Self-kiss
Interesting series of photographs by French photographers David Puel and Thomas Libé.
(Can’t post a preview photo, unfortunately, as it’s a Flash-based gallery. Worth a look, though.)
Designing buildings, using biology
When the celebrated 20th century architect Frei Otto set out to design what is arguably his magnum opus, the roof of the Munich Olympic arena, he looked for inspiration from a curious source: soap.
Oh dear.
Vice President Dick Cheney will serve as acting president briefly Saturday while President Bush is anesthetized for a routine colonoscopy, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Friday.
Mine look like dog food.
Having been introduced to Bake and Shake: I Will Frost You Like a Motherfucker by India, I decided to try my hand at some hot as balls savory herb, black pepper and parmesan shortbread.
However, mine looked nothing like the picture on the Web site, and, in fact, looked like dog food. They were just OK. Meh. :-/
Or, more evidence that me + cooking = a bad idea.
A Christian jihad?
Many in the west fear the threat posed by political Islam. But there is a more ominous menace closer to home.
Airport Art
Multi-screen, interactive digital art exhibition connects travelers with a disconnected world at Terminal One.
Babes in Toyland
Is that an iPod in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Mae West could never have dreamed that would become the pick-up line of choice in the newest place to see and be seen. The Apple store.
A stiff challenge to the environment
There are more people alive today than ever before. What will the environmental costs be when we all die?
Poetry v science? Give me a break
Scientists and poets are on the same wavelength, and always have been.
We love to fly and it shows; or, um, why?
Still reeling from my insanely long flight home from the Philippines, I have to ask myself why would anyone do this?. I mean, really.
(OK, I can see why, but still.)
By popular demand
Well, Sheila asked for them anyway: some photos from the Philippines—hooray!
Click on the thumbnails for the full version, or here for the photoset of the ones I’ve processed so far, or here for a slideshow.
I’m thinking about putting together some kind of photoessay at some point. Until then, please enjoy! 
Why, as a vegetarian, I don’t lose weight
I don’t cook, people. I don’t bake, either. All of my attempts at becoming a world-renowned (or at least apartment building-renowned) chef have ended in a call to Pizza Hut. However, I’m totally going to make this tonight.
The Pioneer Woman Cooks!: Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce. Brace Yourselves, People.
(In other news, I’m back from the Philippines—hooray! More from me to come.)
Thinking of having a baby? You may need this.
The Secret Life of Gummy Bears
My friends, I’m not dead. After another long semester, my penultimate at the University of Illinois at Chicago and which earned me a spot on the Dean’s List, I have been resting and searching for something appropriate with which to return to the Flock. Thus, I give you The Secret Life of Gummy Bears:
Since we don’t know how many gummy bears have actually been released into the world, there’s just one immediate solution: Eat them
I’m off to the Philippines on Sunday for a month to do some archaeology, but I’ll try to return to active status here at Clusterflock. Hooray!
Humans and monkeys, center stage
A new play captures the power struggles that can occur among troops of monkeys and the scientists studying them.
Will the sun ever set on the English language?
English was once the language in which power was exercised, note the authors, but now it is the language in which power is accessed. And in the future, speaking only English won’t be enough; the real advantage will go to those who are proficient in a multilingual, multicultural, increasingly interconnected world.
What’s in your milk?
A selected list of hormones, growth factors and other substances found in an 8-ounce glass of milk.
Organic is more expensive, but worth it, IMO.
Good advice
I’m not dead, BTW—just a little overwhelmed with school at the moment. Not book. Not book at all.
Smash your enemy’s castle
More from MAKE:
With a trebuchet, you can smash your enemy’s castle or at least fling the heads of enemy spies into their courtyard. In the old days, the most important metric of a trebuchet is that it can fire farther than your enemy’s archers can shoot their arrows!
Make your own trebuchet here. Totally f-ing book, dude.
I should have voted for this one
Link.
(Shit, it’s times like this that I wish I was straight…)
Watch iPhone’s “gestures” used on a really big touchscreen
Via BrainFuel.
Press butt and release
I’m cross-posting this entry from my own blog, because I thought it might generate some interesting feedback.
I have a genuine anthropological interest–much to my own surprise, in fact–in graffiti. Certainly, anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) have been producing graphic art for millennia; the prehistoric cave paintings of France and Spain are, perhaps, the best-known (though we are still unsure as to its true nature). In historic times, graffiti has been found on walls and structures from ancient Greece and Rome, and can tell us much about the culture and mindset of ordinary people in far more illuminating ways than, say, a shard of pottery or broken statue. Politics, amourous declarations, personal insults, magical incantations, and even jokes can be found in ancient graffiti. City dwellers in our modern era are all too familiar with graffiti, as well. Indeed, many of the same themes that decorated the walls of the Roman Empire persist in modern graffiti.
For Timmy the Cat
Do you like to put stuff on your cat?
Stuff On My Cat: Stuff + Cats = Awesome
Meet the Flockers’ Pets (Daniel): Simon & Gryffin
I love showing off our boys.
Here’s Simon and Gryffin.
How do you read?
I’m about to leave for work, but first I wanted to ask all my Flockie Friends, how do you read? The nature of the question stems from trying to manage the reading load for my French classes (3) this semester, as well as a seminar course on “The Experience of Culture Difference” (i.e. culture shock), and another on Buddhist art and architecture in Asia. In general, I follow Adler’s advice:
You know you have to read “between the lines” to get the most out of anything. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the course of your reading. I want to persuade you to write between the lines. Unless you do, you are not likely to do the most efficient kind of reading. (Link.)
Still, I wonder if there’s another good method for active reading, especially when one has an overwhelming amount of material to get through. Discuss; I’ll be back later tonight.