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.