. Here's the pitch from Steve Currey's Expedition Company - Voyage to Our Hollow Earth: "Don't miss this chance to personally visit that paradise within our earth via the North Polar Opening and meet the highly advanced, friendly people who live there. We are of the opinion that they are the lengendary Lost Tribes of Israel who migrated into the North Country over 2,500 years ago and literally became lost to the knowledge of mankind. "

Check out the video on this page (you'll need Quicktime.) It's fun with electricity! (Link found via Cylindrical Primate Storage Unit, which I love more and more every day.)

'Hole in sky' amazes scientists, with picture. (Link via The Anomalist, from who I steal many links.)

Gottfried Benn was a poet and a doctor. He seems to have combined those interests in some very odd ways. I just downloaded his poems from this site and they are grotesque in the best sense. Try this poem:

Little Aster

A drowned beer hauler was heaved onto the slab.
Someone had heaved a lavender aster
between his teeth.
As I reached through the chest
under the skin
with a long knife
to cut out the tongue and palate
I must have bumped the flower, for it slid
into the brain lying alongside.
I packed it into the chest cavity
with the sawdust
as we sewed up.
Drink your fill in that vase!
Rest in peace,
little aster!

That comes from a collection called "Morgue," which you can dowload as a pdf at the link. Enjoy.

This post from Tequila Mockingbird is not the normal thing I post. But it is so well written and so touching, I can't help myself. Just read it.

Lion's bones proves sacred place lions held in Ancient Egypt.

Three cops see UFO floating over church on Dec. 26.

Isn't cool enough when you find a Roman-era wooden anchor on the shores of the Dead Sea? Why make claims for it being King Herod's yacht anchor, when you don't even know if Herod had a boat? Silly, silly archaeologist.

Neil Gaiman recently made mention of Harry Stephen Keeler and linked to Ramble House, who are currently republishing his novels.
So, looking further, I found this page: Harry Stephen Keeler Home Page. Read this page. This guy sounds crazy and wonderful. I want to buy his books. Here's a good passage from that page:
"In one novel, there's a character named Suing Sophie. Sophie goes on transpacific cruise ships, striking up an acquaintance with a single man on board. When the ship gets into port, Sophie bids her male friend farewell by loudly exclaiming, "Yes! I'll marry you!" then rushing off. Now the man has not proposed marriage. But Sophie has made sure that there are plenty of witnesses to her farewell. Soon afterward, the man is greeted with a breach of promise lawsuit for failing to marry Sophie. In the settlement, Sophie collects a huge award, which she then uses to travel to the cannibal isles of the South Pacific; specifically to islands whose inhabitants have recently been converted by Christian missionaries. There Sophie convinces them of the errors of their recent conversion, and reconverts them as practicing Jews.
"You know all this and more about Sophie; before it's over, Keeler probably gets more plot mileage out of Sophie than Flaubert does out of Emma Bovary. The difference is that Sophie does not appear in the action of Keeler's novel at all. Other characters just allude to her."

A story on the inventor of the death ray.

Cyclops goat.

A Ghost ship found more than a year ago off the coast of Australia will be sunk as an artificial reef. I love stories of people just disappearing, like the crew of this ship or the residents of Roanoke. There's probably reasonable explanations, but I like the far flung theories I can come up with instead.

Here's a decent Donnie Darko FAQ, although most of this information can be gleaned from the DVD and the Donnie Darko Web site. Still, it's nice to have it all in one place.

Zagat's outtakes, including gems like:
"Too snooty, but so am I."
"Even Jesus would have a hard time getting at table on Saturday night."
"The stench of testosterone and desperation doesn't quite cover up the fact that this place stinks."

Here's a review of a couple of books on the occult and their connections with literature.

2blowhards.com gives his take on book lovers' view of the world vs. movie lovers' view, and it's fascinating. I'm off to work now, but I wanted to note this for later consumption and argument. (Link found via About Last Night.)

