St. Andrews Face Transformer

Check out this 'toy': the St. Andrews Face of the Future Face Transformer does an incredible job of transforming any face photo into a variety of styles, including manga, cavemen, botticelli, and various races.

Click here to try the face transformer

Sanford Having An Affair, Not Hiking the Appalachian Trail

Disgraced South Carolina governor Mark Sanford has surprised no one by revealing that he would rather have an affair with an Argentinian woman than hike the Appalachian Trail.

The story began a few days ago, when Sanford went missing. No one knew where he was: not his staff, his security detail, or his wife and children. Although somewhat unusual for a head of state, the absence occurred during a break period, and his staff suggested that the governor was just escaping to get away from it all.

After four days, his staff said that the governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail. Was this true? A person does not just 'hike the Appalachian Trail' for four days. It takes preparation, timing, and transport. But that was the story at that time.

The next day, the governor was tracked at the airport, where he had flown in from Argentina. Just a mistake, the staff said; he was having a little Argentine vacation, not hiking the Appalachian Trail.

And finally, today, Sanford has admitted that he flew to Argentina to have an affair with an Argentinian women. That's much more fun that slogging across the Appalachian Range with a 40 pound backpack. But it's also more damaging to the political career of a possible future presidential candidate.

Sanford has resigned as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. He stated that he went to Argentina to end the affair. He has split with his wife, but he is trying to salvage his political career.

Read the Washington Post article here

Barrel Monster Man Charged With Vandalism

Joseph Carnevale, a street artist and junior at North Carolina University, was inspired to steal three construction barrels and create a hulking barrel monster on the construction site. The barrel monster has been received well locally, and even the construction company is happy with the publicity and does not want to press charges. But the local police are not being carried along in this wave of good will. They have arrested Carnevale for a misdemeanor and intend to press charges despite the lack of public support.

Check on Facebook and join one of the groups that are supporting Carnevale. Hopefully the police will realize that this is not a case that needs to be prosecuted (I believe he would be looking at a fine at best, anyway).

Read the full Barrel Monster story here

Girl Sues Tattoo Artist For 56 Stars On Her Face

An 18 year old girl in Belgium is suing a tattoo artist for tattooing 56 stars on her face when she only asked for 3. Kimberley Vlaminck claims she felt no pain during the tattooing, so she fell asleep. When she awoke, she was appalled to see half of her face covered in stars.

The tattoo artist, Rouslan Toumaniantz, has denied the allegations, claiming that the girl was awake all the time, and that the problems only began when the girl's father saw the tattoos.

What really happened? From photos seen on free-to-air news, the tattoo artist is covered in tattoos and piercings. Did he drug the girl, tattoo her extensively against her will, and then hope that when she awakened, she would want to be his bride, a la Bride of Frankenstein? Or was the girl awake all the time, just going along with what was happening, and was it the father's reaction that caused the whole situation to change? Or was it a combination of the two?

The Night Googler is alternatively intrigued and frustrated by these types of news stories; of wanting to know the truth, but realizing that we will never know.

Read the full article here

Update (25 June 2009): Kimberley Vlaminck has admitted that she asked for all those stars and was fully awake while it happened. She was actually happy with the tattoos, but her dad's reaction caused her to change her story. So this time I think we know the truth.

Nation's Girlfriends Unveil New Economic Plan: "Let's Move In Together"

I've watched this Onion video a couple of times now, just to appreciate the way they have combined typical sniping 'couples argument' language into the context of a news interview. Priceless!

Nation's Girlfriends Unveil New Economic Plan: 'Let's Move In Together'

Green Porno with Isabella Rossellini

Yes, it is not a joke that the classy actress Isabella Rossellini has made a series of extremely short films for the Sundance Channel on the sex lives of insects. Just to outdo David Attenborough (in so many ways), she narrates - and acts out - the insect roles as they do it like they do on the Sundance Channel. There's something extremely sexy about Isabella, in snail suit, saying, "I can withdraw my entire body into my shell, where I can hide my vagina and my penis. I have both!" in that sultry European accent. Biologists must be absolutely going off!



