An assload of bull

We all know that a group of crows is called a murder. But, while perusing lists of random shit in the back of my thesaurus, I learned the following names for groups of animals (and some of my own comments):

baboons: congress (don't fucking get me started)
bears: sloth (that's just needlessly insulting to bears. I suggest a "colbert")
birds: dissimulation, flight, volary (uh, flock?)
boars: singular, sounder (Singular? A group of anything is called a singular?)
eagles: convocation (eagles are pretty stuck-up)
ferrets: business (just weird)
hedgehogs: prickle (why not call a group of kittens an "adorable?)
owls: parliament, wisdom (I dare you to find these in use anywhere)
polar bears: aurora (now you're just being cutesy)
rhinoceroses: crash (ok, now you're being cute)
skunks: stench (alright, fuck you)
turtledoves: pitying (is that even the right tense? It's like being named a present tense verb. I'm looking at you, Sting)
unicorns: blessing (whatever)

The Tree Show

I got myself a little birthday present today, a book on the art of Mark Ryden, called The Tree Show. Specifically, the book is the catalog of his 2007 LA exhibition of the same name. You can flip through some of his work in the paintings section over at his official site but the cover to the left gives an accurate idea of the theme, which is "creepy children". You may find the style a little familiar and that's probably because he has a done a ton of commercial art including album covers and book covers. I recalled, in particular, the Stephen King novel, Desperation.

For you budding illusionists...

What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't provide more links to other people's content? Today I want to encourage you to take a look at Mighty Optical Illusions. As the name suggests, this site is devoted to optical illusions. If you think that stuff is fun, then check it out. To pique your interest, first take a look at the puzzle above. The first picture has 8 eggs while the second, a simple rearrangement of the pieces of the first, has only 7. Oh nos!

Webcomics Update

The above is brought to you by Peter Chiykowski at Rock, Paper, Cynic. Funny stuff often, but sometimes there are some groaners and fanboy video game stuff. But check it out! In addition to the comic (updated each weekday) he has some fiction and music although I haven't dug into that stuff yet.

Inertia and Gravity are Fucked Up

I mentioned Abstruse Goose in my last post but I had to point out this one since I have similar feelings all the time. The thing that most usually prompts such feelings in me is looking at the moon. Intellectually, I understand that the moon's motion is simply determined by an attraction to the earth and the conservation of angular momentum (I understand it better than you, in fact). That's actually pretty amazing itself. But also, it just looks like a big fucking rock just sitting there in the sky. This is especially pronounced to me when one can see it during the daytime. I guess this strikes me particularly because, unlike the stars which are too far away to see very well, and the Sun which is just too damn bright, the moon doesn't look like anything besides a big fucking rock. In the sky. Just hanging there. Over your head. Every night. Fuck.