Are they drunk or what? This video shows a wide variety of African wildlife feeding on the fruit of the marula tree. It shows the feasting animals acting a bit more than a little tipsy after eating the fermented fruit. Of course there is some controversy around videos like this. Some scientists say that the behavior documented in this video isn't possible. I guess it's possible that the wobbling animals developed severe inner ear infections, but I tend to believe the scientists are wrong. For an synopsis of the scientific contrarian view read Elephants Drunk in the Wild? Scientists Put the Myth to Rest.

Will Ferrell's great imitation of President Bush at his most incompetent.

Editors Note
The original video for this entry was of a young man portraying Bush. It was brought to our attention that the original video was misleading in that it makes it appear the young man was the creator of the skit. As a result, we have taken the original video down, and apologize to any of our site's visitors who might have been mislead.

Live Everything
I want to beg you, as much as I can,
to be patient toward all that is unresolved
in your heart and to try to love the questions
themselves like locked rooms and like books
that are written in a very foreign tongue.
Do not seek the answers, which cannot
be given you because you would not be able
to live them.

And the point is to live everything.
Live the questions now.
Perhaps you will then gradually,
without noticing it, live along
some distant day into the answer.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

This video is a collection of Guido Daniele's incredible hand paintings of animals. As marvelous as they are, these hand paintings are just a small example of Daniele's visual genius. More of his brilliant art can be seen at Guido Daniele's website.

The father in this clip learned that scaring his daughter could lead to totally unexpected results.

While I admire this guy's commitment to living green and recycling, I suspect he's cruising for an extended stay on the couch. Still, if he plans on giving his creation to his wife as a Christmas present, I really hope he gets it all on video.

When it's nap time it's nap time for kids and pandas

Cion


In this exuberant follow-up to Ways of Dying, the celebrated South African novelist and playwright Mda once again centers his story upon the professional mourner Toloki—this time, as he makes his way through a sad and surreal America. Set on the eve of the 2004 presidential election, the novel fixes its outsider gaze on everything from Billionaires for Bush to late-night television, viewing American cultural and political life through a near-anthropological lens. But there is much heart here, too, as Toloki is taken in by an impoverished Southern family; he befriends the son, Obed; falls in love with his melancholy, sitar-playing sister, Orpah; and learns to quilt from their mother, Ruth. Simultaneously, he learns how the quilts link Ruth's ancestry to the slave trade and, in particular, the escape of Nicodemus and Abednego, the beloved sons of a slave called The Abyssinian Queen. Cross-cutting between the slave story and Toloki's experiences, the book offers a rich and original picture of the United States on both a personal and grander historical level and is suffused with the same lyricism, vividness and dark, tragic wit that have earned the author previous recognition here and in his homeland.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


The Heart of Redness

This is one of the most beautiful books I have read in years. Mda skillfully evokes the tensions in contemporary South Africa for blacks caught between the tug of Western, technological culture and their identity in long-standing traditions. The story is given added substance by Mda's recounting the history of similar tensions from the nineteenth century, thus creating deep emotions that propel the characters. The story mixes family feuds, spats between the sexes, and sober deliberations about community versus individual choices, all told with a level of humor that underscores rather than undermines the importance of these issues for South Africa today. --William Gutowski


The Madonna of Excelsior

This is an elemental South African story of relationships across the color line, first at the height of apartheid's madness and then during the freedom struggle and the ongoing transition to democracy. As in Heart of Redness (2002), Mda tells the big story through the personal lives of a few intimately connected people. The first chapters are based on a notorious 1970s trial in which whites and blacks in one small town were convicted under the Immorality Act for the crime of miscegenation. The focus is on a black woman, Niki, and her "Coloured" (mixed-race) daughter, Popi, whose white father commits suicide after the public disgrace. Popi has a white half-brother and also a black brother, who grows up to be a guerrilla fighter. In the transition, Popi becomes a city councilor, always ashamed of her body, an outsider to whites and blacks in the community. But all their identities shift with reconciliation and revenge, corruption and nostalgia. Mda writes from the inside with a rare combination of passion and truth that will connect with readers everywhere. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Hey Wait UP!

Learn how to use Casual Friday to get a raise and offend your coworkers at the same time!