Click here for more of Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno

Star Trek: The Next Generation (directed by gazorra)

gazorra is a YouTube poster who painstakingly collects and reassembles choice bits of Star Trek: The Next Generation into original mini-webisodes. Gazorra's best efforts are a highly inspired retake on the series and the personality of its cast.

US Army Mascot 'Liberty' is Dead

The Onion takes a moment from comedy to honor the memory of joyful army mascot 'Liberty', who died tragically when he cartwheeled into a roadside bomb.

Pentagon Reports Army Mascot 'Liberty' Killed in Iraq

Trekkers Bash New Star Trek Film as 'Fun', 'Watchable'

The Onion has given itself away; obviously, at least one person there is a Star Trek fan. You would have to be to produce this lovely parody of Trekkers and their strange attitude toward Star Trek. Yes, there are huge elements of truth in this parody. I have found myself having those same thoughts: "Will I like this movie if it appeals to the masses - if it is a straight up action film and doesn't have moments of quiet scripted discussions in the ready room of a starship?" We'll find out the answer to this question tomorrow, when the film opens and I see and review it. In the meantime, enjoy this spoiler-free comic gem!

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

Follow this Twitterer: jbwhaley

Here's someone you should follow on Twitter: the prolific, poignant indie filmmaker, jbwhaley, who just today Tweeted:

"A family is worth waking up for. Making a name for one's self is worth staying awake for. The rest is just sleeping, or death."

Can I use this as my new credo without paying royalties?

XKCD - Brilliant, Amusing WebComic

Check out XKCD's clever, witty webcomics, updating three times a week. The one I've picked out for you is a look at how Twitter users react to the Swine Flu pandemic.

Click here to visit XKCD

The Onion: More Americans Outsourcing Their Jobs

Be sure to stick around for this entire Onion take on Americans outsourcing their jobs. This is a classic example of The Onion creating its own comic universe:


More American Workers Outsourcing Own Jobs Overseas

Bio-bak: Innovative Interactive Website

See what happens when an imaginative Flash animator/cartoonist is let loose on the web! This interactive (R-rated) website lets you search for missing tools in a scrollable world populated with the occasional weird character.

Click here to visit Bio-bak

Star Trek: Next Generation - 'gazorra' style

Only a Star Trek: Next Generation afficionado could appreciate the amount of editing that 'gazorra' undertakes to create his/her Next Generation remixes:

Sesame Street has the Coolest Website!

While looking around for kids websites for my daughter, we came across the Sesame Street website. I've seen a lot of sites try to make themselves cool and kid-friendly, but this simple, elegant interface is the best I've ever seen.

To start, two Muppet hands squirt glue on a panel and then attach the menu items that run along the top. But the best part is at the bottom of the page. A series of pictures of various Muppet characters are hung from strings. They are clickable gateways to various activities you can do with each character. And together, moving the mouse over the pictures produces a lovely xylophone sound! The games and other activities are lots of fun, too!

Experience the site now; it's wonderful! Check out the cool Sesame Street website here!

Top Twitter Users at wefollow.com

Find out who the top-ranked Twitter users are at WeFollow.com. Users are ranked based on the number of followers. Here's today's top ten:

cnnbrk (CNN) 681,469
britneyspears 581,384
BarackObama 571,885
aplusk 551,729
jimmyfallon 468,533
THE_REAL_SHAQ 436,130
nytimes 429,416
lancearmstrong 418,176
algore 406,860
johncmayer 389,603

Today's Penis Enlargement Spam Email Subject Lines

Here's what the Night Googler received in his spam email box today: more suggestions to get my inadequate penis enlarged (note that all typos are as received):

"Perform in bed with the same power as your performed on your honeymoon"

"Nobody can be blamed for your pitiful member but you can change it"

"Girls prefer well hung men"

"Raise the bed intensity several notches"

"Pleasure and big size always go together"

"Surprise your girl with enhanced organ"

"Get real huge and she will love you even more"

"Women start laughing when you pull down your pants, Stop it!"

