Sort of a kitten – this seal pup moves in and makes himself at home.
Posts Tagged ‘whimsey’
What is tattoo Tuesday about?
April 29, 2014This article from American Digest depicts what every kid wants – enough pieces and parts of building toys to make something REALLY BIG.
This is a fantastic marble raceway – and speaking of marbles. Wikipedia provides some insight into their history:
Various balls of stone were found on excavation near Mohenjo-daro. Marbles are also often mentioned in Roman literature, and there are many examples of marbles from ancient Egypt. They were commonly made of clay, stone or glass.
Marbles were first manufactured in Germany in the 1800s. The game has become popular throughout the US and other countries.
Ceramic marbles entered inexpensive mass production in the 1870s.
A German glassblower invented marble scissors in 1846, a device for making marbles. The first mass-produced toy marbles (clay) made in the U.S. were made in Akron, Ohio, by S. C. Dyke, in the early 1890s. Some of the first U.S.-produced glass marbles were also made in Akron, by James Harvey Leighton. In 1903, Martin Frederick Christensen—also of Akron, Ohio—made the first machine-made glass marbles on his patented machine. His company, The M. F. Christensen & Son Co., manufactured millions of toy and industrial glass marbles until they ceased operations in 1917. The next U.S. company to enter the glass marble market was Akro Agate. This company was started by Akronites in 1911, but was located in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Today, there are only two American-based toy marble manufacturers: Jabo Vitro in Reno, Ohio, and Marble King, in Paden City, West Virginia.
And the tattoos:
A tattoo of a marble
Tattooed marble statue
Someone getting airbrushed to look like marble
– not really a tattoo, but it is in the same vein
What am I reading?
April 24, 2014The Worst Book Ever – reblogged from PWxyz:
In 1987, The Book Services Ltd published a slim, 144-page cookbook called Microwave for One. The book is by Sonia Allison, who has quite a few publications under her belt. But she’s best known for her masterpiece of tragedy, a book whose title and cover is so rife with sadness that one almost has the urge to brush the invisible tears from Ms. Allison’s face as she leans over her microwave and her food spread.
Very little is known about the contents of the book, except for the few that have been lucky enough to chance upon a copy. Let’s turn to these Amazon customer reviews for some insight.
“After the divorce” by Benjamin L. Hamilton
After the divorce my diet consisted primarily of uncooked ramen and whiskey. Occasionally I wondered aloud if I’d ever have another home cooked meal again.
Then I discovered “Microwave for One” and everything changed.
My favorite chapters were:
Chapter 1: Plugging in your Microwave and You
Chapter 4: How to Wait 3 Minutes
Chapter 11 [BONUS CHAPTER]: Eating with Cats
In closing, I give this book 2 thumbs up (and a paw!). Thanks Sonia Allison!
“Would have starved to death if not for this book” by Michael B.
Several essential parts of my furnace and my small portable stove had been stolen by my erstwhile wife, Lulu, and her accursed teenage consort (damn you both!) along with all of our blankets and my collection of antique cat food lids. With no funds to purchase a replacement, and being unable to produce anything edible from that most complicated and infernal of modern inventions (the microwave), I often resorted to eating bits of roadkill in the corner of my shed while trying to warm myself in a cocoon of shredded newspapers.
I found this book in a dumpster behind the local Taco Bell/KFC-combo franchise. It saved my life. Now, when I hold my gun to my forehead and rock slowly back and forth every night, keening with loneliness and despair, I am at least doing so with a belly full of salvation army rations seasoned and microwaved to perfection.
If only it could make the pain stop.
*sob*
“The book I’ve been waiting for” by Michael Senn
Ever since La Verne was killed in the thresher, my microwave has sat unused, as I only ever knew how to cook for two. But now, thanks to the magic of Sonia Allison’s inspirational tome, I have rediscovered the joy of living, loving, microwaving. I have accumulated enough empty boxes of Swanson Microwave Chicken to assemble them into life-sized sculptures of my grandchildren, with whom I dine each Tuesday.
