A compassionate firefighter rescues a cat suffering from smoke inhalation.

Read the follow-up story here.

Posted by Amy as Animals at 1:35 AM EDT

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The wonderful Cenobyte has tagged me for this meme.

The rules are as follows:

• Each player creates a list of eight random personal facts/habits.
• At the end of your post, list eight people who you want to tag to also do this meme.
• People who are tagged will write their own list of eight personal facts/habits and, if they have a blog of their own, post these rules and their list.

Here goes with my eight things:

1. My tastes in music are eclectic: I can move easily between Tom Waits, Loretta Lynn, Bruce Springsteen, Enya, and Mozart.

2. I give my animals the names of people (although I’ve been tempted by the name Snap).

3. I love to read about food and cooking.

4. I like to go barefoot in all weathers.

5. I like having a flower garden, but I don’t enjoy gardening.

6. I only want foliage houseplants.

7. I always use pens with black ink—I don’t like blue ink.

8. I’m interested in geology and like to pick up small rocks that catch my eye (they sit on my computer table under my table lamp).

Here are the four people I’ve tagged:

A Sweet, Familiar Dissonance
Alone On a Boreal Stage
Cara Winsor Hehir
Head Tale
houndcats’ books and blather
Manageable Imaginations
Politics ‘N Poetry
rockstarpoet

Posted by Amy as Memes at 1:22 AM EDT

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Museum of Jurassic Technology:

Like a coat of two colors, the Museum serves dual functions. On the one hand the Museum provides the academic community with a specialized repository of relics and artifacts from the Lower Jurassic, with an emphasis on those that demonstrate unusual or curious technological qualities. On the other hand the Museum serves the general public by providing the visitor a hands-on experience of “life in the Jurassic”….

Collections/exhibits include “Garden of Eden on Wheels: Collections from Los Angeles Area Mobile Home Parks”; “Lives of Perfect Creatures: Dogs of the Soviet Space Program”; and “Rotten Luck: The Decaying Dice of Ricky Jay.”

Via dangerousmeta!

Posted by Amy as Unusual, Science & Nature at 1:49 AM EDT

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Hail To The Keef: Test Your Knowledge of Keith Richards.

Posted by Amy as Music at 1:28 AM EDT

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Field Guide To the Loner: a Psychology Today article on introverts.

Via Plep.

Posted by Amy as Psychology at 3:57 AM EDT

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Hugh Laurie Receives OBE: Bravo!

Posted by Amy as Television & Movies at 1:37 AM EDT

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Steven Wright: The Undisputed King of Random Humour: a six minute video.

I love Steven Wright. Here’s a link to his official website.

Posted by Amy as Humour, Cartoons & Comics at 1:26 AM EDT

2 Comments »

PARLINFO: the official website of the Government of Canada—information about the Prime Minister, Parliament, the Senate, the Governor-General, and much more.

Posted by Amy as Canada at 1:41 AM EDT

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Here in Canada it’s Victoria Day, a day on which, in theory at least, we celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria (1819-1901).

However, I’m not aware of any celebrations of the queen’s birthday—here in Saskatchewan it’s considered the start of gardening season. Even that’s been thrown into doubt lately—it snowed in parts of the province a few days ago.

If you’d like to learn more about the official reason for the statutory holiday, though, check out the Government of Canada’s official page about Victoria Day.

Posted by Amy as Special Days/Weeks, Canada at 6:40 AM EDT

2 Comments »

Abigails-L: A *Feminist*Activist*Discussion* List.

ABIGAILS-L is a fully moderated email list dedicated to gaining full and equal women’s rights through direct action.

Posted by Amy as Women at 11:20 AM EDT

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Eyewitness To History: “history through the eyes of those who lived it.” Excerpts from diaries, letters, and other first person accounts from ancient times to the 20th century.

Posted by Amy as History at 1:51 AM EDT

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Atlas of Plucked Instruments: “an encyclopedia of all the world’s plucked instruments of lute, guitar, banjo and mandolin type.”

Via Neat New Stuff On The Web.

Posted by Amy as Music at 1:40 AM EDT

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French and Italian Paintings of the 18th Century: online exhibitions.

Posted by Amy as Arts & Culture at 1:43 AM EDT

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The Biology of B Movie Monsters

Via Neat New Stuff On The Web.

Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, Television & Movies, Science & Nature at 1:21 AM EDT

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A Passion For Jazz! Timeline:

The Jazz timeline of style development has evolved significantly, spanning three centuries. Since its birth, well over two dozen distinct Jazz styles have emerged.

