White woman put on a book cover (link roundup)

You might be thinking that the cover to Magic Under Glass is instantly forgettable, but it becomes way more interesting when you realize that the book is about a woman with brown skin. Bloomsbury regrets the mistake.

And a few more links:

1. A bit more on why the Supreme Court's decision on campaign spending is a good thing.

2. Anyone writing online for a living is crazy if they're not working to establish a personal brand. The entire editorial staff of video game site Crispy Gamer was just fired.

3. In an effort to bust smugglers, the ATF has put 250 million illegal cigarettes on the market. Via these sites.

*Previously: The black couple was airbrushed out of the British version of the movie poster for Couples Retreat.

*Buy book cover collections at Amazon.

Building Face (link roundup)

Funny face on a building via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. Disturbing allegations of police officer corruption in Philadelphia.

2. In response to an officer's death, the bar at the LAPD's Police Academy will be closed on paydays.

3. Disturbing findings of negligence in New York's crime lab.

*Previously: Funny face cupcakes.

*Buy forensic kits at Amazon.

Jack Sparrow amigurumi (link roundup)

Amigurumi Jack Sparrow by Deadcraft.

And a few more links:

1. Iron Man 2 ARG. Via.

2. SWAT officers in Los Angeles ended a 12-hour standoff by smashing into the building with a bulldozer. I couldn't find video, but here's video of a modified bulldozer rampage from several years ago.

3. Target popup shops with a limited selection of pre-wrapped gifts. Via.

*Previously: Eight hour standoff ends when officers realize home is empty.

*Buy Iron Man toys at eBay.

Ewok Lego CubeDude (link roundup)

Ewok Lego CubeDude by Larry Lars.

And a few more links:

1. The One Laptop Per Child Computer won a design award in 2008. But here's how it worked in the real world.

2. There's a Japanese-style cosplay café in Culver City California with its own photography light box to help food bloggers take nice photos. Via.

3. Hello Kitty meets the police. Ironic to see a Ffffound user threaten anyone who wants to use his images without permission.

*Previously: Ewok driving a velociraptor.

*Buy Lego minifigs at eBay.

King Kong armature (link roundup)

King Kong armature from the 1933 film was recently auctioned off by Christie’s of London.

And a few more links:

1. A good example of how an advertising campaign can be intentionally misleading as to the film's subject matter.

2. After going missing 100 years ago, Galileo's missing fingers were found at an auction. Via.

3. I'm amazed at how much this description of the more lawless parts of the Los Angeles River sound like the secret opium dens in Dan Simmons' Drood.

4. This police artist sketch has been mocked for its crudeness, but my understanding is that the current thinking about such profiles is that they work better when they exaggerate certain features.

*Previously: Polish King Kong poster.

*Buy King Kong toys at eBay.

Steven Seagal's energy drink (and more)

First, Steven Seagal has an energy drink called Lightning Bolt. It has inspired various fanmade commercials at Youtube. Via.



Which reminded me, Steven Seagal has a new show starting next month called Steven Seagal Lawman. It's a reality show following his adventures as a sheriff's deputy:





*Previously: Steven Seagal is Cockpuncher.

*Buy Steven Seagal toys at eBay.

Build Robots Today t-shirt (link roundup)

Build Robots Today To Fight Aliens Tomorrow. Possibly on sale here. Via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. Extremely positive review of Dead Space Extraction.

2. Looks like there's new strict rules for bloggers who review items they receive from companies. (Presumably coming soon: disclosures that are longer than my reviews.)

3. Creepy (or maybe welcome) news for anyone who lives in LA: the FBI is investigating the Burbank Police Department for alleged civil rights violations.

*Previously: Watch the first 15 minutes of Dead Space Extraction.

*Buy Dead Space toys at Amazon.

Dog wearing a muzzle

Photo of a police dog wearing a muzzle found amongst this excellent collection of Pittsburgh G-20 photos.

*Previously: Horse gas masks.

*Buy gas masks at eBay.

Tiger and boy (link roundup)

Photo of tiger and boy via these sites. Source unknown.

Update: Thanks to the tipster, here's the tiger, available as a print. That's a major complaint I have about sites like Digg, Reddit, and Found - - users frequently show no respect at all for intellectual property holders and often craft links in such a way that you can't figure out where the images originated.

