Link roundup

1. The Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for its 2011 Edgar Awards. It's interesting how instantly forgettable the book covers for the top five novels are. Mystery lovers don't care about book covers?

2. CFLs are proving to be significantly shorter lived than promised. (That's certainly been my experience.)

3. I've once again been offered money to post infographics.

Fairy tales about renewable energy

Chris Buzelli painted several fairy tale images with renewable energy themes for a calendar for Entega. He has artwork on sale at his site, and a few paintings on sale at Gallery Nucleus.

*Buy pin-up calendars at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. 60% off posters at Zazzle today with the code JINGLESALE42. I recommend Steve Thomas's store.

2. Congratulations to Noah Z. Jones on Fish Hooks' renewal:

Since its September premiere, Fish Hooks, which features 2D animation characters set against photo-real backgrounds, has unseated Disney TV Animation's other hit, Phineas and Ferb, as TV's No.1 animated series among kids 6-14.

3. "Over the past 13,500 years, humans in what is now America were subjected to dramatic climate changes: an ice age ended, rain increased, and vegetation changed completely. Now archaeologists say these peoples evolved new technologies to deal with it."

Link roundup

1. Washington Post:

let's imagine that over the next 80 or 90 years, a giant port city - say, Tokyo - found itself engulfed by a sea-level rise of about 15 feet. Millions of inhabitants would be imperiled, along with trillions of dollars' worth of infrastructure. Without a vast global effort, could we cope with such a terrifying catastrophe?

Well, we already have. In fact, we're doing it right now.

Via.

2. JAW Cooper needs advice on her promo cards.

3. Hot or Not for the TSA era = Rate my Backscatter. Via.

Link roundup

1. Last Exit to Nowhere's Jurassic Park t-shirt is now on sale. Also, here are the top winners in its recent best sound effects contest: Wall-E's start up sound, and the Willhelm Scream.

2. Read this trainwreck of a blog post by Penelope Trunk. One catastrophe after another.

3. "Peer-Reviewed Cherry Blossom Research Confirms Japan's Medieval Climate Warmer Than Current One." Via.

*Buy amber fossils at Amazon.

Oil spill glamour shots in Vogue

Not from The Onion (I think): Vogue Italia pays tribute to the Gulf oil spill with a fashion shoot:

Kristen McMenamy in the "survivor" version, where she interprets in images the environmental drama that's afflicting the Gulf of Mexico.

She keeps her skin golden thanks to Self Tan Face Bronzing Gel Tint (to wear alone or with foundation): it takes care of the skin, while giving it a hint of color.

Carbon, anthracite, and all of the earthy shades "dress" her eyes: Quick Eyes Cream Shadow, cocoa shimmer, a long-lasting cream eye shadow, worn with brown High Impact Mascara, and her lips feature a nude look. All by Clinique.

Tulle dress with beaded embroidery, Ralph Lauren Collection. Rubber necklace, My Sister's Art. Hair by Orlando Pita for Orlo Salon. Make-up Pat McGrath. Fashion editor Karl Templer. Set design by Mary Howard.

You can see the entire spread here.

Surfrider Foundation's Rise Above Plastics

A whale swims through a sea of garbage in this animated commercial by BPN for the Surfrider Foundation's Rise Above Plastics campaign.

*Buy reusable shopping bags at Amazon.

Bullet hole-ridden film festival invite (link roundup)

Bullet hole-ridden zombie poster by Saatchi and Saatchi for something called the Elmsta 3000 Horror Fest (which may or may not exist since the first page of Google results is only to advertising for the event).

And a few more links:

1. New batch of $10 sketches by Melta Curphy.

2. "Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it."

3. Positive review of the new short story collection assembled by Neil Gamain, which is 34% off at Amazon.

*Previously: Octopus monster stars in poster for Estonian film festival.

*Buy sketch cards at eBay.

Monster in a box (link roundup)

"Gift Curse" by Mike Sosnowski on sale here.

And a few more links:

1. Jared Diamond praises the steps big companies have taken to protect the planet. Hey, they can't sell us stuff cheap if the Earth turns into a bunch of ash. Via.

2. I'd love to see more Avatar/LOLCats parodies.

3. Creepy swamp creature.

*Previously: A real monster in a box.

*Buy Avatar posters at eBay.

Animation explains oil in Canada (link roundup)

H2oil animated sequences from Dale Hayward on Vimeo.

There's a lot of oil in Alberta, Canada, but it's tough to get at. This cartoon by Dale Hayward, Sylvie Trouve, and James Braithwaite explains the problem. Via.

And a few more links:

1. I'm on a hot streak of not falling for hoaxes - - that story about Peruvian gangmembers murdering people to sell their fat was made up.

2. The Times Online calls out eco-hypocrite celebrities.

3. New secret spy plane? Via these sites.

*Previously: The coma hoax.

*Buy Ricky Jay's hoax collections at Amazon.

V for Vendetta CubeDude by polywen (link roundup)

V for Vendetta Lego CubeDude by polywen.

And a few more links:

1. One response to the claim in SuperFreakonomics that geoengineering is the easiest way to solve global warming, is that if we can't globally agree on cutting emissions, how could we possibly agree on affirmative geoengineering?

