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Five artists walked into the Fancy Grocery convenience store in New York City's West Village and bought each and every item. By the end, Hercules, the owner, was completely depleted of his inventory and had rung up each purchase on two rolls of receipt paper. Today, those artists are exhibiting their finds at 57 Stanton Street.

Among the items for sale: a Coke can for $150. Is that too much? Keep in mind that the artists cleverly inverted it, thus increasing its artistic value.

Link via Super Punch

Quick! You must take out more student loans in order finance this opportunity! You can consider the career applications later.

Japan’s Kyoto Seika University said Tuesday it will launch the country’s first doctoral program in manga studies next year.

The private university in western Japan is well known for its manga and anime programs and established a master’s degree course in manga last year.[...]

The university says it has received overseas requests for an advanced center for manga research, and that the industry is in transition amid globalization and the growth of digital media.

http://asiancorrespondent.com/56914/manga-fans-can-collect-something-new-a-doctorate/ via The Mary Sue | Image: Ben Dunn

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Casey Neistat got a ticket for riding his bicycle outside of a bike lane in New York City. He argued with the police officer that sometimes he does so because there are obstructions that make it unsafe to use the designated lane. The cop didn't care, and issued him the citation anyway. To prove his point, Mr. Neistat made this video, showing how dangerous it would be to comply with the law...by crashing his bike, over and over again into road hazards. He saved the best for last. via reddit

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Batman Délivrance is fan film by Atomic Productions that looks at a chaotic Gotham City, many years after Bruce Wayne hung up his cowl and began drinking. Who will take up Batman's crusade to save the city?

The dialogue is in French, but it's subtitled in English.

via Fanboy

Skeletor...well, he never really developed very keen social skills. Sometimes he just shows up to parties and such and tries to mingle like he's friends with people who don't know him or don't really like him. And he generally doesn't know when it's time to leave. Not Now, Skeletor! is a new Tumblr blog that chronicles those awkward moments with him.

It's like when he showed up to Neatorama's annual meeting and staff party a couple of weeks ago, even though Miss Cellania had fired him for...well, we won't get into that. Share your own Skeletor stories in the comments.

Link via Super Punch

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For a while I've thought that one of the most useful of all possible Transformers would be one that turns into a double stroller (once you have two or more kids, you'll understand), but Ron Tajima has topped that concept. His prototype is built into a beer can. Now, that does seem to eliminate the possibility of carrying beer inside, but keep in mind: this is just a prototype. Presumably he's trying to solve that problem.

Once he resolves that issue, he might want to take some inspiration from the Transformers that could combine into a single giant entity, like the Constructicons, and make a series of alcohol-delivering Transformers that can...well, I don't know, serve as a portable bar. I'm not sure what purpose it would serve, but it would automatically be awesome.

http://www.getrobo.com/getrobo/2011/06/beer-can-transformer-robot.html? via Geekologie

The printmaking firm Currier & Ives helped define Nineteenth Century America with its iconic and prolific lithographs of American life. Chip Trout is having fun by adding playful monsters to them, one each day for 91 days.

Link via Dude Craft

In 1971, Marguerite Hart, a children's librarian in Troy, Michigan, wrote to many celebrities and political leaders and asked them to send back inspirational messages to the children of her town. 97 wrote back, among them Vincent Price, E.B. White, Pearl Bailey, Douglas Fairbanks, Isaac Asimov, and Pearl Buck. You can read them all at the library's website.

Link via Swiss Miss

El Spottos made this sculpture of fried sausage, mustard, and ketchup for an international bratwurst festival in Nuremberg. Although Google Translate is garbling the text a bit, it appears to be his entry into a competition. El Spottos encourages festival attendees:

[...] to vote and prove to the world so what has long been clear to me: that I am the legitimate heir to the throne sausage! Probably I wear somewhere on my body, a previously undiscovered birthmark in the form of a sausage that my identity confirmed.

Link (Google Translate) via Nerdcore

Of course, that's the normal state of affairs anyway, so one shouldn't be alarmed. Dan Ryckert spotted this apparition and quite properly tweeted:

Dear dude in the Jurassic Park jeep that's transporting a massive companion cube: Can we be best friends?

Link via Geekologie | Photo: Dan Ryckert

Artists Allora and Calzadilla made this unusual ATM in Venice. It's built into a pipe organ that plays a unique tune for each customer:

But this is no run-of-the-mill A.T.M. The brainchild of the artist duo Allora & Calzadilla, it is a pipe organ with an A.T.M. embedded in its belly that is computer-programmed to play a tune when a person puts in their pin number. Even when returning customers use it, no two tunes are alike.

Link via Colossal | Photo by Flickr user thefuturistics used under Creative Commons license

This drawing by Napoleón Vuelaenpartes is composed of a just one line, from the helmet of one Stormtrooper to the next. Imperial Breakfast sets just the right mood. "How's the new baby, Sam?" "Not bad, Ralph, almost sleeping through the night now."

Link via Walyou

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I weep for loss of the long-cherished liberties of our republic. It's like you can't avoid getting harassed by the police whenever you go driving a lawn mower down the road towing a train of ten shopping carts, each of which is filled with beer, held together by a hundred-foot extension cord. While drinking a beer.

What is this country coming to?

via Ace of Spades HQ

I can't imagine a better focal point for a tasteful dining room! Adam Wallacavage, noted for his tentacled chandeliers, made this Hello Kitty variant. It was featured in a themed art show hosted by Sanrio, the company that owns Hello Kitty.

Art Show Link -via Hello Kitty Hell | Artist's Website | Photo: Sanrio

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The Conjuring Arts Resource Center on Manhattan has a 12,000-volume library of books about performance magic, including some rare items dating back to the Fifteenth Century:

The library also maintains an extensive collection of manuscripts of magic methods, some dating back to the 15th century. Included in this collection is a rare, unpublished manuscript by Marion Spielmann, the only known student of the great card master Charlier. Conjuring Arts also has an interesting collection of letters including correspondence between Hugard, Braue and Fleming, as well as a great selection of Ed Marlo letters.

For those interested in the recorded dialogues of the magic community, the library has a magic periodical collection, some published as far back as the 18th century. Complete collections of The Sphinx, Genii, MUM and other major and minor periodicals are also available.

Bill Kalush invites you to visit -- if you can find it. Link ~via The Mary Sue