The Unbreakable Umbrella

The title and this video say it all ...

Office Synchronisation

This is just weird enough to be interesting ...


Thanks to Random Good Stuff.

Shrimp On A Treadmill

The title says it all!

Claw Game

This seems a little suss, but given that these game machines are presumably water-tight versions of the same ones that normally contain stuffed toys or watches, which are designed to make it very hard for the player to have any success at all, I can't imagine it's significantly worse than the normal situation for these poor sods.

Maleonn Ma

Thanks to io9 for pointing me to the work of Maleonn Ma, a Chinese artist & photographer who creates weird scenes, like this one, that show naked men in bizarre alternate realities.

Quite fascinating ... and more than a little disturbing!

Weird Nails

I've seen a number of these pictures of amazing fingernails before, but Crooked Brains has collected them all in one place.

You have to wonder what makes people want to manipulate their bodies like this, but I guess if they're happy to do so, the least we can do is have a good gawk at them.

Crappy Souvenirs

Thanks to Nerd Approved for pointing out this paperweight, from the wonderfully named True Blue Roo Poo Company :-).

It consists of a piece of smooth, round glass containing ... a turd excreted by a Tasmanian Devil.

I guess this is as good a way as any to preserve some DNA in case they all succumb to that horrible facial cancer that's been killing the poor buggers off in recent times.

Extreme Art

I've come across some fairly interesting forms of artistic expression, but this one is definitely the most extreme that I can remember.

According to this article in the Yale Daily News ...

Art major Aliza Shvarts 08 wants to make a statement.

Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself as often as possible while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages.

Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process.

Robo Hobo

I find it amazing that people just kept walking past this remote controlled (half a) "hobo" that's pushing a shopping trolley.

If I'd seen this, I don't think I could help but walk up and give it a serious inspection.


Thanks to Oh Gizmo".

"Chair"man Mao

While I think this Chairman Mao chair is absolutely hideous, I can't help but appreciate the pun!

I'm sure the designer never intended anyone to sit in it ... and I can't imagine anyone could, without having to turn around to check that he wasn't sporting a sinister little grin :-).

Thanks(?) to Neatorama for putting me off my lunch.

What The?!

Somehow, this "Walking Bike" seems less efficient than riding a normal bicycle, but who knows.



Thanks to Gizmodo.

The Value Of Life

Last night, over dinner with my mate Dave, I mentioned that I enjoy shows like Boston Legal because they often cover topical issues or simply alert me to things I've not come across before.

As if to shine a spotlight on this, the latest episode of BL includes a case revolving around a Viatical Settlement.

This rather ghoulish concept has been around for some time, but surged during the nineteen eighties, when AIDS sufferers had little hope of efficacious medical treatment, because no drugs had yet been developed to retard the syndrome's effects.

Basically, the way a viatical settlement works is that a terminally ill person sells their life insurance policy for an immediate cash settlement and the purchaser makes a profit when they die.

While I can see the benefit to the policy holder, in that they have access to funds to make their remaining days easier, it seems incredibly mercenary for someone to profit from the imminent death of another human being.

Of course, often a patient will enter into such a transaction because they can't afford to pay the significant costs of their treatment. So, it is more prevalent in places where medical care is expensive and where there is little, or no, publicly funded health system, like the United States.

Ms Dewey

I heard about Ms Dewey on a podcast yesterday.

It's a search engine that's just slightly right of "wacko" :-).

I tried to think of how to explain it, but find I'm totally lost for words. Just go take a look.

Grabbing A Little Open Eye

You know the story ... you've had a huge night on the tiles, but still have to go to work and look alert.

Well, with these stick-on "eyes" you can look alert, while grabbing a little shut eye.


Of course, I'm not sure how many people you're really likely to fool, unless your normal practice is to refrain from blinking, a la Hannibal Lecter :-)

Thanks to Neatorama.

What The?

I've seen quite a few bizarre exercise systems advertised on late night television, but this one is truly amazing!

Thanks to Neatorama for the link.

The Bowed Piano

This looks like something John Cage would love ...

Just Say "No"

This is a clever, but creepy, short film called "Still Life". Thanks to Neatorama for the link.

It's Official ... Sex Is Redundant

According to an article on This Is London, British scientists have come up with a mechanism for turning female bone marrow into sperm cells, via stem cell technology.

They say the same approach could be modified to create eggs from male bone marrow.

So, sometime in the future, there may be no need for the opposite sexes to get involved in all that hot, messy stuff :-).

One has to wonder, though, what bizarre physical and mental attributes the offspring of two men or two women would have.

There's the even weirder possibility of a particularly narcissistic person "mating" with themself ... the ultimate incest :-). Ick!

Thanks to Spluch.

What Time Is It, Mr Wolf?

Well, if he's trying to read the Tik Tak Clock, you may be waiting a little while for an answer!

It consists of what is basically a standard clock face, but with various hour:minute values stick out, radially, from the hub.

It looks pretty cool; I just wonder how well it works in practice, especially with those shadows behind it.

Thanks to Shiny Shiny.

Slow Food

For those in the know, that title is probably a bit misleading. I'm not talking about the slow food concept. I'm talking about "non-fast food".

Thanks to Spluch for pointing out Cheeseburger In A Can!


This is one of the most bizarre products I've ever seen. Rather than going to a fast food outlet and getting a burger in a couple of minutes, you buy a can, take it home, open it, stick it in your microwave and wait the same couple of minutes.

Mind you, maybe the quality of the ingredients is superior ... and perhaps you'd end up with a burger that actually looks like its photo!