Gene Wolfe, a really great writer, discusses the Lord of the Rings and their influence on him and the influence he believes they should have on society at large. It's a conservative viewpoint, but not a bad one. I particularly liked this:
"Philology led him [Tolkien] to the study of the largely illiterate societies of Northern Europe between the fall of Rome and the beginning of the true Middle Ages (roughly AD 400 to 1000). There he found a quality -- let us call it Folk Law -- that has almost disappeared from his world and ours. It is the neighbour-love and settled customary goodness of the Shire. Frodo is "rich" in comparison to Sam, though no dragon would call Frodo rich; Sam is poor in comparison to Frodo, though Sam is far richer than Gollum, who has been devoured by the tyranny and corruption of the One Ring. Frodo does not despise Sam for his poverty, he employs him; and Sam does not detest Frodo for his wealth, but is grateful for the job. Most central of all, the difference in their positions does not prevent their friendship. And in the end, poor Sam rises in the estimation of the Shire because of his association with Frodo, and rich Frodo sacrifices himself for the good of all the Sams."

Slightly less thrilling than a moon base and Mars exploration is deep-sea exploration. A next-generation robot will soon visit the deepest part of the Marinas trench (and therefore, the deepest part of the ocean.) I found this interesting:
"While the oceans cover two-thirds of the planet, the vast majority - 90% - are unexplored.
"We have better maps of Mars than we do of our own seabed, oceanographers say.
"But according to Professor Chris German, from the Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC), UK, new underwater technologies will extend scientists' reach - soon - to all areas of the ocean floor.
"You could say that deep-sea exploration is the new space exploration," he said."

Wow. Bush is expected to send a manned mission to Mars and back to the moon. It's about time. I can't believe it's Bush proposing this though.

I think everybody knows a little bit about Charles Berlitz. Who doesn't have a copy of "The Bermuda Triangle," "The Philadelphia Experiment" or "The Mystery of Atlantis" hanging around their house (and most likely unread.) Here's a good article about "The Flim Flam Artist." It's also interesting to note that he was one of the world's top linguists. (I wonder if he knew Noam Chomsky, another world famous linguist who is better known for his side work.)

Squid season must be coming in again. Here's a Bright Squid Found In Hawaii, with picture.

The terror alert has been downgraded to yellow. There's nothing to see here, move along.

The Revealer is a new blog/web site about religion and the press. It's got some very thoughtful entries in it so far. I already like it more than the B-Log, BeliefNet's Web log on religion. The B-Log mostly did weird religion stories in the news, where The Revealer actually explores religious issues. Check them out, see what you think.

"In today's hurly burly and mixy dixy it is very important to know if you are a space alien!" No kidding. Well fortunately, this Web site offers a handy dandy test to determine whether you are of the extraterrestrial kind. I've tried it, now I feel much more secure in my human-ness. Try it out for yourself. Ask questions like step 2: "If you frequently think about kidnapping farmers and subjecting them to rectal interference, look at yourself in the mirror. If you are wearing a plaid hat with earflaps, you are simply a serial sex murderer. If you are not, proceed to step 3!"
Go ahead. You'll thank me later.

What Valerie [a "domestic android"] CAN and CANNOT do. Valerie can call police in an emergency. Valerie cannot have sex. Damn, what good is she. (Was that sexist? Or droidist? 100 years from now, everyone will know the word droidist.)

Minor giant squid news from Santa Cruz: "Strange catch of the week reported by Bayside Marine was two giant squid caught by an angler using diamond bars in 220 feet of water off Davenport. Rarely seen in this area, the squid were 3-4 feet long." I think "giant" is more of a physical description here. I don't think they actually caught Architeuthis, unless they were baby versions.

Here's a photo essay on bookbinding. For some reason, this looks really attractive to me. Something in the back of my mind wants me to waste my time building my own books. I can't cut in a straight line, yet I think it would be a really good idea to put together my own hardback book. It's a recipe for disaster.

Science fiction writer Lucius Shepard gives his review of "The Return of the King." I don't agree with everything he said, but he seems to feel the same way I do: the movie (and the trilogy) are great spectacles with a lot of entertainment value, yet filled with many faults. His summation seems pretty on point:
"The trilogy has now gone into the popular culture, standing as an incomparable feat of technical magic, and criticism of the project will seem no more than dust raised by its vast passage. Still and all, a quibble or two are not completely out of order, and I submit, for whatever value it may supply, that LotR’s hallucinatory content—giant spider, F-16 pterodactyls, super-mega-mastodons, et al—might have been better served with a lighter touch of magic, a few less epic sorrows, and a smattering of sufferings more mundane."
***
On a separate point, for what it's worth, Shepard brings up the Sam and Frodo dynamic and how they represent a 19th century British view of the relationship between servant and aristocrat. And that is certainly there in both the movie and the book. But when I was a kid reading the books, I saw their story as one of loyalty between friends. Sam was a good friend who supported Frodo right to the end. In fact, I saw LOTR as Sam's story (and he is the last person to write in The Red Book, the book you see finished at the end of the movie.) And while Tolkien certainly had the class dynamic in mind, I think he also saw it as a story of friendship and loyalty.

