"...the 'Temples of Damanhur' are not the great legacy of some long-lost civilisation, they are the work of a 57-year-old former insurance broker from northern Italy who, inspired by a childhood vision, began digging into the rock.

The first time the police came it was over alleged tax evasion and still the temples lay undiscovered. But a year later the police swooped on the community demanding: "Show us these temples or we will dynamite the entire hillside."

Stunned by what they had found, the authorities decided to seize the temples on behalf of the government."

Secret underground temple seized by police - Boing Boing

noteworthy wrote:

The hands of the girl with dark glasses searched for somewhere to hold on to, but it was the doctor's wife who gently held them in her own hands, Rest, rest. The girl closed her eyes, remained like that for a minute, she might have fallen asleep were it not for the quarrel that suddenly erupted, someone had gone to the lavatory and on his return found his bed occupied, no harm was meant, the other fellow had got up for the same reason, they had passed each other on the way, and obviously it did not occur to either of them to say, Take care not to get into the wrong bed when you come back. Standing there, the doctor's wife watched the two blind men who were arguing, she noticed they made no gestures, that they barely moved their bodies, having quickly learned that only their voice and hearing now served any purpose, true, they had their arms, that they could fight, grapple, come to blows, as the saying goes, but a bed swapped by mistake was not worth so much fuss, if only all life's deceptions were like this one, and all they had to do was to come to some agreement, Number two is mine, yours is number three, let that be understood once and for all, Were it not for the fact that we're blind this mix-up would never have happened, You're right, our problem is that we're blind. The doctor's wife said to her husband, The whole world is right here.

There's no Triffids in this. This book is majorly lacking in Triffids.

RE: Blindness, by Jose Saramago

Shapeshifter is a completely online animating application
that allows you to create short movies without
ever downloading or installing a thing!

You’ve got 4 basic shapes to work with,
but the sky’s the limit when it comes to what you can
do with it.

Neat... I'll have to play with this later.

Free animation software to create short cartoons online with Aniboom’s Shapeshifter

Japanese women with environmental concerns close to their hearts may one day be able to wear a bra which can carry their own personal chopsticks to cut down on waste.

Women's lingerie maker Triumph Japan on Wednesday unveiled new bra with cups fashioned to look like a bowl of rice and a bowl of miso soup complete with side pouches to hold compact chopsticks.

The "My Hashi" or "My Chopsticks" bra was designed reduce the waste generated by people throwing away their disposable chopsticks.

Japanese bra aims to give waste the chop

If you're into LED Throwies, you might like this:

This lightwriting project is the work of LICHTFAKTOR; on their MySpace page, they cite explanatory text from another blog, "colourlovers":

A number of graffiti artists have been tagging everything thought to be impossible without being caught. Well — it’s actually not illegal for them. They’re not using paint. As it turns out, time-lapse photography isn’t just for blooming flowers, skyscapes, or brake lights anymore. Termed Light Graffiti, tag artists are taking their colour to an all new level.

Using an exposure of about ten-to-thirty seconds and a tripod for best results, Light Graffiti artists start at the first click. Glowsticks, flashlights, reflectors, and even torches have been used as mediums to create all sorts of designs and tags, as the artist becomes a ghost of a blur, if visible at all.

Any person, place, or thing can become a central piece of the art. Because all it really takes is less than a minute, light tagging phone booth can be just as easy as something in the privacy of home, though staying home is certainly less fun. Some ‘hardcore’ taggers are set on Light Graffiti not actually being graffiti because it doesn’t have a physical presence, but after seeing photos of it, it’s not too different from tagging a building and having it covered or removed the next day.

See if you can make some yourself. The general rule of Light Graffiti seems to be experimentation and play, so, if your first ‘tag’ isn’t brilliance, keep at it.

Here is "Star Wars vs. Star Trek":

energie in motion

Pope Benedict better watch where he places his pope hat or the Kuka robot might just steal his place. Kuka is a robot programed to rewrite the entire Martin Luther bible in a beautiful calligraphy style font.

GEARFUSE � Holy Crap! It's A Holy Robot!

New Yorkers are hearing things these days — and it is coming from the bushes.

It is the sound of concrete crickets, little devices created by artist Michael Dory that play bits of music and make cricket-like sounds. Dory hides small sound devices in containers around the city, similar to the way graffiti artists spray paint their art on walls without asking anyone's consent.

NPR : Sounds of Concrete Crickets fill the Big Apple

This Wednesday, October 10th is a big day!

At the Brighton Bar, on Brighton Ave in beautiful Long Branch, NJ, Patrick Veil (of the Sex Zombies and Fabric Staircase Magazine) will perform an acoustic set of humorous, topical and fearless tunes. Come watch acoustic become dangerous weaponry in the hands of a madman. Patrick is in the middle of a tour with the increasingly popular Sex Zombies, and this special acoustic performance guarantees to entertain.

Speaking of Madmen, singer/songwriter Lonnnie (of Sunshine Flipside) makes his return to the Brighton stage with a set of new tunes that have to be heard to be believed! A genius tunesmith with a penchant for aching melodies, insightful (occasionally hilarious) lyrics, and potent performances.

Also performing are The Hip Shop, Nick Gere and Eddie Bodeen. For more info, check http://www.thebrightonbar.com

Don't miss this show...unless you are already playing a gig somewhere else. No other excuses will cut the mustard!

Patrick Veil and Lonnnie to perform at Brighton Bar!!!

While making an animated war movie featuring armies of battling robots, filmmaker Michael Sullivan began to get a new idea: His film should feature non-stop robot sex.

The Sex Life of Robots centers around a robot baby and his mother scanning their home computer for porn. It shows -- in graphic detail -- the scenes of robot coitus that pop up on their screen. "It's supposed to be like a silent robot porno movie from another planet," Sullivan explains. Despite the subject matter, Sullivan's creation exhibits a high degree of artistry. His eye for detail gives his movies a gritty, industrialized atmosphere, as you can see in this preview Sex Life of Robots. Warning: the video is not safe for work (NSFW).

Gallery: Artist's NSFW Creations Portray Robot Sex

"A UNIQUE collection of 350 anatomical wax models which once travelled Europe as a carnival sideshow is expected to raise at least �300,000 at Christie's in London later this month."
--The Telegraph, December, 2001

"I saw men enter blind drunk and leave stone-cold sober."
--Lily Binda, remarking on her collection of anatomical waxes.

Really cool.

Morbid Anatomy: Popular Anatomical Waxworks Auction, Christie's, 2001