New Threadless and Tee Fury t-shirts

The Beatles on Abbey Road by Alex Solis.



Lava Lamp Cross-Section by Matthijs Smit.



Burger King in the Wild by Santiago Sanchez.




Logos for viruses by Ste7en Lefcourt.

*Buy lava Lamps at Amazon.

Killing bacteria can be fun (link roundup)

Panel from a Star Trek comic.

And a few more links:

1. Former astronaut Lisa Nowak pled guilty to various crimes and got probation. Via.

2. Details on how Andrew Sullivan used a print on demand site to publish a book of photos taken by his fans, and then encouraged preorders to drive down the price.

3. Pretty photo of the "Up" hot air balloon. Via.

*Previously: Star Trek cologne.

*Buy Up toys at eBay.

Swine Flu glass sculpture, talking ring, miracle toaster and more

A small sampling of the diverse art on display at Luke Jerram's site:



Swine Flu and E. Coli as glass sculptures. See also: HIV and SARS.




Hats For Dreamers, made for people attending a NESTA incubator retreat.





Miracle Toaster, made for Spike Island.

Other standout creations on display at Luke's site include the Talking Ring he used to propose to his partner, and Portrait Projecting Ring he made for the wedding. He also has a book on sale at Amazon.

*Previously: Faux-mineral deposit ring by Erik Sæter.

*Buy vintage jewelry at eBay.

Chibi Batgirl and Robin

Adorable illustration of Batgirl and Robin by Jen Zee.

And a few more links:

1. When you have unprotected sex, you're sleeping with Hitler.

2. Send Jeff Lemire a copy of his new comic Sweet Tooth, and he'll send it back signed with a sketch. Via.

3. And speaking of interesting promotions, writer Michael Totten is looking for patrons to help him finish his book.

*Previously: Batgirl gloves.

*Buy Batgirl toys at eBay.

Skeleton Bride and Groom amigurumi (link roundup)

Skeleton Bride and Groom amigurumi by rabbizdesign on sale at Etsy.

And a few more links:

1. Win a copy of Ad Boy: Vintage Advertising With Character.

2. September 5, 2008, I posted "A positive story about Ryan Leaf." Now? "Ryan Leaf Is A Wanted Man In Texas."

3. Scary photo of swine flu precautions in Shanghai.

4. Big Bad Wolf miniature.

*Previously: Disco-dancing cake toppers.

*Choose from thousands of cake toppers at eBay.

Kokeshi doll by Jason Limon (link roundup)

Kokeshi doll by Jason Limon to be exhibited at a show in July at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Here's his webstore.

And a few more links:

1. "If you can read this, then you're less dead than me." Via.

2. Shadows of the Colossus desktop wallpapers and fan art gallery. Via these sites.

3. Tucker Stone's weekly summary of The Economist. I learned that "white-nose syndrome" has killed so many bats in the Eastern United States that "at least 2.4m pounds of bugs will go uneaten."

4. Move over custom vinyl toys, here's custom backpacks.

*Previously: Chilling description of vampire bats.

*Buy Shadows of the Colossus toys at eBay.

Star Wars, Geisha kokeshi dolls (link roundup)

Han Solo, Princess Leia, and "Kimono Girl" kokeshi dolls by Muluc on sale at Etsy. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Frog silhouette in concrete - - it's like a Looney Tunes cartoon.

2. Lion/kangaroo monster.

3. Great packaging for a hypothetical Wes Anderson Film Festival boxed set.

4. Antibacterial pens. Two for $9 at Amazon. Via.

*Previously: Plush Han and Leia.

*Buy kokeshi at eBay.

"Hope" the swine flu doesn't kill us all

A few swine flu links:


Shepard Fairey's classic Obama poster updated in honor of the H1N1 virus scare by Ben Heine. Super high-res at the link.



Swine Flu-H1N1 Virus Container Papercraft. Via.




Swine flu latte. Via these sites.



Public service announcement from 1976, trying to frighten people into getting a swine flu shot. Via these sites.

*Previously: Hope poster parody image generator.

*Buy Obama toys at eBay.

Stylish Medusa (link roundup)

Stylish Medusa by Brian Gubicza, available on a button at Etsy.

And a few more links:

1. Kiwis are really cute.

2. Courtesy of Annalee Newitz, I learned that Ben Edlund (creator of The Tick) wrote for Angel, Firefly, and now Supernatural. (The black and white Supernatural episode this season was terrific.)

3. Lots of revolting photos of a whole chicken in a can. Relatedly, Gizmodo is hosting a Photoshop contest to see if anyone can come up with something more revolting to put in a can.

4. At least one flu expert says paper masks "don't keep viruses away, they keep people away."

*Previously: What it looks like when you get an Amish computer virus.

*Buy plush kiwis at eBay.

