On the rare opportunity I get to New York City, my favorite place to stay is the hipster-decadent Soho Grand Hotel. The hotel's restaurant doubles as a contemporary photography gallery called, appropriately enough, The Gallery. Last year, I made it to The Gallery twice. The first time, I was absolutely blown away by Nat Finklestein's Warhol Factory photos that I'd previously only admired in books. A few months later, 70s rock documentarian Mick Rock's work was on display. It was fun eating breakfast with Ziggy Stardust and Lou Reed (again) looming above. Right now, fashion photographer Jamie Isaia is showing in The Gallery. I didn't know Jamie's work before but her surreal, haunting portraits still flood my brain with eerie afterimages weeks after I saw them. The show runs until January 15. (Image here from an editorial portfolio on Art + Commerce.)

From the GrandLife Art page:

Jamie Isaia evokes mood and atmosphere in a color-saturated, expressive photographic style that suggests dream-like, otherworldly scenarios. Though her images are thoughtfully scripted, they also reveal the unexpected and the spontaneous, resulting in a rich blend of performative elements rendered in a painterly photographic style. In this exhibition, her talent for bringing together landscape, portraiture and fashion is also apparent.

Isaia’s first ventures into fashion and portrait photography have demonstrated how successfully her unique and subtle vision translates to the page. Her work for iD, Italian Vogue, and W Magazine reveals a talent in ascendance within the sphere of fashion photography. She is also a regular contributor to Muse magazine and has ongoing collaborations with fashion designer Zac Posen.

Link to GrandLife Art page, Link to Jamie Isaia's site at Art+Commerce

DB Fletcher's Capstan Tables are amazing, expanding round dinner-tables. When you spin them by the outer edges, they separate into sseveral pie-shaped radial slices, revealing more slives beneath that rise up to make a seamless, much larger surface. Spin the table-edge the other way and the table shrinks back again. The videos have to be seen to be believed. Link (Thanks, Brandon!)

I just finished listening to the audiobook of Carl Hiaasen's new novel Nature Girl, read by Lee Adams. Hiaasen is my favorite crime writer of all time, an hilarious absurdist whose experiences as a columnist for the Miami Herald provide him with a bottomless supply of rounders, cads, fools and patsies for the cast of characters in his books.

Nature Girl is the story of Honey Santana, a mildly deranged single mom who is so infuriated at being insulted by a telemarketer that she lures him from Texas to Florida with the intention of giving him a stern dressing down. But her quest is complicated by her decent but crooked ex-husband, a dope-runner; the telemarketer's girlfriend, a bombshell whose five minutes of fame were in writing a fake tell-all sex memoir called Storm Ghoul; a half-blood Seminole who goes on the lam after a tourist drops dead on his fanboat tour; a lecherous fishmarket owner whose amputated thumb and forefinger have been swapped by an incompetent surgeon; and the telemarketer's wife and the private eye she sends to spy on her wayward husband.

This is vintage Hiaasen -- filled with convulsively funny comic situations, grave ruminations on the state of the Florida Everglades, lovable and detestable characters, and keen suspense. A great holiday read. Link

Reminder: today is the Xmas Felt Club, the semi-regular crafts fair in Los Angeles. I'm hoping to get all my Xmas shopping done in one go! Artisanal schwag for everyone!

Where: Ukrainian Cultural Center LA, 4315 Melrose Ave at Heliotrope
When: Sat, Dec 9, Noon-7PM

Link, Flickr Felt Club photos

An advertisement in the UK's Financial Times contained the signatures of 4,000 musicians who want the term of copyright on recordings in the UK extended from 50 to 95 years. Many of these musicians were long dead -- dug up from the grave and re-animated by the music industry to petition for the right to ensure that 80 percent of all music continues to disappear from the world because its copyright outlasts its commercial potential. Link (Thanks, John Mark!)

Chumby co-founder and Xbox hacker Bunnie Huang has recently returned from a trip to China, where he was arranging for manufacturing of his goods. He's written an incredible narrative of the trip called "Adventures with the Venture Communist" -- a rumination on the social, political and asthetic dimensions of China's runaway, cheap-as-hell manufacturing sector.

