Okay, people, I know we all love our pets, but Reiki treatments for parrots? I may have turned into a bourgeois bastard who gets specialty natural food for her little princesses, but even I draw the line at spending money on “treatments” that can be done from three feet away while the pet is in a carrier.

On the other hand, I’m all about cat acupuncture. (Ha ha! Kidding! My cats eat dustbunnies, and get overexcited and run headfirst into walls. I just can’t see myself worrying about their Qi force.)

“But Jess,” I hear you say, “what about links for exotic pets?” Why, coming right up! First, feast your eyes on this exciting set of photos that puts you right in the action… of being spit on by a llama. Mmm.. you can almost smell the bile!

The stomach contents of llamas pale in comparison to this next link, possibly one of the strangest things I have ever seen online. So, you’re a taxidermist with a little free time on your hands and good access to your typical urban wildlife. Why not start a.. wait for it.. stuffed squirred diorama! Yes, if you ever wanted to know what the wild west would be like if it took place on the Planet of the Squirrels, this is the website for you. My absolute favourite photo from this collection is not only brilliant for the great “triumphant cowboy justice” pose of the horse-bound squirrel on the far right, but also for the inexplicable presence of tiny plastic dinosaurs everywhere. And why is that squirrel in the back riding an elk!? I really have no idea what the hell is going on here, but I’m torn between sadness for seeing wild creatures perverted in the afterlife and making this photo my new desktop background. Oh, the humanity!

By now we all know that the Web excels at allowing people to form communities. There’s support groups for people with health problems, fan club forums, chat rooms for folks in the same age group, and, um, message boards for people who have been visited by the ghost of Princess Diana, who is apparently one busy spirit. Thank you, Internet!

Testing wireless posting! Test! If this were a real post, there would be a link, or possibly just a rant about llamas or reality television or something. Umm.. carry on.

Oy, watching the local news has been a frustrating experience lately.

Homeless people living in the park? Kick them out!
Prostitutes allowed to work out of their homes? Back to the street with you!
An abundant year for panhandlers? Make sitting on the sidewalk illegal!

Yes, let’s roust our homeless out of their shanties in the park, send prostitutes back in the dark alleyways where they belong, and not let the poor sit down in public. So where are these groups going to go now, you might ask? The resounding answer seems to be: Who cares, as long as it’s not in my neighbourhood! Ack! Thhhhhhhbt!

Tips on bowling targeting aids. So I went bowling last weekend, okay? It was my first time ever. And it was kind of fun. Shut up!

“WWYS? has been formed by a consortium of international companies – including leading financial and genetic research institutions. You can receive a guaranteed CASH SUM for life… in exchange for the rights to your soul from now until all eternity.” We Want Your Soul offered me about CAD$30,000 for my soul. Hmm.. tempting.. (Thanks, Ant. Miss you!)

Okay, so once again I am about two years behind everybody else in the know, but I have to give a belated recommendation to Dave’s Quick Search Bar for being a (free!) Windows addon I actually use. A lot. Get a calculator, money exchanger, measurement conversions, calendar, password generator, anonymizer, and more in your taskbar.. plus a gazillion different quick searches. Extremely cool, and easy to customize.

September has been a sad month for entertainment-related passings thus far, with the recent deaths of Johnny Cash and John Ritter, but on a lesser known note I just found out yesterday that Harry Goz, voice of Captain Murphy in Sealab 2021, passed away as well this month. I’ve only been a fan of Sealab for a short time, but I’ve managed to see most of the episodes and Goz’s performance was always excellent. Damn, I love(d) that show. Anyway, here’s some Sealab quotations to try and lighten up the mood.

(Oh, and while I’m at it, see someone’s homemade Aqua Teen Hunger Force scupltures. )

How to make the ultimate Tron costume. Halloween is not too far away, you know…

Vitriol, thy name is Mark Ames in this angry review of Chuck Klosterman’s book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. I liked the book, dammit, particularly for Klosterman’s assertion that Luke Skywalker is the original Gen X’er since he whines, he can’t hold down a job, and he refuses to listen to his father.

Coming this fall: the reality telvision awards show! Because drinking games no longer give the genre the recognition it deserves.

What is art? Can art be simplistic? Can it be that incredibly ugly avant garde statue down at your local park? Can it be… inspired by Law & Order? Brandon Bird thinks so, and set up a gallery show to prove it called Law & Order: Artistic Intent. Mr. Bird previously held a showing of art inspired by Edward Norton, which is fine and all, but can someone please explain this to me?