2. But that argument begs the question - - if it's so easy, why not just do it without reaching global consensus? Not too farfetched when you hear that the mayor of Moscow "for just a few million dollars" intends to hire jets to spray chemicals on approaching clouds, causing them to dump snow onto suburbs instead of Moscow. Via.

3. CBS News says it has more salacious news (and photos) about Steve MacNair's love life. Via.

*Previously: ESPN spends the day replaying the assertion that McNair was "such a good family man."

*Buy V for Vendetta masks at eBay.

Big Trouble in Little China t-shirt (link roundup)

All Jack Burton fans will appreciate the Pork-Chop Express t-shirt, new at Last Exit to Nowhere.

And a few more links:

1. Federal authorities had wanted to use controlled burns to clear away dry foliage to prevent the type of massive fires that we've had the last two weeks in Los Angeles. But Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich says, "The environmentalists have gone to the extreme to prevent controlled burns, and as a result we have this catastrophe today." Via.

2. Relatedly, hydrofluorocarbons were introduced in the 1990s to replace ozone-depleting gases used in air conditioners, refrigerators and insulating foam. It looks like the switch worked, and the hole in the ozone is shrinking. Unfortunately, the new chemicals "act like 'super' greenhouse gases, with a heat-trapping power that can be 4,470 times that of carbon dioxide." Via.

3. Seattle Mariner Adrian Beltre missed a few weeks of playing time after injuring his testicle. When Beltre came up for his first at-bat, the theme for Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" was played at Ken Griffey Jr.'s suggestion. Via.

*Previously: David Lo-Pan Mighty Mugg.

*Buy Big Trouble in Little China toys at eBay.

Environmental destruction desktop wallpaper by Adrian Fleet

Desktop wallpaper by Adrian Fleet.

*Find more desktop wallpapers here.

*Find Gary Baseman toys at eBay.

Christophe Szpajdel has drawn more than 7,000 logos

Christophe Szpajdel has drawn more than 7,000 logos, mostly for black- and death-metal bands. His day job is as a forestry engineer and his view of mankind is so stereotypical for a naturalist it made me laugh:

There are bands that make extreme music but lyrically deal with the purity of nature. They offer the perfect fusion between my fascination with nature—especially mountains—and metal. But a lot of extreme metal bands deal with the destruction of mankind, which I think is needed. Maybe not a complete destruction, but at least a drastic cull. Our streets need to be cleared of all the scumbags walking on them.

You can read an interview with him and see a slideshow of his logos here. Via.

*Previously: Butterfly logo t-shirt.

*Buy Rainbow Six at Amazon.

Steam-powered city builder

Inspired by the words "Huge, steam-powered, and useful" Joe Alterio created this forest-eating, city-creating robot:



You can order your own robot or monster illustration by Alterio here.

*Previously: Trash collecting robot of the future.

*Buy toy robots at eBay.

The Tale of Dusk

Luciano Lozano has posted some great illustrations from what I believe will be a children's book called "The Tale of Dusk.

*Previously: Z is for Zoom.

*Buy David Wiesner's children's books at Amazon.

Ozone protectors

Adorable ozone protectors illustration by Justin White for a company called Leo Goes Grr. Click through for the high res version and to see another illustration about water pollution.

*Previously: Tree growing in a lightbulb.

*Buy vintage Little Golden Books at eBay.

Smuggle alcohol into an event using the "Beerbelly" and" Winerack"

In an article for The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, describes various ways he managed to defeat airport security in the US. At one point, he was subjected to "secondary inspection" while he was secretly wearing a neoprene "Beerbelly" filled with beer under his shirt. The "investigator" didn't notice it. In the photos above, you can see the Beerbelly and Winerack in action.

Here's a few other headlines:

1. Supposedly, studies indicate watching black and white television as a child causes people to dream in black and white. (I dream in color, but there's never sound in my dreams.) Via.


2. Yesterday was "anti-piracy day." Wouldn't that make it "ninja day?" Via.


3. Reusable diapers are worse for the environment than disposable diapers. Via.

*Previously: "The liver is evil. It must be punished."

*Buy "The Museum of Bad Art: Masterworks" at Amazon.

Tree growing in a light bulb

Beautiful art by Jochem van Wetten. Via.

*Previously: The lamp that wasn't there.

*Buy Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait: The Art of Celebrity and Editorial Photography at Amazon.

Walmart takes another step toward saving the planet (Gore counts his money on his mega-yacht)

Hewlett-Packard won Walmart's Home Entertainment Design Challenge for a new packaging scheme for its Pavilion dv6929 notebook. Instead of selling consumers a laptop contained in a giant box full of styrofoam, Walmart will sell the new HP laptop in a messenger bag. Making the move will eliminate a huge amount of wasted cardboard and styrofoam, and the reduction in packing materials will also allow Walmart to eliminate one out of every four trucks needed to deliver the computers to the store. You can read a bit more here and here. Via.

Now if the messenger bag is the type that's been ok'd by TSA, I'll be really impressed.

*Previously: Walmart hysterically misunderstands cake order.

*Buy The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century at Amazon.