Sabtu, 28 Februari 2009

Caption this ...

Video: Winston hearts bananas



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You learn something new every day

The photo above is a Jenny Haniver.

That's not the name of a person, it's the carcass of a ray or a skate which has been modified and subsequently dried, resulting in a grotesque preserved specimen. [wiki]

One suggestion for the origin of the term was "jeune d'Anvers" (French for Antwerp is Anvers), that is "young girl of Antwerp." British sailors "cockneyed" this description into the personal name "Jenny Hanvers."

For centuries, sailors sat on the Antwerp docks and carved these "mermaids" out of dried cuttlefish. They then preserved them further with a coat of varnish. They supported themselves by selling their artistic creations to working sailors as well as to tourists visiting the docks.

Jenny Hanivers have been created to look like devils, angels and dragons.

It is possible that Jenny Hanivers were the source of some tales of dragons during the Middle Ages, and they affirmed people's belief in dragons. Jenny Hanivers may also have started the legends of Mermaids.

(via Cynical-C)

At Susology, the story of an artist currently creating Jenny Hanivers.

Photo credit: Awkward Conversations post on "Rogue Taxidermy: The Jenny Haniver".

Any dog can bite but most don't

Dog bites happen, but they don't happen often, and many bites are preventable.

That message, delivered Thursday at a forum in Denver, was gleaned from data taken in Colorado over a year-long period.

The Coalition for Living Safely With Dogs, made up of Colorado veterinarians, animal-control officers, animal-care professionals and others presented the data at the group's second annual forum.

"The data shows that any dog can bite but most don't," said Nick Fisher, a coalition member.

The dog-bite surveys were taken from July 2007 to July 2008 and covered 17 "districts" in Colorado.

The coalition study tallied 2,060 bites. That's about 1 bite for every 350 dogs, less than one-third of one percent.

Of the 2,060 bites, Labrador retrievers made up the biggest percentage on the bite list.

Labs accounted for 13.3 percent of the reported bites; pit bulls, 8.4 percent; German shepherds, 7.8 percent; Rottweilers, 3.9 percent; and Chows, 3.5 percent.

Source

Smile, it's Friday!


Photo from manymuddypaws

Jumat, 27 Februari 2009

Kitty is not amused

Funky fish found - the frogfish

A funky, psychedelic fish that bounces on the ocean floor like a rubber ball has been classified as a new species, a scientific journal reported. The frogfish — which has a swirl of tan and peach zebra stripes that extend from its aqua eyes to its tail — was initially discovered by scuba diving instructors working for a tour operator a year ago in shallow waters off Ambon island in eastern Indonesia.

Each time the fish strike the seabed, they push off with their fins and expel water from tiny gill openings to jet themselves forward. That, and an off-centered tail, causes them to bounce around in a bizarre, chaotic manner.

Photo credit: David Hall
Source

Marilyn and her dogs

Marilyn Monroe at the beach with her dog Ruffles in 1947.
Photo: Associated Press

MM plays with her Chihuahua on May 17, 1950.
Image: Earl Leaf

Also on May 17, 1950
Image: Earl Leaf

MM and Arthur Miller with Miller's dog Hugo, during a playful moment at Miller's summer home on June 25th, 1956.
Image: © Bettmann/CORBIS

Here's another photo of Hugo with MM and Miller.

Image: © Bettmann/CORBIS

When Marilyn and Arthur split up, Arthur retained possession of Hugo.

Maf was a little white French poodle who was given to MM in New York by Frank Sinatra. Sinatra had purchased the dog from Natalie Wood’s mother.

Marilyn named the dog “Maf” because of Frank Sinatra’s alleged mafia connections. lnterestingly, to spite Arthur Miller, Marilyn used to let Maf sleep on an expensive white coat that Miller had presented her.

When Marilyn returned to live in Hollywood, she had Maf flown back to be with her.

Following her death, Maf was inherited by Frank Sinatra’s secretary, Gloria Lovell.
(via u2r2h blog)

Krista Ranillo sexy asia Babes

Krista Ranillo is the daughter of the actor, Mat Ranillo III. She recently appeared on FHM for August 2008.

