Mammatus Clouds over Hastings, Nebraska

Oh, not that kind of doodle

He, bless his heart, agreed to draw a doodle for us.

• ROSEMARY ANDERSON
• vice
  president of the national advocacy group Neurofibromatosis, Inc. on a
  sketch made by Barack Obama, which fetched $2,075 on eBay for a charity
  drive

Squirrels with lightsabers

Cool new Lamp

Mount Everest needs a clean

I thought Mount Everest would be a preserved landmark. But looking at this picture where it's covered in rubbish is a sore sight. Not a very pretty one, indeed. Perhaps, we are neglecting the environment much more than we actually use to. Back in the days when Captain Planet was king of the TV screen, his impact was favourable. But not anymore. They should bring him back.

Bring back Captain Planet. He has more to say now, than he ever did.

Daily Cool Picture of the Day

TIME: Al Gore as President

He's the man that should actually be President as we speak. But due to a fishy polling scandal, George Bush won by only a few votes. Literally. When Al Gore ran for President several years ago, the polling ended up in a tie, where only a few disputed votes had to be re-evaluated to ensure who the next President would be. There was a lot of controversy over the decision, and many people believed that Al Gore should've won. Now, it's 2007 and the upcoming election in '08 is giving Al Gore a new temptation. Shall he run for president again, under a new light which has him in the favourable eye of the majority of the US population? They love him.



Maybe George Bush's reign is over. Maybe it's time for Al Gore to get back what he so sorely deserved several years ago.



Frankey.

Something about this Playground Sign, doesn't seem right

Melbourne Uni's Dissecting Laboratory

Human limbs lie in trays, brown in colour like a roast chicken that has been in the fridge too long. Their skin has been sliced away in neat sections to reveal meaty leg muscles and cylindrical toe bones. The stripped-back fingers on one arm, nails still attached, gather into a dainty bunch as though their owner could be picking grapes.



Students mill around casually in white lab coats, gravitating towards the centre of the vast laboratory where a trainee radiologist is tutoring them on limb joints using X-rays. With few exceptions, only those studying health sciences such as medicine and dentistry, or their mentors, can come here and for them it's just another day in the University of Melbourne dissecting room.



My tour guide, the deputy head of the department of anatomy and cell biology, pauses by a dissected arm with a limp, spaghetti-like tendon dangling loosely from its wrist.



"That's been well dissected. But because the students examine these, from time to time they start to wear away," says Associate Professor Chris Briggs.



Source: The Age Newspaper

China's Environment is a NIGHTMARE

Bad news from China last week. According to the State Environmental Protection Administration's (SEPA) first quarter report, pollution is worsening in many parts of the country. After checking out this post, you probably won't be surprised to hear that the situation in rivers is deteriorating. Drinking water quality is also declining in major Chinese cities, with just under 70 percent rated as "qualified" for consumption. Air quality was on the upswing in some locales - partially due to fickle spring breezes - but Pan Yue, SEPA's deputy director and one of our favorite government officials, warned that "[t]he improved air quality in some cities is absolutely no reason for complacency." At least the government isn't trying to put a good face on this worsening situation.



Link: Treehugger

Pokemon Cartoon - Joke - Caution - Foul Language

That's not very nice

"I'm just going to grab hold of her and tie a rope around her waist and not let her go until she is 34."



* DANIEL FOLEY

* as his two-year-old daughter Trista was found alive after being lost with another toddler in the Australian bush for more than 24 hours

Quotes of the Day

"Most of us don't know what we're fighting for anymore. We're serving our country and friends, but the only reason we go out every day is for each other."

* Sgt. KEVIN O'FLARITY
* a Delta Force squad leader in Iraq, who learned after a battle that among the enemy dead were at least two Iraqi Army soldiers that American forces had helped train and arm

Random Cat Picture of the Day

Apparently the Differences between Marketing, PR, Advertising and Branding

New GRASSCRETE

Designed to generate pavement whilst also being somewhat environmentally friendly at the same time. Quite... interesting. I guess, it could become popular...

