Is your cat a spy for the CIA? (“That’s it.. no more tuna until you tell me who you’re working for!”)

‘Suicide hijacker’ is an airline pilot alive and well in Jeddah: “Abdulrahman al-Omari is, in the words of one prominent Saudi journalist, ‘one nervous guy’.” — I’m lifting this link from MetaFilter because I think it’s terribly interesting, and I haven’t seen any mention of it in the usual media places.

Rumour has it that on Friday, all the major television networks are going to run a telethon featuring the type of celebrities that usually don’t do television.

The chemical breakdown of skunk spray. Thanks, Internet!

The media junkie in me (for the record, I’m about 65% “media junkie” and 20% “chocolate fiend”) has had a lot to read over the last week, and I suspect there’s more meta-commentary to come. In any case, TV Barn is featuring an interesting minute-to-minute review of Tuesday’s attack coverage, while the Atlanta Journal-Constitution looks behind the scenes at CNN. Of course, if you haven’t checked out MediaNews lately, it’s been hot stuff this week.

Finally, I can have my own version of Bill Gates’ house — made in the exciting medium of paper! Comes complete with boathouse, theater, and extreme envy.

I don’t really feel like writing anything this week, dear reader. The images on the television Tuesday morning affected me more than I could have predicted, and I can sense that all I have to say right now are platitudes like “hug someone close to you”. If you are able, please join me in donating money to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. And hug someone close to you.

Entertainment Weekly has put up a gallery of all their covers, a few of which I’m sure are questionable in retrospect. Which reminds me, does anyone else suffer from “Ghost Guilt“, or the knowledge that a decade ago you ran around recommending the movie to friends despite the fact that it was utter crap? I was a teenage girl at the time, so I have something of an excuse, but still..

Are you an eletronic mind weapons target? So, if you have symptoms of being mentally disturbed (voices, being spied on through walls.. the usual stuff), but are in fact perfectly sane, you’ll be pleased to find this website. You’re welcome.

For me, the highlight of the media frenzy over shark attacks occurred this weekend when some major news broadcast cut to a reporter, live, off the Atlantic coastline in a small boat. Anchor: “So, do you see any sharks out there right now?” Reporter: “No, but there were some dolphins. And right now, somewhere out here, hungry sharks are waiting for their next meal.” Sharks? Somewhere in the ocean? Yeah, thanks, Mr. Marine Biology. (There’s a good joke involving the Saturday Night Live ‘candygram‘ sketch in here somewhere…)

Marble Madness! I happen to have been introduced to the world of old school Nintendo emulation this weekend (thus goes precious hours of my life), and am somewhat relieved to know that like celebrated poetry and fond memories, my extreme suckiness at Marble Madness is eternal. And yet, I must.. keep.. playing…

Keep your computer free from scumware. I also recommend running Ad-Aware to keep advertisers’ nasty hooks off your pretty harddrive.