My schedule at work has been up in the air lately, so I've been away from the computer for a while. On top of the schedule problems, I've come down with either a mild case of flu or an extreme late-summer cold, so what free time I've had has largely been spent staring at the ceiling and moaning.

But, anyway, I had time to sit down today and catch up on some of what I've missed in the blogopshere. I thought I'd post links to a bunch of that neat stuff, so since this is Monday and I'm basically posting a list of cool links, I guess it would be fair to accuse me of a phantasmic theft.

• Speaking of things phantasmic, MCF recently created a few blog banners, including a super cool one for me. As soon as I get tired of the monkey-with-a-gun motif, you'll probably see that new banner at the top of this blog.



• A bear wandered out onto a bridge near Lake Tahoe, California, and ended up dangling precariously from the side (photo at right). Animal Control officers weren't sure what to do at first. After the bear spent a long night on the edge, a plan was devised involving helicopters, tranquilizer darts and a big red net. How'd it end up? click here to read the story.



• Some tasty satire from Terry Bisson via Rhodester... "They're made out of meat."



• Either Bishop Donald Pelotte is suffering from some sort of total mental collapse (and that's my bet) or he's being visited by aliens (not bloody well likely). Either way, he's in my prayers. HT to my friend Jamie.



• Jerry at Bent Sense has a story that is, at turns, humorous and horrifying:
  

  A woman recently found herself locked inside a medical facility and called the police, who upon arriving simply had her unlock the door from the inside.

  
  Funny? Sure ... until you read on and find out that the woman was a 67 year old cancer patient who'd been forgotten by technicians, inside a CAT scan machine, under a weighted blanket, for several hours. Read the whole thing and get as pissed off as I am.



• TJ at Dogs Cats Kids Life is tending to her dad during surgery ... but during a break she found time to post this very funny slice-of-life video for Scotland:
  




• Fans of politically conservative editorial cartoons (all five of us) are saddened to learn that Cox and Forkum are calling it quits.



• By way of B13 and MCF, here's a bit of mind blowing animation. I can only guess at the time and dedication involved in producing something like this.



• Am I the only person who thinks that White House corespondent Helen Thomas looks exactly like Yubaba from Spirited Away?

  




• The other day I mentioned that Scott Nehring had suffered a heart attack. Well, I'm glad to read that he's home and on the mend. And judging from the title of his recovery post ("Only Mostly Dead"), Scott's acerbic wit remains fully in tact. Good deal.



• That picture to the right? The one of the crazy looking turtle(s)? That picture has not been photoshopped.



• A two year old girl in Great Brittan fell from a seventh story apartment window (about one hundred feet up) and lived.



• Tough: giving birth to your twelfth child. Tougher: giving birth to your seventeen pound, one ounce twelfth child. In Russia.



• Lorna has posted some pics from a highly anticipated wedding ... one that her readers have anticipated vicariously right along with her.



• Finally! A search engine for our parents!



• You know, there really are worse things that can happen to a dog than being put to sleep. (Warning: story involves terrible abuse of an animal by an animal shelter employee.)



• Hey, if you'd been brainwashed by an Emperor (who turned out to be a member of a cult of evil warrior priests) and if you'd spent the last several years of your life trying to track down and destroy your own children, you'd have the blues during your "death bed scene" too. HT, Unseen:
  

Whew! I'm all caught up now. And you are, too.

Labels: Blogs, Entertainment, Links, News, Politics, You Tube