Ballot Paper in Germany during World War II

Vote Hitler? Yes or No?

These critters are hit HARD by Climate Change

Much has already been said of the potentially large-scale physical and biological effects of climate change on individual ecosystems and states as a whole. Less emphasis has been placed on the study of the effect of global warming on specific species, particularly those whose role in the food chain makes their presence essential to the stability of the ecosystem.



A new project headed by Nigel Yoccoz in collaboration with Rolf Anker Ims, both from the University of Tromsø, will seek to understand the reduction in the population of several Arctic predators as a consequence of climate change. They are particularly interested in studying the arctic fox, a key predator that was recently placed on the endangered species list.



Because the fox's habitat in the Arctic tundra is particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming, Yoccoz and Ims believe that it and other similar predators can serve as indicators of what is happening in the ecosystem as a whole. “Research on ecosystems is complex as it deals with dynamics in all living species in interaction with each other and with non-living aspects of their environment,” says Professor Ims. “One of the objectives of this project is to examine whether it’s possible to create a simplification by using the predator community as an ecosystem indicator.”



In a typical food chain, predators such as the Arctic fox sit at the very top of several levels that encompass species like the snowy owl and rough-legged buzzard. Since predators are vulnerable to even the slightest change in the prey population, they often serve as effective proxies for the health of the ecosystem as whole.

Miss Japan is new Miss Universe

New Limbless Lizard Discovered

Frankey, are you on your blog 24/7

Some people have been asking me, 'Frankey, what the hell? You update your blog almost 10 times everyday! What is wrong with you?'

And yes, I do update my blog somewhere in the vicinity of that many times, however, no, I am not on it 24/7, since I do need to sleep.

However, my Firefox Browser has a special integrated add-on where I can automatically blog from any website by simply whipping open a small Firefox extension. So I don't have to open up the blogging website in order to blog. I can technically blog from anywhere. So whenever I come across any interesting news, it only takes me a few seconds to blog something straight into my blog. (I wonder how many times I've used the word blog here).

So no, don't think I'm some sort of computer nerd who hangs out on his blog 24/7.

I'm just a man, who likes interesting, (sometimes not even interesting), and random news. I'm the messenger. Don't hate me.

Romulus My Father, Premier

Does this look like some fancy Hollywood Location? Well guess again, because this is Australia. Castlemaine, Australia to be exact.And it was the location of the premier for Eric Bana's latest movie, Romulus, My Father.

The movie is a re-imagining of the book of the same name, written by Raimond Gaita.

Beautiful Flower Hat Jellyfish

Lunar Eclipse

3 Clubs, 2 Overpriced Desserts, and A Car Crash, in ONE NIGHT - long winded post about Friday May 23

What a night. Somewhat.I guess you could call it Club Crawling. That's exactly what Phuong, Bao, Adrienne S, Adrienne C, and I did last night. Club Crawling.

What is Club Crawling then you ask? Well, it's rather simple really. Very simple. So simple. You know what Pub Crawling is right? Like when you go round from pub to pub, just kickin' the vibe and doing your thang with a bunch of friends as you just leech onto the best things from each pub around the area. Precinct. Place. Locale.

But usually, a Pub Crawl is planned. You usually set out to go pub crawling before you leave the house. So I guess this is where Club Crawling is a little different. Essentially, it's the act of going from club to club because the one you're currently at, sucks balls. It sucks salty nuts. Literally. Ok, maybe not literally - wouldn't want to know which club you'd have to go to for that to be literal... But anyway. You get the gist of it right? Club Crawling. Unplanned Chaos. Somewhat.