"Your little friend in your pants is capable only for visiting toilets."

Where in the World are You? Map Your Name!

At Map Your Name, you type in your family name, and are presented with a map of either the USA, Europe, or Australia, demarcated with regional counts for that name. It's a quick way to find out where other people are in the world who share your family name (New York, New Jersey, and, of course, Sicily are hotspots for me).

Seinfeld's lesson for telemarketers

Here's Jerry Seinfeld's quick lesson in how to respond to telemarketing calls. This is from the early, better days of Seinfeld.

Seinfeld makes a reservation

With all the wonderfully unpleasant experiences I have had lately with various businesses, I got a lot of enjoyment out of watching how Jerry Seinfield deals with companies that don't seem to fully understand how to properly conduct a transaction. This car reservation scene makes it to the top of many lists of great Seinfeld moments. Take away the canned laughter, and it would be perfect!

My Two Fans

My Two Fans is a 'webisodes' comedy series about a young woman who is always accompanied by two platonic male fans/cheerleaders. The guys offer encouragement, wear matching shirts, sing bedtime songs, and remind her why her ex-boyfriend was a fascist. Created by Lauren Iungerich, it's a lighthearted situation comedy (thankfully, with no laughtrack), but there's something not only sweetly romantic about it, but also deeply true to reality, despite the full-on fantasy concept.

Click here if you cannot see the above video
My hook into the series, which has now run for at least 5 short webisodes, is the guest appearance of Fran Kranz (Topher from Dollhouse) in episode 5.

Iron Man Trailer to be expanded into full-length Iron Man movie

Here's an oldie but goodie from The Onion: the story of how Paramount decided to expand the extremely popular Iron Man trailer into a full-length feature film - despite the inherent risks to the fanbase. I think this struck me as even more amusing since I just heard that the Star Trek XI trailer has set records for most downloads.


Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film

Mass Lottery? Massachusetts Lottery? What's Up With That?

The Night Googler was feeling out of the loop, wondering why there are all these Google searches going on for lottery related things. Here's a list of all of the current lottery-related searches, listed by rank:

1. mass lottery
2. massachusetts lottery
3. mega millions winner
4. ma lottery
5. mass lottery mega millions
6. michigan lottery
7. ocean county nj
8. ohio lottery
10. nj lottery
11. ga lottery
12. megamillions
13. nys lottery
14. virginia lottery
16. va lottery
18. ma lottery winning numbers
19. georgia lottery
20. new jersey lottery
21. md lottery
24. mega millions winning numbers
27. maryland lottery
28. ocean county new jersey
31. ny lotto
32. illinois lottery
35. megamillions lottery
36. nylottery
38. new york state lottery
41. ga lotto
47. nj lotto
49. michigan lotto
52. mi lottery
55. www.michigan.gov/lottery
63. texas lottery
64. new jersey mega millions
65. il lottery
72. megamillions numbers
87. michigan.gov/lottery
91. megamillions ma

That's an amazing 38 lottery-related searches out of the top 100! The reason was the occasion of the draw for the winning numbers in a multi-state lottery. No one won this time, sadly for all those ticket-purchasing Google searchers. By the way, the past winner was from Ocean County, New Jersey; this explains those search items.

The Night Googler wonders if the current economic woes are driving people more toward a quick fix solution: buy a lottery ticket, and all those problems go away.

Saudi Arabia Appoints First Female Minister

Mmmm...and she's quite a looker, too. I must admit, I've always had a thing for a woman with a goatee. :)

You've got to love it when Google chooses an only partially related file photo next to the headline of a web news article...

Read the real story here

Google Earth now has Google Oceans!

