January 30, 2008

Anton LaVey's Black House Gone Condo:

For decades, the Victorian seen in the far left photo was a San Francisco landmark known as the Black House. It was home to Church of Satan founder Dr. Anton LaVey from 1967 until his death in 1997. After falling into disrepair, the Black House was sadly demolished in 2001. The current owners of the property built three cheesy condominiums in its place that are just now up for sale. I hope that a rich Satanist buys the condos and paints them black as a memorial. Here's what the Church of Satan said about the Black House in 1998 during their efforts to save the place:



Originally built in the 1880's, it survived the devastating 1906 fire and earthquake. It's been a speakeasy, a "spook parlour" and, when Dr. LaVey bought it in 1956, it was owned by one of Mammie Pleasant's girls, one of the most notorious madams in San Francisco. Dr. LaVey made it world-famous when he performed history's first Satanic wedding and baptism here; his 500-pound lion, Togare, was raised here. Dr. LaVey was forced to sell the house several years ago because of a relentless civil suit. That fight almost killed him, but this house meant a great deal to him. He said it was part of his own personality - that its roots went all the way to Hell.
Link to the 1998 letter from Church of Satan, Link to a 1998 San Francisco Chronicle article on the house.

January 29, 2008

Sock Zombie:


Etsy seller Underroos does a fine line of "Sock Zombies" ("Like a sock monkey... only undeader"). These handsome little buggers ooze gorily right into your heart. LINK

January 27, 2008

I Triple Dog Dare Ya!

CHESTERTON, Ind. -- Two fourth-grade boys mimicking a scene from the movie "A Christmas Story" wound up with their tongues stuck to a frozen flagpole. Gavin Dempsey and James Alexander were serving on flag duty at Jackson Elementary School Friday morning, with the job of raising and lowering the school's flags. They decided to see if their tongues really would stick to the cold metal. "I decided to try it because I thought all of the TV shows were lies, but turns out I was wrong," Gavin said. Karen Alexander, James' mother , said her son told her he got the idea from the movie, which is based on stories about a boy growing up in the northwest Indiana community of Hammond in the 1940s. "I can't believe he did it, but they learned their lesson," she said. James said he plans to eat a lot of ice cream to help nurse his wound. "When you're young, you're just messing around," he said. Billie Dempsey, Gavin's mom, said a nurse called them to tell them the boys' tongues were bleeding. "The nurse asked them, 'OK, who double-dog dared who?'" Billie Dempsey said, a reference to a phrase that a character in the movie used to dare another child to stick his tongue to the pole.

January 26, 2008

World's First Weed ATM:



THRILLIST Los Angeles

Thursday Jan 24, 2008


World's First Weed ATM


Available at:
Melrose Quality Pain Relief, 4906 Melrose Ave, Mid-Wilshire; 323.957.7777

Herbal Nutrition Center, 1435 S. La Cienega Blvd. Suite G, Mid-Wilshire; 310.855.9484


Most of your essentials are already distributed by vending machines: condoms, electronics, luscious 1-calorie Tab... But now, you can finally get what you really need: medical marijuana, from Anytime Vending Machines.

Thrillist - Anytime Vending MachinesAVMs are 24/7 machines housed in standalone rooms, abutting two dispensaries and protected by round-the-clock security guards -- like ATMs for people combating psychological withdrawal with a physical one. After cinching up your doctor's consultation, hit an AVM location to get your prescription approved, fingerprint taken, and a prepaid credit card loaded with your profile: dosage (3.5 or 7 grams, up to 1oz a week) and strain preference (choice of five, including OG Cush and Granddaddy Purple, the mildly hallucinogenic forebear to Prince). Then day or night, all you do is hit a machine and walk away with enough vacuum-sealed, plastic-encapsulated cheeba to adequately treat your illness, and guarantee your car never smells like new leather again.

The AVMs are already in place at their respective dispensaries and will be fully-operational by Monday, though their vestibules are still under construction; future plans include machine-vended pharmaceuticals like Vicodin, Viagra, and Propecia -- for when the excessive chemicals in Tab have wracked you with pain, limpness, and baldness.

Check out one of the dispensaries that's stocking the AVM at HerbalNutritionCenterLA.com

January 23, 2008

Racism Againt Woman's Subordinate Lifestyle:

Pet Woman Kicked Off Bus For Wearing Leash:

LONDON - A British bus company has apologized to a girl who is led around on a leash by her boyfriend and describes herself as a human pet after one of its drivers threw her off a bus.