Man sees brilliant white light at Mud Lake. Several days later, he checks the lake and finds a mysterious ice circle.

Finally, giant squid news! A second giant squid predator has been found. Up until now, scientists believed only certain whales lived off of giant squids, but apparently Antartica's sleeper sharks also regularly eat the big calimari. There's also a neat graphic showing the size of a giant squid and a colossal squid in relation to a London bus.

I'm not sure I trust this source, but this article says scientists have found the best proof "yeti." A furry limb has been tested and found to be part of no known mammal.
Also in mysterious identifications, scientists confirm that the Chile sea blob was just a decayed sperm whale.

This article on something called "mindsight" is interesting. However, I think the "Star Wars" metaphor (the article is called "Proof that the 'force' is really with us") wasn't what they were looking for. I don't think I'll be making my light saber jump into my hand anytime soon. The article is more about a "sixth sense" or auras or something. Still very interesting.

In Norway, they are going to hold a memorial service to honor Keiko (aka 'Free Willy"). One person is quoted as the memorial being "to honor Keiko as a symbol of freedom."
OK, I can understand people that feel strongly about an animal, strong enough to attend a memorial. But symbol of freedom? This was an animal that was in captivity the majority of its life and tame enough to appear in a movie. It also had a tough time surviving on its own because it wanted to come back. Yes, what a proud symbol of freedom. Bah!

I've seen stories about this before, but I don't think I've ever blogged it. The body of a tiny humanoid creature was found in Chile. It's rather gross looking, but it sure does look like some kind of little alien.

A Quiz For People Who Know Everything

Here's an ad for Sex University, learn all those things you really need to know. (Careful, nothing particularly awful on this site, but if you have speakers, this is definitely not safe for work.)

Apparently this is a big Ursula Le Guin day. Sci Fi Channel has announced they will be making a mini-series of her Earthsea books. I read the first book, "A Wizard of Earthsea" and liked it, but I'd have to read it again to see how well it would do on TV.
Now that I think of it, it's a marketing department's dream. It's about a young boy who goes to a school for wizards where mysterious things are happening. He grows up to confront dragons and find out his true powers. Harry Potter references here we come!
While I liked the book, I wasn't in love with it. I didn't go on to read the rest of the books, but many people swear by them. It will be interesting to see what happens with it.

Good article on Ursula Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness." It's a classic science fiction story and beautifully written. The article makes me want to reread the book.

Check out this lamp. I really don't think that would look good in my house.

Burglar mails himself to condo he plans to rob. He was caught.

Woman sells herself as imaginary online girlfriend. She was sold (the first time) for $41. I also like that all the people who won the auctions said they were just doing it in fun. Yeah. Sure you were. Also, here's her Web site, not that you'd need it or anything. It's just for fun. Really.

Science is always on the move. The latest great achievement: Elephant dentures. No more toothless pachyderms! Thank goodness.

Also found via Jay Lake's blog (see last entry), here is a site of photographic UFO Evidence. There's some pretty neat pictures here. Check it out quick before government agents shut it down.

All right, vacation is over, time for me to get back to work here at the old blogging mines. My first nugget of the new year I've dug up for you: Being 'left-haired' affects brain, say scientists. I know you missed me.

Underwater Times names its Underwater Stories of the Year. There's the Bethany Hamilton shark attack and the whale hunting stories, but you know what is No. 3? Colossal Squid Found! Woohoo, go giant squid! Also, the Chilean sea blob makes No. 4.

Citizens' Association to Blow Up the Moon: "We are a group of citizens from all walks of life who share a common realization and thus a common goal: the Moon is our enemy and must be destroyed."

Have I mentioned Henshin!Online is a great site for Godzilla news? That's why it's up their on the right. Today's news: the new Godzilla X Mechagodzilla will be released in America in the first half of 2004! This is great. I haven't even gotten GMK and Godzilla X Megaguirus, which are coming out in January. It seems like Sony is really trying to boost the Godzilla fandom in the U.S. I hope so. I would like to see these movies come out here right after they're released in Japan.
Also at Henshin Online is an interview with one of the creators of the Ultraman comic book.