The fully-burdened rate of a worker in China is around $1.80 it seems–this is the rate that the employer pays once all the benefits (free food, housing, medical care, day care, etc.) are factored in. At these wages, laborers are cheaper than pick-and-place machines. In the US, you typically pay between $0.05-$0.25 per component placed on a PCB with a pick and place machine in low volume (100’s to 1000’s). I saw several electronics lines where about ten workers are lined up on a bench, bending and stuffing resistors and transistors into a moderately complex circuit board, and hand-dipping them in a solder bath. They crank out about 100 boards per hour; each employee is stuffing about four components, so 400 components per hour at $1.80/hour is $0.0045 per component. Setup and training for the line I saw took about 2-3 hours. So even if you were to run a few hundred boards, this is a very cheap assembly method indeed, as long as you can keep good quality control over the process.

Link

USB keys shaped like Xmas stockings -- themed, formed RAM as a stocking stuffer. Truly, we live in the future, and it is every bit as un-sexy as the past. Link (via OhGizmo)

An entrepreneur in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa has invented a "fold-away house" to be used as temporary shelter in disasters.

The waterproof, 14 square metre dwelling comes with two windows and a wooden door and weighs little more than 800kg, providing the basic requirements for emergency shelter.

Made from galvanised metal, it is easily transportable, being just 24 centimetres high when folded, and can be erected by a handful of people in under five minutes.

The container-like, modular structures can also be joined to provide accommodation for large families, as well as modified to include insulation and heat extractors.

Link (via Afrigadget)

Rickford Grant's "Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks" was just the book I needed. Since October, I've been a full-time Ubuntu user, having switched over from OS X. I had a couple bumps and false starts (to be discussed at a later time), but overall, I'm head-over-heels in love with my Stinkpad (network name: "Contrarian-Bastard") and Ubuntu.

But GNU/Linux is a many-headed beast. Remember that free software gets written when a programmer has an itch to scratch. Sometimes a group of geeks will get fed up with a clunky way of installing software, or editing a text file, or configuring your WiFi, and just hack up an entirely new way of doing it. Much of the time, the new way is better, or at least not worse, and that's great.

But this also means that there are sixty-leven ways of doing anything, from renaming your hard drive to setting your network up. And when you find a cool tool or the right fix online, half the time it seems to rely on you knowing how to do something that you haven't encountered yet.

Moreover, the essential Unix philosophy is do nothing until your owner tells you to -- plugging in new hardware doesn't necessarily trigger a "helpful" dialog box offering to predict what you intend to do with your widget and make it so. This has its good points, but if you don't know how to get a drive mounted already, it can be a little bewildering, not to mention frustrating. Ubuntu does a pretty good job with some hardware, but it's not consistent with my expectations after a lifetime of MacOS computing.

Enter Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks. It reads like one of David Pogue's excellent Missing Manual books -- a fast, crystal-clear topical tour of the amazing collective accomplishment embodied in Ubuntu. I learned something new in every chapter, and ended up with a computer that did more of what I wanted it to do, faster.

This book should come with every Ubuntu Live CD -- it's just the documentation I needed to take some of the mystery out of my machine. Link

Update: Dave sez, "No Starch Press publishes a lot of geek books that have been on my "to read soon" list, including Rickford Grant's 'Ubuntu for Non-Geeks.' Notably, quite a few of their titles are available in DRM-free PDF editions, in addition to the traditional dead-tree ones Amazon sells. These can be printed, if desired, and even shared with a friend. They have a great attitude about it, saying 'electronic books should have the same reader rights as printed books.' You can save trees, fuel, time, and middlemen."

Update 2: Patrick sez, "it should also be mentioned that, after you purchase the PDF, you won't necessarily be allowed to download it for as much as two days. This information is not plainly stated on any of the screens you navigate through when ordering the PDF; rather, it's behind a side link reading 'How do I get my PDF?'. They say 'Please note that because we don't have an automated delivery system, it may take 1-2 business days' to receive the custom URL for the PDF you ordered. In other words, they have an 'automated system' for immediately charging your credit card or PayPal account, but they can't be bothered to have a system for immediately delivering the digital data for which you've been charged."

