School in Norway looks awesome

Unicorns and daredevil hotties star in these ads by Supertanker for Norwegian private school Sonans Utdanning.

*Previously: Woman sends stripper to her 10 year high school reunion.

*Buy vintage romance novels at eBay.

Cyclops optics advertisement (link roundup)

A cyclops stars in this buy one get one free ad for an optician. Photo courtesy of Daniel Vargas.

And a few more links:

1. Glamorous French triclops.

2. Los Angeles County coroner's officials discovered hundreds of improper views of Michael Jackson's death certificate.

3. One year ago, Harvard had a $36.9 billion endowment, and some advocated pressuring the school to waive tuition for all but the richest students. Now, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences faces a budget deficit of $220 million.

*Previously: Tri-Clops reflects on his life.

*Buy Michael Jackson toys at eBay.

Alan Greenspan puppet (link roundup)

Alan Greenspan puppet by Ellen Rixford for the cover of Institutional Investor. Via.

And a few more links:

1. 700 New York city public school teachers are paid to do nothing.

2. Relatedly, an audit revealed 257 "ghosts" on the Detroit Public Schools payroll.

3. In other Detroit news, this week, Monica Conyers, the chairwoman of the Detroit City Council and wife of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), pled guilty Friday to federal bribery charges.

4. Tree House restaurant built to advertise the Yellow Pages.

*Previously: Violent commercials starring proto-Muppets.

*Buy puppets at eBay.

Getter Robots (link roundup)

Play Asia has these cute Getter robots available for preorder.

And a few more links:

1. GoodyBlog is giving away a Nintendo Wii and other swell items.

2. Download posters for Goldilocks and the Three Buccaneers. Via.

3. Teachers are banding together to complain about the toys and other branded crap that fills the Scholastic catalog each month. Via.

4. Mickey Mouse as a Daruma poster.

*Previously: Goldilocks and the Three Beers.

*Buy Daruma at eBay.

Sackboy as the Burger King (link roundup)

Little Big Planet's Sackboy as the Burger King by Alex Barbeau for a contest at GameArtisans (reg reqd).

And a few more links:

1. American Academy of Pediatrics will publish a new official policy statement, recommending that schools work vigorously to prevent bullying. Via.

2. What do you do for a living? Oh, I write "lesbo historical romps." Via.

3. Creepy version of Ronald McDonald.

4. Wolverine goes to the beauty salon.

*Previously: "Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary."

*Buy sackboy toys at eBay.

Walking puppet theater papercraft (link roundup)

Walking puppet theater paper toy designed by Sal Azad, using a template created by TheDayDreamKid.

And a few more links:

1. Poster for the nurse of the damned, perhaps?

2. Steven Kenny shows just how creepy the Leda and the Swan myth is. (NSFW.)

3. Several college presidents agreed to answer the essay questions in their admissions packet for the Wall Street Journal. Could there be more definitive cultural diversity bs than this:

"Doubts welled up in my mind," Mr. Diver wrote. "Did I really understand what it means to live in a diverse neighborhood? Or did I just want cosmetic diversity as a backdrop for imposing my white, professional-class ways?"

Via.

4. Did you know the Blue Voltron Lion wasn't initially piloted by Princess Aurora. The pilot was a Mexican named Spen?

*Previously: Voltron Munny.

*Buy Voltron toys at eBay.

Notorious B.I.G. as M.O.D.O.K. (link roundup)

That's right Notorious BIG as MODOK. See also, Suge Knight as Darkseid. Via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. Whaddya know, Coca-Cola will demand that ad agencies prove the value of their commercials. Via.

2. Cool vampire drawing.

3. Delaware Department of Transportation's "Diversity Spotlight" newsletter included lots of slurs and offensive jokes...you know, to teach people it's offensive to say such things. Via.

4. Jason Song for the LA Times examines why it's so hard to fire bad teachers and starts with the story of a teacher who mocked a boy for failing to kill himself.

*Previously: Obey MODOK.

*Buy Darkseid toys at eBay.

Woman sends stripper to her 10 year high school reunion

Andrea Wachner decided to send a stripper to her 10-year high school reunion and had a film crew follow her around. You can watch what happened in this well-edited six minute video:



Via.

