Free 12 ounce California bookstore beverage. [tnx mjmc]

How to build simple telegraph sets.

Diagram on how to apply lightning protection.

Willie prefers to travel up and down the coast from Mexico to Canada. If you want to drink with West Coast Willie, bring your own bottle; he don't share. -From a great collection of hobo wood carvings.

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Anatomy of the vocal tract.

Slow-motion animation of the vocal folds vibrating during speech. Yikes!

"Nestle is committed to communicating responsibly with all our consumers, particularly children." -The marketing of food to children.

Recent interview with Tyler Hamilton.

Graham Watson photographs from this week's Tour de Romandie in Switzerland.

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Very long list of people throughout history who did not have children.

BBC photo gallery: Iraq sandstorm.

Camouflage bibles.

Why monkeys do not make good pets. With photos!

A how-to guide for constructing your first posed skeleton.

Japanese ant image database.

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Garden Benches: Information about garden benches.

Icees are not Slurpees. Slurpees are not Icees. Don't be led astray; use these useful tips to be sure you're getting the real thing. -Icee Identification.

The grading of British exams to be outsourced to India.

An Indonesian villager carries his grandchildren in baskets tied to the bicycle in the village of Srandakan in Bantul district, central Java.

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Paw-Licious cookie jars.

Super Mario Cipollini retires.

If motor homes were cars. Or something.

Large collection of nice, behind-the-scenes photos from last week's Tour de Georgia.

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Short interview with Alexandre Vinokourov.

Too young for the head shop? Too old for the mosh pit? Then you're one of the more than 43 million Americans who were born from 1958 through 1968. You are a baby buster! -Oh.

Holy mountains of the world.

History of malaria.

Large group of triathlete trainees preparing for an early morning swim in the San Francisco Bay a few weeks ago.

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Fish names in Japanese, Swedish, Hawaiian, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Norwegian, and Russian.

A guide to common vegetables in Singapore.

Fruits of warm climates.

A listing of State and Country fairs throughout the United States.

What not to compost.

All about ice dams.

Tobacco... an important part of our country's past, present, and future. Tobacco... working for America. -Tobacco, not so bad.

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New bicycle gear at Sea Otter 2005. [via bike riding donut guy]

A recipe for country-style groundhog. Yum!

Commercial crabs in Hong Kong waters. Part of a much larger site on Hong Kong marine life.

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What your neighbors are saying about leaf blowers.

Australian whips.

Lunch meat carpets. [via growabrain]

Anatomy of an insulator.

Ship models inside lightbulbs.

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Not all strikes are swings and misses. Often to get called strikes, you need to frame the pitch. Frame only the close ones or the umpire will ignore your efforts. -How to sell a strike.

Baseball Hall of Fame gravesites.

Nonlinear models of baseballs and softballs.

NBC's "The Apprentice" is essentially one long commercial.

Australian camel art.

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Smokey the Cat has been stuck in a tree for 11 days.

Important characteristics of racing camels.

Pet cigarette trade cards. [via !]

The hideous melon heads of northern Ohio.

Ohio's trees. Also, Ohio champion trees.

Vintage postcards from Columbus, Ohio.

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He was famous for throwing and destroying objects; he would always throw his hat, destroy his watch, and stomp on his glasses when he got angry. He would throw anything he could get his hands on. One his favorite projectiles was a water jug that was always on his desk. It was always left empty, and the equipment manager would always have six replacement jugs available for the ones he broke. -Legendary Ohio State Buckeyes football coach Woody Hayes.

What is an Ohio Buckeye?

Magick spells of all sorts. Potentially useful.

Jens Voight during yesterday's Fléche-Wallonne cycling race in Belgium. Also, coverage from this week's Tour de Georgia.

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Large listing of public libraries in Europe.

Tales of library lunacy.

Charlie Chan does not like landmines.

While rummaging through some old boxes while in Ohio this past week, I found the following unmailed letter written when I was barely 11 years old:

Nov. 29, 1978

Dear Cheryl Ladd, I think you are 10,000 times better than Farrah Fawcet Majors (I really mean it). I like the "Charlies Angels" where you see a man kill another man with a stick, and the man who killed the other man tries to run you over with his car and throws you into a trash corner. I would like to hit that man so hard that he would see stars. Could you please send me a picture or poster of "Charlies Angels" (with you in it). If you want me to send any money please write back and say so. You are Pretty!!!! Your Best Fan.

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Regular, link-filled update tomorrow once mind fully returns from a very relaxing and enjoyable vacation.

Many, many real nice photographs of Asia by Kevin Kelly.

Back scratcher's T-shirt. Genius. [via j-walk]

OLN's cycling broadcast schedule.

Funny things to do with your microwave. [via look at this...]

Now that the majority of Western households have got one of everything, the designers are looking at ways to make you buy another one of everything. One approach is to invent new things, so that just when you thought you had everything, you realise that you haven't. -You need two of everything.