Update 3: Bill Pollock, No Starch's founder, sez, "I'm a bit troubled by Patrick's comment which seems to suggest that we can't be bothered to deliver PDFs quickly, but that we're happy to take people's money without delay. You know, we just aren't that kind of company. The reason for the delay is that we process everything manually -- both the PDF delivery and credit card sales. I know, that sounds odd, but our site is basically the same static HTML site that we've had for about 10 years. We're about to launch a reworked site (based on Wordpress) which should allow us to process payments and deliver PDFs instantly, and that's a good thing.

"I've always made it a point to not charge credit cards until books actually ship because that's what I expect as a customer. I also think that it's important to give readers the same rights in their PDFs that they have in printed books because that's what I expect (hence no DRM). We do our best to give our readers what they want and to treat them as we would like to be treated."

Glassy Eyes is a terrific blog about buying super cheap prescription eyeglasses online. I followed Ira's advice and ordered a pair of prescription sunglasses for $13. My favorite part is Ira's response to an email from an optician:

OPTICIAN: You may be able to find a silhouette frame a little cheaper online but you are also forfeiting correct measurements and the service provided (future repairs and adjustments, complimentary ultrasonic cleanings, etc).

IRA: I wonder how many people you sell on ultrasonic cleanings. In theory it sounds like a good idea, but I think $320 is a bit much for an extended service plan.

OPTICIAN: Stores also have more overhead (salaries for qualified and experienced opticians, ulitity bills, etc) so you are paying for more than just the frame…you are paying for the overall service.

IRA: I can appreciate that. That's the reason I've gone to the same opthalmologist for the past 25 years. I want a qualified person checking my eyes -- after that it's numbers on a card and money-grubbing.

OPTICIAN:Also, let’s not forget that by patronizing local stores, you are helping the local economy. I would gladly pay just a little extra to support my community.

IRA: Don't start with the shop locally argument. I shop locally as often as I can. I'm a huge fan of the disappearing mom and pop shops of all kinds and will patronize them over a big-box store whenever possible. I support my community with volunteering AND my dollars. I'm not going to be screwed for it however.

Link (Thanks, Phil!)

Lauren Gard says:

I'm a reporter at the East Bay Express, based in Oakland (a sister paper to the LA Weekly, down in your neck of the woods). I've just published a cover story about an amazing photographer who has spent 25 years photographing nude girls and women, and collecting accompanying essays from them, in what he calls Bodies and Souls: The Century Project. (www.thecenturyproject.com [Link not safe for work])

I think boingboing readers would enjoy seeing one of Frank's pics, like the one of 94-year-old Mary or 41-year-old Keri. For people who've never viewed a woman Mary's age naked, or a physically handicapped woman like Keri naked, these photos are undoubtedly quite wonderful, eye-opening things!

The Express ran these photos and others in the article, and even in the liberal East Bay we've already gotten letters like this:

SUBJECT: Disgust
LETTER [verbatim]: I was just looking at your recent issue of the East Bay Express volume 29 number 9, and was disgusted and very upset with the nude images inside and on the cover, i understand your intention to share "art" but nude art is not acceptable within a paper it is pornography and the students of Chabot [local community college] shouldnt be exposed to this UN-Necessary "art"

Excerpt from Lauren Gard's article

His photos, although profoundly moving to some viewers, come as a shock to many, particularly when viewed out of context. Nude depictions of children and seniors are by nature taboo in a culture rooted in Puritanism. And most, although not all, of his subjects bear physical or mental scars, or struggle with their body image. Some are obese, anorexic, or bulimic. Some have been raped or abused. Some are afflicted with disease, while others have inflicted pain upon themselves. Desiree, nineteen, poses against a white cinderblock wall, a massive T-shaped scar dominating her chest. A year earlier, her uncle slashed her with a knife after she refused to let him have sex with her any longer. Kerry, 41, sits in profile, laughing, her unattached prosthetic legs resting beside her on the couch. Durga, 66, was given a hysterectomy in a Harlem hospital at age 31 without her consent. "Once, when the exhibit was at a college, several students approached me and said, 'We don't see anyone like us represented here. You need to have cutters,'" Cordelle recalls. He photographed one of the women the very next day.

