Short links smorgasbord

"What do an executed prisoner from Texas, a former UN official and an eccentric Cornish aristocrat have in common? They've all had their death masks made by sculptor and Alabama 3 member Nick Reynolds." Link. (image above: Linda Nylind/Guardian UK)

Smoking weed during a brain scan is harder than it sounds: Link (Wired Science).

A roundup of corporate workplace surveillance techniques. Yes, your boss is spying on you. Link (Popular Mechanics)

Here are some surprisingly lifelike rat and fish shoes: Link. Here is a discussion of trippy-ass shoes with backward heels: Link. (manolo the shoeblogger)

What better new weapon to fight AIDS/HIV in Ethiopia than coffee-flavored condoms: Link, here's the organization that produces them: Link (EthioBlog).

About.com sexuality guide Cory Silverberg says, "Last year I read on BoingBoing about comedian Cathy Carlson who was denied a trademark for her "You Cum Like A Girl" t-shirts: Link. I've blogged about the sad ending to this tale here (she appealed and lost). Link."

REDRUM cupcakes made in honor of Stephen King's 60th birthday. Link.

I was listening to old Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan records the other night while working (sort of) on my laptop, and idly searched for "qawalli" on Flickr in a moment of procrastination. Flickr led me to these lovely photos taken by Akshay Mahajan of qawalli musicians at a mosque in his hometown of Mumbai, India. I especially love this shot of the Sufi singer's personal effects, and the black and white shot below. Akshay has a post about the scene he shot, here: Link. More about the music here.

(Thanks, Siege, sabrina, Emeka Okafor, Manolo, Instapundit)!

[#1 posted by Zuhaib , September 27, 2007 4:10 PM]

If you want some more interesting (and dare I say, better) qawalli music listen to Sabri Brothers. They are on iTunes but some of there really good stuff is found on there CD and mix tapes.

I have a song of there that goes for about 30min, a single song. The Poetry is just crazy, and is even for me hard to follow as they use very high urdu.
I have been staying away from Music as its Ramadan, so its just all podcasts.

[#2 posted by Xeni Jardin , September 27, 2007 4:15 PM]

@Zuhaib, oooh lovely, I see their work on Amazon's MP3 store, too. url: http://snurl.com/1rc8v

[#3 posted by Paul D , September 27, 2007 7:11 PM]

I think the entire idea of trademarking t-shirt slogans is stupid. I'm glad Cathy Carlson lost. She's welcome to make all the t-shirts she wants, but she doesn't have the right to tell me I can't say something because she put it on a t-shirt first.