Fawn in the House

Today's "OMG TCFW" Award goes to...

Click on the headline for the full story!

Photos for Dr. Dale... (plus site!)

Here's a couple of photos for my favorite criminologist...

First, a police boat on Venice's Grand Canal, then a police segway in the train station of Florence!

Plus, Police Cars from Around the World - Gadling (via grow-a-brain)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Different people have different guiding principles... For example, one of my favorite individuals is personally beholden to "harmony". For myself, if there's any such principle for me, it'd be love. Life is too short not to love all you can... That's why this is one of my favorite days of the year!

Maybe the more cynical might think though that it has more to do with this quote from Robert Frost than anything else: "Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."

But I think Shakespeare summed it up best!

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

UPDATED: Links for Friends (Plus, AAIIIEEE!!)

At left... Oh yeah, that helps! Yikes!! (Thanks, Presurfer!! :-)

More on evil clowns in medicine previously on "Michelle's Mental Clutter"!

And now, our weekly (or so) links for friends...

Firstly, for all the guys, The social norm of leaving the toilet seat down: A game theoretic analysis (Hey, I'm cool with it, but you never know who isn't!)

For Vippy-Zippy, Theoretical Economics: An Open Access Journal in Economic Theory & Get Hostile: The Online Stock Trading Game.

For myself & Marky-J, Cute Otters: The Website! (If we're good, maybe next life...)

Plus, for both the philosopher and language-nazi in him, I thought he'd enjoy "Beg the Question"? Get It Right!

Lastly but not leastly, for Doctor Beth, Guinea Pig Rescuers! Sounds like the name for an exciting new reality show, huh? :-)

"Michellaneous" Links, incl. Venice & Mythbusters!

It's been a while since I had time/stuff to post... and this morning I have a little bit of both! So here we go...

First of all, for everybody, Rick Steves writes about Venice's greatest institution next to Saint Mark's Basilica... the Venetian "pub crawl." (Funny thing is, he doesn't mention names of places, but from their descriptions I know exactly which ones he's talking about!) Then, the top crime neighborhood in the world isn't in Sao Paulo or Lagos. It's the Vatican!

Next, for Vippy Zippy, Economics in One Lesson!

For PlanetTom, the erstwhile Wesley Crusher recounts specific episodes of ST: TNG with tongue firmly in cheek at TV Squad.

For philosopher Marky-J, What We Don't Know and Mike Love's Geneaology of Influence, from "a philosophy buff who is researching data visualization, has developed an amazing Wikipedia hack... Genealogy of Influence allows you to visually trace the connections between the most influential writers, artists, philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians of Western culture." Lastly, but not leastly, Scientist develops caffeinated doughnuts!

My most recent entry for "Retired Facebook Quotes":

• "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." - Albert Einstein
• "The Brain is wider than the Sky-For- put them side by side-The one the other will containWith ease- and You- beside." - Emily Dickinson
• "What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet" - Woody Allen

And the mega-galactic super-link of the day: EVERY Mythbusters Myth ON ONE PAGE!
(I like the 55 that were actually confirmed myself!!)

Friend o' the Day, M-J!

For my bud who doesn't do email but who does surf all day just to keep his lap warm! :-)

• For the bachelor: On the Edibility of Very Old Food
• For the Simpsons' fan & philatelist, new pork flavored stamp
• For his crappy cellphone ringers: The kakophone - the FREE music-composition machine for mobile phones
• For the philosophe: Rodin's Thinker shrunk to blood-cell size and Are students ( and teachers ) of ethics - more or less ethical ? Possibly the latter...
• And, last but never least, Trusting your instincts leads you to the right answer!

Newsflash: The March of History Jaywalks Instead!

Good friend PlanetTom pointed out the following news items for me!

• Offbeat: British historian arrested for jaywalking in Atlanta

Looks like it's a good thing I didn't go to the AHA this year!! But wait... maybe the story's already revisionist?

• Officer says he used discretion before arresting prof

I sort of suspect - like the good historian I am - that the truth lies somewhere in between these two original accounts! (Thanks for sharing 'em both, Tom!)

Still, I think it would make a great episode of "Cops", don't you?

Next time on "Cops," the valiant officers of the Atlanta PD take down Simon Schama, Jared Diamond and David McCullough for LOITERING!

("Bad boys, bad boys! Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?!")

Lazy Day Links for Friends

• QUOTE OF THE DAY: "George Orwell once said: '[Political] prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated hen-house.'" (via The Presurfer for Unca Bill)

• "A fantastic article over at "The Neurophilosopher's Blog" on augmented cognition - technology that integrates with our cognitive abilities to extend our capabilities (via Mind Hacks). Plus, at right, a t-shirt for Beatles and Darwin fan and philosophe Marky-J (via Boing Boing).