Link

The wonderful TV program, Matinee at the Bijou, is returning to PBS, this time in HD format. With host Debbie Reynolds, each episode features a vintage cartoon, a short, a serial and a feature. (Here's a YouTube introduction to the program.) Link

A couple of nights ago I saw a large possum waddling through our back yard. I think it's the same possum I've seen several times over the last couple of years.

I told me three-year-old daughter about it the next morning and she wanted to know what a possum looked like, so I did a Google image search and found this photo.

I noticed that there was an audio story about a possum on the page, so I listened to it and really enjoyed it. It's a first person account of adopting a possum from a possum rescue organization.

Link

A report from the French firm Xiti Monitor shows the growth of Firefox in Europe, including this pretty map showing over a third of Germans, Poles and Slovenians are Firefox users, along with healthy dollops of people in the rest of Europe. I haven't touched Explorer in years, and it feels great. You all seem to agree -- 50.4% of Boing Boing readers use Firefox, compared to only 26.1% on Exploder. Link

Vienna's annual Roboextoica Festival of Cocktail Robotics is well underway. This annual, hilarious, wonderful un-conference features homebuilt cocktail robots (drinkers, mixers, cigarette lighters, conversation makers, und so weiter) from all over the world, as well as films, drinks, talks, and much more. I've been a guest at a few of these and they are plain stupendous. Link, Flickr "roboexotica" tag stream

This binary scarf encodes 122 bytes of data in its pattern of zeros and ones. Link (Thanks, Aija!)

A new report from the Open Society Institute makes a number of recommendations for the future of European copyright law, aimed at making sure that user's rights are harmonized across the continent.

Right now, every nation in the Union has to set out the same minimum rights for copyright holders, but the rights they give to the public can vary from country to country. So a legal parody in one country might be a criminal infringement across the border.

Most interesting is the report's work on DRM. Under Europe's copyright directive, every EU nation has to pass laws that stop people from breaking DRM, but it also requires the states to hold DRM vendors to account when their crippleware infringes on legitimate consumer rights.

The report focuses on "digital copyright" issues and suggests principles aimed at establishing best practices with regard to user autonomy and peer collaboration, diversity, and political and cultural participation. The study includes specific recommendations in controversial areas such as DRM anti-circumvention frameworks, private copying exceptions, teaching exceptions, exceptions for disabled people, exceptions for archives and libraries, as well as recommendations on issues such as reporting on current events, the quotation right, and provisions on caricature and parody, among others.

PDF Link (Thanks, Manon!)

A reader writes, "Red Hat Magazine has a list of gadgets for geeks, a sort of gift giving guide. Most are related to open source, DRM, etc. And you can enter to win a bunch of them. I'd never seen some of these things before, really cool stuff."

An xkcd t-shirt

xkcd t-shirts

Humor that ranges from geeky to dorky in snuggly, cotton form. Embrace your inner math nerd. Or just clothe the external one in a t-shirt.
$15
http://www.xkcd.com/

Link

Drivl's list of "What code DOESN'T do in real life (that it does in the movies)" should be turned into a stencil and spraypainted on alternating sidewalk squares leading up to the main gates of every movie studio in LA:

1. Code does not move
In films and television code is always sailing across the screen at incredible speeds; it's presented as an indecipherable stream of letters and numbers that make perfect sense to the programmer but dumbfound everyone else. I understand that to the non-savvy person the abilities of a programmer might seem amazingly complex, but do they honestly think we can read shit that isn't sitting still? It'd be like trying to read six newspapers flying around in a tornado. Sure, I can watch a kernel compile, tail a log file, or simply monitor the scrolling output of a program - but the most value I get out of those activities is when execution stops and I can actually scroll back to read what the hell happened (unless the output was going slow enough I could read it as it happened)...

4. Code is not three dimensional
Remember in "hackers" when the gibson is depicted as a three dimensional city that the hackers must navigate through? Bullshit! We may use a dash of color in our shell to make things a bit clearer, but last I checked my terminal app doesn't require OpenGL. I'm working here, bitches - I'm not playing quake.