DVD Review takes a look at "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack."
"So, in a nutshell, ’Godzilla, Mothra And King Ghidorah’ is a must-see for all kaiju fans. It’s just really cool..."
And here is the page with the info about the Boston showings of "GMK." I really want to go. Any other Godzilla fans out there who would like to take a trip to Boston next week?

The Astronomy Picture of the Day (Dec. 14) is the Face on Mars. Of course, it doesn't look anything like a face in this picture. A conspiracy to hide it, I'm sure.

Bookslut links to a very interesting article, an interview with Anthony Lane, the New Yorker's film critic. Lane is asked about the writer's life, he then proceeds to go on a monologue about the kind of life he leads. It's fascinating, at least I think so.

Excellent article about Alan Moore. Although, I must say that "Swamp Thing" was not "a terrible American comic book" when it began. Len Wein did some good stuff that Moore was able to build on later. It wasn't great, but it certainly wasn't "terrible."

Doctor creates anti-bullet charm. "To confirm its efficacy, the herbalist tied the charm around his neck and insisted that Akor should fire a gun at him. The experiment proved fatal for the herbalist and his skull was shattered," said a police spokesman.

Platypuses Hunt With Electro-Sensor. With cute picture!

The headline says it all: Ugly slug lures amateur divers to their death. If you want to see what a sea cucumber looks like check Google image search.

The New Yorker's Alex Ross ponders the similarities and differences of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Ring of the Nibelung." Also here is a Washington Post article on the influences behind "The Lord of the Rings."

This beetle is actually made of opal, at least in part.

The Eldritch Dark, which is a great Web site for reading all of Clark Ashton Smith's fantasty works, now has the correspondence of H.P. Lovecraft and Smith up. Lovecraft is famed for his letter writing. Besides Smith, he wrote to Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Joseph Payne Brennan and many more. (Link found via Return of the Reluctant.)

Well, it appears there is a new weirdwriter out there. He's 19 and lives in New York. Impostor! Nah, I'm just kidding. Welcome. (And yes, I found this because I searched for my own name on Google. I'm a narcissist, sue me.)
And while I'm at it, you can find another Weirdwriter here.

It seems the Wright Brothers had a lot of competition. This being the 100th anniversary of the Kitty Hawk flight, everybody is writing stories like these. Locally, we have Gustave Whitehead, who never claimed a first flight, but many people say he flew first on a hill in Fairfield. Texas claims a first flight in this story. And Brazil makes their claim here. It seems there was a veritable fleet of airplanes in the air as the Wright Brothers took off.

Well, there's stuff on Edward Kelley here, here, and here. I haven't had a chance to read any of them though.

There's a new article about the Voynich Manuscript. The Voynich Manuscript is an illuminated manuscript housed at Yale's Beinecke Rare Book Library. The manuscript is written an apparently untranslatable language and is full of bizarre pictures. You can find some detailed stuff about the Voynich Manuscript here, here and photos here. The second link is probably the best introduction.
So in the new story, a researcher says he can show that the Voynich Manuscript is a hoax perpetrated by Edward Kelley ("a forger, mystic, alchemist, mercenary and wife-swapper") who originally sold the book. I think I need to find out more about Edward Kelley.

Museum workers are spooked out by Egyptian funerary figures that move around at night. The figures, or shabtis, are supposed to be servants of the dead.
"'They were neatly packed in a case when we brought them up. When we came to work the day after, they were lying all over the place, except for two - two false shabtis,' [Museum guard Richard] Saure said."

Ghosts blamed for runaway train. The lead says "superstitious Indonesians" blamed ghosts. Well, where is the real explanation then? Hmm? (Well, it does say "Indonesia's railways are often plagued with rolling stock and maintenance problems," but let's not go pointing fingers yet.

A booming business: "They run the nation's only sea slug farm, filling a growing global demand for squishy, slimy, slithering purplish-brown blobs."
With picture!

The World Wide Web takes a step towards fighting censorship and promoting the "marketplace of ideas" worldwide: "Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen whose latest work has sparked off a controversy prompting the West Bengal government to proscribe it, has now decided to post its entire manuscript on the net. "

The first review of the latest Godzilla film is up at Monster Zero. I wish these films were released more quickly and more reliably in America (and in theaters, wouldn't that be great?) At least "GMK: All out attack" and "Godzilla X Megaguirus" will be released on DVD here in January. Also, "GMK" is going to be playing in a theater near Boston on Christmas week. I'm going to see if I can make it. I would love to see that on the big screen.

