Apparently there’s a sweatshop in China that recreates paintings by famous painters. The good thing is that the paintings aren’t sold as a counterfeit copy of the real thing but just as a recreation of the original. This is much better than a print copy as you can actually feel the textures of the paint and see the brush strokes that the painters decided on.

The company that makes the reproductions states that they have 622 galleries with over 5,000 artists working there and not all work are reproductions. Some are originals.

I can’t imagine what the community is like over there. I guessing that it’s like when I was in art school but with 50 times more people and everyone is Chinese.

A new German ship called MV Beluga SkySails will set sail with a new concept for saving costs and saving the Earth. They are attaching very large kites to help move large boats. They say that it can cut fuel use up to 20% or $1,600 a day. Also, burning less fuel means less emissions into the atmosphere for a smaller carbon footprint. The Skysails will be the guinea pig and if it is successful other companies will be able to buy this technology.

Also, Britney Spears’ 16-year-old sister is pregnant.

Reviewers go wild in writing about a Bic pen on Amazon. For example:

The utilitarian design hints at its mass production “just works” values. There is a subtlety to the form that evokes feelings of bauhaus, or even art deco values.

When I took hold of this pen, my dreams soared. I felt that with this, I could produce anything. Dreams, ideas, hopes, fears, would all be ennobled by this simple tool placing them on paper.

However, my soul is harmed by the knowledge that it ultimately does not fulfill my hopes and aspirations. Let me explain, dear reader, this is no laughing matter.

Imagine a boot stamping on your face when you cry with hopes for a better World. That’s what it felt like when I went about trying to actually use this pen. It mocked me. It shouted at me. It told me I was not worthy. In short, it jilted me.

To get it working, you have to scribble it around on a pad, rather than the ink simply flowing luxuriantly. This frustrating process distracts you and interferes with your creative process. It’s like the pen thinks your ideas don’t deserve to be put to paper.

The warmth of the plastic sheath juxtaposes the coolness of the metal nib nicely in the hand, but the unforgiving firm flatness of the form can leave a small depression in the index finger. This causes a pain that shifts into a numbness that is quite uncomfortable.

Finally, if you should accidentally stand on it, it will shatter into painful shards: much like the dreams it shatters with it.

Like an old lover, I have a fond respect for the happy times I spent with this pen, but also like a lover I realise the reasons why it could never work. We are better off without each other. I only hope we both find happiness without each other.

So the dude pictured basically said when interviewed that he did it for shock value, not because he’s insensitive to the event and the victims.

Other countries have so much fun. This is in Spain.I think they should’ve taken the extra step and made it playable. The shape should make it extra fun like you would have to run around the tree when your Pac-Man is towards the top of the tree, where it is narrow, and you wouldn’t know if a ghost was coming in the next turn.

This 18-year old girl recently lost 40 lbs. but had abdomen pains. Five months later, she went to a doctor. The doctor looked in her stomach with a camera and found a huge lump of hair. They surgically removed the hairball. It weighed 10 lbs.! So that 50 lbs. that she lost in just five months!

This is real and they are taking it very seriously. We need this here in the US, although they’d dumb it down to wrestling and hungru-hungry hippos. Actually, that doesn’t sound half bad.

A contemporary update to an old classic. From Say No to Crack

I’ve had this idea before but didn’t do anything about it. Yourstreet.com has a Google map that has different pins for news stories from your area.

When you initially open the site, it detects your IP address but there is a search bar in the header. Apparently, it finds the location of the story through clues in the news article like addresses and road names. I thought it came out surprisingly accurate, which doesn’t mean it’s always dead on. Some locations, I don’t know how it knew where it was. There was nothing in the article about where the story took place.

Once you click on an article, it takes you to a page just for that story where you have options like moving the location if it’s wrong on the map, comment on the story or recommend it.

Surprisingly, none of them eats people but smells like raw meat or rotting meat. They also have a fleshy texture.