*Previously: Pole-dancing robot.

*Buy vintage Playboy memorabilia at eBay.

Rodenator Pro let's you blow up squirrels and other rodents (Google Trends roundup)

Spokane, Washington Parks and Recreation officials are under fire for their plan to use the Rodenator Pro to blow up squirrels. Above is the ad for the device. You really don't need a flashy campaign when your product is that awesome. There's a forum at the official site, which could really use more participants.

And I'm experimenting with something new. Here's a roundup of four more items I saw on Google Trends that seemed interesting:

1. 47-year old Susan Boyle appeared on Britain's Got Talent and blew everyone away with her incredible voice.

2. This is the dazzle rifle:

It emits super bright light to blind adversaries. Here's a list and photo gallery of more nonlethal weapons that could be used against pirates.

3. 18-year-old high school student Samuel Valdivia was caught having an affair with his 48-year-old math teacher, Tamara Hoffman, by Hoffman's 20-year-old boyfriend, Sixto Balbuena, who was also one of her former students. Balbuena stabbed Validivia to death (accidentally). Story and photo of Balbuena here. The only site I saw with (what was alleged to be) a photo of Hoffman was so sleazy, I won't link to it.

4. Supposedly some study indicates there's a cure for kleptomania. True or not, this sentence is priceless: "Reuters India reporting out of New York states that there is a drug, naltrexone that can help people who have kleptomania."

*Previously: What it's like to pilot a drone and have to decide in a moment whether to blow up a suspect.

*Buy ray guns at eBay.

Concert poster by Paul Gardner (link roundup)

Concert poster by Paul Gardner on sale for $25 here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Horrifying story of a married couple from Canada who moved to Dubai when the husband got a good job there, and then went bankrupt. Via.

2. Supposedly, "thousands of dolphins" leaped out of the water to prevent Somali pirates from seizing a Chinese ship. Photo link.

3. Yikes, the public elementary school closest to me has an after school course based on Kabbalah.

4. Former baseball player Eric Karros has possibly the worst combover ever.

*Previously: Foggy day in Dubai.

*Buy concert posters at eBay.

Brutal Legend desktop wallpaper (link roundup)

Go here to download a new Brutal Legend desktop wallpaper.

And a few more links:

1. Excellent (and long) article by William Langewiesche about Somali pirates seizing a French ship crewed by men and women. Here's a taste of his writing, as he describes the ship's captain's earlier brush with the Asian tsunami:

Soon afterward, on December 26, 2004, the ship was anchored in deep water off an island called Curieuse, tending to a group of French passengers, most of whom had gone ashore to loll on a beach. Around noon a sailor radioed from the island reporting in confusion that the ocean had suddenly somehow withdrawn. It was the ebb before the surge of the murderous Asian tsunami that was reaching across the Indian Ocean and slamming into its shores. Marchesseau had received no warning of the event, and he had no time to make sense of the sailor’s call. The tsunami swept smoothly under the Ponant’s keel, in the form of a current, pivoting the ship 90 degrees around its anchor, and then rearing up into a steep wave which obliterated the beach from right to left before Marchesseau’s eyes.

Start here. And here's his books available at Amazon.

2. Speaking of lovers held as hostages, I highly recommend Ann Patchett's Bel Canto.

3. Chinese students sure have a lot of books on their desks. Via. By comparison, here's what schools look like in Detroit. This recession/depression has been well-earned. Via.

4. How to make animated gifs.

*Previously: Chinese elementary school in a cave.

*Buy pirate toys at eBay.

Stickers by Okkle (link roundup)

Buy a bunch of stickers by Okkle cheap. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Video of Doktor A's new steampunk creations, soon to go on display at the Transcenders show at Gallery 1998.

2. Evan Shaner has posted an improved version of his Charles Schulz-style Watchmen.

3. There's now a downloadable version of Sita Sings the Blues.

4. There's a college course at Berkeley exploring the flawed logic used by litigants on courtroom tv shows. Via these sites.

*Previously: Watchmen Pez dispenser and Vietnam war patch.

*Buy Doktor A art toys at eBay.

