If anybody, um, wants to get me a Christmas present or anything, this is definitely on my list.

My fellow cable-deprived music lovers might be interested in watching REM’s new video online. (I’m told it’s also playing on MTV and VH1.) As near as I can tell from the crappy Quicktime version, the song is really really good. I’m trying to find a decent rip online so I can tell for sure. (Rest assured, Mr. RIAA, I’ll buy the damn record – as I have all the others – as soon as it comes out here in Australia, which probably won’t be for four years anyway.)

The new Knitty is here! Yay.

Now there’s something you don’t see every day… Uluru reflected in a “lake”. Very cool.

The Top 11 Strangest Star Wars Action Figures. I actually don’t own a single Star Wars action figure, if you can believe it. What I wouldn’t give for the mythical RocketFett! (Link courtesy of Matt.)

You know coffee creamer, right? The dried powdery stuff your Grandma puts in her coffee? Well, guess what they call that in Australia. Go on, guess. It’s beverage whitener. Seriously. Which makes sense, but it’s still a weird thing to see on a jar at the supermarket.

Max points out that The Amazing Race 5 is now casting. Hooray! That means it’s probably coming back! Unfortunately the official eligibility requirements preclude the Snook and me from applying on account of his non-Americanness and my not-resident-in-Americaness. If Max gets in we’re totally rooting for him, though.

How do you sleep? I’m a foetus and a freefaller myself. Actually I sometimes do a combination of both, with my arms up around the pillow and one leg bent at ninety degrees (like I’m climbing). It’s so comfy; you should try it. But how in the world do those log folks sleep like that? It looks to me like you’d have trouble balancing with your arm pinned beneath you. I’d topple over onto my face within five seconds.

Foxy Lady
I just don’t understand why guys honk at women. What do they hope to accomplish? They can’t possibly expect me to, like, respond to them. Is it just that they’re showing appreciation, like an audience clapping at a symphony? That’s nice, but as far as I’m concerned stepping outside my house in a skirt isn’t really grounds for a standing ovation. I can maybe see it if I’m all dressed up to the nines, but not when my hair’s still wet and plastered to my head, I’m not wearing any makeup, and I’m wearing a coat that covers 65% of my body. The only thing exposed today were my knees. Is this the nineteenth century? Are men allowed to hoot and honk every time a woman exposes more than an ankle?

David Blaine is ten days into a new “stunt” that involves hanging in a clear box near the River Thames and not eating for 44 days. The English, God love ’em, have been taunting him mercilessly. On Friday one awfully clever person used a remote control helicopter to dangle a cheeseburger outside Blaine’s box. Hee!

I can laugh because I’ve been resisting the siren call of the cheeseburger long enough to get back in ketosis! It’s time to get rid of these last seven kilos, once and for all.