SciFi Audio has recordings of China Mieville reading from his novel, "Scar," as well as an interview with him. I think I've mentioned it previously, but among fantasy writers, I really think Mieville is one of the best, if not the best. He's also high on my list of writers in general.

I just picked up "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian" a book collecting many of Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories in their original glory. This got me thinking of Conan, so I looked up the Official Website, which has all kinds of interesting Conan news. Apparently, McFarlane Toys will take on Conan next year. Also, there is a new Conan comic book coming out, written by Kurt Busiek. Dark Horse is collecting the classic Barry Windsor-Smith Conan comics of the '70s. And finally, a Conan video game is in production. In fact, there is a trailer for it here. Looks like it might be good.

Ever wonder what it's like to live in a snowglobe? This link might give you an idea. (Thanks to Charles for the link.)

A pilot is stranded in Antartica on McMurdo Base because he ran out of fuel. The Antarticans won't give him any fuel, and I don't blame them. According to the story:

Antarctica New Zealand spokeswoman Shelly Peebles said Mr Johanson had taken an irresponsible approach. No one knew he was coming and he had done nothing about emergency or refuelling plans.
"He abdicated complete personal responsibility for any kind of contingency plan or consideration of how he was going to get back with limited fuel," she said.

This guy sounds like one of those balloon guys trying to set travel records. You know, the guys who cost us money because the Coast Guard has to pick them up and transport them home when they inevitably fail. I don't enjoy paying for rich men's hobbies.
By the way, if you're ever looking for a good site about life on Antartica, check out Big Dead Place. It's written by people living on Antartica. Lots of good stuff there.

A scientist suggests that the red skies of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" might have been influenced by Krakatoa, which caused red skies throughout the world. Personally, I think it was a crossover with "Crisis on Infinite Earths." /obscure joke

Here's a "how to" on keeping a dream journal. There are also a bunch of other stories about dreams and nightmares if you click the "index" link. I kept a dream journal for a while. I just left a notebook beside my bed and when I woke - before I was really awake and aware - I'd scribble down whatever I had just dreamed. You remember your dreams much better that way and it's really weird to look back on some of those dreams.

Weird world report: The globe is getting dangerously warmer, so watch out for falling ice balls.

Check out the world's fastest growing snack foods cult! Behold the fork of transcendence, beware the stark spoon of evil.

I just bought this The Outer Limits - The Original Series, Season 1 DVD set used at a local record store for $40. How cool is that? And, just for fun, here's a Salon Masterpiece article on the series. It looks like you won't have to watch an ad to read it either!

Have you been following the German cannibal story? It's too bizarre for words and just keeps getting weirder. Now, the killer says he was "a bit like a werewolf" during full moons. Also, he taped the whole dinner. Yipe.
If you want to know more (and who doesn't really), just take a look at Google news, there are about a hundred stories just today on the case. I haven't even gotten into to the whole cannibal email list thing.

Stylist's hair bursts into flames, showing that big hair can be dangerous to more than just your looks.

Five-legged dog ends up with three after operation, with sad, hideous picture.

Researchers are looking at a submerged city off the coast of India as the birthplace of modern civilization. However, the man attached to this research is named Graham Hancock. I'm curious if this is the same Graham Hancock who wrote several ridiculous books about the grail and the lost ark of the covenant.

Thank goodness! Seattle has made it once again safe for Elvis impersonators to drive a cab. I know you were all worried. (Link via the absolutely wonderful Cylindrical Primate Storage Unit.)

JenniCam, after more than seven years of documenting Jennifer Ringley's life, will be shutting down Dec. 31. Terry Teachout has some interesting things to say about it. I think he sums it up well here: "She was present at the creation of a radically innovative form of interpersonal communication, and used it to show the world her underwear. What’s more, the world turned out to be interested in her underwear—briefly."

Issue 17 of Bookslut is up, check it out. I haven't read any of it yet, but the review of Flann O'Brien's "The Third Policeman" as well as the magazine and horror columns look to be of interest. It's always worth reading anyway.

Ricky Moody writes a rather pretentious article called 'We recognise the scepticism, the disgust, the coiffure. We recognise this because we have stood in front of mirrors and fleetingly believed in ourselves'. It's about the Talking Heads and how they created a moment of ecstasy for a geek who gets beat up in high school.

