Inside a Homeland Security covert surveillance truck. [via boingx2]

Real-time map of the Space Shuttle's current position.

An article about the worldwide appeal of meat on a stick.

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An interesting look at the rescue rangers who patrol Mount Shasta.

Train tank car jargon. Excellent. [via metafilter]

Unicorn coins, stamps & other stuff.

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“The pro-cyclists don’t drink beer, smoke weed, but they don’t have the style. People can’t relate to them. The messenger kids can fucking ride, and they’re a lot more interesting to most people than zombie-looking, cyborg pro-racers.” -From an article about last month's Cycle Messenger World Championships in New York City. [tnx growabrain]

One year Sun or Moon rise/set table.

Radioactive consumer goods. [via look at this]

Submarine periscope manual.

From a nice exhibit entitled 'Ways of churning butter'.

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Types of edible fats.

A surviving an earthquake at home exam. Good luck.

How to make your own kazoos and flazoots.

Telephone diagram from the early 1900's.

A few galleries of paintings by New Zealand artist Caz Novak.

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New Zealand slang. Also, New Zealand drug statistics.

On Craigslist: Lance Armstrong autographed jacket - $250.

Hiccup sightings, fantasy stories and audio and video files. Fantasy stories?

The function of hiccups.

A virtual trip to Antarctica aboard the British Antarctic Survey's fleet of Twin Otter Aircraft. Also, aboard their vessel RRS James Clark Ross.

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What do pilots do on long flights? [via askmetafilter]

The world's only spinach mobile.

The Chester, Illinois Popeye statue.

My "spinach" is: my relationship with family, friends, and God; studying the Bible; reading books; listening to music; watching and meditating on thought-provoking movies and televisions shows. And I'm not ashamed to admit I need it. Like Popeye, I'll proudly and gladly "down my spinach" in full view view of the crowds. -From a collection of essays on Popeye and Christianity.

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How to create beautiful smoky cat eyes.

Slahal - Bone and stick gambling game.

The credit card industry has launched its own website to help people choose which card is right for them and avoid building up excessive debt. -Those credit card people, they're good people.

Migman's flight simulation museum. [via thingsmag]

Some nice native art carvings from the Pacific Northwest.

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Lance Armstrong headlines from around the world.

Does Sheryl Crow have a dark, dark past?

The multilingual birdsearch engine.

Eggs - A virtual exhibition.

Lance Armstrong toasts champagne with team director Johan Bruyneel. While Lance is probably not the best cyclist ever, he is certainly the greatest Tour de France cyclist ever.

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Pre-pro.com is a web site dedicated to pre-prohibition shot glasses in all their glory.

A sample cost estimate for a private pilot certificate.

From a huge collection of rum bottle labels from around the world.

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Closet, car, or ditch? The mobile home dilemma during a tornado.

All about storm shelters.

Fingerprint dictionary.

Girl selling pirated copies of the new Harry Potter book on the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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Think about sending a ham the next time you are faced with the loss of a loved one. Or if your office or neighborhood want to send something to the family instead of flowers. -Ham, is there anything it can't do?

The anatomy of a battery.

How to bake better baguettes.

Dutch rider Bram Tankink, currently in 109th place, accepts an umbrella from a spectator during yesterday's stage of the Tour.

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The Rum University - I think I went there.

Stop counting sheep, it's not working.

Alicia Silverstone discusses basic ISDN.

The lowdown on John Roberts. [via metafilter]

A freeze dried fish on a stick.

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1935 US Coast Guard painting regulations. [via thingsmag]

Come join in the laser light & percussion. Be careful.

BBC: Sea view helps cut stress levels.

Frequently asked questions about caffeine. [via look at this]

I'd almost forgotten about the wonderfully unique Tour de France photography of Caroline Yang.

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DZ: Stuart O’Grady can I ask you a question?
S.O: Yes.
DZ: Have you ever done any Kangaroo Boxing?
S.O: Negative
(another rider tells him, "you know that is going on his website?")
S.O: In that case I have done a little pub boxing.
DZ: Thanks.
-Cyclist Dave Zabriskie interviews Tour riders? [via lanterne rouge]

The Lance Armstrong/Trek Bicycles connection.

A photo of freeze-dried earthworms. Blood worms too!

"Why have most great inventions and advances in science and industry come from temperate zones? Because for centuries tropical heat has robbed men of energy and ambition. There was no air-conditioning. So they took siestas, seeking relief from heat and stifling humidity," -The BBC on air conditioning in America.

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Hot spots for Dairy Queen franchises.

Texas-shaped ice cube trays.

New Zealand researchers have found a bizarre seal suicide site in Antarctica, where dozens of seals have inexplicably left the ocean, travelled 30km inland and gone over a bluff to their deaths. -Mass seal suicides in Antarctica. Stupidity blamed.