Tasha Maltby, 19, told British newspapers she was the "pet" of her 25-year-old fiance Dani Graves.

Pictures showed her dressed in black Gothic-style clothing with silver buckles on a silver chain -- which the driver of a bus from the firm Arriva took exception to.

She told the Daily Mail newspaper Wednesday she was thrown off and told: "We don't let freaks and dogs like you on."

Arriva would not comment on specifics but said it apologized if the couple felt they had been discriminated against. It added, however, that the driver was worried about safety and the company told Maltby to take the leash off in the future.

"We have spoken to the driver who has talked about health and safety," a spokesman said. "Should she be attached to a chain and something happens on the bus, that could be dangerous. All we are saying is that she is very welcome to use the buses but not when she is on her lead."

Maltby said her choice of lifestyle might seem unusual but was harmless.

"I am a pet," she told the Daily Mail. "I generally act animal-like and I lead a really easy life. I don't cook or clean and I don't go anywhere without Dani. It might seem strange but it makes us both happy. It's my culture and my choice. It isn't hurting anyone."

Hand Made Larva Candy:

posted by Scott Beale



Pink Tentacle has a great write-up on Larva Chocolate (Youchu Choco), a popular grub-shaped candy treat that is hand made by Komatsuya (400 per day) in Japan.


A unique chocolate made to look like a beetle larva has captured the fancy of candy aficionados in Japan. Produced by the Komatsuya confectionery and bakery based in Akita prefecture, the bite-sized Larva Chocolates (Youchu Choco) have a grub-shaped body made from milk chocolate and corn flakes, a layer of skin made from white chocolate, legs made from tiny strips of dried squid, and a dainty mouth made from orange peel.



Komatsuya also makes a series colorful larvae candy, which according to Babel Fish, s some kind of potato insect larvae made from bean jam.


photos via Komatsuya

January 21, 2008

Evil Devil Clock With Pendulum Goatee:


This Evil Devil Clock keeps time with pendulum action from its swinging goatee: LINK

January 20, 2008

Fucking Fucker Guitar Amp:



Boing Boing Gadgets reports on the latest in rock-n-roll gadgetry, the attitudinal Fucking Fucker all-tube guitar amp from Metasonix, which comes with many nihilistic humor touches: "The G-1000 consists of two totally independent amplifiers, with very different preamp sections. One channel is called the HAPPY channel. The other is called the ANGRY channel." LINK

January 17, 2008

Sex Toy Bomb Scare In Sweden:

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A Swedish bomb squad called out to disarm a suspicious package on Wednesday did not find a ticking bomb. But they did find a vibrating sex toy. A janitor alerted police after he found the package in a garage of an apartment building in Goteborg, the country's second-largest city, police spokesman Jan Strannegard said. The package was humming and vibrating suspiciously, so police took no chances and sent out a team of explosives experts. After having cordoned off the area, they opened the package with bomb disposal equipment, only to find the battery-operated device inside. "The package was vibrating when the janitor found it, but I think it had sort of died out by the time it was disarmed," Strannegard said.

January 16, 2008

Huckabee Is The Dee Dee Dee:

Huckabee On Evolution
WRITTEN BY TRISTERO
Here's Mike Huckabee lying about his views on evolution:
Huckabee said he has no problem with teaching evolution as a theory in the public schools and he doesn't expect schools to teach creationism.

'We shouldn't indoctrinate kids in school,' he said. 'I wouldn't want them teaching creationism as if it's the only thing that they should teach.'"
Y'see, he's a sensible nut job. Huckabee says creationism shouldn't be the only "theory" taught in high school biology.

But that's a lie. In fact, his behavior demonstrates that actually, he wants to eliminate evolution from the public high school classroom. PZ Myers found this report on Huckabee's disgraceful record as governor of Arkansas when it comes to educating children:
During Huckabee’s tenure as Governor, evolution education in Arkansas languished in an environment of general hostility and insufficiency. Two anti-evolution bills were introduced in the state’s House of Representatives; textbooks in the Beebe, Arkansas public high school carried disclaimer stickers denigrating evolution; the state’s science curriculum earned a grade of “D” overall and an abysmal “zero” for its treatment of evolution; a creationist “museum” enjoyed state-funded advertising; and evolution was systematically and broadly squeezed out of schools and other educational institutions across the state. Huckabee did nothing to deter any of this – in fact, some of his public statements might indicate his tacit support.
Tacit support is being far too cautious. From his statements, it's clear Huckabee has no clear notion of consensual reality. And that, as we've learned in the 21st Century, is downright dangerous in a president.