Link (via Global Nerdy)

American troops in Iraq apparently use Silly String to reveal hidden trip wires that trigger bombs. From the Associated Press:

Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.

In other cases of battlefield improvisation in Iraq, U.S. soldiers have bolted scrap metal to Humvees in what has come to be known as "Hillybilly Armor." Medics use tampons to plug bullet holes in the wounded until they can be patched up.

Also, soldiers put condoms and rubber bands around their rifle muzzles to keep out sand. And troops have welded old bulletproof windshields to the tops of Humvees to give gunners extra protection. They have dubbed it "Pope's glass" — a reference to the barriers that protect the pontiff.

Link (Thanks, Gabe Adiv, who is growing a mustache for charity!)

Isaac sez, "I'm sure they're hell to shuffle, but you'll be the talk of the poker tournament! Get them in a sheet to mount as artwork, or punch them out and ante up." At £200 a deck, they might be a little pricey, but I suppose they'd make cheap and stylish novelty shuriken if sharpened the edges. Link (Thanks, Isaac!)

The author of Hollywood Escapes, Harry Medved, will lead a tour through Malibu Creek State Park on January 28 at 2 pm) to PLANET OF THE APES, M*A*S*H, LOGAN’S RUN, BUTCH CASSIDY and PLEASANTVILLE locations. Link

When Bruce Sterling was in Macedonia, he snapped a photo of these scary-looking sandals.

Kaden says:

Ever hear about Rolamites? The only "basic mechanism" invented in the 20th century, they came out of Sandia Labs in the mid '60's.

I've prototyped a few variations, and they're *damned* fascinating... almost like alien technology, or something that fell through that rip in the space-time continuum that leads to the parallel universe.

A guy named Don Wilkes developed them, and they're pretty freakin' cool. A couple of rollers tracked into a spring metal band, and Bob's yer uncle: stored energy with (no shit) frictionless constrained movement,

I remember reading about them in PopSci when they were first developed, then promptly forgot about them, what with being 9 years old and all. They popped back into my mind last night while pondering the Zen of primary mechanisms.

They currently seem to be *somewhat* popular in force sensor mechanisms, and there's ongoing research into using 'em in prosthetic joints, but for all intents and purposes, they've fallen through the cracks, Makerwise.

Link

Reader comment:

Brandon says: here's a rolamite letter scale. I'd have to say it's probably the most beautiful scale i've ever seen.

The 17th volume of the wonderful art and comics magazine, Blab!, is available from Fantagraphics.

This volume of BLAB! features a cover by Jonathan Rosen, and: the BLAB! debut of popular artist Shag!; a full-color tribute to Bazooka Joe; Sue Coe and Judith Brody’s “… And Not a Drop To Drink,” an exploration of the destruction of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast by angry gods of wind and water against a backdrop of war; Greg Clarke’s “The Pungent Gaul,” a surprisingly harrowing story of a frenchman who smuggles illegal cheeses from his homeland into the United States and sells them on the black market; Drew Friedman’s 4-pager “Old Jewish Comedians” selected from his new Blab! Storybook; Peter Kuper’s story of the various ways he’s almost died; more “Fetal Elvis” from Mark Landman; “Max Vesta, Matchbook Artist,” the true story of the art and life of the unsung and little known (except to a few collectors and connosieurs) master of the matchbook cover; Lou Brooks invites us into his “Garden of Tongue-listing Twimericks” — your mouth will never be the same; Peter and Maria Hoey’s “Out of Nowhere,” the story of Coleman Hawkins and Django Reinhart’s years in pre-WWII Paris; plus stories by Tim Biskup, Gary Baseman, Fred Stonehouse, Marc Rosenthal, Spain, Mats!, and Sergio Ruzzier.

Link

This unusual rifle camera is a vintage Leica Gun with 400mm Telyt lens. Apparently, these are quite rare. Seems to be just the thing for a photo safari. The Leica Gun will be up for auction next month as part of the Tamarkin Photographica Rare Camera Auction.
Link

UPDATE: BB reader Stephen Kupiec writes, "While Leica rifle cameras are rather rare, KMZ Russia produces the PhotoSniper series of Zenit SLRs with Tair 300mm Telephoto lenses mounted on rifle stocks."
Link

The amazing artist Bill Barminski directed this awesome animated film based on the journal of an 11-year-old kid. Link

You have four more days to enter NPR's "First Ever Holiday Craft Contest. Design either a handmade menorah or kinara (the candle holder for the Kwanzaa holiday) or a Christmas tree ornament. We are looking for designs that reflect the news of 2006. We also welcome quirky, funny and/or offbeat designs."