And a few more links:

1. An officer handcuffed a nurse and put her in a squad car because he was dissatisfied with the speed the hospital was moving to draw a suspected drunk driver's blood. There's video of the incident at the link (which I haven't watched). Via.

2. Funny anecdote about apparent senator to be Paul Kirk.

3. T-Rex with a Tommy Gun.

*Previously: Excuse me, is that a T-Rex in your pocket?

*Buy handcuffs at Amazon.

Lego boy with backpack and sneakers (link roundup)

Lego boy with backpack and sneakers by Polywen. See also: Lego football player.

And a few more links:

1. Nature is ghastly. Don't read about this Isopod and what it does to a fish's mouth. And definitely do not look at a photo. Via.

2. The city of Santa Monica wants to install a net under the Santa Monica Pier to keep pigeons away in the hopes that it will cut down on the tremendous amount of bacteria in the nearby ocean. Animal rights activists have "blasted" the plan. Via.

3. Two Los Angeles Police Officers have been placed on leave, under suspicion that they leaked photos of Rihanna to TMZ.

*Previously: Ghastly Mickey Mouse sculpture.

*Buy books about parasites at Amazon.

Rabbis with guns (link roundup)

Does any newspaper even come close to the NY Post in terms of irresistible covers and headlines? Click through to see the "Temple of Boom" and "Mazel-Tough Guys." Via.

And a few more links:

1. Great interview in which Alan Moore talks about the genesis of the Miracleman stories that he wrote. Looking back, he says the stories are so "grim and ugly" that he doesn't want his name on them when they're republished. He's certainly right, they are grim (and excellent) in the manner of Watchmen (Neil Gamain's Miracleman: The Golden Age is also frequently horribly depressing), but I wonder how he distinguishes them from the graphic rapes and other misdeeds that star in his League books. Via.

2. Photo gallery of the interior of the new LAPD headquarters downtown. Via.

3. Hot rod pedal car.

*Previously: Jewish Journal April Fool's cover.

*Buy Miracleman toys at eBay.

Metroid Lego (link roundup)

Samus vs. Metroid Lego diorama by Moose Greebles . Relatedly, there's a couple of Metroid Prime Trilogy desktop wallpapers available for download here.

And a few more links:

1. Stylish drawings of the Alien and Colonial Marine.

2. How did the major driving direction programs deal with the Bay Bridge closure in San Francisco this weekend? Of Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, two out of three provided directions indicating that they were aware of the problem. One did not. Want to guess which one failed?

3. Wild story about apparent police corruption in the town of Jericho, Arkansas.

*Previously: Samus enjoys some sausage.

*Buy Metroid toys at eBay.

Nemo/Namor (link roundup)

I've posted many more Disney/Marvel mashups here.

And a few more links:

1. The Secret Service and other government agencies practice by responding to staged attacks in public - - bystanders don't realize they're seeing actors. Via.

2. I seem to be reading this claim more and more often - - the concept of peak oil, let alone the suggestion that anyone can say with confidence that we've passed the level, is nonsense. Via.

3. Lego Mecha Samurai. Via.

*Previously: Did a a psychic convince the Secret Service to alter the planned route for one of George Bush Senior's motorcades?

*Buy Samurai toys at eBay.

Clinging Spider-Man backpack (link roundup)

Spider-Man seemingly clings to your back in this backpack that's on sale for $45. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Evan Ratliff, who wrote an article for Wired called, Gone Forever: What Does It Take to Really Disappear?, is trying to hide in the USA for 30 days. If you find him, you'll win $5,000. Wired is running a blog tracking his movements.

2. I've seen this repeated enough that I guess it really is true - - police in Richmond upon Thames (near London) have taken to removing items from unlocked cars and replacing the valuables with a note saying they can be retrieved at the police station. Perhaps unclear on the concept, Superintendent Jim Davis, "the officer behind the initiative," says, "We want to stop people from being the victims of crime."

3. Two weeks ago, the United Arab Emirates seized a ship carrying North Korean-manufactured weapons to Iran in violation of United Nations sanctions.

*Previously: Key chain pouch unfolds into full size backpack.

*Buy wind-up Spider-Man toys at eBay.

Papercraft Riot Police Officer (link roundup)

Download the police officer in riot gear paper toy here.

