Misery, photographed

From a listing at eBay:

We are selling 8 Beyblades, 2 of them light up. As you can tell they are not happy about this! They have been using their bathtub as a "battle arena" and Beyblades + Bathtub = Destruction!!! With the metal ones they managed to scrape the enamel off the tub, take a chunk of tub out and break off the soap holder. SO if you "win" this auction DON'T play with in a bathtub!!! We have recieved a quote of $500.00 to replace the tub, some tiles, and soap holder + labor of course! They had approxamently $125.67 in their piggy banks that will be going to toward the cost. We will use the profit from this auction towards the balance and then it is onto other toys!

Via.

(I feel more inclined to hug the boys than pity the parents.)

Link roundup

1. Gawker says, "Miley Cyrus' Mom Had An Affair With Bret Michaels." (The photo of the two of them illustrates the uncanny valley problem, right?)

2. And the news about Demi Lovato is even sadder.

3. "FIFTH female officer at scandal-hit prison resigns after claims she 'had sex with an inmate.'" (It sounds like at least some of the women took advantage of extremely lax hiring standards to get jobs where their boyfriends were housed.) Via Fark which offered a better headline.

*Buy back issues of Tiger Beat at eBay.

Have you ever known anyone who was happy?

Particularly depressing Charlie Brown panel. Via.

*Buy Peanuts toys at Amazon.

A young boy gets his heart broken

Watch a poor boy fail in his efforts to dance with a young girl. Via.

Link roundup

1. Comment and win a sculpture.

2. Strange story of a girl with a protective mother - - the mom would take her to stay at the Disneyland hotel so she could see the rides (and the happy kids returning at the end of the day) but not actually go to the park. Via.

3. "Jose Cuervo Challenges Mexicans to Grow Bicentennial Mustaches." Via.

*Buy Disneyland posters at eBay.

Snow Peak Titanium Double Walled Cup (link roundup)

Snow Peak Titanium Double Walled Cup available at Amazon. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Google:

If you receive Microsoft® Word files as attachments in Gmail, you can now view them with a single click — no need to download, save, and open files with a desktop application when you just want read them. The Google Docs viewer that allows you to view .pdf, .ppt, and .tiff files in your browser now supports .doc and .docx formats too.

Just click the "View" link at the bottom of a Gmail message and the viewer will take it from there. If you decide you want to edit the file, clicking "Edit online" will open it in Google Docs, or you can download it to your desktop from there.

2. There's such an excess of attorneys now that Marin County in California wants District Attorneys to work for free, and the University of Michigan, a top ten law school, is encouraging graduates to work for a legal outsourcing company in India.

3. "California welfare recipients withdrew $1.8 million at casino ATMs over eight months." Via.

*Previously: The customers that really matter to casinos.

*Buy poker chips at eBay.

Blue Shell Christmas tree topper (link roundup)

Mario Kart Blue Shell Christmas tree ornament by Jaime Margary on sale at eBay.

And a few more links:

1. Penelope Trunk discusses her unraveling love life.

2. Check out transgenic prairie voles - - a rodent injected with a glowing jellyfish gene.

3. Anne Sweeney told her mom she didn't need a tv for her dorm room, what with Hulu and other options. But her mom is president of the Disney-ABC Television Group and responded, "You're going to have a television if I have to nail it to your wall."

*Previously: Glowing Dharma Initiative ping pong ball.

*Buy Hallmark Christmas ornaments at eBay.

Colorful stairs (link roundup)

Colorful stairs spotted here and originating somewhere at Style Files, which is a great source of interior design photos.

And a few more links:

1. A 33-year-old man died on the tv show Wipeout. Via.

2. Unfortunately-posed T-Rex skeletons.

3. Topless Robot wants a new logo and is holding a design contest.

*Previously: Woman falls down stairs in her attempt to run onto the field.

*Buy tin robots at eBay.

NYC Pasta (link roundup)

The Chrysler Building stars in this pasta design by Alex Creamer. More photos at the link.

And a few more links:

1. Metal Mario and Zero Suit Samus cosplay. Via.

2. "Total vacant land in Detroit now occupies an area almost the size of Boston." Via.

3. Amanda Visell is offering a special package to anyone who dresses as one of her characters for Halloween.

*Previously: Funny pasta ad.