We set out on Friday 26 May to have what we planned to be a rockin' time. A sensational night. An evening of pure fun and pleasure where we'd be at ONE club for the night - kicking it through the hours. So we started off with a dinner. Where? Nando's. Nothing super exciting really. Just... normal. Actually the food wasn't really off the hook there last night. The wrap that Adrienne S and I had, was admittedly a little bland. Dry. Rather tasteless. No real substance in the wrap at all. The Crown Lager I had was also sub-par - nowhere near the level of 'chilled' as what would be desirable. But the chips were good. And so was the salad. So I guess I don't have much to complain about. But was Nando's, though, and I expected quality.

But whoa, hold up. Something happened before the dinner. I've totally forgotten. The Car Crash - as mentioned in the title of this post. We were in a car crash. Yes, I was bleeding. Yes, my left leg is now broken. And, no, I cannot walk anymore. That's quite an important part of the story isn't it? So how did it happen? Well, like all car accidents, yes it was fun. But no, don't try this at home folks. We were driving (which is probably the case with about 80 to 90% of car crashes, I would assume) - but the car in front of us, wasn't moving. It was pretty much stationary. But in the illusion of the night, it seemed like it would have been moving, and only until we realized that it wasn't, did we crash into it. The brakes failed. The wheels screeched and skidded. And we went riding into a Toyota Echo at 80 miles per hour. Ok, maybe not 80, but 20. Or 40. Yeah, maybe 40. Maybe 100? 1000 kmph? (Yes this story is real, mostly, believe me) Either way, that sort of shook us up a bit. We had to take the insurance details from the other woman's car and all that jazz, but it was all good. She was another P-plate driver like us, and she was really nice and kind about it, talking about it being her first car crash and how it would become such a memorable experience in her life, etc, etc, etc no-one cared (joking).

But enough about that.

After dinner we went around looking for a pub. For a little relaxation. And to be honest, I don't remember what we did during that time, but we did not find a pub. And we ended up in the Docklands? Somehow. So we went to a little place there called 'The Lounge Room'. Not bad really, except everything there (just like everything in the Docklands, I suppose) was overpriced. Way overpriced. We're talking $10 desserts here people. No, not deserts. Desserts. And yes, I said $10, in case you thought it was a typo and I was supposed to write $1. In which case, you would've thought that I was really cheap, since I'd be complaining about $1 desserts. But anyway. What was I saying? Right. $10. $10 Desserts. So you'd imagine that it would be something that would be relatively large. Something wholesome for your total $10. So as a group of five, we figured, possibly, 2 would be enough. 2. To sort of share here and there, alongside drinks which we'd order (hot chocolate, orange juice, coke, etc). So we ordered a Bailey's Brulee and a Vanilla Panacotta. But what was the look on our faces when the desserts came? "What the f***! It's F****** puny!" Mind you, we didn't say those things. But we were thinking it.

We were thinking of pulling a runner. We should have. It would have been thrilling really. And we really could have. The waiters totally forgot about us. The manager didn't really even know who we were until we told him that we wanted the bill. We shouldn't have paid. Our luck was already running low, with the car crash, and that's not where it ended. Our parking was only supposed to last 1hr. That is, it would cost us $2 for the hour. And then $7 if we ran over the hour. So from the restaurant we ran as fast as we could, only to find out that we were 3 minutes over. ARGH MATEY! (Captain Barbossa style from Pirates of the Caribbean) So we paid it. We paid the damn $7. We paid what essentially would have been $5 for 3 minutes worth of parking. But that's not where our luck ended either. We all got into the car and proceeded towards the exit. But what do we see? The gates are completely open. We didn't need to pay for any parking tickets at all!!! We could've just left! OMFGWTFBBQ! We were angry. But more of a... OMFGWTFBBQ angry than a WTFITBCPOSFIHCP (What The F*** Is This bulls*** Crap Piece of s*** f*** I Hate Car Parks) sort of angry.

Either way, from there we headed to the City where we parked at Crown (another $10!) and went to BLVD. Free entry of course, cos we were super sexy. Seriously. Free Entry. But maybe not because we were super sexy. But because the top floor was booked out for a birthday party and only the lower floor was available to the public. Pretty lame since hardly anyone was even on the lower floor. So we just partied there for a bit and we took cowboy shots to pass the time before we decided, screw it, lets go to Famous.