Krista RanilloKrista RanilloKrista Ranillo

Krista Ranillo is the cover of the FHM Philippines August 2008 issue. For those who dont remember her, Krista Ranillo is the eldest daughter of Mat Ranillo III and Linda Tupaz and was a former actress who took a break from showbiz to pursue her studies.
Krista Ranillo is the eldest daughter of Mat Ranillo III and Linda Tupaz,
Name after the Lenten play ‘Kristo’, in which his father played Christ.
Took a break from showbiz ( 2002-2007 ) to study. She rejected several films offered by both Viva Films and Regal Films.
Finished Interdisciplinary Studies with tracks in Communications and Psychology at Ateneo de Manila. She was consistent a Dean’s Lister.

Please take a seat


Story here

(via Bits & Pieces)

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Luca Toni football star

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Luis Figo professional Portuguese footballer

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Kamis, 26 Februari 2009

Nighty night


(via cute overload)

On the subject of penguins

Looks like the inauguration, doesn't it?

This amazing photo was taken on South Georgia Island. The photographer says, "This is not the largest colony of king penguins on South Georgia but there were over a hundred thousand breeding pairs in this location. The brown spots are not open spaces but chicks that have not fledged."

from Flickr, by chuck12600

Take a look at it in the largest size: 3200 x 2135. Better yet, set it as your desktop wallpaper.

As cute as a sock monkey?

Might be cuter than a sock monkey ...

This instructable will walk you through the step by step creation of a Sock Penguin. This project was completed for a Grade 1 (6 year old kids) class that has been studying penguins.

Please note that no penguins were harmed in the creation of this project, however, some socks were severely damaged in the prototyping stage. Please do not use socks that still contain feet.

Note that hot glue guns can burn you. They're called "hot" for a reason. Do not let 6 year olds operate hot glue guns. Adult supervision is required. Also, do not let 6 year olds operate heavy machinery. It's just a bad plan.

(via Penguins!)

Bored? Go wake up your cat

Chris "Petey" Peterson at "Something Awful" had a dastardly idea. Assuming that your cat is sleeping right now, and which cat isn't, grab a camera and go wake that cat up. Go, right now! Take a picture of that darling little (pissed off) face and post it.

Quite a few people have responded and sent Chris their photos. Here's a couple:




Ok, I have to admit - I too, have been know to interfere with my cats' napping pleasure.

I took this picture of Grace when I caught her napping in Ava's chair which Grace thinks should now be called Grace's chair.


The next photo is of Bandit. I have an extensive collection of shots of him sleeping. He's always sleeping, except when he runs through the house doing his "here comes a herd of elephants" sound effects.


Next, Smoke. He had the fluffiest, fuzziest belly, and the sweetest personality until he scratched the hell out of my daughter-in-law's arm one day. He left us one day on a neighborhood safari and never came back.


Here's a bonus shot: waking up two cats at once! Buddy always loved to sleep on top of Coco. They're both gone from us now, but fondly remembered.

Canon MARK III or Canon 1D3

Guess who's getting a Canon Mark III today ??
Guess who has butterflies in their stomach?
Guess who is wondering if it is a Cadillac or a Lemon ?
Guess who is wondering..........

'Best Bet' - Championship Betting Tips with Betfair

Hi, my name is Tom Mallows, online sports writer with Betfair.
I am guest writing on this blog where I shall be previewing all the weekend games in The Championship along with the Carling Cup Final.
In addition, I will also be looking in detail at a couple of the weekends LIVE TV games.

Every fortnight, I will bring you all the latest football odds, preview the biggest matches, and hopefully try and win you some cash with my 'best bet' football tips.

A fortnight ago I had a 4 home win multiple bet come in, (see my article on 12th Feb) as Birmingham, Bristol City, Preston & Arsenal ALL won their respective games as I predicted.

'My tip of the weekend' was in the FA Cup tie between Coventry and Blackburn. I fancied the Sky Blues to turn over their Premier League opponents 2-1 at Ewood Park at odds of 20/1, and all was going swimmingly until Rovers' Chris Samba scored an equalizer in the third minute of injury time. C'est la vie!