Ten manly drinks. [via diversionz]

Guidelines for controlling beavers and preventing roadway damage.

The danger of porcupines. Not pretty.

Marmots of the world.

Many drawings of muskrats.

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The popcorn fork. What will they think of next? [via life in the present]

No updates until sometime next week as we're off to Ohio to check on some roots and celebrate a certain somebody's two year birthday. Photos and cow-tipping stories to follow.

Free Ben & Jerry's ice cream April 19th. Mark your calendars! [tnx mjmc]

Goat's milk ice cream. Yum?

Test your knowledge of goat anatomy.

From yesterday's Paris-Roubaix cycling race. Also known as the Hell of the North.

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You can be in the back of a cab and say, 'Hey, where can we go to dinner?' Starting next week, the first of 200 taxis will hit the road with computer screens offering riders news and listings for restaurants, bars, movie theaters and museums. -We cannot escape advertising.

Very large satellite image of Area 51.

Watching Friday's solar eclipse from a village in western Colombia.

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Plumbing the depths: an in-depth, critical survey of plumbing in the movies.

Organ selling.

An excerpt from Phil Lesh's new book.

The hick-hop of Cowboy Troy, the only 6-foot-5 black rapping cowboy in country music.

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There is of course the danger of crocodiles or hippo. Do not go near the water at night. If you want to wash or refresh yourself it is best to go to the water with another person. Have him or her stand near you and be on the look out while you wash. Watch out for eyes or nostrils protruding from the water. -How to survive in Botswana's bush.

A list of ATM machines in Botswana.

High school pirate radio stations of the 1960s.

How to be an FM radio pirate.

Photos from the installation of a radio station antenna.

Cards from Happy Families, a popular Victorian card game. Part of a large collection of illustrations from children's literature.

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A Seattle lexicon. Also, a Los Angeles dictionary.

Pretty Dutch girls on a pedal-powered mobile beer garden contraption.

Surfers save sailors from underneath the Golden Gate Bridge.

Very nice paintings of San Francisco. [via rashomon]

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Igor Smykov, the plaintiff, first went to court claiming that the cartoons popularize violence, drugs and homosexuality. He believes that watching The Simpsons made his six-year-old son nervous and naughty and its characters taught him to swear. -A Moscow court finds The Simpsons not guilty.

"Oh my god! There's an axe in my head." translated into 112 languages. [via B&Es]

Deep ocean photography gallery.

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Information on this Friday's partial solar eclipse.

The assistant warden's wife was found a short time later working at a chicken ranch elsewhere in the county, agents said. They were living together in the same trailer. -Warden's wife and escaped convict found after vanishing 10 years ago.

Soul Cycle - Custom mobile audio for bicycles.

From Craigslist: Rusty bike - $10.

An electric unicycle. [via e-blort]

So, you wanna be a psychic and give psychic readings, just like John Edward ? Pretty simple. All you have to learn is cold and hot reading techniques, an understanding of probability, a slick tongue to fall on your feet gracefully, and you'll be on your way to scam lots of people. -Be a psychic, like John Edward!

Example of good and bad pickles. From a guide to making your own pickles.

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Building bridges from toothpicks. Marshmallows too!

A "doughnut" is the act of rotating the rear of the car around the front wheels continuously, thereby creating circular skid marks if done right, and causing lots of tire smoke. -Videos of cars doing doughnuts. Instructions too!

German hot dog trikes - DM$7999.00.

51,605 pieces of mail delivered each day in Ashiya, Japan.

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How to eat cheap in Japan.

Garbage as art.

The radical simple design of Balcan Hypodermic needle DESTRUCTORS ensures the minimum of manual effort is required to chop most sizes of needles into piece. -Wow.

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Coping with snakes.

Mercedes Benz hearses. [via diversionz]

Riding over Belgian cobblestones during yesterday's Tour of Flanders.

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Virtual tours of hospital mercy ships.

Gulp! And sixteen inches of cold steel start to vanish down my throat. It's a cooling sensation - especially in summer - and helps to keep my inside free from impurities. But doctors don't recommend this method. -Sword swallowing quotes.

Five myths about Corinthian headwear.

National Geographic's guide to making a mummy.

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How to use beer.

SF Chronicle's list of top 100 Bay Area restaurants.

Bush and Jesus.

Public information on foot and ankle operations.

Bicycle blending.

Nice collection of face jugs and jugheads.

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Men hunt I think maybe because they have something wrong with their own equipment and they need something else to shoot. -Pamela Anderson, from a collection of vegetarian quotes.

Myths about vegetarianism.

A lot of information on seducing married women. Be careful.

As sometimes it may happen that dirt and stains abound, I've got it on my list, I've got it on my list, that the best of scouring soaps will Scourene e'er be found. Your dirt will soon be missed, your stains will soon be missed. -Japanese trade cards. [via cynical-c]

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Anti-Masonic tactics.

How to tell a seal apart from a sea lion.

How to make hot dog cookies.