Yule Laugh

What not to do with your Xmas tree:

Mambo Santa Mambo

A new tune for your holiday mix.



Hm. I've never tried tequila eggnog.
Do we have to add the worm?...

Merry Christmas, y'all !

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Flying Monkey Cake

Just what the elf ordered for your holiday
... if you happen to be an anorexic giant.


The Flying Monkey bakery in Philly invented these 'pumpple' cakes by baking a two layer cake with an entire apple pie in the top half, and a pumpkin pie in the lower one.

An entire pumpple cake weighs 15 pounds
stands more than a foot tall
costs $75
and will run you 1,800 calories a slice.

Maybe we'll start with just that $8 slice?

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Meer Kat Napping

When the Mama MeerKat's away...
...the animal-grabbing delinquents come out to play?

The KC Zoo did notice one of its meerkats was missing, but "They didn't know whether it had been taken by "a person or a predator," which is why
they did not file a missing-meerkat report."
But justice was served, anyway:

''Santhuff admitted he'd jumped into the exhibit, stole the meerkat and stuck it in the stroller, and said that Bradley pushed the stroller out of the zoo and kept the meerkat at his mother's. Bradley's girlfriend, who had accompanied the boys to the zoo, corroborated this version of events when she was questioned by police. "She couldn't believe the two were actually going to take the meerkat so she walked away"

1. They hid a cage in the stroller in advance.
- (premeditated !) -
2. They took it home to their trailer park. (ha !)
3. They bragged about stealing it on Facebook.
4. The ungrateful critter bit them. (lol)
5. They abandoned it after less than a week.

Geniuses.
Their folks are so proud they made the paper.

*here's the article: MeerKat (kid? cat?) -napping

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Find Your Exact Opposite

At least on this planet.



As kids, we were told that digging a hole could lead us to China.
Now you can check and see if its true!

Use the link below, mark your location, and it instantly shows you where the antipodal (ænˈtɪpədəl) point is from your house to the other side of the globe.

Pretty cool, eh?

But don't cry if you end up in the ocean. I did.
Most do: less than 4% of land is antipodal to land.

Lucky folks in Beijing can dig to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
New Zealand is opposite Spain, and Ecuador -> Indonesia.
But in most places, if you dig you'd better do it in scuba.

*note: The marker stays in the center - slide the top map.
link: Interactive Antipodes Map (new window)

Happy Digging!

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definitions: 'Antipodes' (wikipedia)
for ThemeThursday's 'MAP' day
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Donut Lasagna

A specialty of Top Chef Casey Thompson.

Along with the usual lasagna ingredients, she adds brie, spinach, nutmeg, and cream. Then assembles it by laying the noodles on a flat surface, and spooning some of the filling on each, then rolls'm up and places them on edge in a casserole dish. Cheese on top, voila!

Casey says:
" ...I always like a little something different during the holidays; I don't always stick to the rules."

No kidding. Whats even funnier?...

In Nov. she was asked what item she least likes to cook,
and she picked lasagna ! (video from 11/2010 below)



The full recipe & article is here (Star-Telegram) but before you rush out to get the ingredients let me warn you that her special version clocks in w/ an impressive 753 calories, 29 gr fat per serving.

* Tonight is ep #3 of Top Chef All-Stars
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No Place Like Dome

Watch it cave in -with- actual sound.
... There's snow-where to hide!



Make sure you have the sound on ... }~whump~{ !

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Whale Of A Song

Tired of those pre- Christmas tunes already?
You won't hear this in any mall...

Below is "The Pequod" from Tony Garone's "Ahab" show,
'a musical interpretation of Melville's Great American Novel'

'We sail in the morning on a whaling ship
On the wharf we'll be called to service by the rig
And the ship we'll be sailing to the open sea
Goes by name of the Pequod it must surely be!

Now a Christmas is coming but we'll be away
And a whale we'll be hunting so we cannot stay
May our harvest be plenty and our barrels full
And may God bless our journey too!'... etc.

Hate the holidays? ...
No cheery sentiments at all in Ahab's title song.
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That's a Wrap

I think this cat is gifted...

Bo Knows Broadway

But no one mentions if these acrobats can act?

"Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark" is actually on Broadway at last...

According to reports, what they saw was a 3+hour show that was halted by technical delays... getting all of the action down pat has been a great challenge. The first show had five delays, falling stage wires, and even had Spiderman himself hanging over the audience at the end of Act I.(!)

To hear the New York Post say it, having Spiderman on Broadway will garner a lot of unintentional laughs, and massive audience frustration. Michael Riedel called the night an "epic flop" - "dull score and baffling script" - to say nothing of the kinks.

On the other hand, Aint It Cool News posted a review from a fan who said it was hardly that bad. Although the show still needs tweaking, reviewer "DarthDooku" was hopeful... (article)

Is this just a vanity project for Bono?
(Him wanting to best Paul McCartney & Billy Joel on Bway?)

Or did someone think this up as a ploy to get boys to ante up for theater willingly?



Craig Ferguson's version:


Singing & Swinging about a comic just seems strange.

(see more @ CBS's 15 min clip about the show)
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Jingle Bird

Welcome to December ;-)


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Fowl Weather Gear

Just in time for winter...

For the past several months, a small group of knitters in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, have been knitting sweaters for featherless hens rescued from British poultry farms.

The group has even staged two "knit-ins," in which members assemble at a local needlecraft store and craft sweaters -- known in England as "jumpers" -- en masse.

"In the winter, the hens need a little bit of help keeping warm," said organizer and store owner Amy Leader.

The two knit-ins have attracted considerable media attention, which is why several weeks ago she received a phone call reminiscent of an old Monty Python sketch.

"I heard that you're knitting chicken jumpers," the woman said, explaining that she represented a charity that rescued farm chickens. "Would you give me some of them?"

"Do you have a daughter?" Leader asked.

The woman replied that she did.

"It's you I'm making them for!" Leader cried.

The knit-ins have been as good for just about everybody involved. For Leader, they've meant attention for her shop and a chance to incorporate beginners into the circle.

"What's really lovely about a chicken jacket is it doesn't have to be perfect, because -- come on -- it's for a chicken."

There are plans for future knit-ins -- what with the cold weather and holidays coming in -- and that leaves open the possibility of seeing chickens running around England wearing red and green jumpers.

"Maybe we can make little Santa hats for them," Leader said. "The possibilities are endless, aren't they."

It would appear so...

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Meanwhile, check out the 'Chicken Police' !

A bit hare-brained, yes?
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