A women with rather large arms watches riders pass by during today's stage of the Tour.

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German newspaper interviews Eddy Merckx.

The Monastery of the Holy Cross Bed & Breakfast.

Buffalo Psychiatric Center.

An F-18 cockpit. From a collection of cockpit photos. [via The Pryhills]

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Expat bars in Paris, Shanghai and Barcelona.

The Digustoscope.

Updating map of earthquake activity near dams.

The peloton passes through a town in southwestern France this morning. The Tour ends Sunday in Paris.

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Velogal's race blog.

The peloton passes through a cave in the Pyrénées while Lance Armstrong keeps an eye on Ivan Basso, the only one capable of matching his pace in the mountains.

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Motorcycles of the Tour de France.

A day on a Tour motorcycle.

"I'm a little disappointed, but if you are not climbing with the big boys, then that's the way things go. It was super-hard out there - I can't think of a time in the stage where I was not suffering." -Australian Cadel Evans after yesterday's epic stage of the Tour.

Well written Tour weblog by sportswriter Martin Dugard.

How pharmaceutical companies choose their names. [via robotwisdom]

The BBC on magic mushrooms.

How to read and understand a street address in Japan. [via growabrain]

'Guerrilla Christ' a 1969 poster by Oscar Rostgaard commerating the death of Camillo Torres, a Columbian priest killed in combat. More Christ images at Christ Portrayed.

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Organic lawn care for the cheap and lazy.

Weed identification.

I went to a SNOW (Shit Nailed On Walls) joint the other day ("Chili's") for the first time in a decade and I just wanted to hammer a knife into my skull. I especially liked the post-food upsell ... the waitron unit used some weird phrasing like "What kind of dessert are we going to split between us?" -From Cardhouse, a funny-as-hell weblog.

Frenchman David Moncoutié appearing very happy to have won yesterday's Bastille Day stage.

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Comprehensive list of cults and other groups of interest.

Cool gallery of bonsai art.

The Tour climbs the Col du Galibier in yesterday's stage.

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London's streets creaked and rattled with nervous new cyclists Friday after bicycle sales rocketed in the wake of bomb blasts on three underground trains and a double-decker bus. -Londoners take to cycling.

Fox used deceptive advertising during the All Star game. Bastards. [via robotwisdom]

Differences between the film and book versions of The Grapes of Wrath.

'The Catcher in the Rye' book covers from around the world.

Large collection of artifacts and ephemera from nursing's past.

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Before beginning a workout, drink half a Diet Coke. The caffeine can lower the perceived difficulty of the exercises. And the easier they seem, the longer and harder you'll be able to train. -From a Men's Journal/Coca-Cola article on health tips for men. [via look at this]

Brussels sprouts photo album.

A pair of Psalm 33:12 shoes. God help us. [via B&Es]

Zombies: Why so fun? Everyone loves the living dead. What's the draw? -Seventeen questions from Neva Chonin.

Nice collection of 'library career romance' book covers and information. [via 1mansafari]

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A most strange and true report of a monsterous fish ... in the parish of Pendine in the countie of Carmarthen. -An item from the National Library of Wales. More.

Potato Chip Color Reference Chart, Pretzel Quality Manual and Presumed Crunchy. -Three of the publications/videos available from the Snack Food Association.

Riding through a tunnel during yesterday's stage 10 of the Tour de France.

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Sheryl Crow, Tour de France groupie. [via TdF blog]

How hard is the Tour de France?

A weblog devoted to the 'Lanterne Rouge', the last placed rider in the Tour. Excellent.

The most important safety rules of cave diving.

Billion dollar US weather disasters, 1980-2004.

Four minute interview with Frank Chu, San Francisco's favorite potentially insane protester.

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Hotel in Amsterdam returns a guest's bag of pot? Hmm. [via presurfer]

From Craigslist: Dear Sundance you incompetent junkie douchebag car thief.

"This is easier, this is better," Lua said, standing beside his bright red rig one recent morning at a company terminal in York, Pa. "I don't work (outdoors) in the hot weather or the cold weather. I'm in my truck, I have air conditioning and I have heat." -One in seven truckers is Hispanic.

Setlists for all the performers from the Live 8 concerts earlier this month. [via johngushue]

The profile from today's stage as the Tour enters the Alps. Now we'll find out whether Lance has any real competition.

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Artifacts and images from the John Brain Collection of the first golden age Of bicycle kustomizing.

Neat photo of the crowd as the peloton blurs by during Friday's stage of the Tour.

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And, despite skepticism from our baffled friends and family who wonder how watching a bunch of skinny guys in fluorescent Lycra ride for hours could possibly be exciting, there is drama -- every single day. -SF Chronicle's CW Nevius on Tour de France fever.