Carla Sinclair (Craft) and Phil Torrone (Make) are among the judges.

Link

Original cyberpunk novelist John Shirley is on The RU Sirius Show this week talking about a new novel that's a response to the Left Behind Christianist end-times books.

And on NeoFiles, regular Wired Contributing Editor Patrick Di Justo displays a great sense of humor as the conversation ranges from skyscrapers to string theory. Link

Book Soup is hosting an event tonight for the awesome new Feral House book American Hair Metal.

Pomp and spandex will once again rule the Sunset Strip, if only for an evening, as American Hair Metal author Steven Blush comes to Los Angeles to tell tales and engage in an orgy of book signing madness. Author Steven Blush’s best-selling American Hardcore: A Tribal History (Feral House, 2001) is now a documentary feature film. Blush will also be signing copies of American Hardcore.

With a slide show and a special appearance by Jan Kuehnemund of VIXEN and other surprise guests!!

Free alcohol, snacks and homemade cookies!

American Hair Metal at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., Thursday, December 7th, 7-9 pm.

Link

Phil Kline's 15th annual boombox Christmas parade through NYC streets takes place Dec. 16

On Saturday, December 16 at 7:00 pm, starting at the arch in Washington Square Park, composer Phil Kline will lead a massive chorus of boomboxes through the streets of Greenwich Village in the 15th annual holiday presentation of UNSILENT NIGHT.

Kline places the different parts of his composition on cassettes, and distributes them to those who show up at Washington Square. At the given signal, participants simultaneously press PLAY. When the cassettes start rolling, "they blossom into a marvelously crafted symphony" (Time Out New York) and the crowd begins to snake eastward, following a pre-determined route until the piece ends in Tompkins Square Park less than an hour and a mile later.

The public is strongly encouraged to bring their own boomboxes, for which Kline will provide tapes.

UNSILENT NIGHT 2006 around the world:

December 2: Milledgeville, GA (jwindish@mac.com)
December 8: Baltimore, MD (brian@briansacawa.com)
December 9: Middlesbrough UK (Judith_Croft@middlesbrough.gov.uk)
December 12: Banff (Alberta, Canada) (waltman@mta.ca)
December 16, 7pm: New York, NY (boombox@mindspring.com)
December 16: San Diego, CA (sounds@accretions.com)
December 16: Asheville, NC (jjulien@cenergy.com)
December 16: Sydney, Australia (filmcement@gmail.com)
December 17: Los Angeles, CA (unsilentnightla@gmail.com)
December 18: Philadelphia, PA (www.relache.org)
December 20, Midnight: The Yukon (christine@tarius.ca)
December 21: Santa Barbara, CA (info@iridianarts.com)
December 21: Charleston, SC (nathan@newmusiccollective.org)
December 23: San Francisco, CA (colinb@sonic.net)
December 23: Vancouver, BC (colin@crypticmusic.ca)
Date TBA: Rochester, NY (RadnofskyL@aol.com)

Link

If you are in LA this Saturday, drop by the Felt Club craft extravaganza at the Ukranian Cultural Center (4315 Melrose). Carla and I will be there to make stockings with anyone who wants to join us.

In addition to the crafty gifts galore, there will be food, music, raffle prizes and an interactive craft room where you can decorate holiday stockings with CRAFT Ed-in-Chief Carla Sinclair and MAKE Ed-in-Chief Mark Frauenfelder.

Link

(After Felt Club stop by Machine Project for an evening of music with Bob Bellerue and Liam Mooney at Machine Project)

Jon Beinart describes the beinArt Surreal Art Collective as an "online art gallery catering for the strange."

