Sunbeam, and something even stranger

Ray of light in Portugal.



Hole punch clouds photographed by P. Wesley Tyler Jr. Via.

Link roundup

1. You should probably be very suspicious of the Kinect and what footage it's recording and broadcasting to Microsoft.

2. Hello Kitty finds herself delicious in these paintings by Kristin Tercek.

3. "In a possible symptom of environmental decline, Alaska’s birds have experienced a sudden and inexplicable rash of beak deformities." Via.

*Buy Hello Kitty toys at eBay.

Video of a praying mantis plucking a much larger hummingbird out of the air

Praying mantis vs. hummingbird. Via.

*Previously: Sword-billed hummingbird.

*Buy praying mantis toys at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. Rad photograph of a jellyfish.

2. Magnificent photo of a massive number of devil rays. The artists' site is one incredible photo after another. For example, these oxen look like some kind of three-headed god. Via.

3. American Idol is too classy for today's audience. One of the singers on Simon Cowell's new talent show is a known prostitute.

*Subscribe to National Geographic at Amazon.

Boarded-up tree in japan

Boarded-up trees in Japan.

*Buy Myths and Legends of Japan at Amazon.

Tree-lined road

Tunnel of trees, location unknown. Via.

Devilish Donut (link roundup)

Donut demon by Flying Mouse.

And a few more links:

1. Earlier this month, the Little Missouri River in Arkansas, a popular choice for paddlers, rose from 3 feet to 23 feet in just five hours; the discharge rate, in cubic feet per second, went from a normal level of about 50 to a number that was literally off the chart, which stops at 20,000 CFS.

2. 7-Eleven's $5 a bottle Yosemite Road chardonnay did very well in taste tests. Via.

3. How 4Chan users spread the fake news that Justin Bieber had an STD.

*Previously: Donut monster desktop wallpaper.

*Buy donut makers and recipe books at Amazon.

Happy Pine Tree

Air freshener by Jaco Haasbroek for Threadless. Vote by clicking on the voting widget if you'd like the chance to buy it:



*Previously: The Taking Tree.

*Buy bonsai trees at Amazon.

Cthulhu Idol (link roundup)

Cthulhu statue by Tommy Poirier-Morissette. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Freakishly giant waves in the open sea have finally been documented. Via.

2. Will Leitch is writing profiles of each major league baseball team. Here's the start of his profile of the Padres:

Adrian Gonzalez was born to be a San Diego Padre. He was actually born in San Diego, went to high school in Chula Vista and has a rabid fanbase as the best Mexican baseball player alive. He loves it there. And why wouldn't he? San Diego is beautiful. Oh, and he's a fantastic hitter: The guy hit 40 homers in one of the most difficult hitting parks in the game and, somehow, led the major leagues in walks, though this is easier to do when the man hitting behind you is Kevin Kouzmanoff. The man is a stud and three quarters.

And unless you're on the Spanish language Padres site, you'll barely find him anywhere among Padres promotional materials. He should be the main — the only, really — selling point for the Padres. He is the perfect Padre; the only thing he's missing is the last name "Gwynn." But Adrian Gonzalez is not on the promotional package because Adrian Gonzalez is going to be traded.

3. Isolated house and blimp by Andy Helms.

*Previously: Papercraft fertility idol.

*Buy fertility idols at eBay.

For once, the Dark Side saves the planet

Promotional images by Germain for the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour. You'll find a desktop wallpaper of nature-loving Vader at the link. Via.

*Previously: Vader goes to McDonald's.

*Buy Star Wars sketch cards at eBay.

Red popsicle (link roundup)

Concert poster by Derek Prevatt.

And a few more links:

1. Chuck Norris is Darth Vader's father. Via.

2. Face on a tree (last photo).

3. Bloody Lady Sif pin-up.

*Previously: Abraham Lincoln and the tree of mystery.

*Buy concert posters at eBay.

Vintage Japanese posters (link roundup)

A small sampling of the vintage Japanese posters on display here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Fuzzy purse with googly eyes.

