Ruben Smit, from The Netherlands, wins the Animal Behaviour: All Other Animals category. To get this image of mating toads, Ruben pushed his camera into the pond in a watertight housing. So frenzied is the activity down there that toads tried to mate with his hands.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Mating toads
Unusual catfish baits
Ty Freeman (didn't say where he was from) has caught several channel cats in a farm pond with candy gummy worms.- Patrick Thibodeaux (didn't say where he was from either) caught a 7 pound catfish with a hunk of pepperoni stick.
- Isaac from North Carolina claims that he saw a man catching some big catfish in a stocked pond with mice.
- Eric Schaeffer (location unknown) claims to have caught a 14 pound catfish with a chunk of Milky Way candy bar.
- Joe Wakeman of Clearlake California says an old tried and true catfish bait is Ivory soap and I believe him since I have heard of soap being used successfully for cats before.
- Kristof Tigi (location unknown) claims to catch his catfish with saltwater taffy and bubble gum.
- ill from Lower Lake California catches his Clear Lake catfish with either one large marshmallow or 3 or 4 mini's.
- Isaac from North Carolina claims that he saw a man catching some big catfish in a stocked pond with mice.
Quotes about muskie fishing
Don't ever give up - 51 1/2" last cast, last day, last spot.
Why didn't you go potty Before ya get on the boat??
Bud light and slimy handshakes welcome in my boat.
If you can cut it with a knife, a musky can bite thru it.
I smell something musky. Is it my fishing partner or the fish?
For fishermen it is SPORT, for muskies it is a matter of life and death.
Fish for fish where a fish would fish for fish if a fish were fishing for fish
It's hard to catch 'em when your lure's in the trees.
It's hard to catch 'em when your lure's in the trees.
The only magic lure is the wet one.
Muskies are always shallow, deep, or somewhere in between.
Always keep a knife on you, so when the 100 pounder strikes you can save yourself and your rod.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Musical breast implants
Computer chips that store music could soon be built into a woman's breast implants.
One boob could hold an MP3 player and the other the person's whole music collection.
BT futurology, who have developed the idea, say it could be available within 15 years.
BT Laboratories' analyst Ian Pearson said flexible plastic electronics would sit inside the breast. A signal would be relayed to headphones, while the device would be controlled by Bluetooth using a panel on the wrist.
According to The Sun he said: "It is now very hard for me to thing of breast implants as just decorative. If a woman has something implanted permanently, it might as well do something useful."
The sensors around the body linked through the electrical impulses in the chips may also be able to warn wearers about heart murmurs, blood pressure increases, diabetes and breast cancer.
Forgot someone's name?
Names to Use When Responding to People Who Know Your Name But Whose Names You Never Learned or are Temporarily Drawing a Blank On, In Decreasing Order of Effectiveness
Bud- You
- Guy
- Man
- Chief
- Big Guy
- My Man
- My Main Man
- Big Chief
- My Main Big Chief Guy
- Ji- am... ohn- Ste... Lou
- Darlin'
- Little Lady
- Little Darlin'
- You Fine Fat Fellow
- Sweetiecakes
- Your Holiness
- Your Bad Self
- You Sweet Thang
- You Son-of-a-Bitch
- Doug
- Thelonious
- Really Morbidly Obese Guy
- Mistah Charley
- King Kamehawhatever
- Chief Wahoo
- My Nigga
- Sweet-Tits
- Not-So-Sweet-Tits
- Chief Knockahoma
- My Chinaman
- You Big Dumb Son-of-a-Bitch--No, This Guy Knows I Love Him, Don't Ya, Asshole?
- Your Royal Jerkoffness
- Mr. Garfunkel
- Dad
Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde - My eyes are deceiving me
Do you remember the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Dr Jekyll, the famous scientist, is not all he seems, and the other side of his character - Mr Hyde - is, you will recall, a distinctly nasty piece of work.
Continuing the idea of the two sides of the human character, have a look at the picture above. On the left is Dr Angry, and on the right is Mr Smiles.
Now, back away from your computer screen. This effect will work at different distances for different people, but you should see the two characters swap over...! As you come closer to the screen again, they revert to their original characters. Spooky or what!
As optical illusions go, we think this is pretty impressive. A short explanation goes something like this. When we look at an object, we can normally see both fine detail and coarse detail. However when we are close, the fine detail will dominate, and when we are further away, we lose the fine detail, and see more of the coarse detail.