Google Earth is a great free way to learn about the world's geography, history, culture, and biology. It's a free program that presents an interactive earth globe. Travel around through the satellite images enhanced with photos, videos, informational pages from various organizations, and much more. And now, Google Earth has charted the oceans as well! Dive deep down to find marine life, shipwrecks, and much more: Find out more about Google Earth 5 with oceans

Groundhog Day!

That shadow-gazing groundhog is on the minds of most people today, according to the top 100 current Google searches. Out of 100 searches, the groundhog is evident in an amazing figures in 30 of them, including the top 5, and 7 of the top 10. Among the more interesting are #62 (groundhog day lesson plans) and #88 (groundhog puppet). It's also great to see how many ways people can spell Punxsutawney, the groundhog's home town, in Pennsylvania, USA. Here's the full list of groundhog searches:

1. did the groundhog see his shadow
2. punxsutawney phil
3. groundhog day 2009
4. puxatony phil
5. ground hog
7. punksatony phil
10. groundhog phil
13. groundhog coloring page
15. punxsutawney pa
17. jimmy the groundhog
19. groundhog video
20. groundhog day coloring sheets
21. groundhog day word search
25. georgia groundhog
26. ground hog day movie
27. groundhog picture
29. groundhog day activities for kids
36. groundhog prediction
40. groundhog results
48. free groundhog day worksheets
49. groundhog day reading comprehension
50. groundhog clip art
55. punxy phil
56. gobblers knob
62. groundhog day lesson plans
76. groundhog pattern
79. puxatony pa
81. punxsutawney pennsylvania
83. groundhog poem
88. groundhog puppet

By the way, Phil the groundhog saw his shadow, and that means 6 more weeks of winter.

2009 Australian Open Tennis: Celebrity Sighting?

FYI: Octuplets = 8 Babies

USA Today reports that a California woman was relieved to find out yesterday from the team of 46 doctors, nurses, and assistants that helped her deliver her newborns that 'octuplets' does not mean that her babies were born with suction-cup laden tentacles. Rather, it means that she had just given birth to 8 babies.

Her relief was short-lived, however, as she soon realized that one octopus baby might have been preferable. "8 babies will certainly be a joy, but they will require a tremendous amount of work. That one octopus baby would have only required some kind of modified crib/fishtank" she said.

Experts say it is only the second known delivery of octuplets in the United States.

Japanese For Busy People (product review)

I was very disappointed in this book/CD package. The title was misleading. My situation is that I am going to Japan in a couple of months, and, while I am there (for work) I have a series of tasks to accomplish in a very limited period of time. I needed to learn Japanese phrases for all situations that could help me to speed things up and get done faster. For example:

"Could you hurry up with those Ramen noodles?"

"Sorry I pushed past you to get on the Bullet Train."

"I believe I am the next to be allowed entry into the Royal Palace."

Essentially, I needed a phrasebook for busy people in busy situations. The title led me to believe this is what I would get - I had no idea they were referring to people who, because they are busy, have limited time to *learn* Japanese. That's very different.

Fun for kids? The Playmobil Security Checkpoint

It's never too early to get your children acclimated to living in a police state! The Playmobil Security Checkpoint set comes with woman traveler, security checkpoint, luggage and spare change, screening machine, airport employee, and security guard. For drawbacks and personal experiences, read the hilarious product reviews!

Click here to view the Amazon page

Looking to Buy a Badonkadonk Tank?

Amazon is not just for books anymore! They can also satisfy your need for a safe, reliable, secure tank! The Badonkadonk is a unique land tank / battle cruiser that houses 5, can be controlled from within or above, and has a reasonable price tag of only $20,000.00. The product itself is amusing, but what's even better are the customer reviews - from the trailer park dweller who used it to get revenge on the guy two-timing his 'sister', to the disappointed dad who bought it for his 4 year old son and found it doesn't get up to 40 miles per hour as advertised.

Click here to view the Amazon page