Super Funky

Arcee from Transformers Prime

Upcoming Arcee toy based on the design in the Transformers Prime cartoon. Via.

*Buy Arcee toys at eBay.

Minecraft Creeper Onesie

Minecraft Creeper Onesie on sale here. Via.

Giant roses blooming in New York

"The Roses" by Will Ryman on display between 57th and 67th Streets on Park Avenue in New York City until May 31st, 2011. You'll find many more photos here. Via these sites.

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes concept art

Thomas Perkins punched a bunch of concept art for The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (my boys are crazy for the show).

*Buy Marvel Universe figures at eBay.

1. Team Fortress 2 paper toy.

2. Techcrunch on AOL buying Huffington Post: "we bought the Huffington Post because it’s full of important women who buy things."

3. An argument for why alien life will probably be fairly similar throughout the universe.

Fake news

Nick Denton on fake news:

Q: What irritates you in the print and online media world?

Denton: Fake news. I don't mean fake news in the Fox News sense. I mean the fake news that clogs up most newspapers and most news websites, for that matter. The new initiative will go nowhere. The new policy isn't new at all. The state won't go bankrupt. The product isn't revolutionary. And journalists pretend that these official statements and company press releases actually constitute news. Of course the public knows that most of these stories are published for the massaging of sources -- and that's why they don't read them.

What's news? Online, at least, we have the numbers. So we know that few people care about the twists and turns of state legislation, for instance -- or about product announcements from any company other than Apple. So we have no excuse. I'm on a jihad within Gawker against fake news. Unless the twin towers are falling or Brett Favre actually sent the cock shot, it probably isn't news.

I learned the news business in the UK, in which newspaper political coverage is much like cable TV news in the US. Fake news, manufactured, hyped, rehashed, retracted -- until at the end of the week you know no more than at the beginning. You really might as well wait for a weekly like the Economist to tell you what the net position is at the end of the week.

To follow the daily or hourly news cycle is the media equivalent of day-trading: it's frenzied, pointless and usually unprofitable. I'd much rather read an item which just showed me the photos or documents. And if you're going to write some text, take a position or explain something to me. Give me opinion or reference; just don't pretend you're providing news. That's not news.

It's part of a much longer interview.

Tauntaun costume built for two

Homemade Tauntaun costume by Victor Huang.

And also by Victor, check out this video of the high speed chase that ensued after an octopus stole his camera (they end up friends by the end):

*Previously: Inflatable tauntaun costume.

*Buy Tauntauns at eBay.

Time Bandits poster

Time Bandits poster by Justin Erickson of Phantom City Creative. There's a giveaway as described here.

*Previously: Lego Time Bandits.

*Buy Time Bandits posters at eBay.

Link memorial plaque found in London

Blue plaques are placed around England:

In order to be eligible for an English Heritage blue plaque, a figure must have been dead for twenty years or have passed the centenary of their birth. Nominated figures must be considered eminent by a majority of members of their own profession; have made an outstanding contribution to human welfare or happiness; have resided in a locality for a significant period, in time or importance, within their life and work; be recognisable to the well-informed passer-by, or deserve national recognition. In cases of foreigners and overseas visitors, candidates should be of international reputation or significant standing in their own country. EH plaques can only be erected on the actual building inhabited by a figure, not the site where the building once stood; buildings marked with plaques should be visible from the public highway; unless a case is deemed exceptional, a single person may not be commemorated with more than two plaques nationwide.

Someone placed this one, honoring Link for defeating Ganon, in London:

Via.

*Buy Legend of Zelda toys at eBay.

How Robot Chicken episodes get made

Nice, long video showing how Robot Chicken episodes get made (including Seth Green performing some Voltron gangster rap).

Also, here you can see Bridget Dash sculpting the Sarlacc Pit out of clay for the recent Star Wars episode:

*Buy Robot Chicken at Amazon.

Monkey waiter

I thought this was too creepy to actually post - - a restaurant in Japan has a monkey waiter - - which they sometimes make wear a human mask. The video is the stuff of nightmares. Via.