BOOM!!!

More Giraffe

Tiny giraffe, I has it.

http://www.petitelapgiraffe.com/index.php

In Soviet Russia...cat.... eat you?

Death Dogs of Moscow

Fear them.

Moscow's Stray Dogs Evolving Greater Intelligence, Including a Mastery of the Subway

For every 300 Muscovites, there's a stray dog wandering the streets of Russia's capital. And according to Andrei Poyarkov, a researcher at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, the fierce pressure of urban living has driven the dogs to evolve wolf-like traits, increased intelligence, and even the ability to navigate the subway.

Poyarkov has studied the dogs, which number about 35,000, for the last 30 years. Over that time, he observed the stray dog population lose the spotted coats, wagging tails, and friendliness that separate dogs from wolves, while at the same time evolving social structures and behaviors optimized to four ecological niches occupied by what Poyarkov calls guard dogs, scavengers, wild dogs, and beggars.

The guard dogs follow around, and receive food from, the security personnel at Moscow's many fenced in sites. They think the guards are their masters, and serve as semi-feral assistants. The scavengers roam the city eating garbage. The wild dogs are the most wolf-like, hunting mice, rats, and cats under the cover of night.

But beggar dogs have evolved the most specialized behavior. Relying on scraps of food from commuters, the beggar dogs can not only recognize which humans are most likely to give them something to eat, but have evolved to ride the subway. Using scents, and the ability to recognize the train conductor's names for different stops, they incorporate many stations into their territories.

Additionally, Poyarkov says the pack structure of the beggars reflects a reliance on brain over brawn for survival. In the beggar packs, the smartest dog, not the most physically dominant, occupies the alpha male position.

The evolution of Moscow's stray dogs has been going on since at least the mid-1800s, when Russian writers first mentioned the stray dog problem in the city. And that evolution has been propelled by deadly selective pressure. Most of the strays arrive on the streets as rejected house pets. Of those dogs kicked out of their homes, Poyarkov estimates fewer than 3 percent live long enough to breed. To survive those odds, a dog really does have to be the fittest.

Putin brings the fun

I'm Not Particlarly Into Halo

...but this live action trailer, in and of itself, is 1:30 of awesome. I have no intention to get the game, but if this were a trailer for a movie, I would absolutely be down.



(if the vid gets pulled like I think it might, you can check out a non-embeddable version here: http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/852871/bungie-project-2/videos/haloodst_liveaction_trl_090409.html )

From Uncanny X-Men First Class

Gee, why don't folks take Banshee seriously as a character? Could it be panels like this?

Ghosts of Chernobyl

This might've been posted before. If so, I'm resurrecting it.

Short version is that a few years ago a guy drove in and around the irradiated landscape of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Snapped lots of strange and eerie photos and put them up along with comments on an ugly but passable website.

HERE IT IS.

For those who don't want to cycle through all 27 pages, the highlight reel:

Ghost Town

Ferris Wheel

Kindergarten classroom

You know what we havn't had in a while?

A random image post









Last, but certainly not least... You haven't truly been to the end of the internet until you've seen 9 different pictures of dinosaurs committing sex acts with motor vehicles. Thumbnails super small so that nobody has to see it by accident.

Dance Kremlin Palace!

This crazy manga by Shintaro Kago is never, ever going to be brought over to the US, so here is a link to scanlations of chapters on the site Wanted: Cheap Manga. It's called Dance Kremlin Palace, and it's like looking at stereotypes about Russia and its people through a drug haze. It is also beyond NSFW, especially in the later chapters.

Nailin' Paylin

So they're making a porn with a Sarah Palin look-alike, and apparently the script has been leaked.

(Yes, there's actually a script. Only about 15 pages, but it's kinda funny.)

Putin vs Obama

The Krusher from the Kremlin squares off against the Chocolate Stallion. Obama has age and the will to win on his side, but Putin's dirty tricks and experience could be more than he can handle.

Place your bets on the sidebar!

Mikhail Gorbachev vs. Zombies

GORBACHOV: THE MUSIC VIDEO - BIGGER AND RUSSIANER from Tom Stern on Vimeo.

An alternative to playing in the 40k RPG?

My friend Ana...

saw Sex and the City then wrote the Best. Review. Ever.

Speechus Interruptus

A speech by Gary Kasparov, the chess master whom many Russians deride as a Western lap-dog, was interrupted by an odd visitor- a dildo-copter. Nice bit of commentary.

In Soviet Russia, dance breaks you!

The best stuff's in the latter half.

In Russia, Friend Knifes You!

From the BBC, a story my wife found about why you should never try to kill a Russian by stabbing him.