And a few more links:

1. Carrie McLaren writing at the Consumerist says she caught a Home Depot employee writing a fake review.

2. "Palaeontologists have drawn with ink extracted from a preserved fossilised squid uncovered during a dig in Trowbridge, Wiltshire." See a photo here. My fondest school memory came from fifth grade science - - we dissected small squids, popped out the eyes, wrote our names using the squid's ink and "pen" as the quill, and then the teacher cooked the fillets for us to eat in class.

3. How to find free Wi-Fi.

*Previously: Baby's first riot gear.

*Buy SWAT gear at eBay.

Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter dub Ghost in the Shell (link roundup)

Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter dub Ghost in the Shell.

And a few more links:

1. Bob Dylan was detained by the police basically because of his skin color:

Sergeant Craig Spencer from Long Branch police station said: "Residents called to complain there was an old scruffy man acting suspiciously.

"It was an odd request because it was mid-afternoon, but it’s an ethnic Latin area and the residents felt the man didn’t fit in. Lets just say he looked eccentric."

Interesting to compare the Telegraph article to the NY Times article, which more vaguely called it a "predominantly minority neighborhood." Thanks for protecting us from the facts, NY Times.

2. Photos of the International Space Station passing in front of the sun.

3. Stunning factoid: Water demand in Los Angeles reached a 32-year low this summer.

*Previously: Esther Dyson's astronaut patch.

*Buy cosmonaut collectibles at eBay.

Photos of the Revoltech Gloomy Bear (link roundup)

The Revoltech Gloomy Bear looks fantastic and is available for preorder for £20.99 here. Via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. Israel's Sarah Palin? The first sentence: "'Another soldier,' Anastasia Michaeli Samuelson said, patting her belly proudly when asked the sex of her soon-to-be-born eighth child." Via.

2. Starbucks is testing out new coffee shops that have no Starbucks branding. The article quotes various competing shop owners complaining about Starbucks employees hanging out in their stores with folders that conspicuously said "Observation." Via.

3. The police officer who arrested Steve McNair's girlfriend for a DUI two days before the shooting is being investigated for what sure sounds like the kind of behavior that should get him fired.

4. Delta hired Richard Tyler to design a "sexy" new red uniform for stewardesses (I think it looks like this), but has only made the uniform available up to a size 18. Larger stewardesses are suing. Via.

*Previously: Starbucks/Battlestar Galactica logo mashup.

*Buy Revoltech toys at eBay.

Ghastly Mickey Mouse Sculpture (link roundup)

Creepy Mickey Mouse skeleton sculpted by Ballistyc. See also his grisly Kamatamari Damacy sculpture.

And a few more links:

1. Roundup of some truly bizarre behavior by plants and animals. For example, Cabbage Aphids are suicide bombers.

2. Dexter meets David and Goliath, by way of Caravaggio.

3. Earlier this week, a Los Angeles police detective walked into the lobby of an L.A. County Sheriff’s Department station and shot herself.

4. Apparently, simply hanging small plastic bags of water can scare flies away.

*Previously: Silverware, flatware, furniture based on Dexter.

*Buy Disney snowglobes at eBay.

Giant Ikea storage boxes (link roundup)

Ogilvy turned a bunch of balconies in Frankfurt into storage boxes to promote Ikea. More photos here.

And a few more links:

1. A woman went to the police station to speak to police and while talking to them, a squirrel poked his head up from her cleavage. "The woman was not fazed and gently pushed the squirrel back inside her shirt." Photo link.

2. Apparently 100 people were fired from Fox 11 news (in Los Angeles) last week.

3. Heavy metal demon.

4. Shazam, Betty Boop, and a giant robot.

*Previously: The Today Show asks "Cleavage at the office: Inappropriate?"

*Buy Betty Boop toys at eBay.

Sniper in a rhino suit (link roundup)

Assassin in a rhino suit by Marco Nelor. Don't miss his hot chick in a bikini sniper.

And a few more links:

1. Relatedly, assassin with a gun arm and wearing less than a bikini.

2. Having LAPD officers in your soccer league can be "something of a nightmare." Via.

3. Colorful Mini Cooper.

4. Nerdcore/A Better Tomorrow t-shirt design contest.

*Previously: Angry little German soccer fan.

*Buy sniper rifles at eBay.