God bless animals--our world would be so much less colorful without them. The leaping cat at the end of this video is amazing.

This one is so good at lifting the goods that they let him go even when he gets caught.

These Laws are so funny they are meant to be broken.

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When you look at things from the right perspective they often get a bit more interesting.

Peer pressure isn't just a teen phenomena. This hilarious video proves that conformity is a powerful force at any age.

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Aptera Motors, a small company based in California is readying an amazing 300 mpg, under $30,000 hybrid car for production. In fact they are so far along in the development process they are taking reservations for the first models to roll out the door.

The information below is from the Aptera Motors Website, which has much more information about their fantastic vehicle.

Here's an overall description of the Aptera

The Aptera has a 2 plus 1 seating configuration. The two front seats are arranged as standard side by side seating. There is also a center infant seat behind the driver and passenger. The side doors open to the front and upward completely inside the front wheel track so you never have to worry about hitting the vehicle parked next to you or damaging your door while exiting your Aptera in a tight garage. There is enough storage in the rear for 15 bags of groceries, or 2 full size golf club bags. And the Aptera is even big enough for a couple of seven foot surf boards and any associated beach accessories.

Here is what's available in every Aptera:

Driver and passenger side Airbags

Energy absorbing and impact deflecting passenger Safety Cell

Advanced drive computer with GPS navigation, CD/MP3/DVD player, XM satellite radio, Large View Rear Camera, and complete vehicle diagnostic system

"Eyes Forward" vision system with 180 degree rear sight picture displayed in the driver's field of view to enhance situational awareness

LED interior and exterior lighting for maximum energy efficiency

Solar assisted Climate Control System so you always enter a comfortable Aptera that is never too hot or cold

And an RFID(Radio Frequency ID) key fob so you never have to pull out your keys to enter or start your Aptera. The key fob simply remains in your pocket or purse.


Here is where you have an option (drive topology)

(Do you want to drive long distances or do you just want to use your Aptera for your daily commute, chores, and as a general around town vehicle?)

All Electric This Aptera is powered exclusively with batteries and will get you around town to the tune of approximately 120 miles depending on your driving conditions. At night you simply plug the Aptera into any standard 110 volt outlet and in just a few hours you will have a fully charged vehicle that will take you another 120 miles. The approximate cost of this option with all the features listed above will be $26,900.

Plug-in Series Hybrid This Aptera is also powered by an electric drive train but it is assisted by a fuel efficient gasoline powered generator which stretches your range significantly. In typical driving you may achieve over 300 miles per gallon and you will have range far beyond any passenger vehicle available today. The approximate cost of this option with all the features listed above will be $29,900.

To learn more visit the Aptera Motors Website.

Legally Blonde

She's a California sorority girl who'll do anything to keep her man. Even if it means going all theway'to law school! Reese Witherspoon (Election) stars with Luke Wilson (Charlie's Angels), Selma Blair (Cruel Intentions), Matthew Davis (Pearl Harbor) and Victor Garber (Titanic) in a knock-out comedy with a heart of goldand hair to match! Elle Woods (Witherspoon) is a California blonde with couture clothes, fabulous friends and the hottest boyfriend on campus. So when Warner Huntington III (Davis) suddenly dumps her and heads for Harvard Law School, Elletakes matters into her own perfectly manicured hands. She enrolls too! Now getting Warner back should be a snap, right? Wrong! Elle's about to begin the toughest fight of her lifefor love, honor, justice and respect for blondes everywhere!


Miss Congeniality

Sandra Bullock stars as a bumbling female FBI agent assigned to go undercover as a participant in the Miss United States beauty pageant when it is discovered that one of the contestants is being targeted for murder. Benjamin Bratt leads the undercover team, while also playing the reluctant love interest. Candice Bergen and William Shatner manage the pageant and hire Michael Caine to turn Bullock from rough and tumble agent to stunning beauty queen. The physical transformation is impressive, although the klutzy personality remains. Everything seems to be fine once the killer is suddenly caught, but Bullock suspects there is more to this story, and the truth eventually unfolds with an unexpected twist. For her part, Bullock received a Golden Globe nomination for best actress, and heads the star-studded cast in the year's most hilarious comedy.