So we walked the super hike from BLVD to Famous (or QBH as some people like to more properly call the venue) (not really much of a super hike either, really). Free entry to Famous too though, which was mostly because we were altogether absolutely sexy. But Famous was pretty much dead too. It eventually got relatively full - I'd still say about 60% capacity only though. Maybe even 40% capacity, really. So we danced there for a bit, had a drink or two - and danced. But the music was heavily R'n'B and since the place is so damn freakin huge, the lack of people made it really uninviting, or exciting. But we stayed there for about an hour before we decided to hit Lavish.

Lavish was relatively packed (3rd and final club for the night) and of course, since it was Lavish, it was purely Asian. No free entry here though - $20 per person is a biyatch after all those parking tickets we paid!! Perhaps the biggest downfall was that it was too packed. The venue is simply too small for the number of Asians who are willing to come to Lavish all the time. Especially for RnB, the dance floor is way too small. You're just left grinding against other people, and most of the time, it's other guys... which isn't fun. But you do grind against other women too - unintentionally of course. And I do get lots of random women just feeling me up as they pass by, acting as if I'm too drunk to realise - but I hardly had anything to drink - and I could feel it every single time.

The "house" section was pretty crap too, mostly because the DJ sucked. His music sucked. And his mixing sucked. He was so crap. Seriously, his segways were so appalling, it was simple like listening to a list of songs, randomly put together. Even someone at home with itunes could've done a better job than this sorry excuse for a DJ. He kept looping several songs too, as if people wouldn't realise that he was playing them again and again. Then he would play with the volume controls, sometimes make it randomly softer at the wrong places, and then cranking it up again within a few seconds, it was so lame. And he had a rather bad pitch problem and a lack of control over the maintaining of singers' voices at the right pitch as he sped up the tempo, and so it would sound like a fast-tracked cassette tape player where the voices screech as they're going faster. This DJ was lame. To the extreme.

So eventually we got bored of Lavish. And we went home. Home to our beds. Home to sleep.

And that was my Friday night.

How was yours?

P.S. My leg is not broken. How else would I have been able to hit the clubs after the crash?

ROSIE O Donnell on my Blog, for the sake of news

You can probably see below this post is a picture of Rosie O Donnell.  Trust me, if I really had to, I wouldn't put her picture on my blog.  But for the sake of news, I've done it.



Even if it's not really news.



Damn I love the internet.

Poor, Poor Rosie - Good on ya TRUMP

Rosie wears thin. Rosie will go on to another show, and like her first show, it'll fail.

• DONALD TRUMP
• on Rosie O'Donnell after her on-air spat with her View co-host, Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Bird poops on George Bush During a Press Conference

Nothing much to say really. Click this link to see the video and his reaction.

Big Brother Scandalous

The family of Big Brother housemate Emma has spoken out
about the media frenzy surrounding the decision not to tell her of
her father's death, defending the family's decision to wait until
she leaves the show.

In a letter
posted on the show's website, Emma's brother Matt appealed for
understanding and calm, and said the family was shocked by media
attention.

Her father Raymond Cornell, 53, died in Adelaide last week. His
funeral was held on Monday but producers did not tell her because
of a request from her family.

In the letter the family attacked media inaccuracies, and said
they were "confident we have made the right decision."

Source: The Age Newspaper

BREAKING: 14 Yr Old Killed in Canada School Shooting

Police are searching for a suspect in the death of a 15-year-old
boy, fatally shot in a Toronto high school by a single bullet to the
chest.

Students were locked down for several hours Wednesday afternoon as
police searched C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, until they were
finally bussed to a nearby location and released to their families.

The shooting victim has been identified as Jordan Manners.

"The event that took place today is a very serious matter," said
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair. "A young student lost his life in this
school, and it should be a safe environment for everyone."

There are reports that prior to the shooting there was a
confrontation at a nearby strip mall. The fight then carried into the
hallways of the school, where one person managed to acquire a weapon.

