Peter Watts, Canadian science fiction writer, beaten and arrested at US border
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/11/dr-peter-watts-canad.html

Ten Ways Space Travel Isn’t Like Television or the Movies
http://www.satelliteinternet.com/news/ten-ways-space-travel-isnt-like-television-or-the-movies/

The Funniest Reasons Customers Reject Books
http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266/post/210048821.html
“I don’t do books about elephants set during the Depression.”
If you look in the comments, you’ll also find this gem:
“You know books that expand your mind, make you want to think, make you question the nature of humanity and wonder why and how we do the things we do? Yeah, I hate that s**t. Gimme something with dinosaurs or a war.”

Hospital study shows full moons werewolf effect
http://www.theage.com.au/national/hospital-study-shows-full-moons-werewolf-effect-20091213-kpwl.html

Che: the graphic biography
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/10/che-the-graphic-biog.html

A Day in the Internet

http://www.onlineeducation.net/internet/

Monkey calls give clues to language origins
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8405806.stm

The Language of Avatar (Creating an Alien Language)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8408245.stm

The Link Between the Transgender Community & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
http://andy-social.blogspot.com/2009/12/huff.html

50 Beautiful Watercolor Paintings
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/12/09/50-beautiful-watercolor-paintings/

20 Best SF Books of the Decade
http://io9.com/5423847/20-best-science-fiction-books-of-the-decade

Japanese ladies long for date with brutal men of history
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6954029.ece

The Longest Way: Walking Across China
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1945379_1945171_1945161,00.html

Deadline: Stop Motion

A friend of mine acquired some tea that the packaging claims has been picked by monkeys.

The company’s web site says:

No folks we’re not pulling you leg! This rare chinese tea is carefully picked by specially trained monkeys in a remote mountain region of China. Legend has it that monkeys were first used to collect tea ten centuries ago, because upon seeing it’s master trying to reach some tea growing wild on a mountain face, the monkey climbed up the steep face and collected the tea growing there and brought it down to his master.

This wild tea was considered so delicious that other people began to train monkeys to collect this rare wild tea. Nowadays the practice of monkeys picking tea has all but died out, except in one small remote village where they still continue this remarkable tradition.

No monkeys are harmed or mistreated in order for us to bring this rare brew to you! In fact the monkeys and their ancestors before them have been doing this job for generations and are treated as respected members of their humn keeper’s families.

 

It’s a nice idea, but unfortunately not true.

Of Monkeys and Tea

The Confessions of a Semi-successful Author
http://dir.salon.com/story/books/feature/2004/03/22/midlist/print.html#

George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm

A Good Author is Hard to Find
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/a-good-author-is-hard-to-find/Content?oid=2820559

Why Science Fiction Is Dying & Fantasy Fiction Is The Future.
http://blog.markcnewton.com/2009/12/03/why-sf-is-dying-fantasy-fiction-is-the-future/

2009 Aurealis Award Shortlist
http://www.aurealisawards.com/finalists_winners.htm

Jumping Salarymen
http://www.japanprobe.com/2009/12/04/the-solaryman-project-jumping-salarymen

Japanese Flourescent Lamp Fighting (Warning: Bloody photos)
http://gizmodo.com/5416118/japanese-lamp-fighting/gallery/6

Strange Ways of Telling Your Fortune in Japan

A cat’s mental condition, its character, tendencies, and even its fate are written on the pads of its paws…
Hello Kitty Tarot Fortune Telling…
The first step is to find your protector cat (spirit guide). The cat will then teach you about how to meet your soulmate, find the hidden you, change jobs, and learn the best day for doing things…
Learn the ten types of penguin personalities based on fortune telling based on the pronunciation of people’s names and you’ll learn how you tend to act with people and tricks for getting along with them better…
Are you a person who could conquer a nation? Warring-States-Period-General Fortune Telling is a system based on analyzing your character and tendencies, created using statistical factors. Since the Earth orbits the sun in a 360-degree orbit, depending on the time period, various heavenly bodies will be visible…

Any my personal favorite:
Categorizes all personality types according to the 48 types of gundam suits. Also includes love-compatibility analysis.

http://qjphotos.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/japanese-fortune-telling-of-cats-paw-pads-penguins-monsters-and-gundams/

Origami Sumo Battle

Yarn Bombing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_bombing

The 50 Most Interesting Articles on Wikipedia
http://copybot.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/the-50-most-interesting-articles-on-wikipedia/

A nice way to be remembered…
“This woman who had everything is dead because she wanted to have a slightly firmer ass”
Former Miss Argentina dies after plastic surgery
http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/former-miss-argentina-dies-after-plastic-surgery-20091201-k1ih.html

Book about extreme fashion subculture in The Congo
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/04/book-about-extreme-f.html

How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell

Smile Like You’re Dead Inside
http://smilelikeyouredeadinside.tumblr.com/

A Visit to a Steampunked Home
http://steampunkworkshop.com/visit-steampunked-home

Avatars Dressed in Klan Robes Usually Belong to Unpleasant People
http://kotaku.com/5414681/study-avatars-dressed-in-klan-robes-usually-belong-to-unpleasant-people

Man Beats World of Warcraft
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/games/man-beats-world-of-warcraft-20091204-k9ly.html

Faux Quasi-Centurion Neo-Feudal Merovingian Ultra-Hyborean Men of Yore Action Flicks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/dec/03/hollywood-classical-literature

The AV Club’s Best Books of the Decade
http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-best-books-of-the-00s,35774/1/

The AV Club’s Best Films of the Decade
http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-best-films-of-the-00s,35931/

Fantasy Magazine interviewed me about my story.
http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/2009/12/writing-by-numbers-aidan-doyle/