A year ago, I mentioned the rumor that the elegant Coach handbag carried by Snooki from Jersey Shore was given to her by one of Coach's rivals. The plan was to damage Coach's reputation by associating that brand with Snooki.

Coach isn't the only brand that is being impacted by negative product placement. Now the clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch is offering Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino, also a cast member on Jersey Shore, money if he will agree to not wear its clothing in public again. A press release from the company stated:

“We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes, but believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, and may be distressing to many of our fans,” the statement read.

The company also extended the pay-to-not-play offer to the other Jersey Shore reality stars and said it was “urgently waiting a response.”

Link -via Marginal Revolution | Photo: Getty

There's nothing quite like a weekend away from the family to spend with your buddies at the cabin. We might as well get a picture so we can remember these good times when we get too old go out regularly. Link -via reddit | Image: Jason Edmiston

Researchers at the Hannover Medical School in Germany have developed artificial skin made from spider silk. When formed into a fine mesh, the silk from the golden silk orb weaver spider (left) can be grafted onto the human body:

The researchers found that human skin cells placed on these meshes could flourish, given proper nurturing with nutrients, warmth and air. They were able to cultivate the two main skin cell types, keratinocytes and fibroblasts, into tissue-like patterns resembling epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, and dermis, the layer of living tissue below the epidermis that contains blood capillaries, nerve endings, sweat glands, hair follicles and other structures.

Link -via Nerdcore | Photo via Flickr user leppyone used under Creative Commons license

The mayor of Acton Vale, Quebec, wanted to give his ex-wife a special birthday present, so he had a 20-ton rock left in her driveway. It painted with a greeting and topped with a pink ribbon. Isn't that romantic? Maybe he wants to get back together with her. Jonathan Montpetit of The Canada Press writes:

Lariviere owns an excavation company. He said he used one of his own front-end loaders to transport the rock through the town streets in the wee hours Saturday.[...]

During the delivery, he was stopped twice by police who asked him for identification and questioned what he was doing.

"I told them the truth — that I was delivering a gift," Lariviere said. "They weren't able to stop me because what I was doing wasn't illegal."

Link -via Lowering the Bar | Photo: Paul Chiasson/Canada Press

*clap*clap*clap* This simple but brilliant print was made by Dann Matthews, whose Star Wars hieroglyphics we've featured previously. Link -via Uniblog

Yoshihiko Satoh has been working with his conjoined guitars motif for a while now, including some beautiful guitars arranged in arches and circular patterns. I want to see Slash (yes, I know -- he isn't real, but don't tell the kids) try out this one.

Link | Artist's Website

Joeri Bosma, a Dutch teenager, decided to spend every day of the seventeenth year of his life taking photographs. Here's a self-portrait taken on August 3, inspired by the song "Horizon" by I Am Oak. I love the way that he's blended himself into the background. http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeribosma/6006807046/in/photostream -via Dude Craft

Titian's Venus of Urbino is a fine painting, but it's lacking something. Two things, really: bears and pterodactyls. Sam Spratt has now remedied that problem. Thank you, Mr. Spratt. http://www.samspratt.com/index.php?/gallery/72157627325333978/ -via Geekosystem

A man in Noosa, Australia was arrested for driving down a road on a motorized beer cooler while intoxicated. The defendant:

[...] faces charges of driving under the influence and driving without a license after police caught him on the makeshift vehicle, which was powered by a 50cc engine.

The defendant's lawyers are currently challenging the notion that the cooler constitutes a vehicle.

Link -via MArooned | Photo (unrelated) via eBay seller williesnoop

The crack research team at Pop Chart Lab has created an detailed chart depicting the different types of names by which professional wrestlers are known. Pictured above is only a small selection; go to the link to view the entire chart. Bonus points if you can find out the name that Alex used when he was working the LA circuit in the late 90s. Link -via Geekosystem

Dietrich Wegner made this 20-foot tall children's playhouse out of polyfill, rope, wood, and steel. It's entitled Homeland and is a convincing imitation of a nuclear detonation. Remember: your kids are never too young to start learning post-nuclear apocalypse survival skills. Link -via reddit | Photo: Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery

If you just look at the link, it won't make much sense. But if you view the coding (listed as View Source on most browsers), you'll see what designer Evan Roth has wrought. The webpage consists of a single sentence nested inside every HTML tag in alphabetical order. And that sentence is, appropriately "One sentence contained within every HTML tag in alphabetical order."

Link -via Kottke | Photo by Flickr user cogdogblog used under Creative Commons license

Previously by Evan Roth: Graffiti Taxonomy

Near Tannourine, Lebanon, you can find a beautiful underground waterfall that plunges down 837 feet. Three natural bridges stretch across the gorge of Jurassic limestone. Kuriositas has more photos at the link of this amazing natural wonder. Link | Photo by Flickr user FlickrJunkie used under Creative Commons license

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"Take the cannoli", a signature line from The Godfather, wasn't in the original script. R. Lee Ermey's rant from Full Metal Jacket was something that he made up from his experiences in the Marine Corps. Mewlists compiled these and other wonderful unscripted moments from famous movies in the above video. Warning: foul language. -via The Mary Sue

Glass Beach is a section of coastline in MacK­er­richer State Park in California. After World War II, it was used as a public dump for two decades until local officials halted the practice. Since that time, the waves have worn smooth the glass shards disposed on the shore. However sad is the original cause, the result is quite pretty. You can view several more pictures at the link. Link -via The Agitator | Photo: In Focus