Neatorama

Johanna Sigurdardottir, an Icelandic MP, was elected Prime Minister of Iceland this week. She is the first openly gay prime minister in world history.

The 66-year-old politician lives with her partner, Jonina Leosdottir, a journalist and playwright. The couple were joined in a civil ceremony in 2002. Don't expect them to show up togetherfor photocalls, however – that's not the Icelandic way. Though she is famous across the island, having been a top politician for years, her lesbian union was no big deal in this calmly progressive nation of only 300,000 people.

"Johanna is a very private person," said an Icelandic government source. "A lot of people didn't even know she was gay. When they learn about it people tend to shrug and say, 'Oh'. That's not to say they are not interested; they are interested in who she's living with – but no more so than if she was a man living with a woman."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/world-gets-its-first-gay-head-of-state-1519068.html

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Artist Saimir Strati creates enormous mosaics out of nails, corks, and toothpicks. Here is a picture of him at work on his 2006 portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. It's made entirely out of nails. You can see a full gallery of high-resolution photographs of his work at the link.

Link via Bits & Pieces

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In high school and college, I spent hours writing overwrought, angst-filled, free verse poetry. Now today's spoiled and over-emotional teenagers can do the same thing, but with only a single mouseclick, thanks to the Adolescent Poetry Generator.

Here's a sample:

i am over adam he is my
night he's my world
and that made me cry, when i
take a drug u will surely stay
alive i log into my inbox, i've got
mail!! that's
faster than any
other mail,including the snail.
gotta write bak to bak.. hi
bak,what's up?

Link via The Corner

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Superuseless Superpowers is a blog by an anonymous cartoonist who has taken up the task of chronicling the most useless superpowers. Above is his picture of the superpower 13th Bullet Proof -- being completely safe from 1 out of 13 bullets shot at you.

I gotta say that the most useless superpower I ever saw was in the old Palladium role-playing game Heroes Unlimited. It was clock manipulation: the ability to stop or change the time on a clock through psychic powers. I'll take invisibility or wingless flight over that any day.

Link via Radley Balko

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ta' SoH neH chu' Doch vaD lIj Duj? Well, you're in luck! You can get your own Klingon language keyboard for only £43.99.

Link via Geekologie

5

Now kids can play airport more realistically with this Playmobil security checkpoint. Comes with a free box of latex gloves.

http://www.amazon.com/Playmobil-3172-Security-Check-Point/dp/B0002CYTL2/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top via Radley Balko, who found the customer reviews hilarious.

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Popped Culture as a list of 25 strange throw pillows that you can buy, such as the pool of blood pillow above. Also available are ones made to look like the lap of a woman wearing a miniskirt (from Japan, of course), a Lego block, a Nintendo controller, and a Scrabble piece.

Link

2

The Los Angeles Pop Art company created this poster of Don Vito Corleone, using the entire script of the movie The Godfather as the medium. Copies are are on sale starting for $300, but personally, I would leave the poster and take the cannoli.

http://www.lapopart.com/productdetail.asp?Ident=96 via Urlesque

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A Romanian man named Gheroghe Stirbu was accidentally declared dead by government bureaucrats and had to go to court to force the government to re-register him as alive:

Bungling civil servants had mixed him up with another man but although Stirbu pointed out what they had done they refused to acknowledge their mistake until Stirbu won a 12 month legal claim to be declared alive.

Judges renewed his status as alive - and then charged him ?500 in court costs.

Mr Stirbu said: "When the judge ruled in my favour I was absolutely delighted - and then seconds later was absolutely shocked when I found out I would have to pay so much in legal bills.

"I will of course appeal the imposition of the costs but I am already beginning to wonder whether or not I would have been better off staying dead." - ananova.com

Link via DoublePlusUndead

Image via flickr user ambergis

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D+Caf strips are strips of paper coated with antibodies that react to the presence of caffeine. Strangely, these appear to be made to help people avoid caffeinated drinks -- a desire that I simply cannot fathom. But if you're interested, for 50 cents a strip, you can avoid the pleasures of real coffee.

Link via Geekologie

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On a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Boston, a Ugandan woman gave birth to a healthy baby girl. They were both fortunate that there were two doctors on board. As the child was born while in Canadian airspace, she automatically became a Canadian citizen.

Link

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You may now refer to the Discworld author as "Sir Terry", although he regrets that the honor did not come with a sword.

Link via Wired

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I can think of a couple of times when I've nodded off while driving. This feature would've come in handy. Special sensors in the steering wheels of new Mercedes E-Class cars will detect inattentiveness by the driver and sound an alarm.

Link via Geekologie

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(Video Link)

Robert Burden is a San Francisco-based artist who composes paintings of toys from the 1980s, including depictions of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The video above is a time-elapsed video of his composition of an 11-foot high monumental painting of Voltron.

http://www.robertburden.net/main.html via Topless Robot

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(Video Link)

You may think that this Roomba-riding cat is cute. I'm more concerned about the implications of cats learning how to use human technology. What, do you think that cats will be loyal to us when the revolution comes? As Jonah Goldberg has long warned, cats will turn on us without the slightest hesitation like Kent Brockman before our alien ant overlords.

Via Bits & Pieces

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John Farrier's Blog Posts

The World's First Openly Gay Prime Minister

Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci Made out of Nails

Adolescent Poetry Generator

Superuseless Superpowers

Klingon Keyboard

Playmobil TSA Security Checkpoint

25 Strange Throw Pillows

The Script of The Godfather as Visual Art

Man Wins Legal Battle to Be Declared Alive

Caffeine Test Strips

Woman Gives Birth on Trans-Atlantic Flight

Terry Pratchett Knighted

New Car Feature Alerts Drivers When They Fall Asleep

1980s Toys by Artist Robert Burden

A Roomba Riding Cat

Profile for John Farrier

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