Professional bowler who uses both hands (link roundup)

Professional bowler Jason Belmonte uses both hands to bowl. "The ball can top 600 revolutions per minute, up to 17% more rotation than the nearest elite one-armed competitor and twice what some other top pros generate." Established bowlers apparently don't like him, opining that he hasn't properly earned his spots in tournaments and will likely burn out out due to injury.

And a few more links:

1. Seth Godin offers enough genius ideas for an improved version of the Kindle that I'd consider buying one.

2. Professors of the Humanities are freaking out that people are finally realizing a bachelor of arts degree is worthless. Please let the college system be transformed in the next decade before I have to waste an absurd amount of money so my boys can sleep in for four years.

3. St. Patrick's Day Bear desktop wallpaper and embroidery pattern.

4. Justin Parpan's excellent contribution to Kevin Dart's Yuki 7 book.

*Previously: More art from the Yuki 7 book.

*Forget what I've said, support the economy and buy a Kindle.

Chinese elementary school in a cave

There's an official elementary school in China that's located inside a cave. Built in 1984, it's called "mid-cave primary school" because it sits in one of three caves inside a mountain. Lots of photos here. Via these sites.

*Previously: Ice Cave desktop wallpaper.

*Buy "Kindergartens, Schools and Playgrounds" at Amazon.

Girl gloats as house burns

Charming (Photoshopped?) image of a firebug found here.

Here's a few more links:

1. Daily News shows how easy it is to fool New York's office of the city register by creating some blatantly false documents and seizing ownership of the Empire State Building.

2. High school teacher in San Diego, California raises money for supplies by selling advertising space on exams. Via.

3. Go here to see what a young William Gibson looked like. Via.

4. Vintage LOLcat.

5. Xbox logo-like spacecraft visited Earth in 1697. Via.

*Previously: Neuromancer poster.

*Buy "I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun" at Amazon.

Now that's how you review a coffee mug

Augie De Blieck Jr uses 983 words and five photos to review the Umbrella Academy coffee mug.

Here's a few more links

1. More than half the grades given to Brown students last year were A's. Link.


2. Two University of Iowa professors have killed themselves after being accused of (unrelated) sex scandals involving students. Link.


3. Absolutely hilarious animated gif featuring the worst rug burn (mat burn?) of all time. Link.


4. Buy a pack of baseball cards and you too might win a strand of Abraham Lincoln's hair. Link.


5. Over the last 30 years, GM and Ford have wasted enough money that they could have closed their own facilities and simply bought Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Volkswagen. Link. Via.

*Previously: Umbrella Academy pvc set.

*Invest your money with the very valuable baseball cards on sale at eBay.

Amira Sa'id is a professional Slave Leia belly dancer and other links

Amira Sa'id started dancing at age 5 and found a niche for herslef, dancing in a Slave Leia costume. Here she is in a dance off with "Padme Aisha"



Sa'id also dances as a green Orion slave girl for Star Trek fans. Via.

Here's some other links:

1. From Halle Berry to Jeniffer Aniston, here's a photo gallery of pretty women whose mates have had affairs. Via.


2. File this under too good to check, Ji Feng, a teacher and vice principal of Zhiyuan Foreign Language Elementary School, is so popular that he gives out photos of himself as a reward to good students. Link. This might be a photo. Via.


3. In these two posts Brian Hibbs explains just how hard it is to run a comic book store. Via Forbidden Planet, which adds detailed comments.

*Previously: Clever print ad for pole-dancing classes.

*Buy movies featuring the fabulous Gilderoy Lockhart at Amazon.

Get ready for school with some free skull book covers

Rosemary Travale has made this swell skull book cover available for download at her site. It comes in black and white so you can color during your tedious classes.

*Previously: New York high school principal hires black magic practitioner to cure school.

Stormtrooper cheating on exam

"Stormcheaters" by Joshua Ellingson. Available at Etsy. Via.

*Find vintage Star Wars posters at MoviePoster.com.

Tips for surviving if you happened to be transported back to 1000 AD

Here's the question:

I wanted to ask for survival tips in case I am unexpectedly transported to a random location in Europe (say for instance current France/Benelux/Germany) in the year 1000 AD (plus or minus 200 years). I assume that such transportation would leave me with what I am wearing, what I know, and nothing else. Any advice would help.

Interesting discussion here. This would be a great assignment spread across every class in junior high/high school.