Remember the Super Mario Super Show?  The one with Captain Lou Albano playing Mario in live action sequences surrounding animated sequences taking place in Mushroom Land?

Yahooligans now has a number of episodes up on their web site to watch.

I remember running home after school in sixth grade on Fridays to catch their Legend of Zelda episodes!  And it turns out that they are also online on the same site!

So my latest daily read online is an online comic called VGCats.  If you've never been the gamer type, odds are you won't think much of it, but for us who grew up part of the Nintendo generation, it's often very funny.

An excerpt from a strip featuring a "Parents Day" event (click the image to read the whole thing):

Some other funny ones:

• Star Wars Episode III
• Halo 2
• Aliens
• Final Fantasy VII
• Zelda: Link to the Past

Remember 20 years ago when a bag phone was cutting-edge wireless, 35-inch color was high-definition, and a little company named Micro-Soft was prepping to sell a new program called Windows?  Engadget does.  Check it out.

For another entry into the surprising animal victory category, you should watch this video clip from Nature.

I've always been fascinated by Octopi.  When I was in 7th grade, we had to write a place for information on a particular biome.  I wrote an aquatic research center in San Diego and asked them to send me a live octopus.  Sadly, they did not.

Another odd fact:  at Shedd Aquarium we learned that they have to give octopi increasingly difficult tasks to keep them entertained/healthy.  Eventually, octopi can learn to even unscrew a jar to get to food.

Phil directed me to the following news story today from BirdWatcher's Digest [via BoingBoing]:

The other day while I was working in the yard my son urgently called to me. "Dad, a praying mantis caught a hummingbird!"

Not sure what to expect, but knowing my son is not one to tell an untruth, I came running to see for myself.  By the time I arrived it was too late for the poor hummer and my scientifically minded son had already begun taking pictures and studying the scene.

As you can see from the photographs this hungry mantis captured and killed a hummingbird not much smaller than itself.  The hummer measured 2 inches and the mantis was about the same!  The mantis used its spiny left foreleg to impale the hummingbird through the chest while leaving his right leg free.

We surmised that the mantis ran the hummer through and dangled its full weight on its foreleg while he consumed the flesh of the hummingbird from the abdomen.  After he had his fill, the mantis gave his foreleg several swift jerks and freed his leg.

Reminds me of when we had all the giant mantises in downtown Des Moines three years ago.  The full story with another picture can be seen by clicking: here.

Update:  A Google search tells me that mantises killing hummingbirds are fairly common due to their natural camouflage and quick speed.  Huh, who knew?

As a fan of Deadwood, it's interesting to see many new people are joining the cast next year.  First, a few weeks ago I saw an article while flipping through the Weekly World News that the infamous Batboy was joining the cast (unfortunately, I can't find the photo they had shown online), and now this story comes through:

Novak Joins Cast of "Deadwood"

Within days of being suspended by CNN for swearing during a live program, Robert Novak has signed a deal with HBO to star in a six episode arc on its Western drama, “Deadwood.” “I was so impressed by the dramatic way Bob said ‘that's bullsh*t!' on ‘Inside Politics' that I can't wait to see him yell c*nt, motherf*cker, and ‘douchebag' 38 times in this six minute monologue I've written for him,” said series creator David Milch. [More...]

You know that kid that lives down the block from you?  The one that looks just a little bit...off?  Luckily, Benn has keyed me in to what the issue is.  Lucky for us all.

Beware the Zogg!

There's a new comic book coming out, poised to show the world the truth of what's to come under liberal domination...

It is 2021, tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of 9/11. America is under oppression by ultra-liberal extremists which have yielded governing authority to the United Nations. It is up to an underground conservative group (known as F.O.I.L.) led by Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North to thwart Ambassador Usama Bin Laden's plans to nuke New York City.

That guy in the front of the picture is supposed to be a cybernetically-enhanced Sean Hannity along with a semi-robotic G. Gordon Liddy behind him.  EXTREME!

For the sake of reference, here are pictures of the real Hannity and Liddy:

Less EXTREME!  But who knows, once they become future-outlaw-broadcaster/freedom-fighter-part-robot, maybe they'll somehow look 20ish.

EXTREME Hannity?

For the record, when this comic takes place, 16 years from now, Liddy will be 91 years old, and Hannity will be 60. 

NOT SO EXTREME
91 Year Old Liddy
(Projected Example)

Ok, conservatives, but maybe you haven't noticed how you control the three branches of government right now.  So I'm not quite clear why you feel the need to act like you're the oppressed underculture.