(Shown here: "Inside Sue," By Mark Ryden. Oil on panel 15x11 inches, 1997) Link

BLVD Gallery in Seattle has a show with The Art Army Guerilla Crew, including new sculpted figurines by Mike Leavitt, and new paintings By Kristian Olson, Colin Johnson, and Chris Huth. It opens December 8, 2006 and runs until January 6 , 2007.

Link

djBC sez, "A kick-ass group of mixers and mashers from the US, England, France, The Netherlands and Sweden has contributed to the second Santastic collection of 23 bizarre and wicked cool X-mashups and remixes. We've even got 2.5 Chanukah bootlegs this year for the all nice little Jewish kids, plus "liner notes" and sample lists from the producers. If you dig it, we hope folks will make a contribution to help kids in the GIFTS portion of the site. Thanks!"

djBC produced the (sadly, censored) Beastles mashups (Beastie Boys v Beatles) -- I'll listen to anything he's got his hand in.

1. Jingle Jane - Divide and Kreate
2. Carpenter's Christmas (Karen Meets Roots Radics Uptown)
- Go Home Productions
3. Lonely Siberian Winter - DJ John
4. Donde Esta Santa Claus? - Lenlow
5. The Darlene Love Sub-Zero Ecosystem - ATOM
6. X-Mash - Divide and Kreate
7. Let Me Clear My Throat At Christmas - Cheekyboy
8. Pere Noel Blues - ComaR
9. The Rockin' Manger Twist - Voicedude
10. Dreidl-Bells - DJ Flack
11. Chanukah Song (GoyiMix) - dj BC
12. Give Da Jew Girl Toys (Clean) - A plus D
13. Rudolph The Paranoid Reindeer - ToToM
14. I Want A New Limb For Christmas - Pilchard
15. Rudolph Berry Molecular Pattern 4 - ATOM
16. Red Nosed 5 - Solcofn
17. Wonderful Christmastime (Rhythm Scholar Kringle Kut Remix) - Paul McCartney vs Rhythm Scholar
18. Last Christmas The Winter Took The Street - Martinn
19. Stop I've Had Enough Christmas Music - King Of Pants
20. White Christmas (Electro Remix) - Miss Frenchie
21. Imagine Santa - dj BC
22. Frosty John - Secret Santa

BONUS (Mature Themes):
Horny Christmas - Loo and Placido
Give Da Jew Girl Toys (Dirty) - A plus D

Link

In 2004, Alek Komarnitsky hoaxed the online public into thinking they were controlling thousands of Christmas lights on his house. Then last year, he actually rigged up a real tele-operated system of Christmas lights. (Previous BB post here.) Alek just emailed me to say that they're up again. Or so he claims. Again. From his email:

Three live webcams allow you to view the 15,000 lights and giant inflatable Elmo, Frosty, Santa, and Homer Simpson plus X10 power technology allows you to turn 'em on and off - D'OH! Over $14,000 raised so far for Celiac Disease.

Merry Christmas and HO HO HO, alek

P.S. Few more bells & whistles this year - one example is Google Mapp'ing the 100+ countries that have come by.

Link

The San Francisco Chronicle has a time-based map that shows the stages of the Kim family's ordeal in the Oregon mountains. Link

The Birdman, whose exquisite taste in music I previously admired, sent me this video of a wedding party dancing to the unique musical stylings of German pornogrind band Cock And Ball Torture. I recommend watching it several times, paying close attention to the celebrants' various dance steps.
Link

Oscar de la Renta made a lot of money from these four matronly socialites (including Laura Bush), each of whom wore an identical $8500 red gown. Link

Rudy Rucker is back from his trip to New Zealand and has been blogging about it.

I saw a lot of Charles F. Goldie’s paintings in Auckland and another Goldie painting in Wellington and another in Christchurch; Goldie (1870-1947) painted Maoris with full facial tattoos, these tattoos are called moko or ta moko... Note that the moko are relatively recent, only really took off after the Europeans showed up in the 1830s, as then the Maori had metal chisels so they could carve the moko in better. This picture is called “All ‘e Same t’e Pakeha” which means, I think, “All Europeans look the same,” or maybe it means "Don't I look European?" -- pakeha being the Maori word for European.

Link

Fifty years after the death of psychic Helen Duncan, the last person in the