Prince of Tides

Barbra Streisand's best film as a director is helped enormously by one of Nick Nolte's finest performances. Nolte plays a football coach who is estranged from his wife (Blythe Danner) and who enters into an affair with the psychiatrist (Streisand) of his suicidal sister (Melinda Dillon). Streisand is acceptable in her star turn, but behind the camera she paces the story very well and provides lots of room for Nolte to inhabit his burdened but likable character. George Carlin is a bit token as a gay New Yorker, although Jason Gould (Streisand's son) is good as a struggling teen in desperate need of a father figure. The whole film is worth watching just to see a great moment near the end where Nolte stands on a street, a bit slump-shouldered and wearing a look of sad resolve. It's great acting at its most minimal. --Tom Keogh

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Photo Courtesy ESA

Striking composite image of a Crescent Earth and lights from cities across the northern hemisphere.

Photo courtesy ESA

Streams of smoke flow out across the pacific from the fires in California.

This puppy definitely has an attitude about cats. Pity poor cats when this puppy grows up!

Great video of the earth rising over the moon's horizon shot from Japan's KAGUYA spacecraft.

The Thing
Full of suspense and shots of very clever humor throughout.

Forbidden Planet
Shakespeare’s The Tempest goes science fiction, a technological wonder for the late 1950s

War of the Worlds
Extremely innovative for 1951, and far more gripping than any of the recent versions

Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Full of drama from beginning to end

The Blob
Steve McQueen and teenage friends save the world from an ever growing Blob with an insatiable appetite.

Them
No collection of science fiction movies from the 50s could be complete without at least one movie in which humans are challenged with extinction by irradiated, giant insects. There were tons made, but the giant ants and acting in Them makes it the best of the lot.

This Island Earth
Aliens from a war torn and dying planet plot to take over the earth.

When Worlds Collide
Humanity is doomed when an asteroid is on a collison course with the earth.

Creature From the Black Lagoon
Cryptozoological amphibian is causes trouble deep in the Amazon when it refuses to be captured and develops a fancy for the woman on the expedition.

To learn more about these classic science fiction movies click the images below.


     

    

    

While Mr. Munroe may like Verizon's network, it's very clear he's not thrilled with the bill that comes with it.

Update:
I posted the image above because I think it is funny, but a visitor pointed out that there is much more to this story. Click here to read the entire story.

The young man in this video redefines making the most of what you have. Not even blindness has stopped him from having a rich, full life.

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If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

Most of us would see the dancer turning counter-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS uses logic detail oriented facts rule words and language present and past math and science can comprehend knowing acknowledges order/pattern perception knows object name reality based forms strategies practical safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS uses feeling "big picture" oriented imagination rules symbols and images present and future philosophy & religion can "get it" (i.e. meaning) believes appreciates spatial perception knows object function fantasy based presents possibilities impetuous risk taking

I didn’t think much of it when my 13 year old daughter came home from school with a stack of new books she had purchased at her school’s book fair. Then the titles of the books caught my eye. Titles like “Crank” and “Burned” and “Impulse” put me on my heels real quick. Visions of books that glorified drug usage and self abuse filled me with fear for my child.

I took the books from my daughter, and gave each one a quick perusal. Then I looked them up on Amazon. It turned out that all the books she purchased were very anti drug use, anti self abuse. They presented the agonies of falling into the abyss of the drug world and other dismal activities that suck the joy out of life in language that will have quite an impact on teenage girls. For instance, after reading “Crank,” my daughter came to me said she was terrified of drugs. She never wanted to take even a Tylenol ever again.

Although I believe parents should take a look at these titles before they allow their children to read them, I do recommend them to parents who feel their teenage girl is at a stage where she would benefit from understanding the horrors of drug usage, and self abuse. If you do allow your child to read any of these books be prepared discuss to what your child has read, because they are likely to come to you with questions.

To learn more about these books click the images below.



    

  

What a great skyscape to put the day to sleep by!

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid.
Bible, Isaiah xi. 6.

How does UPS stay in the fast lane? FedEx of course!

Is the image above of a frog? a horse? or both?

What's it like to do 253 mph? Blurry!

Can A 196 MPH Bugatti beat the Eurofighter and its 40,000 pounds of thrust?