Both of the faces you see above are hybrids - each face is actually a combination of two faces. The left hand face shows an angry man in fine detail, but within the picture there is also coarse detail of the calm face. Move away, and you lose the fine (angry) detail, and just see the coarse (calm) detail.
The right hand face shows the calm face in fine detail, and the angry face in coarse detail.
This is based on work by Dr Aude Oliva (MIT) and Dr Philippe Schyns (University of Glasgow). You can read the original paper here.
See more illusions here.
Gas price variances
Last weekend I went on a fishing trip to Bennett Springs State Park near Lebanon MO. Before I left I filled up at my local Mobil station for $2.77 per gallon for regular unleaded.
When I got to Lebanon three quarters of a tank later) the price at the Kum & Go gas station was $2.27 per gallon. (I noticed a station in the next block selling it at $2.26 per gallon.) I asked the clerk why the prices were so low. She said they just went down a day or two before from $2.34 per gallon. She also told me that at their highest, a few weeks ago, unleaded was $2.99 per gallon.
When I got back home the price had dropped to $269 per gallon. Wonder why the big difference.
Things I hate about people
1. People who point at their wrist while asking for the time.... I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?
2. People who are willing to get off their ass to search the entire room for the T.V. remote because they refuse to walk to the T.V. and change the channel manually.
3. When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". Damn right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?
4. When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they? Gonna Kick their asses!
5. When people say while watching a film "did you see that?". No Loser, I paid $12 to come to the cinema and stare at the damn floor.
6. People who ask "Can I ask you a question?".... Didn't really give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?
7. When something is 'new and improved!'. Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, couldn't be new.
8. When people say "life is short". What the hell?? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever does!! What can you do that's longer?
9. When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks "Has the bus come yet?". If the bus came would I be standing here, dumbass?
Thanks Phyllis
A conversation between God and Eve
Lord, I have a problem."
"What's the problem, Eve?"
"I know that you created me & provided this beautiful garden & all of these wonderful animals, as well as that hilarious comedic snake, but I'm just not happy."
"And why is that Eve?"
"Lord, I am lonely, and I'm sick to death of apples."
"Well, Eve, in that case, I have a solution. I shall create a man for you."
"Man? What is that, Lord?"
"A flawed creature, with many bad traits. He'll lie, cheat & be vain; all in all, he'll give you a hard time. But he'll be bigger, faster & will like to hunt & kill things. I'll create him in such a way that he will
satisfy your physical needs. He will be witless & will revel in childish things like fighting & kicking a ball about. He won't be as smart as you, so he will also need your advice to think properly."
"Sounds great," says Eve, with ironically raised eyebrows, "but what's the catch, Lord?"
"Well ...you can have him on one condition."
"And what's that, Lord?"
"As I said, he'll be proud, arrogant, & self admiring..... So you'll have to let him believe that I made him first. And it will have to be our little secret........You know, woman to woman."
Thanks Phyllis
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Last game at old Busch Stadium in St. Louis MO
Here is a picture I took last night in the bottom of the 6th inning of the last game ever to be played at Busch Memorial Stadium. The Houston Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5–1, to win the NLCS. Houston will advance to the World Series against the Chicago White Sox.
Here is a shot of the new stadium being built on the right as I left Busch Stadium (on the left).
Here is my wrinkled ticket to the last game. Home Game 3, which was game 6 of the NLCS, played on October 19, 2005. Astros took the series 4 games to 2.
I’ll post my unused World Series ticket in the next couple of days.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
16 hours of orgasms
But don’t get too excited — because those hours of joy are spread over 78 years. It means we’re actually getting a measly 2.02 SECONDS of eyeball-rolling delight every day. 
THE average human is capable of enjoying orgasms lasting SIXTEEN hours, new research shows.
Cow abducted by UFO
Here is a picture from some video footage of a cow being abducted up into a UFO. Interesting.
You be the judge.
10 foot snake pops up in toilet
MEET Keith...a 10ft boa constrictor who has been captured after popping up in the loos at a posh block of flats.
The snake had terrified tenants since it was first spotted in a toilet last week, after living in sewage pipes for three months.
People had to put bricks on their loo seats to stop the Keith slipping into their bathrooms.
Firemen were even called in to try to track him down in the pipework.
