please use this new thread for 'fun' links.
the Tribute of the 3 Cows;
http://www.traditioninaction.org/OrganicSociety/A_010_Roncal_2.html
OT: Various fun/interesting links (ver. 1.02)
is this a trus or a brain?;
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/half-bus-half-t.html
science working on better, friendlier bug repellents;
http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?type=article&article_id=218393109
toy is Persian Relic!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080528/od_afp/lifestylebritainauctionhistory_080528122922
I, for one, would like to welcome our new Wolverine Frog overlords;
http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/05/wolverine_frogs_pop_retractable_claws_from_their_toes.php
AWESOME 'mashup/remix' Fred Astaire dances to M.Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gB0UNey-Uk
Thanks, Carl! When are we going to see some new pics of your gardens???
I guess i do need to to do that, though you could almost look at the previous ones. Not much new. I planted a gaura on a whim in the front yard under the Crepe Myrtle. It seems happy though the blooming is quite reduced now. The persian shield and the Moneywort seem happy - but my Alternanthera 'Party Time' is in 3 spots and is suffering to different degrees everywhere i put it.
My daylilies are starting a bloom cycle. The Red and Pink have opened. My 'ditch lilies' should be blooming soon. One sad note, the Upright Elelphant ears did not make it through the winter this year - maybe too wet for them - dunno.
The veggetables are also a mixed story. My wife has been gatting a lot of strawberries. Cukes and tomatoes have a LOT of blooms. Even have a few peppers already. herbs are doing great. Anybody know what to use sage and 'pineapple sage for? We have a dog now and he seems to destroy stuff just hours before we plan to harvest! Stupid quadruped.
OBTW - evidently, Monarch Butterfliy larva like curly parsely! maybe I can get a pic of one of those.
Been kinda busy with some bedroom remodeling, preparing for a vacation, kid's health, etc., etc.
Carl
less, fun/interesting than 'consumer alert' - phone 'cramming' and how to avoid it;
http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/cram-this.ars/1
Thanks Carl! Now I am going to drop my online services and start planting cannas in the abandoned yards around us!!
I AM going to get liquored up one night soon and shove some cannas into a few front yards around here that are overgrown with weeds....just wait and see!!!
tiny felted birds
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5140485
weird but true spy gadgets;
http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/multimedia/2008/05/pl_print?slide=1&slideView=8
5 things are always 'on sale';
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/5ThingsThatAreAlwaysOnSale.aspx?page=all
How smart are you? (If you've already taken this test, you know already.) http://www.quizrocket.com/dumb-test?gatherer_id=100522&utm_source=ValueClick&utm_medium=Pop&utm_campaign=DumbTest
Adorable animal photo. http://de.fishki.net/picsw/022008/28/bonus/Funny_Animals/animals020.jpg
You're in hot water now, babe! http://www.voidstate.com/blog/images/cook-anything.jpg?hl=en
What th' heck IS that thing?! http://www.thecuteproject.com/images/items/1937.jpg
Must be a rookie! http://i30.tinypic.com/257n89j.jpg
Try to get through this one without laughing! http://www.spike.com/video/japanese-cat-song/2743212?cmpnid=746&pt=if&lkdes=VID_2743212
I had to go back and play old games -- which is cool ---but new stuff is cooler.
BTW - you've got some awesome plants -(other thread)-- but you ain't in no desert, are you? You just skipped over to SW Gardening for our charming company, didn't you?
TF, that cat video is soooo funny!
I had to go back and play old games -- which is cool ---but new stuff is cooler.
BTW - you've got some awesome plants -(other thread)-- but you ain't in no desert, are you? You just skipped over to SW Gardening for our charming company, didn't you?
I came because I was too cheap to join - I STAY because of the charming company!
;^)
Carl
fun videos of helium-filled versions of sea animals
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UxPzodKQays
http://youtube.com/watch?v=F_citFkSNtk&feature=related
Carl, if I saw those things waltzing around an atrium -- I'd probably swear of VTs for at LEAST a week!
dia de los muertos video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46jzp3bpL-E
the creepy pencil
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=04e_1211518104
sci-fi weddings
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/5760
cubicle rage
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=db1_1212454812
virtual museum of ancient inventions
http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsclist.htm
EXCUSE me!?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjzrNWPul9E
um...yeah, kinda stupid electronic plant pot...But I might take it as a gift!
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/06/04/junyi-heos-digital-pot-gives-your-plant-a-face/
This one laug__ , er, speaks for itself... make sure your sound is turned up
http://videos.komando.com/2008/06/04/mans-surprising-laugh/
Waaaay too funny Aguane! I send it to my joke list!! Thanks!
yeah, that guy could make a great cartoon character's voice/laugh!
Carl
this is kinda ON topic. (oh and sorry for the length)
How Velcro Was Invented
When a Swiss engineer stumbled into a bunch of burs, it became a delightfully sticky situation for the world:
THE BUR TRADE
You surely know the famous story about George de Mestral’s 1941 hunting trip in Switzerland - while walking his dog in the mountains, he accidentally brushed up against some cocklebur plants, and by the time he got back home, dozens of the round, spiky seeds were clinging to his wool trousers (and his poor dog’s fur).
What you don’t know is how hard it was for de Mestral to translate that natural stroke of genius into man-made one. He quickly figured out why the seed were so sticky by examining them under a microscope - the spikes each ended in tiny hooks that grabbed onto fabric and fur and wouldn’t let go.
But it wasn’t until 1952 that de Mestral made a serious effort to mimic the cockleburs’ hooks using different types of fabric. He quit his day job and raised $150,000 in venture capital, an enormous sum at the time. He also joined up with a textile weaver from Lyon, France - the only weaver who thought the idea would actually work. The pair’s first attempt, using cotton, was a failure. But nylon, sewn into tiny hooks under bright infrared light, worked much better. He dubbed it "Velcro" after velvet and "crochet," the French word for "hook."
JUST PLAIN STUCK
De Mestral seemed to be on his way to a huge success, and large-scale production finally began in the mid ’50s. But the fabric didn’t actually make it to market until a decade later, and when it did, it flopped. It was extremely useful but also extremely ugly - a hard sell given that de Mestral mostly envisioned it being used on clothes. High-end designers wouldn’t touch the stuff.
The only group that found it appealing was the burgeoning aerospace industry - astronauts didn’t want to fiddle with zippers and laces while trying to get in and out of their spacesuits, and they also needed a way to keep their various personal items and food from floating away in zero gravity. (The association with NASA later popped up in the 1997 movie Men in Black, which short-shrifts de Mestral by claiming Velcro was actually invented by aliens and adapted for Earth use.)
By the time people figured out that Velcro could also be hugely useful on everything from kids’ shoes to watchbands, de Mestral’s patent was close to expiring, and factories in Taiwan and Korea were churning out similar stuff. Today, if you use Velcro as a generic term, you’ll make some Velcro executives very unhappy. The word has been Xeroxed, or if you prefer, Kleenexed - the company would much prefer that you use the generic "hook-and-loop" unless you’re referring specifically to their brand.
De Mestral, by the way, wasn’t just the inventor of Velcro. He also received a patent for a toy plane at age 12 and went on to design a hygrometer (which measures air humidity) and an asparagus peeler not unlike the kind that’s "As Seen on TV."
The article above was reprinted with permission from mental_floss‘ book In the Beginning.
OK...was this for a watermelon FIELD or.....?
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080606/odd_japan_pricey_melon.html?.v=1
it's official - nature is strange!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080604074916.htm
Yuck!