Blogger is not working right at the moment, so I'm going to write up a few links at once and blog them later.
First off is this entry by Forager 23 about why he likes country. Now, I'm not going to like modern country music, but this article does give a good perspective on it. It's down home music about living real life.
He also praises modern country for using songwriters, rather than allowing the singers to come up with their own navel-gazing songs. I always liked the idea of songwriters, tin pan alley, that kind of thing. The Associated Press did a great story a few years back about country songwriters, specifically a member of the crew hired by Reba McEntire. Every morning the guy woke up, went to his little office and tried to think up song lyrics. The article had the writer create a song about a computer crashing at work. I wish I could find the article, but a Google search turns up nothing.
***
Jay Lake links to this great Jack Chick parody, Who Will Be Eaten First?. A basic understanding of H.P. Lovecraft might be necessary to get the joke. "There is one thing we can hope for ... TO BE EATEN FIRST!"
***
Meanwhile, at Useful Noise, insurance companies are preparing for fungi and nuclear radiation and we should all be worried because of it.

According to TheSpark.com's Bastard Test!, I am 30% bastard. The worldwide average is 44%. 3% of test takers are the same amount of bastard as I am. Isn't that fascinating? (Link found via The Mad Dater.)

I had to stop reading this article at about the halfway point. It's about how parasites might make you feel better. Once I saw the picture of the hookworm and the scientist say that he had about 300 of them in his "gut," it was all over. The world still seems weird, but now slightly less wonderful.

This New Scientist article suggests that tiny black holes may be continually raining down on Earth's atmosphere. And, if proven, could also show the existence of other dimensions.
We are living in a truly weird, really wonderful world.

In case you were wondering, Colymbosathon ecplecticos means "swimmer with a large penis." Also from the same story, ' "The copulatory organ of the fossilised male is "large and stout" which indicates that "maybe size mattered" for the ancient ostracods, he added. ' Damn. Even prehistoric creatures agree.

Thank you to Cowboy X's Blog of Blogs. Cowboy X reviewed my site and said some nice things. I'm now a member of "The Herd." I'll chew my cud and ask you to check it out here.

Now, you can see the Mothra music video! Just click on the link, it's a Japanese Godzilla page. Scroll down slightly and you will see a pink button with the two Mothra girls on it. Click that link and you can watch the video!
The video is really goofy. It's the original Mothra song from the '64 movie, updated with a backbeat and synthesizers. And the best part: When an image of Mechagodzilla firing its cannons is shown, there's a drum beat that goes right along with it! Oh how I love it.

The new Battlestar Galactica gets some praise over at BoingBoing. Xeni Jardin says the first episode (shown during a launch party for the show) was "nothing short of breathtaking, and lives up to its producers' promise to turn the science fiction TV genre on its head." That's high praise. Hope it turns out that way.

If you ever thought people seeing the Virgin Mary or some other religious thing in birth marks and tree knots was a good thing, this article may make you think differently. A new baby has a birthmark that resembles the name of its uncle, a member of Hamas who may have been involved in a suicide bombing that killed 12 people, including a 10-year-old girl. The family says the birthmark is a sign from Allah praising the fight against Israel.

People in Sydney, Australia, heard a loud bang, which shook windows and woke people out of their sleep. Yet, there is no explanation for it.

While I'm at Salon, this article expresses just about exactly how I feel about Monica Lewinsky. She was a girl who made a stupid mistake and has been paying for it ever since. However, she has done nothing to help herself.

Salon has a good article on the friendship of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. It focuses on how one night's argument over Christianity changed both men's writing careers forever.

Did you know Salam Pax is still writing his blog from Baghdad? Of course you did. Did you also know his friend Raed, the one for whom the blog was named, is now also writing? It adds a whole new element. Raed isn't as good a writer as Salam, but he's funnier and a bit more pissed off. I've been enjoying his stay on the site recently. For instance, check out his entry on camels and their association with Arabs.

There has been so little giant squid news these last few months, it makes me sad. However, this story about catfish as big as a bear does help to cheer me up a bit.

I was listening to the radio the other day and had a moment of clarity. I want you all to know that "Still of The Night" is the best Led Zeppelin song ever. That it's not written or performed by Led Zeppelin makes no difference.

Orgasm Implant Trials Stall: If this thing goes off, what will men be needed for? I mean, there's that whole baby thing, but really, so what? (Link from Jay Lake's new blog, once called Caprine Eructations, now called Cylindrical Primate Storage Unit, either way it's filled with lots of cool stuff.)