“1001 vs. One” by Maurice Lemongello
As a huge fan of 1000 and 1 Ways to Cook Ground Beef (Although I use 9-Lives chicken flakes – doctor said no red meat), and What’s Really Cooking at Git’mo, I found Microwave Cooking for One an indispensable addition to my library. It and a serviceable Microwave oven were culled from the recycling area of the dump. What a gem! With a pocket calculator I figured out how to cook for more than one, and have started my own catering business. You can do a party of 16 or so out of one oven but it takes a lot longer than you’d think, and the outsides get a little chewy. My advice here is to get some cribbage boards and cards (from a flea market or your grammy) and serve cocktails while the meal is radiating. If you sell some tickets ahead of time you can score a half gallon of coffee brandy, some milk and if it’s really special some non-dairy hazelnut creme. Sonia’s recipes are some of the most economical I’ve seen, and in these tough times you can put smiles on the faces of your new customers and a few dollars under the mattress! After the meal it’s time for Walker, Texas Ranger on the VHS for that old timey family vibe! Thank you Sonia!
“Buy this book, or don’t, I don’t care anymore” by Michael Pemulis
It used to be that I got home from work and the only thing I’d want to put in my mouth was the cold barrel of my grandfather’s shotgun. Then I discovered Sonia Allison’s Chicken Tetrazzini, and now there are two things.
“Best thing ever after alien abduction” by Louis Green
I have been abducted by aliens 16 times during the past 3 ½ years. After the probes and biopsies it is really comforting to open up the book I treasure most of all – Sonia Allison’s Microwave For One.
Yes her Chicken Tetrazzini recipe is amazing, but a little run-of-the-mill for me. I am an adventurous foodie, so I go straight to the gourmet section. Popcorn with hot water is my go to dish every time I want to impress my imaginary girlfriend and her family. I have served them every recipe in the book and they always ask two things. What’s my secret and can I give them some to take home.
I plan on popping the big question soon, and you better believe Sonia Allison will be right there with me! Ssshhhh… Not so loud the guards are coming!!!
What is watermelon Wednesday about?
April 23, 2014
What am I sappy cat blogging?
April 18, 2014
Cmdr. Samuel Vimes attempts to send back his new brother, Hobbes.
Good thing Zappos returns are free.
Just kidding – they get along great. It is just that boxes are irresistible.
What is watermelon Wednesday about?
April 17, 2014
I posted my watermelon cake and cookies earlier this month.
Here is some more watermelon food art that I like.
What am I Lego loving?
April 10, 2014
“For a certain set of artists and thinkers, Legos are not mere child’s play, but objects of both abstract and formal perfection.”
When Bjarke Ingels, the visionary leader of the Danish architectural firm BIG, first heard about the competition to build the Lego House, a museum and activity center near the toy company’s headquarters in Billund, Denmark, he gathered his staff. “If there was one building that BIG was founded to build,” Ingels announced, “this is it.”
For Ingels, Lego proportions have a mystical perfection that “borders on the Da Vinci code.” Like most enthusiasts, Ingels refers to them as “bricks,” not “Legos”; he doesn’t see them as toys, but as tools for “systematic creativity.'”
Some LEGO history:
“When Ole Kirk Kristiansen founded Lego in 1932, the company made wooden toys, but after World War II, it switched to plastic. The Lego brick as we know it today was developed in the mid-1950s. From the start, it was a feat of classic Scandinavian design: clean, practical, reliable and somewhat revolutionary with its “clutch power,” which made it easy to snap and unsnap. Today, Lego enthusiasts marvel that those first Legos still fit perfectly with the current ones, and that six identical eight-studded bricks can be combined in more than 900 million ways. “The human condition is, sadly, divisive,” the British television host James May said on an episode of his show “Toy Stories,” on which he explored a full-size house he built entirely out of Lego bricks. “But there are simple spiritual experiences that unite all of humanity in unqualified communal joy: sex, the dance, foot massage — and to those I would add the simple sensation of pressing Lego bricks together.””
I don’t think I posted this video of James May’s Toy Story that shows how a battalion of volunteers built him a LEGO house. Here is a short clip of the results.
What am I talking about?
April 8, 2014Just for fun – I am listening to British accents. A charming clip by Steven Wilson on Never Yet Melted.
What am I buying?
April 7, 2014This Pharmacy Prescribes Monster Spray to Kids that are Scared of the Dark
Photograph via Barrett Pharmacy
In the small town of Watford City, North Dakota (population 1,744), the local pharmacy has a cure for kids that are afraid of the dark.
Barret Pharmacy and Variety, 145 North Main St., Watford City, ND
The pharmacy prescribes children one bottle of ‘Monster Spray’ with the directions:
Spray around the room at night before bed, repeat if necessary
The bottle is good for 120 sprays and it has proven quite effective over the years. The Sifter reached out to several Monsters for comment but they did not respond to our inquiries.
You can’t be too careful.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 