But it was not until Saturday night that a plucky resident finally trapped him in a bucket.
Top 14 things not to do while drinking - Part II
14> Work on the opening statement for your client's murder trial.
13> Pose for your middle-school yearbook photo.
12> Begin a sentence with "Hey, watch this...."
11> Light your farts with a blow torch. Sure, it *seems* like a good idea at the time.
10> Get around to answering that email from the guy in Nigeria who says he needs your bank account number so he can apply for U.S. citizenship.
9> Approach Russell Crowe.
8> Explain to your wife how you love her more every year, because every year there's more of her to love.
7> Go cow-tipping in your Oldsmobile.
6> A) Make a visit to "Oprah" to talk about your new girlfriend.
B) Discuss the pros and cons of Ritalin with Matt Lauer.
5> Offer to give your car to anyone who can do more push-ups than you.
4> Explain the sheer genius of Scientology to those thick skulled morons at the biker bar.
3> Teach the baby her ABCs.
2> Confess to your buddies that whenever you say "Carmen Electra," you secretly mean Joy Behar.
and Topfive.com's Number 1 Thing Not to Do While Drinking...
1> Demonstrate to your kids the importance of mowing your pool.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Live NBC News reporter caught exagerating flood conditions
NBC's Michelle Kosinski uses a canoe in one foot deep water while reporting on the flooding in Wayne, N.J.
She implied that the water was very deep when all of a sudden two guys walk into the live picture. too funny.
Dragonfly
Some really cool close-up photographs.
More really cool close-up photographs – A photo blog by Robin.
Man walks through plate glass window
Really, really good magic trick. Click here to see the video. Worth the download time.
Monday, October 17, 2005
10 things your butcher won't tell you
…and the details on just one of them……
- 1. "I've never touched a bandsaw or even handled a side of beef."
- 2. "No special orders."
- 3. "The real money's in prepared foods — marinades, kabobs... ka-ching."
- 4. "You thought fat was bad; wait'll you get a load of the salt content."
- 5. "You are what the animal eats."
- 6. "This beef's 'all natural' — whatever that means."
- 7. "It's not all that clean back here."
- 8. "'Ground beef' is a euphemism."
- John Montana, a Boston executive, is a gourmet cook, but sometimes he just wants a burger on the grill. When the mood strikes, Montana doesn't buy any old ground beef. Instead, he selects a raw cut and asks the butcher to grind it on the spot. "That way, I know what I'm getting," he says. Excellent idea. Ground beef, especially that found in processed foods such as sausage and pizza toppings, is often extracted by a process called "advanced meat recovery," where carcasses are fed to a machine that strips soft tissue from bone. Consumer advocates warn that AMR increases the risk that spinal tissue — which can carry mad-cow disease — could be included among the processed meat. The American Meat Institute counters that the spinal cord is removed from all carcasses before being stripped. Meanwhile, the first case of mad-cow disease in domestic-raised beef was discovered in Texas this June.
- But that's not the only worry with ground beef. It's also a bacteria magnet. During the grinding process and packaging, it's exposed to air that is rife with harmful bugs including listeria, staphylococcus and salmonella. It's so difficult to prevent infection that the USDA okays ground beef with 7.5% incidence of salmonella bacteria, versus just 1% for raw cuts. Most experts agree that's a reasonable level as long as meat is cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees, the temperature at which most pathogens are destroyed. The problem is, that's well beyond the popular medium rare.
- Our best advice: Find a butcher with a dedicated grinder for beef — you don't want any pork or chicken mixed in — and have your beef ground at the store. Then cook your burgers thoroughly.
- 9. "These pork chops could come from anywhere."
- 10. "Tainted meat slips through the cracks all the time."
Aquaskipper
Now you can fly above the water on the latest product from Inventist! A hopping motion propels you forward while the hydrofoil gives you lift. You will continue to move at speeds of up to 17 miles per hour above the water, where there is little drag. With the AquaSkipper, you can ride on waves, try new tricks, and race your friends. Tow it behind a boat for some extra fun! Any way you use it, the AquaSkipper is fun and a great way to exercise.
FEATURES
Lightweight Only $595 here
Fast, up to 17mph
Easy to learn
Easy disassembly for transport
Lots of fun!
SPECIFICATIONS
Weight: 24 pounds
Wingspan: 7 feet
Length: 6 feet
Material: aircraft aluminum
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