*Buy Amanda Visell toys at eBay.

Keyboard Cat/Splinter Cell mashup (link roundup)

Keyboard Cat stars in the new teaser for Splinter Cell Conviction. Via.

And a few more links:

1. I previously noted that Disney was heavily advertising that the dragon Maleficent would be part of Fantasmic, even though the dragon was not working and was not actually part of the show. It's working now and you can see video here.

2. Bizarro shows it's tough being a praying mantis.

3. The Calvin & Hobbes strip where Calvin was put on Ritalin (warning, really depressing).

*Previously: Cheer yourself back up with this Calvin & Hobbes t-shirt.

*Buy Splinter Cell toys at eBay.

Suicidal Humpty Dumpty (link roundup)

The most depressing work of art I've seen since Gavin Turk's $30,000 "cardboard" box, suicidal Humpty Dumpty by Matt Dangler, who has art on sale at his site.

And a few more links:

1. Dead Space illustration by Tim Kelly.

2. Turn of the Century Occult Hero Punisher.

3. Photo of a storm approaching picturesque homes.

*Previously: Plush Humpty Dumpty.

*Buy Dead Space toys at Amazon.

Megan Fox as Catwoman desktop wallpaper (link roundup)

Megan Fox as Catwoman desktop wallpaper, made with an image found here.

And a few more links:

1. What do you do when your 6-year-old is schizophrenic:

"Is the Moban working?" her mother asks Jani during a visit.

"No. I have more friends."

Read on and feel way better about your life. You can read her father's blog about fighting Blue Shield for coverage, too.

2. Wired asked various designers to redesign Craigslist.

3. Funny post trying to figure out what Oprah's next book club pick will be.

*Previously: Catwoman Cosbaby.

*Buy Catwoman toys at eBay.

The wizarding world's Roomba (link roundup)

Meet the Broomba, which does move around, but unfortunately does not clean. On sale for $40 here. Via these fine sites.

And a few more links:

1. A shame, I've mentioned in the past how good Trent Reznor's Twitter feed was, but he opted to delete it because he was so repulsed by hateful replies he was getting.

2. And in other maybe you don't want to be popular online news, ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews who was largely famous for wearing tight tops, was somehow videotaped naked in her dressing room through the peephole. This NY Post article on the crime suggests that it may have happened on multiple occasions in multiple hotels and likely had to have been done by someone with knowledge and access to her rooms. The article also charmingly includes an Erin Andrews photo gallery. Outsports is exactly right in describing the way in which popular sports blogs have created an atmosphere encouraging such behavior.

3. I sure hope Zappos' excellent customer service rubs off on new owner Amazon.

4. For weeks, sports blogs have been talking about the claim that LeBron James got dunked on by a student at a basketball camp, and then had Nike goons seize video of the dunk. eBaum and TMZ have now both posted videos showing how trivial the play was and how incredibly foolish LeBron and Nike look for trying to suppress it.

*Previously: Make a broom-shaped pinata.

*Buy NBA bobbleheads at eBay.

The Ultimate Scooby-Doo villain (link roundup)

Marco Friedersdorf's entry to the Villains of Scooby-Doo art contest is the ultimate villain - - an old man with a mask. Marco has a great blog called Mind's Delight.

And a few more links:

1. The Las Vegas District Attorney charged former NBA star Antoine Walker with three felony counts in passing $1 million in bad checks while taking out the markers at Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and Red Rock Resort.

2. Wampa toy by Katie Cook.

3. I didn't know artichokes turned into pretty purple flowers.

4. 30% off at newly redesigned t-shirt shop LaFraise with the code REBIRTH.

*Previously: Wampa nose art.

*Buy wampas at eBay.

Watch as Lindsay Soto tries to cover up her cleavage on live tv (link roundup)

It's tough being a girl. In the middle of trying to interview a hockey player, Lindsay Soto is apparently told she's showing way too much cleavage and spends the rest of the interview trying various techniques to cover up. Via.

And a few more links:

1. The fear was that allowing antiquities to be sold on eBay would encourage looters to redouble their efforts. But what actually happened was the looters decided it was far easier to sell fakes on eBay. Via.

