Take It, It's Yours

Uber-awesome photo by Flickr-user extraordinaire Mike Fleming, of Philadelphia's Thinker. Turns out it was just temporary, while being moved out of the way of Rodin Museum construction, and not a comment on America's attitude towards the arts. Or is it!?

Found at Philebrity.

Seascape Redux

I've just been informed that it's summertime, it has been for some time now, and tomorrow is, in fact, the first day of July. How perfect, then, for this to come along, during such uncertain summer-times.

It's a portrait of a conch, and a flame auger shell, which has absolutely nothing to do with the Awesome Auger, which should really stop being shown on TV with Billy Mays hawking it, shouldn't it? Anyway, I digress, but, really, shouldn't it? I dunno.

Anywho, happy shore-going, to anyone lucky enough to be near a shore, and happy 4th, as well, to anyone lucky enough not to have ever stepped barefoot on a Black Cat as a child. Guilty as charged. No wait, maybe it was a Sparkler. Anyway, Black Cat still sounds funnier. And if you don't live in the United States, well, happy normal fourth day of the month to you!

Good Fathers and Their Mice

A very good book to read on Father's Day would be "Ernest and Celestine", written and illustrated by Gabrielle Vincent, from around 1982, but first published in Belgium.

Ernest acts as a capable and caring father figure to Celestine, even though she is a mouse, and he is a bear. This fact is never mentioned outright, though she does call him by first name. There's very spare and economically executed dialogue, which partners well with the earthy watercolors, and I've only just realized now that there's no non-dialogue writing in the entire story. This causes the reader to fill in all necessary details in plot, without noticing its absence, in a nice "Readers aren't idiots" kind of way. Their relationship is sincere, strong, difficult, and timeless, like the overall feeling of the book.

Happy Father's Day, Dads.

Drink This Or the Puppet Gets It

Everymuppet has to start somewhere.

Video link via BoingBoing, via Superpunch, via annals of Muppet History.

Hey, Dad, Hey, Grad

You like drinking beverages, don't you? Sometimes even hot beverages, perhaps with caffeine in them? What? You like to be able to customize your mug, exactly to your liking?

Excellent.

Katamari Online

Can we please have this in America, like, yesterday? Thanks.

Glow-In-the Dark Box O' Bones

Super Kudos to the packaging design on our new Box O' Bones, from the oh, so reliable Accoutrements, and their retail wing, Archie McPhee, which I have loved ever since junior high, and I imagine I always will.

It would seem, according to this, that there is also alternate packaging (?!), of which i can not confirm its awesomeness, due to the small image, but the retro and clean look of this packaging gets, get ready for it, the "Mattson Studio Super-Crazy-Awesome-Righteous-Sweet Stupendousness Award of the Week". On the real box, the green is more muted, and hence, more old-fashioned science-spooky, but this is the best image I could find right now.

Further proof of McPhee being true purveyors of perfect foolishness, in all the right ways. The skeleton? Oh, it's swell, too. I wonder if working at Accoutrements is a Shangri-La Oasis of Happiness, and if so, sign me up.

Recent Historical-ish Whatnots, and Such, Verily:

From Le Shoppe:

George here was quite the statesman, obviously, but also known for his ability to catch frisbees with his wooden teeth. That's a myth; frisbees weren't invented yet.

Dog George Washington is currently residing here.