Here Huckabee - that nice "aw shucks" likeable Gomer everyone talks about - gets downright hostile when asked about evolution. And he thoroughly evades the question for as long as he can:



Notice: He was asked about the evolution of life. He answers with a non-sequitur, about the creation of the universe, which Darwin and evolutionary theory never addresses. (And note that Blitzer falls for the bait and switch.)

His answer, of course, was carefully constructed and memorized gobbledy-gook he vomits up whenever the subject of evolution is broached. Here he again uses that variant of Soapy Sam's hoary line in his debate with Huxley:
...after evolution came up in a debate earlier this year, Huckabee said in a conference call with reporters, "If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, that's fine. I'll accept that. I just don't happen to think that I did"
And here he repeats his opening gambit from the debate
I'm not sure what in the world that has to do with being president of the United States.
This is the only thing Huckabee's said which I completely believe. He simply has no idea why being knowledgeable about a subject and grounded in reality might be useful in a president.

Sadly, neither do a lot of Republicans who have catapulted him to serious consideration as their nominee for president. And, in some ways even worse, neither do the denizens of the sober, serious national press, who have colluded with Huckabee to give him national stature.

Folks, this is what you call a litmus test. If a presidential candidate doesn't have a steady grasp on reality, they have no business being even considered for president. Huckabee doesn't. Not only that, he doesn't think it's important.

Forgive me. I understand Huckabee is a laughable clown. But I don't find this funny in the least.
WRITTEN BY TRISTERO

Mike Huckabee Is The Dee Dee Dee | SkullznEyez

January 15, 2008

Man Charged With Driving Lawnmower Drunk:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A New Zealand man has been charged with driving a lawn mower while drunk, police said Tuesday. Richard Gunn, 52, was driving the lawn mower down a street in the northern New Zealand town of Dargaville late Monday evening when police stopped him, police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said. Gunn's breath alcohol level was at more than twice the legal limit for drivers, police said, and he previously had lost his driver's license. Gunn said he has been using the lawn mower to get around town since losing his license. "I thought I was safe," he told TV One News. Even bicycles went faster than the lawn mower's 5 mph, he said. "I've watched them go past me." Gunn was scheduled to appear in court later this week on charges of careless driving, driving while disqualified and driving with excess breath alcohol. He faces a potential prison term if convicted. Police impounded the lawn mower for 28 days.

January 14, 2008

3D Tetris:


Tetrical is a 3D Tetris game in Flash that you can play in your browser. LINK

January 09, 2008

Warcraft Player Says Give Peace A Chance:

Pacifist Warcraft player trying to hit the top without killing anything:
A college student is attempting to level two "pacifist" characters up to the top of World of Warcraft's character progression, characters he's playing without attacking anything. It's partly to try out the philosophy of pacifism in the violent virtual world, and partly to see if he can do it:


Both my priest and my rogue try not to hit anything, although there's always a chance of a misclick when trying to open a quest item with mobs fighting near it. Both of them always wield a fishing rod, so any accidental hits won't increase their weapon skills. Neither of them will do quests where they have to kill things. In battlegrounds, my rogue will throw bombs to interrupt flag captures and stun people and may even accidentally kill players low in health or nearby critters. My priest only heals, so he is actually closer in roleplaying terms. Neither will "get around" these limits by grouping and having other players do their dirty work.In terms of bragging rights, I intend to keep my rogue's weapon skills (dagger, thrown and unarmed) at all 1s. My priest will also have all 1s, but it won't be obvious on WoW Armory that he has no offensive spells beyond the level 1 Smite all priests start with. LINK

January 07, 2008

Bacon: The Candy of Meats


This was an entry for my Sublime Stitchmas handmade contest that was worth sharing. A pig, with cut selections dotted out, and lovely scrolling script reading "The Candy of Meats." LINK

January 01, 2008

LOL OWL Scarf, O RLY? Ya RLY:


Scarf Rly, an "O Rly" Owl scarf pattern. Created by Rebecca Stern, original idea by Justin Gutterman. One end says "O Rly?" and other other, "Ya Rly." Because I hate the way carried-yarn patterns have a front and back, I tried to weave the carried yarn through the knit-1-purl-1 pattern of the scarf, but I'm not quite happy with it. Sure, the image has no front and back now (except the readability of the text), but it's a bit dense, not stretchy, and slow-going. LINK