2. An allegation that Livejournal is automatically redirecting affiliate links. Via.

3. Check out Antarctica's Blood Falls. Via.

*Previously: How to make edible googly eyes.

*Buy vintage Japanese posters at eBay.

Three-headed dork (link roundup)

Three-headed dork costume via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. Comment and win a drawing.

2. One fun thing about massive rain like we're having in LA this week is that you go out on your balcony and find monstrous fungus attempting to colonize the place.

3. Team Fortress 2 fan art.

*Previously: Dork Yearbook.

*Buy costumes at Amazon.

Icelandic scenery desktop wallpapers (link roundup)

Andri Elfarsson's Flickr gallery is bursting with beautiful photos of Iceland, waiting to be used as desktop wallpapers. The waterfalls are called "Godafoss" (Waterfalls of the Gods). Via.

And a few more links:

1. The NY Times is apparently going to start charging for access to its website. Ann Althouse mirrors my sentiments:

For me, reading on line is tied to blogging. I'm not going to spend my time reading sites that I can't blog, and I'm not going to blog and link to sites that you can't read without paying.

2. 7 Steps To Reach Executive Customer Service At Any Company.

3. Recipe for Spaghetti with Roasted Cauliflower with Bacon Herbed Breadcrumbs.

*Previously: Great photo of a guy diving near a waterfall.

*Buy fun food recipe books at Amazon.

Total Recall fan art (link roundup)

"Two Weeks" by Bob Canada. See also: It's a trap.

And a few more links:

1. Weird, 13,000-year old tree in California.

2. The Three Disgraces sculpture by Kris Kuksi.

3. Guns don't kill people, lazers do.

*Previously: Video compilation of all the deaths in Total Recall.

*Buy Total Recall posters at eBay.

Warhammer 40K cosplay (link roundup)

Cadian imperial guard weapons and equipment. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Former Ram Lawrence Phillips was sentenced to more than 31 years in prison.

2. Video of fire burning underwater? Maybe, and if nothing else, it's definitely magma flowing underwater.

3. A lawmaker in California wants to make it a crime to fail to report a crime.

*Previously: Chibi Space Marine.

*Buy Games Workshop miniatures at eBay.

Scifi figurehead (link roundup)

Sci-fi vessel by Kervin Brisseaux.

And a few more links:

1. If you missed the announcements, I'm currently giving away two copies of Terminator Salvation on Blu-ray, and hosting an art contest with $100 store credit prize.

2. At National Geographic, flower porn. Via these sites.

3. Classic holiday card/flash snowball fight SnowCraft (stay just below the opponent and he can't hit you). Via.

*Previously: Figurehead from Golden Voyage of Sinbad on sale at eBay.

*Buy figurehead collections at Amazon.

Burning Man patches (link roundup)

One of several Burning Man patches on display here.

And a few more links:

1. Geeks face off on the poster for King Con Brooklyn. Via.

2. Pro-health care reform poster.

3. Mount Fuji looks like a flying mountain in this photo. Via.

*Previously: Bizarre NASA patches.

*Buy patches at eBay.

Video shows how Burton snowboards are made (link roundup)

Video shows how Burton snowboards are made and also gives a glimpse of the rapid prototyping machine. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Nintendo already has a new DSi with larger screen on the way. Which doesn't change the fact that despite all the DSs it's sold, interesting games come out once a year at best.

2. Nuclear reactors occur in nature. Via.

3. Many-limbed bagpipe player.

*Previously: Snowboarder paper toys.

*Buy snowboards at eBay.

Superjew t-shirt (link roundup)

Superman logo/Star of David mashup t-shirt (worn by Seth Rogen in Funny People) on sale here.

And a few more links:

1. Why people who live in Manhattan live in Manhattan. (I think it would be a little more compelling before everyone had the internet).

2. Great photo of a guy diving near a waterfall.

3. Most Traveled Man.com is a site that allows people to track how many of the world's "762 countries, territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups, and major states and provinces" they've visited.

*Previously: Dwight Howard as Superman sculpture.

*Buy Superman wind-up toys at eBay.