The cartoon-like rendering of the deer head makes it truly great.

Isabella is now officially the coolest person in the world.

Is it good luck to catch them on the first bounce?

If you miss Jimi, listen to Buddy. He taught Jimi a thing or two.

You could put your weed in there!

The guy who is supposed to write something like: "I for one, welcome our new computer overlords." is late

Tuymans is a good sport for doing this. Context and history are important in understanding anything. I don't understand the hostility to fine art being elitist. Anyone who dedicates time to better appreciate painting, wine, tea, music, game architecture, literature, etc. will have a nuanced approach. Lashing out because you don't share the perspective of an afficianado is a bit short-sighted. Just about everyone has interests that they devote time and energy to so they can better understand and get more enjoyment from them.

The Joshua Bell experiment was far more interesting because they interviewed some people about the experience, or their indifference to it. I would be curious to know if anyone who stopped to look at the painting really loved it, or hated it, especially if they weren't familiar with the artist's work.

I remember hearing Kurt Vonnegut say he wouldn't order things from the internet as his wife suggested, because that would rob him of the opportunity to fart around and talk to people when he went out to buy them. For sure there are great art experiences to be had each and every time we go out the door if we are only willing to notice.

Those steel mesh tires with the riveted on titanium treads are still one of my favorite pieces of tech ever. Total spacepunk.

Harrer's escape partner Peter Aufschnaiter, deeply loved Tibet and had his own perspective on it, 'Eight Years in Tibet', published posthumously-

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9745240125/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

He spent the rest of his life in Nepal and India using his engineering talent to improve quality of life there.

@#6- Nearly all of the Chinese people I have known in Taiwan and China, especially successful ones, have been near obsessive hard workers and passionate about education (especially for their poor, overtaxed children). That's not to say that they don't burn incense and get their fortunes told, but there seems to be a broad consensus that you can make your own fate, or at least improve yourself by your own efforts, rather than, as the old saying goes, standing on the hillside with your mouth open waiting for a roasted duck to fly in.

The only thing better than that would be wallpaper made from gluing all your unwanted credit card solicitations on the wall.

How does this fit into the "Wonderful Things" subhead?

Chindogu!

People who are into pets or hobbies that I find distasteful are just plain WRONG!

Is there any reason the default link for books is to Amazon, rather than Powell's, say, or another store? Is there a sponsorship driving that?

Which will come first, the singularity or the rapture? The race is on!

For around $40, you can get an RC flying one, with eyes that light up! I have a couple of them and they are hilariously fun.

http://www.flytechonline.com/dragonfly_index.html

The King of Bhutan has been out front on this one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness

The only hope for Eagle Marks now is to twist up some straws that resemble Mary and Jesus and ship them to Kntuki stat!

Fuck that noise.

All of the actions discussed here will have the net effect on China's suppression of Tibet that the millions of people around the world pouring into the streets to oppose the US invasion of Iraq had on Bush administration policy. Still, it's good to think about how things might be shifted in a better direction. While people still want 'leaders', we will be subject to their whims. And remember:

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." —Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

I think anyone who has been to Tibet is touched by the people and way of life there. Thanks for keeping on the story. Those are some very brave people that are protesting, since we know the consequences can be torture and death.

@kid: The gratuitous slam at Chen Shui-Bian is just silly. What do you imagine he'd be doing exactly? Taiwan has always been "calm", doing nothing more than trying to gain its rightful place in international diplomacy. It's been China lobbing missiles and threatening war for Taiwanese daring to express their desire to self determination in a peaceful way. The fact that China can use its military and economic power to gain the cooperation of other countries in its oppressive and violent policies adds no legitimacy to its claims.

I was born to be on that show.

#15- I wouldn't call incredulity that a grotty looking pair of pants goes for a sky-high price confusion, just an understandable reaction. I find pants I consider very nice of diverse materials at my local thrift store and I can get twenty pair for the same price. They are re-used rather than recycled for minimal energy cost. It's perfectly natural to compare one's own experience with what's being presented here. What's with the extreme defensiveness over comments? Take them for what they're worth, individual responses that may cover a wide range of opinions that support or diverge from the context of the presentation. For these pants, if you think they're cool, they are, by all means get some! Who cares if some people have another perspective?

#4-I haven't seen any documentaries, but Roberto Saviano wrote a very courageous book about the endemic mafia problem in Naples.

http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780374165277-0

""government" is exactly the same but can be frequently improved with a bullet."

What wonderful brevity. Can you give some examples?

In Taiwan, fanning the bills out like an expert card dealer was the method I saw most often.

The pocket protector for the twenty-first century! I love how they stamped 'flathead' and '#2phillips' on the bits. Does the belt have 'belt' stamped into it?

I was thinking about it, and then it hit me. What an idiot I was not to get it! Victorian aesthetic, Alice in Wonderland imagery, Humpty Dumpty saying: "When I use a word it means exactly what I say it means, nothing more, nothing less.." Steampunk can be anything you want it to be! Brilliantly drawn-(Top) hats off.

It would have been so steampunk if you had said: ‘If ‘ee cannot think well ‘ot, dearie, ‘ee may fuck yourself’

Back@99:No one is twisting my arm, I was just making a suggestion for more nuanced description of things. The adjective in question has been applied to so many things that are at best tangentially related to it's origins. It now ranks with 'rad' and 'gnarly' in precision of meaning. I like the present day/anachronism aesthetic myself, I just think the term has gotten tired through overuse.

Yes, can there be a moratorium or something on 'steampunk'? It has been overused to the point of meaninglessness.

Damn them for violating conventions of western perspective, using elements of decoration and not trying for a realistic, photograph-like portrayal of the subject! It is so horrible and wonky! Nothing like the razor-sharp perspective and harmonious to the eye creations of, say, a BB credential holding artist like Amy Crehore.

Looks like Bob is seriously irritated by the backwards baseball cap people.

@ALDYTH:
On his website, the details of several challenge protocols are laid out, each specific to the challenger's 'skill'. The protocols are negotiated with the challenger and they solicit feedback from anyone who cares to offer it before the challenge is set. Seems eminently fair to me.

It's time to start bringing long handled nets to public protests and events. It will be fun to capture little flying spybots and repurpose them. At some point, the government will pass laws that recognize them legally as equivalent to a human, like police dogs are,to put serious criminal sanctions on messing with them.

This should make it easier to create quality batter images of Jesus and Mary.

It's really too bad that these two are violent killer scumbags instead of noble, clever movie characters. Hope they're rounded up and put away for good soon.

Did you shed a tear for the union writers and cartoonists that ol' Walt denounced as communists to the House Un-American Activites Committee? Walt Disney, in addition to creating the happiest place on earth, tried his best to create a hell on earth for anyone who tried to better themselves in Hollywood by organizing. He was an actual FBI spy in union busting activity.

It's a foundry, not a forge and they are casting, not forging metal. I don't know how you can write an article on this and not get that.

@nonesuch: The IPCC statement quoted at the bottom of the writeup discussed how they were proceeding after the CPS declined to prosecute. Why do you doubt that it happened?