This site gives good, concise explanations of the various jazz styles.

Posted by Amy as Music at 1:15 AM EDT

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Normal Room.

Normal Room shows you interior design and home furniture from all around the globe. Search our image database and explore the differences and similarities in architecture and home decoration between people in different countries.

Posted by Amy as Domestic, Daily Life at 1:10 AM EDT

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Body Language In Training Your Dog:

Have you ever noticed how your dog often flinches or looks despondent when you hug it? Or no matter how far you throw out your arms and lean forward, coaxing your dog enthusiastically and affectionately, your dog will not come when called? Well, the problem might have nothing to do with the usual explanations: bad breeding, lack of consistency, or lack of training time. While these are all important, you may simply be sending your dog the wrong messages with your body language.

Posted by Amy as Animals at 1:22 AM EDT

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How To Detect Lies:

The following techniques to telling if someone is lying are often used by police, and security experts. This knowledge is also useful for managers, employers, and for anyone to use in everyday situations where telling the truth from a lie can help prevent you from being a victim of fraud/scams and other deceptions.

Warning: Sometimes Ignorance is bliss; after gaining this knowledge, you may be hurt when it is obvious that someone is lying to you.

Posted by Amy as Psychology at 1:25 AM EDT

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The Complete Listing of World Wonders: this includes the wonders of the ancient world, the medieval world, the natural world, and more.

Posted by Amy as Unusual, Travel at 1:23 AM EDT

2 Comments »

Cemetaries and Cemetary Symbols: “Exploring the meaning of cemetery symbols and other graveyard mysteries. For genealogy sleuths, taphophiles and goth kids” [Amy’s note: links added].

Via Neat New Stuff On The Web.

Posted by Amy as Death at 1:39 AM EDT

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Bumper Sticker Removal: three methods.

Posted by Amy as Domestic at 1:00 AM EDT

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The Canonical List of Bumper Stickers.

A few samples:

• Hello, officer. Put it on my tab.
• I have good Brakes, Do you have GOOD Insurance?
• If you don’t like my attitude, stop looking at my Stickers!
• Don’t drink water, fish breed in it.

Posted by Amy as Humour at 1:04 AM EDT

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HomeEc 101: What You Wish Your Mama Taught You . . . : Here are some of the categories they cover:

• A lesson in frugality
• Be prepared
• Cleaning that mess
• Cook it up!
• Getting rid of stuff
• Laundry Lovin’
• Menu Monday
• Ms. Fix-it
• Pet Problems

My Mom taught me this—I just forgot.

Via Neat New Stuff On The Web.

Posted by Amy as Domestic at 1:50 AM EDT

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What is your Alignment?
created with QuizFarm.com

Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 1:31 AM EDT

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The History of Costume:

The “History of Costume” or “Zur Geschichte der Kostüme” was printed from 1861 to 1880 in Munich by the publishing firm of Braun and Schneider. It was originally published as individual plates in a German magazine titled “Münchener Bilderbogen”. ater, these plates were collected and bound into book form. The total publication consisted of 125 pages, with four pictures per pages, for a total of 500 costume designs. These plates consisted of historical dress from antiquity to the end of the 19th century. This book is an excellent source for students who are studying the history of fashion and for costume designers. One must be aware though, that these illustrations have a Victorian perspective to their designs. The last 35 pages consists of contemporary folk dress (c.1880) from most European, Asian, and African countries. These provides a source for researching plays which take place during the Victorian period, such as “The King and I” or “The Sea Gull”. The original book was published in German, so at times, the English translation is confusing.

Via Weblog V2.

Posted by Amy as History, Clothing at 4:59 AM EDT

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The People History: “An Online Social History from the last 50 years created from memories of events and experiences in peoples lives. What do you remember? add your memory or comment.”

There’s information in the following categories:

Popular Culture, Music, Film and TV, Technology, World Events Cost of Living, Inflation, Price of goods and property, Wages and The Value of Money

Posted by Amy as History at 9:12 AM EDT

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Meme Cats: Lots of photos of cats, almost all with (humorous) captions.

Via MetaFilter.

Posted by Amy as Animals, Humour at 1:35 AM EDT

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Discover Islamic Art: The Fatimids, The Ottomans, The Muslim West, The Umayyads, and much more.

Via Art Blog By Bob (a wonderful blog, by the way—check it out regularly).

Posted by Amy as Arts & Culture at 3:26 AM EDT

2 Comments »