This week the Championship returns with a full set of fixtures along with a Wembley date for Man Utd and Spurs. Here’s my pick of the action:

Carling Cup Final - Man Utd v Tottenham
Sunday 1st March KO 16:00 LIVE ON SKY

Go to Betfair for all the latest football betting on the 2009 Carling Cup Final.

With the World Club Championship already in the bag, United take their second step towards an unprecedented quadruple on Sunday with a clash against Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham. The London club face a battle just to stay in the Premier League and after playing two games already this week, you could forgive Redknapp for not seeing this as a priority.

Current Match Odds:

Man Utd 4/9 Tottenham 9/4.

Scorecast:
Man Utd 1-0 13/2 2-0 13/2 3-0 15/1

Tottenham 1-0 12/1 2-0 37/1 3-0 89/1


My 'best bet' prediction:

I’m sure Spurs will put up a brave fight and will not relinquish their hold on the Cup easily, but I think United have to much quality for Spurs all over the park and I can't see an upset on Sunday.
Man Utd 2-1 Tottenham @ 8-1


Sheff Utd v Birmingham
Sunday 1st March KO 12:15 LIVE ON SKY

Alex McLeish’s Birmingham need to re-discover their shooting boots if they are to secure automatic promotion after firing blanks against Palace and Coventry in recent weeks. Sheff Utd are in the hunt for a play-off place, but have struggled to find any consistency this year.

Current Match Odds:

Sheff Utd 6/4 The Draw 12/5 Birmingham 9/4

Scorecast:
Sheff Utd 1-0 7/1 2-0 12/1 3-0 30/1

Birmingham 1-0 17/2 2-0 16/1 3-0 49/1

The Draw 0-0 9/1 1-1 6/1 2-2 17/1

My 'best bet' prediction:

Birmingham are nine points and five places better off than their opponents and despite their striking woes I’m backing them to come away with a narrow win.
Sheff Utd 0-1 Birmingham @ 17/2


The best of the rest:
Fancy a sections list this weekend?
A multiple bet can win you some 'serious' cash.

Here are my tips for this weekend’s matches:

Home Wins:

Bristol City v Blackpool
Burnley v Sheff Wed
Reading v Nottm Forest
Swansea v Charlton
Wolverhampton v Plymouth

Away Wins:

Doncaster v Derby
Barnsley v QPR
Watford v Crystal Palace
Southampton v Cardiff

Draws:

Preston v Ipswich
Norwich v Coventry

My Tip Of The Weekend:

Neil Warnock's Palace make the short trip to Vicarage Road on Saturday, to take on a recently rejuvenated Watford side under the stewardship of Brendan Rogers. However after holding Birmingham to a goalless draw on Tuesday night, I fancy 'The Eagles' to take all three points.
Palace to win 2-0 at decent odds of 18/1.

Today's awwww

Art by Roberto Kusterle


duetto per archi, 2006
(duo for stringed instruments, 2006)

More at website

Rabu, 25 Februari 2009

Good to know: Some people still have money

Despite the grim economic environment, the art market let out a collective sigh of relief Feb. 23 as Christie's in Paris successfully auctioned $266.7 million worth of Impressionist and modern artworks collected by the late designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Berge. The sale of nearly 700 works, estimated to bring in up to $425 million, continues through Wednesday.

A German Silver-Gilt Cup Formed as a Hunting Bear
Maker's mark of Leonhard Umbach
Augsburg, 1585-1590
Height: 6 7/8 in.; Weight: 13.70 oz.
Estimate: €80,000 to €120,000 (approx. $103,000 - $155,000)

Francois Pompon (1855-1933)
Boston Terrier or 'Toy'
Model created in 1930, cast circa 1965-1970
Black patinated bronze
Portrays Madame Georges Menier's dog, 'Toy'
11 3/4 in. x 13 1/4 in. x 5 7/8 in.
Estimate: €15,000 to €20,000 (approx. $19,000 - $26,000)

Source

Brrrr, it's cold outside

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Fabio Cannavaro Italian World Cup-winning footballer

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