• The Sushi FAQ (for Tony-Cannoli)

At left, family dog Bella enjoys a little lounging on my sister's bed over Christmas... They don't call the bed (and the dog) queens for nothing!

Happy Epiphany! (Plus Links for Friends)

Happy Epiphany, Everybody!!

Today's the day that tradition commemorates the arrival of the Three Wise Men to venerate newborn baby Jesus...

In celebration, January 6th was always the day Italians traditionally exchanged presents in the spirit of the ones given by the Magi. Nothing so fancy, though... This morning you would awake to find your stocking filled by the Befana, or the good winter witch. As you can see, apparently she works in a union and has to employ unusual delivery methods in Venice! (Actually, the photo at left is taken from the annual "Regatta della Befana," or Venetian rowing contest with old gondoliers dressed up like the good witches...)

• Pictured at right... Ming the Merciless's next hair cut? (via Boing Boing)


• For Ming, Andri, Vippy Zippy: New Book - "Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor" (via Boing Boing)

• For Ms. Kate & Dr. Beth: "i heart guts! makes tee shirts and other stuff featuring seriously cute internal organs... Other organ themed tee shirts." (Like "Smells Link Spleen Spirit," pictured at left via Metafilter)


• Ground Control to PlanetTom: "Universe Today is a news site for astronomy geeks. Don't miss its sibling, the Bad Astronomy Forum, which not only features examples of bad astronomy, but also discussions of space exploration and astrophotography. (If you like astrophotography, you're probably already aware of NASA's astronomy photo of the day.) But my favorite part of the whole site is the free astronomy eBook, What's Up 2007: 365 Days of Skywatching..." (via Metafilter)


• And don't miss the big link o' the day for everyone! "This was bound to happen: Simplistic Video Links collects pieces of YouTube video and aggregates them into complete movies and tv shows. For instance, here's Borat in its entirety." (via Fimiculous)

Artistic Coffee and Other Links for Friends

• Of particular interest to the usual Coffee Crew... considering all the novelties this new year brings, I believe we should insist that henceforth our espresso must be this artistic! (via Hot Links)
  
  
• "The idea behind Prosper is a bit unusual today, but, as the site reminds readers, person-to-person lending—loans without a financial intermediary—has been around since 300 A.D. For those more used to the Internet age, think of it as eBay meets your neighborhood bank. Prosper is an online marketplace that allows lenders and borrowers to bid for loans—with fees and rates than can be much lower than those of a lending institution. Prosper uses credit scores to help its users gauge the risks of their deals, and easy-to-follow instructions on the site help clarify the details. (via Time.com Top 10 Websites of 2006, for Tony-Cannoli, Andri & Vippy Zippy!)
• "Tattoos: The Ancient and Mysterious History" (via Linkfilter, for tattooed Ming the Merciless)
• "NEWSVINE: This social news site comes with the tagline 'Get Smarter Here.' A bit blunt, but that's Newsvine's style: the site provides users with quick, undiluted and unedited access to news from all over the Web. Users can comment on stories and vote on stories' importance, add news articles they find elsewhere to the site and write their own blogs. Bloggers can even keep a share of the revenue ads on their columns produce, and make more money by referring friends to the site. Newsvine was founded by members of ESPN, Disney and other media organizations." (via Time.com Top 10 Websites of 2006) & 10 Kick-Ass Opening Credit Sequences (via Linkfilter, for Unca Bill & the Huf!)
• "Credit Where Credit is Due": "2006 Federal Excise Tax Credit - Wow, finally a reason to save all those old phone bills!" (via Hot Links, for legendary packrat Marky-J, tax expert Vippy Zippy & any other taxpaying Americans!)
• For the Scififridayers: Good news! "Number 6 is going to be in Playboy next month" (via Fimoculous)
• Free Will: Now You Have It, Now You Don’t - New York Times about "all the varieties of free will worth having..." (via Hot Links) and The Language of The Simpsons (via Kottke's Best Links 2006) and Bank the Nine (via Yahoo's Link of the Day) and also the "Phobialist" (via Really Magazine, for pool-playing, fellow "medical dictionary syndrome" sufferer and philosopher Marky-J)
• "Update your urban myths: someone actually stole a kidney from the 'Bodies' exhibit in Seattle" (via Fimoculous) and Scientists may have found Medici murder - Yahoo! News (for lil' ol' me & criminologist Ming)