Link roundup

1. Apparently fans are so anti-union that they're booing NFL players showing union solidarity.

2. Much of Japan's death penalty is shrouded in secrecy. Here's the technique:

The inmate is handcuffed and blindfolded before entering the execution room, officials said. Three prison wardens push separate buttons, only one of which releases the trapdoor — but they never find out which one. Wardens are given a bonus of about $230 every time they attend an execution.

Via.

3. Giant jackalope statue.

*Buy jackalopes at Amazon.

Teaser for a jackalope-themed art show?

Teaser for an upcoming show at Gallery 1988 curated by Greg Simkins. And speaking of Simkins, he'll have a new print called The Hunter on sale at DragonCon:



Via.

*Buy jackalopes at Amazon.

Adorable Chimera, Neon Blue Jackalope

Chimera illustration and mounted jackalope by Melita Curphy, who lots of great art on sale here.

The jackalope was an art trade with flintlocklprivateer for this tentacled ring:



*Previously: Chimera fetus specimen.

*Buy chimera toys at eBay.

Mounted jackalope head (and more)

Mounted jackalope head by Melita Curphy on sale at eBay.



Mounted mantis head by Brigette on sale at Etsy.



Mounted plush head by Jeff Cinco and Awni Kokash.



Decapitated animal heads cat toys on sale at Etsy. Via.

*Previously: Two other mounted jackalope heads.

*Buy jackalopes at eBay.

Flying squirrel beer (and more)

A flying squirrel, siren, jackalope, Paul Bunyan, and more star in these beer labels by Neatly Trimmed Beard for (I believe) the North Peak Brewing Company and Grizzly Peak Brewing Company. You'll find closeups of the labels here.

*Previously: Paul Bunyan Centaur.

*Buy jackalopes at eBay.

Metal sculptures by Nemo Gold

As I understand it, all of these sculptures (and more) are for sale, although no price is mentioned.



Metal Praying Mantis sculpture by Nemo Gold. Here's an Instructable for how to make it.




Reindeer.



Giant squid.



One-eyed jackalope. Via.

*Previously: Plush praying mantis.

*Buy jackalopes at eBay.

New ad for Metro PCS features a Minotaur and a Jackalope?

So let's say you decide to promote your cell phone service with a bizarre ad campaign featuring mythological monsters - - one commercial features a minotaurs and a jackalope in a diner. Another apparently features a mermaid and a unicorn in a Jacuzzi. And a third includes Medusa.

And let's say you don't go halfway. You hire Stan Winston to design the monsters. Wouldn't you make the comparably insignificant investment of time and money to put the ads on YouTube, maybe create a minisite?

I caught the ad you see above on tv this evening and couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was so bizarre. There's almost no further information online. The video was apparently posted on MySpace by the actor who plays the minotaur. He says the head weighed 17 pounds.

While I was looking for more information, I found the website of Vance Hartwell, who worked on the costumes used in the campaign. Lots of interesting props on display at his site (but none from this campaign).

UPDATE: Embedding the video made my page load slow, so I removed it. You can watch it here.

*Previously: The revolting origin of the jackalope myth.

*Buy jackalopes at eBay.

Wolpertinger (Bavarian Jackalope)

This is a wolpertinger



It's basically a Bavarian version of the jackalope. According to Wikipedia:

Like the jackalope, the Wolpertinger is thought to have been inspired by sightings of wild rabbits infected with the Shope papilloma virus, which causes the growth of antler-like tumors in various places on the rabbit's head and body.

And this is André SMATIK Ljosaj's version of the wolpertinger:



You can see more work by Smatik here, and play a flash platformer featuring his wolpertinger here. Via.

*Previously: Robot-tormenting Jackalope by Amanda Visell.

*Buy jackalopes at eBay.

Robot-tormenting jackalope sculpture by Amanda Visell

Spotted at Vinyl Pulse, and head over there to see a two-headed monster sculpture by Visell.

*Buy toys and art by Amanda Visell.

Vampire, Jackalope Trophy Heads

"Andy's" gallery is full of creepy sculptures. Via.

And here's a Jackalope trophy head. Details here.