Vikings, who needs a reason to post a bunch of photos of them? Not us.

More vikings after the jump

Continue Reading »

The next show goes down June 21st. I bet that little girl is back with the ‘rents. She’s what, eight years old? Via The World’s Best Ever.

Awsm. By Naoya Hatakeyama. Lots of pics at the link

Via the always-excellent things

Every part of this is amaze: From the Journal of Non-lethal Combatives, a reprint from 1901 of how to defend yourself with your walking stick.

No. 3: The Best Way to Disable a Man who Tries to Rush You, and get under your Guard, in order to Prevent You Hitting him with a Hooked Stick.

Of course the reader will understand that in any method of self-defence it is necessary to know how to maintain the proper distance between yourself and your assailant, in order to deliver a coup-de-grâce with effect and certainty. This knowledge, together with the confidence, dash, and savoir-faire that are so essential, can only be acquired by practice; but, when once gained, it is never lost.

There are 12 in all.

via DGSF Ian

Wired has a wiki up about how to live through a nuclear blast. Some representative advice:

The seconds following the initial flash are critical. Luckily, factors like explosive yield, weather, and distance can lessen the effects of the shock wave — but don’t kid yourself, it’s coming. The best method for weathering this stage is finding an ideal barrier between yourself and the combination of extreme pressure, heat, thermal radiation and 500mph winds headed your way. This is where survival gets a little tricky.

Hopefully this one develops nicely. I am become death, destroyer of worlds! Image: Robert Longo, from his stunning series of ginormous charcoal drawings of atom-bomb blasts.

Here’s Nick Kristof:

Here’s a forecast for a particularly bizarre consequence of climate change: more executions of witches.

As we pump out greenhouse gases, most of the discussion focuses on direct consequences like rising seas or aggravated hurricanes. But the indirect social and political impact in poor countries may be even more far-reaching, including upheavals and civil wars — and even more witches hacked to death with machetes.

A longer discussion at Freakonomics.

Via WonderCabinet.

Via Rape Memo. It gets awesome when the blood starts flowing.

Look, I really didn’t want to mention this. But I’ve been thinking about it all day. It’s got me all rattled and weird:

A 41-year-old South Branch Township man took his own life last week by cutting his head with a chain saw after police said he unsuccessfully tried to reconcile an estranged marriage with his ex-wife.

Steve Gregory Walther died at Mercy Hospital Grayling on Wednesday, March 26, after being transported there in an ambulance for a fatal head injury.

Image by Duncan Marquiss, who does lots of drawings of suburban kids dabbling into the occult.

I’m so scared. From the New Scientist (via Cabinet of Wonders):

A recently declassified US Army report on the biological effects of non-lethal weapons reveals outlandish plans for “ray gun” devices, which would cause artificial fevers or beam voices into people’s heads.

The report titled “Bioeffects Of Selected Nonlethal Weapons” was released under the US Freedom of Information Act and is available on this website (pdf). The DoD has confirmed that it released the documents, which detail five different “maturing non-lethal technologies” using microwaves, lasers and sound.

Released by US Army Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Meade, Maryland, US, the 1998 report gives an overview of what was then the state of the art in directed energy weapons for crowd control and other applications.

Okay fine, but when be able to scorch our enemies’ nerves with LASER CATS?!

Update: Laser cats link fixed!

For you to wear with your bullet necklace while you sit on your Fully Loaded chair waiting for your Chanel guillotine.

Via Agenda.