If you were stuck on an uninhabited island...

...And you could only hear one song for the rest of your life, which song would you choose?

I was watching a video for California Dreamin' by the Mamas & the Papas on Youtube today, and came across an interesting comment: ''If I were trapped on a desert island and could only hear one song for the rest of my life it would be this.''  That got me wondering which song I would choose...

A top contender is  Gold Dust Woman by Fleetwood Mac. The song has an otherworldly quality to it. Stevie Nicks' vocals are hauntingly beautiful. The guitars provide a mesmerising boat for the story to sail in. I have listened to this song so many times, yet it is still as powerful as it was the first time I listened to it. I do believe that Gold Dust Woman is one of Fleetwood Mac's finest songs.

About a newspaper article's tag line

About two weeks ago (I shouldn't be so lazy about posting...) I was tearing up some old newspapers for papier mache. I came across an issue of Free 4 All, a free newspaper we got at school. In it, there was an article about being a good kisser, with the tag line 'For Boys'. I laughed because I'm quite sure that both sexes would want to go into a kiss with some idea of what to do.  It reminded me of a quote in a magazine which was talking about the 'experienced man, innocent woman' stereotype (to be fair, the quote was talking about sex, but a 'boy experienced in kissing, girl innocent' story is in a similar vein) . The 'For Boys' tag line seemed to reflect that stereotype, which was weird...it was almost like the newspaper was participating in the subtle gender role socialisation process that a good number of media sources slip into young people's lives.

On the other hand, the tag line probably had no sinister undercurrents. You can look at it either way. This post was just the bunch of thoughts in my head at the time.

Sublimely awesome

I first came across this ad on the lovely blog Narrylikes.com. The ad is for Dutch children's charity Kinderpostzegels, and directed by Christian Borstlap. The characters are simply illustrated, yet so expressive.

things to learn from Matt Edgar on Vimeo.

Not your average tourist destinations

I couldn't decide which strange object to post about, so here's a double feature of strange places instead!

The Capuchin Monastery in Brno, Czech Republic allows visitors to see its catacombs, where the mummified bodies of monks, abbots and various people rest. I think it's safe to say that the catacomb is the most visited part of the monastery! Bodies were laid in the catacombs until 1787, when Emperor Joseph II forbade bodies to be buried in the catacomb.

The bodies in the catacomb were accidentally mummified - the ventilation holes in the tunnels keep the air constantly dry, which mummified the bodies hundreds of years ago. Baron von Trenck is a famous figure in Brno, and so rests in a glass-topped coffin in a separate room.

I felt a little squeamish when I saw this picture, so I've put in a link instead of posting a picture of the catacombs!


I now end off the 'strange objects/strange places' series with a place where dead people are part of the decor.

This place, also in the Czech Republic, is the Sedlec Ossuary, Sedlec, near Kutna Hora. Bones decorate nearly every wall of the small Roman Catholic chapel, and a delicate bone chandelier hangs from the ceiling.The ossuary lies beneath the Cemetary Church of All Saints. The bones of approximately 40 000 to 70 000 people are contained in the ossuary. From what I've gathered, one man arranged the bones decorativley - his name was František Rint. The woodcarver was paid by the prominent Schwarzenberg family to arrange the bones in 1870.

I think I would visit all the weird places I've posted about. The places are definitely very creepy, yet somehow fascinating.

Photo source: http://0.tqn.com/d/goeasteurope/1/0/i/5/-/-/SedlicOssuary4.JPG. See more photos here

The toys that parents weren't buying for Christmas...

These toys aren't as strange as some of the other objects I've posted about, but then again dolls can look just as creepy as Fiji Mermaids...

These mixed-up toys were created by Las Vegas artist NAY. They remind me of the mixed-up toys in Toy Story, like the baby doll head on the spider body and the fishing rod thing with Barbie legs.

NAY thinks that all toys should look as strange as the ones he creates:

Photo credits: http://www.l-page.net/auction/2007_06_17_archive.html

Mütter Museum

Do not visit the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, USA, if you are squeamish. Do not visit the Mütter Museum if you have recently had a meal.


The Mütter Museum is part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The displays consist of all things medical and gross - things like the conjoined liver of Siamese twins, anatomical deformities and medical tools. 



I have a sort of phobia of depictions of eye injuries. I'm not sure I could bring myself to look at the wax models of faces with eye injuries. Ugh!

The Museum

Photo credit: Melissa Dixon

'Evidence' of Fairies

 Please note the use of inverted commas!

Artist Takeshi Yamada creates rogue taxidermy pieces - his creatures look real, but never existed in live form.

Yamada has also created pieces which look like genuine fossils. Two of these fossil pieces are his 'fossilized fairies'. They look very real!

Photo credits: Sideshow World