I'm not putting up the photo. You can thank me later.

Some guy found an enormous (well, relatively) venomous South American centipede behind his television in a London apartment.

News and photo here.

Could be worse

Well, let me tell you 'bout the way she looked, the way she'd act and the color of her hair

A group of pranksters dressed up as zombies and hoped to disrupt an American Idol audition in Austin, TX.

News Report

The American Idol folks were tipped off ahead of time. The Zombies were given appearence releases to sign and some are coming back for second cut.

It's Grilled Cheese Day!

Over at Slashfood It is just post after post about grilled cheese all day long (a breakfast grilled cheese made with french toast) and the world over (Naan).

Yum.

Just to add to the conversation let me just say: Nutmeg.

Nutmeg on a grilled cheese sandwich is quite delicious. I learned this from the same wonderful person who I had my first ever croque monsieur with just a couple of weeks ago.

Now they're just toying with me.

The celluloid extravaganza that was titled "Plane Full of Snakes" and then "Pacific Air Flight 121" is now called "Snakes on a Plane."

Longboat Full of Snakes

Neil Gaiman and Robert Zemeckis are teaming up to do a motion capture CGI film (like Polar Express) version of Beowulf. Pantomime acting in the big empty room will be done by Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Brendan Gleeson, Robin Wright Penn and special guest star Angelina Jolie (as "The Queen of Darkness").

No word on who will be playing Mom.

In heaven there is no sweet carbonated guarana drink

Japan Times has an article that is being forwarded around about a new beverage called Kidsbeer.

It's some sort of foamy soda-pop made with guarana instead of alcohol. It looks sort of disgusting, but the bottles have some attractive labels. I can't find a website for the actual "brewery" so I can't find any more information than is in the news report above.

Poking around other blogs, I can't tell who is getting more apoplectic about this. The parental types are worried about encouraging underage drinking while the beer types are worried that this will discourage the drinking of actual beer.

Fram!

The Sea Heart, a Viking ship made from popsicle sticks, has set sail.

I knew the Power Rangers. I worked with the Power Rangers. You sir,...

A news report haphazardly implied that a former child actor turned criminal was one of the Power Rangers.

Minutiae lovers have emerged to rescue the truth: He was a non-costumed non-speaking extra in three episodes.

Nothing more to see here. Move along.

Plane Full of Chickens

"Plane Full of Snakes" has now been retitled "Pacific Air Flight 121."

"...and the specific plane that is full of snakes will be Pacific Air Flight 121. That's why we call it [jazz hands] 'Pacific Air Flight 121!"

Perhaps next week it will be called "Pacific Air Flight 121 is Full of Snakes."

The movie industry might soon be saved

Filming is underway on a Samuel L. Jackson vehicle called "Plane Full of Snakes." The plot involves Jackson (and others) as passengers trapped on a transatlantic flight with 500 loose snakes.

I don't know why this brings me so much joy. But it does. I think it's my love of a clever title -- I wish I could see the pitch meeting:

"...and that's why we call it [jazz hands] 'Plane Full of Snakes!"

and we now thank the maker that we are not chairs

from the "Thog's Masterclass" section in the latest Anisble:

Spare Parts Dept. `Botha slipped out of his chair. It rocked briefly in his absence, then steadied to await the next set of perambulating buttocks.' (Alan Dean Foster, Diuturnity's Dawn, 2002) [GS]

Station Upgrades

The last time I went through King's Cross station there was nothing between platform 9 and 10. Now in this shot (that I pulled from wikipedia) I see that they've put up something for the lost looking tourists.

Frankly, I'm conflicted. There was a lovely stream of confused and dissapointed looking children before and now there is a photo-op. But it is a nice looking photo op. So there you go.

I dreamed I saw wild geese in flight

Malmesbury is built on the side of a valley where the wind whips around so furiously that a bird with any amount of skill can stay aloft for hours.

Close to a millennium ago, a monk named Eilmer lived at the Abbey which still stands at the center of town. Eilmer took to studying the birds as they swooped and glided around, and decided that he could try that too.

So he built himself some wings and jumped off the tower.

History records that at first he was able to glide roughly six hundred feet, then one of two things occurred:

1) He transferred from one air current to another, and having no experience at gliding, lost control.

2) He freaked out.

Eilmer survived, but was crippled for the rest of his life. He is recorded to have been a pleasant fellow prone to joking that if he were to do it again he would remember to affix a tail.

I adore Eilmer. Not just because it is so easy to laugh at the idea of something called "Elmer the Flying Monk," but because of what I can see (through the haze of historical records) of his spirit.

He saw something he wanted to try to do. He understood the risks, and went ahead anyway. And when he ultimately failed, he faced the consequences with dignity and humor.

All I'm doing right now is starting a blog. I'm not jumping off of some church tower. If this thing loses control or freaks me out, I'm walking away whole.

But right now, I'm seeing a long horizon and feeling the wind in my hair.

Kicking and screaming into the 21st century

Was that a tree falling over?