May 2003 – Screenshot

Mr. Yuk is Green

A friend reminded me today of what turns out to have been only a regional phenomenon, Mr. Yuk, a green frowny-face sticker from the 1970s that parents were supposed to mark household poisons with. Mr. Yuk had a dour, dirgeful theme song which was often played as a PSA during cartoons (you can hear the whole, long thing on his website), and he didn’t believe in sugar coating things for children: Mr. Yuk is mean. Mr. Yuk is green. Home is full of lots of things that children shouldn’t touch. Home is full of bad things that can hurt you … Continue reading Mr. Yuk is Green

Finished Projects

By AMH

In my ongoing quest this year to convert my yarn stash to finished projects, I finished off a couple of new items this past month. I’ve been working on this flowery crocheted afghan for a few months and am very glad to have it done before the warm summer months: Grand Gardenias Afghan. This past week I knocked off this fun little summer sweater for myself, and now I’m just waiting for summer to finally come along so that I can wear it: Braided-Rib Crop Top. Follow the links for larger images and more details about the making of the … Continue reading Finished Projects

Official Dodgeball?

By AMH

Is dodge ball the next extreme sport? This article thinks so, as do the World Dodgeball Association and the National Amateur Dodgeball Association. As the article points out, the organized, safety-conscious, rules-based version promoted by the WDA isn’t the same game that is popping up on college campuses: The WDA and other dodgeball organizations tone down the game’s violence by using lightweight foam-based balls and outlawing head shots, while emphasizing teamwork. At the WDA website, the extensive rules (four “dodgers” on the inside; three “floaters” on the perimeter) read like a story problem from hell’s geometry class. “Everyone’s going to … Continue reading Official Dodgeball?

Raindrops Keep Falling

By AMH

I think weather.com came up with this new icon, representing “Light Drizzle”, just for Ithaca. Note the lack of actual clouds such as are present in the icons for “Showers”, “AM Showers”, or “Light Rain”. What we have here is an attempt to portray the constant background grey of spring weather around here. I’m honestly impressed.

Book Donations

By AMH

Prompted by the call over at pamie.com for donations of books to the underfunded Oakland Public Library, and the latent frustration at all of the books I own that I know I’ll never get around to reading, I did a spring cleaning of my shelves and have two bags of books packed up to take to the local Friends of the Library group, who will pick out what they can put on their shelves and what they’ll sell in their annual Book Sale. So my shelves are clearer, my unread book list is a bit smaller, and donating the books … Continue reading Book Donations

Charge for Animals

By AMH

Almost everyone seems to have “cash back” credit cards now, whether you get straight money or credit at a particular vendor or service provider. Now you can have a percentage of your credit cards charges go to supporting animal shelters and humane societies through AnimalSafe. I haven’t explored the details of the cards or the organization behind them, but it seems like a convenient way to direct some money to a good cause.

And the shark is a dolphin….

By AMH

From the “Please, I’m not that gullible” files, a converstion from earlier this evening: Them: Did you hear it was announced that the Indiana Jones trilogy will be released on DVD this fall? Me: No – cool! Them: Yeah, but they remastered the whip as a cell phone…

Tessellations

By AMH

I like tessellations, I’m a fan of the Escher gradient tessellations, and I just love these Tessllating Animations. Check out the crouching black cat and the fish on the black backgound in particular. [via The View From Here]

Grad school not the only corporation….

By AMH

What I like best about this NYTimes Magazine article on the unionization of UPenn graduate students is the part where union organizers say they solicited support at a funeral. Given the advance press time on the magazine section, the article is able to allude to the Yale organizing strategy of holding a non-NLRB vote to demonstrate the desire for a grad union, but couldn’t include the fact that it turned out Yale grad students didn’t want a union. (Of course, their only mention of Cornell was as the recipient of advice on how to resist a union which the university … Continue reading Grad school not the only corporation….

Duct Tape Accessories

By AMH

Years ago, Duct Tape Creations was selling duct tape wallets in a couple of styles and one variety of purse, but they have expanded into a wide range of accessories, including really cute multicolor checkbook covers, and a fullsize duct tape backpack made out of three rolls of duct tape! The Hanna, with “pinking shear detail” is awfully cute too. [via #!/usr/bin/girl]