Manners was hit once in the chest while on the second floor of the school at around 2:30 p.m.

Link: CTV.ca

Tim Kring Reveals why Peter didn't just fly and bomb himself - Heroes

You’ve been wondering, we’ve been wondering, and you
have to figure that Niki, Claire, HRG/Noah, Matt, et al, were
wondering, too. At the conclusion of the Kirby Plaza skirmish on
Heroes’ first-season finale, why didn’t Peter just fly his explosive
self up, up and away, instead of making Nathan take one for the team,
as well? Presented by TV Guide with that burning question, series
creator Tim Kring pauses before saying, “You know, theoretically you’re
not supposed to be thinking about that.”

When assured that viewers are, Kring confirms that — as many have
theorized — radioactive Peter’s other powers were “incapacitated” at
that pivotal moment, and “somewhere in there is the explanation” for
having Nathan grab his bro and do the “flying man!” thing. “But the
real explanation is that we wanted Nathan to show up and [save the
day]!”

“Yes, I will admit that there’s a very tiny window of logic there,”
Kring continues with a laugh. “But what can I say? It’s requires the
proverbial suspension of disbelief.” Which, when airing opposite 24, a
season finale is certainly allowed. — Matt Webb Mitovich, with additional reporting by Michael Logan

Link: Heroes Revealed

Personally, a bit lame of an excuse really. But what can you do? The show still manages to impress.

A Bit Loud

Loud Speakers

Sunday, May 13, 2007

A man protects his ears during an opposition rally in central Yerevan, Armenia. Pro-presidential parties won a large majority in the parliamentary elections.

Interesting... really.

I'm New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, and I should be dead.

JON CORZINE

• in a 30-second ad promoting seat belt use. Corzine was critically injured in an
  April car crash, during which he was not wearing a seat belt

Petrol Power

Nearly 80% of People Believe Gas Prices Have Been Manipulated: Daily Fuel Economy Tip

1. The price of oil has remained relatively constant since the
   beginning of the year while gas prices are up over 40% - and it seems
   we set a new record high with each passing day.
2. Sporadic problems at refineries throughout the country that have
   caused major supply issues, not to mention there haven’t been any new
   refineries built (which would increase capacity/supply) in many years.
3. These huge multi-national corporations continue to rake in record billion dollar profits in the face of rising energy costs.

Martin Luther King's final moments

Recall the last moments of Martin Luther King's life in beautiful image capture.

Funny Houses from all over the world

Click here to see more. They're actually not that funny, but there's been a news drought.

Ocean's Thirteen: A failure already?

Ocean's Thirteen was recently shown at the Cannes Film Festival, and whilst it was met with great anticipation, it apparently failed to live up to many critics' expectations.Ocean's Thirteen: Dead in the Water | TIME

New Layout

I've updated the layout to my blog to make it a little wider so that it's more friendly to larger images.



If anyone has any problems, please let me know.

Bush's Autograph

Close Contact

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

President George W. Bush returns an autograph during the 26th annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Service on the West Lawn of the Capitol. He spoke with family members of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.

Synagogue bomb

Pictures of the Week | Pictures of the Week | TIME



Lost Temple

A forensic
officer searches for evidence after a fire destroyed the Hekhal Hanes
synagogue in Geneva, Switzerland. Police suspect the fire was set
intentionally.

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I guess this could qualify as news...

Boing Boing: Mickey Mouse tomato




Chen Guoping of China's Zhejiang province bought this fantastic tomato at a local market. "It looks so much like a mouse head that I bought it without hesitation," he told the People's Daily. "It looks very funny."

Strange Sign: What Does It Mean?

Strange Sign: What Does It Mean? - Gadling

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Beautiful

One in Six European Animals likely to face extinction

Earlier on in the week I posted the 10 top most animals to be extinct within the next 10 years. Well this site has not claimed that one in six European animals will face extinction in the near future.