Bicycling Bush hits Scottish cop; both hurt slightly.
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From Craigslist: your librarian hates you if...

A homemade ultimate water gun. Also, water gun war tactics.

Notes on American English.

Some really awful Daisy Duke dolls.

Lots of hurricane sex in Florida.

Unintentionally sexual comic book covers: part 1. [via e-blort]

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Large archive of reggae lyrics.

The Rhetoric of Reggae Music - a course offered at the University of Vermont.

Yntrodxkshxn tu Nuspelynh. Hmm.

Anatomy of credit card numbers. [via growabrain]

Lorenzo Bernucci, a relatively unknown rider, wins stage 6 of the Tour after most of the peloton is taken down in a crash.

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Discovery Channel has two bodyguards assigned to Armstrong throughout the Tour - one, Erwin Ballarta, is a martial artist and full-time security consultant, while the other, Serge Borlee, is a Belgian policeman who has worked with Armstrong since 1999. -Security at the Tour de France.

Kinda neat bike/tent thing.

Gelatin brain molds for bicycle helmet demos.

According to police, officers spotted 41-year-old Charles Harrison naked when they arrived. He jumped on a bicycle and tried to elude police but was caught a short distance away. -Virginia man exposes himself to passing motorists.

A view from yesterday's stage of the Tour.

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Occasionally we would drift back to the Peloton and check out what was happening there. After a couple of hours, we dashed off the front at high speed to stop for lunch. We pulled over in a field and Patrick pulled an amazing lunch out of the trunk featuring pasta, fine cuts of steak, break, cheese, wine, and dessert. I was laughing as I sat with the other Parisian banker types from the other VIP cars enjoying our Tour de France picnic. We rushed roadside as the break approached to snap some pics and then jumped in the cars to re-insert ourselves back into the race. -Riding along with the Tour de France.

The photo finish photo (?) from yesterday's stage of the Tour.

A lot of quotes about libraries, librarians, and librarianship.

Don't Walk Chair. Working New York City signs. Custom modified metal frame with galvanized self adjusting feet. Adjustable flash speed. Two models: Road Tested & Squeaky Clean. [via tournez à gauche]

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Vacuum cleaner art.

Talk about the vacuum cleaner. Tell your son what the vacuum cleaner does. Tell him that it makes the carpet clean. -Vacuum cleaners and young children.

A Century of Sucking.

Very long list of things that suck.

How to sneak a peek under contest bottlecaps. Excellent. [via robotwisdom]

The unlucky Team CSC during yesterday's team time trial stage in the Tour de France.

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The TdF for the Rest of Us weblog.

On Craigslist now - a $4,300 Colnago bicycle.

The Cookie Lady of Afton, Virginia.

A look at the Sesame Street discography.

Used elongated coin machines.

People often portray Neanderthals as dull and grumpy but they had a strong sense of music. -Neanderthals were musical, not dull and grumpy.

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Nice gallery of train photography.

At issue is a system that regulates 720 intersections where a total of 5,000 traffic lights randomly switch from green to red, the newspaper said, citing a high-ranking traffic police whose name was not provided. -Major traffic issues in Lima, Peru.

Belgian Tom Boonen takes his second stage win in the Tour de France and takes over the role of super sprinter.

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Photo illustrating just how much of a contact sport cycling can be. Watch out for those crazy Aussies!

Rapidly updating live coverage of each Tour stage.

Alex Trautwig, the 14-year-old son of OLN-TV's Al "Please God, No" Trautwig, is keeping a weblog as he follows the Tour.

Troll art.

Very large collection of 'War of the Worlds' book covers. [via look at this]

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The casino was flooded with e-mails such as this one the USDA included in its report: "If there is audio & video of the tiger attack it should be analyzed for far-UV and or high ultra sonics, as well as other triggers that might be the work of a terrorist aiming at a high profile GAY target. -Though the Sigfried & Roy tiger mauling case is closed, the theories still run rampant.

How to build a treasure chest. Also, nuggets for sale.

Setlists from Mark Knopfler's current tour. Also, a tour journal.

Today is the first day of spring. Our obsessive-compulsive robin (Turdus migratorius) has returned for the third year. This bird spends hours every day attacking and/or mating with its reflection in the window and side mirror of my truck.

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All about ribs. A BBQ restaurant locator. Barbecue judging.

Know your fats.

From Craigslist: My cowboy boots for your bicycle.

Lance Armstrong and team take a training ride in preparation for tomorrow's start of the Tour de France.

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Interview with pro cyclist Chris Horner.

Daily Peloton's Tour de France Jambon Preview.

Phil & Paul bicycle bingo!