Now this is a screenshot (link roundup)

Just enjoy this giant octopus-filled screenshot from upcoming Wii game Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The gameplay on display in this trailer looks awfully lackluster. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Were the British defeated in Iraq?

2. Before there was the internet, the hot craze was hunkerin? Via.

3. A government employee who went on the same Mexico trip as Obama became infected with swine flu and passed it to his family, and yet Obama's doctors "see no need to conduct any tests?"

4. Jose Canseco is going to fight a 7'2" Korean in a mixed martial arts fight?

*Previously: Samurai octopus.

*Buy samurai helmets at eBay.

Logo for Catholic Church features child performing oral sex? (link roundup)

Supposedly, this is the circa 1973 design for the Catholic Church's Archdiocesan Youth Commission. I have a hard time accepting it. And if it is true, I have a hard time accepting the artist didn't set out to depict a child performing oral sex on a priest. Via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. Some accurate comments about why it's hard to make anything more than spare change blogging. Probably the most important point is that the best paying opportunities go to people who are already established journalists.

2. King Kong really loves that skyscraper.

3. Creepiest headline that's apparently not a big deal: "Plague found in squirrels at San Diego County camp site."

4. Neil Gaiman wrote up an absolutely tremendous recommendation for the book Who Killed Amanda Palmer (it's a collection of her posing as if she's died in various bizarre manners, coupled with short stories he wrote based on the photos).

*Previously: Top ten worst realtor photos.

*Buy King Kong posters at eBay.

Indonesia claims sole ownership of the bird flu

The concept is "viral sovereignty" and the theory is that Indonesia (and other countries) want to claim ownership of viruses appearing within their country - - so if a valuable vaccine is created, their country will benefit monetarily. (If they're not all dead from an epidemic.) Over the last three years, Indonesia has shared with the World Health Organization "samples from only two of the more than 135 people known to have been infected with H5N1 (110 of whom have died)." You can read a bit more here and here.

*Previously: Rape is the best option for me.

*Buy Stephen King's The Stand at Amazon.

Author of “100 Things to Do Before You Die” dies at age 47 after a fall at home

1. Dave Freeman, co-author of "100 Things to Do Before You Die," died last week after a fall at his home in the Venice section of Los Angeles. He was 47. Link.

2. Man finds lost camera loaded with digital photos, uploads them to Flickr, and community teams up to find camera's owner. Link.

3. Philosopher John Rawls lost two brothers in childhood after infecting them with deadly diseases:

In 1928, the 7-year-old Rawls contracted diphtheria. His brother Bobby, younger by 20 months, visited him in his room and was fatally infected. The next winter, Rawls contracted pneumonia. Another younger brother, Tommy, caught the illness from him and died.

Link.

4. China had the most gold medals at the Beijing Olympics and also had the most last place finishes. Link.

*Find more news stories here.

*Buy 100 Things to Do Before You Die for 32% off at Amazon.

Twitter fortune cookies

Flickr link. And here's Neven Mrgn's blog, where I just learned that Isaac Asimov died of AIDs after contracting HIV from a blood transfusion. Via.

New Giant Microbes Available

Including Penicillin.

Democratic staffers advised aides to get vaccinated for hepatitis and other diseases before visiting NASCAR events

"Democrats should know that there is no preventive measure yet designed to ward off the blue-collar values and patriotism that NASCAR fans represent," said Linda Daves, the chairwoman of the North Carolina Republican Party. "If they aren't careful, they just might catch some of it."

Link. Via Jalopnik.

Obsessive Compulsive Action Figure

This 5-1/4" (13.3 cm) tall, hard vinyl Obsessive Compulsive Action Figure is worried about whether or not you washed your hands after you used the bathroom. Just in case, he’s sure you won’t mind if he wears his gloves and surgical mask when he shakes your hand. Or even better, maybe you could just bump elbows with him. Now, as soon as he finishes counting those ceiling tiles, he can get started on alphabetizing the canned foods. Mini surgical mask included. Packaged with a sanitary, hypo-allergenic towelette to clean off the figure before you touch it. Illustrated blistercard.

Link. Via About:Blank.

Real life Andromeda Strain: Scientists sent Salmonella into space - - it came back much deadlier

The researchers placed identical strains of salmonella in containers and sent one into space aboard the shuttle, while the second was kept on Earth, under similar temperature conditions to the one in space.

After the shuttle returned, mice were given varying oral doses of the salmonella and then were watched.

After 25 days, 40% of the mice given the Earth-bound salmonella were still alive, compared with just 10% of those dosed with the germs from space. And the researchers found it took about one-third as much of the space germs to kill half the mice, compared with the germs that had been on Earth.

The researchers found 167 genes had changed in the salmonella that went to space.

Link.

Update: Uh, oh. "“For the first time ever, animals are now being exposed to an unmitigated space environment, with both vacuum conditions and cosmic radiation." Read more about tardigrades being exposed to space here and here.