2. Trish Van Pilsum, a reporter for a Fox affiliate in Minnesota, apparently planned on driving around a school trying to ask young children for directions to see how easy it was to kidnap them. I'm not clear whether it happened, or she came to her senses before scaring kids for the sake of journalism. (One Halloween, a creepy van followed me and my friends around until we spotted a security patrol, who scared the guy off.)

3. I'm still on the fence as to whether I think this a sweet story:

Katie Kirkpatrick, 21, held off cancer to celebrate the happiest day of her life. Katie had chased away cancer once, only to have it return - to clog her lungs and grab hold of her heart. Breathing was difficult now, she had to use oxygen. The pain in her back was so intense it broke through the morphine that was supposed to act as a shield. Her organs were shutting down but it would not stop her from marrying Nick Godwin, 23, who was in love with Katie since 11th grade. Five days later, Katie died.

Photo gallery. Via these sites.

4. Old Honeywell ad shows once upon a time, email was terrifying. (Heck, neither of my parents use it.)

*Previously: Katamari Damacy wedding cake.

*Choose from thousands of cake toppers at eBay.

Lego Hellboy (link roundup)

More photos of the Lego Hellboy here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. There's a bunch of Mass Effect 2 desktop wallpapers here.

2. File this under too good to verify since it's lacking in details such as proper names, but supposedly a nurse in Wisconsin was called out of surgery to be told she had been laid off. Via.

3. A Santa Monica library (that's a beachside community in Los Angeles) currently allows the public to borrow people. Honest. Choices include "a Mormon, an animal rights activist, a police detective, a fat activist, a feminist, a married Jewish lesbian mom, a little person and an ex-gang member," and more.

4. This is one of the saddest things I've ever read. (Warning, mature adult themes.)

*Previously: Custom Hellboy toys.

*Find Hellboy toys at eBay.

No one can bring me down quite like Chris Ware

Cinefamily organizes classic movie showings at a movie theater in Los Angeles. Tonight they're showing "Tokyo Story" and "Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family." Chris Ware illustrated the cover of the latest Cinefamily program, which I believe is inspired by Tokyo Story. Three panels, no dialogue, and almost no movement, and yet it's tremendously depressing:



Here's the trailer for Tokyo Story, which does seem to be pretty depressing:



You can download a pdf of the Cinefamily program here, and view the calendar of events here. They're showing Alice in Wonderland tomorrow. Via.

*Previously: Batman papercraft by Ware.

*If you've been a little too cheerful, buy Chris Ware comics at Amazon.

Thanksgiving link roundup part 3 and Threadless gift certificate giveaway

See previous Thanksgiving links here, and scroll down for the contest details.



Heidi Kenney shows how to make handprint turkey cookies.



Map of the "Tribes of the Indian Nation." Via.



Food writer describes how lousy it is to try to come up with a creative Thanksgiving meal idea every year. Via.



The number of Americans on food stamps this month will exceed 30 million. Via.



Finally, on that note, let me show my thanks to you my readers by giving away a $25 Threadless gift certificate. To enter, just comment on this post and include in your comment a link to a gift suggestion that does not exceed $20. Here's a currency converter. Also, make sure you either include your email or that you're signed into a profile that's linked to an email so I can contact you. I'll pick a winner at random sometime on Friday.

Video of little girls shrieking when their contestant loses on American Idol

I've never been passionate about a team or athlete or celebrity, so I can't identify with the pain and shock these girls express when they realize their favorite American Idol contestant has lost:



Via.

*Previously: Why I'll never enjoy an American Idol casting special again.

*Buy American Idol Happy Meal figures at eBay.

The United Kingdom is facing a sperm shortage and other links of the day

That's right, in this tough economy, you might want to consider taking on a second job as a sperm donor. The U.K. is looking.

Here's a few more links of the day:


Supposedly anti-gambling NBA allows the New Orleans Hornets to post casino ads throughout arena, including visitor's locker room. Noticing the hypocrisy, Phil Jackson shows he's the master of backhanded compliments.




Design for a lit crosswalk called the Air Crosswalk.



Four of Europe's 10 best selling cars are made by American companies.





Download this Star Trek Enterprise desktop wallpaper here.





Okay, I'll never enjoy another American Idol casting episode again. The poor woman mocked in this segment killed herself outside of Paula Abdul's house. Via.

*Previously: Condom wrapper design contest.

*Buy condoms at Amazon.