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Edgar Allen Poe animated by Jim Clark. See other poets at his poetryanimations YouTube channel. Link -via Digg

Joanna Lopianowski-Roberts recreated Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in cross-stitch! Ten years of labor are now committed to a 40x80 cloth containing over 600,000 stitches. The results, and patterns you can use to do it yourself, are in a self-published book. There is a Yahoogroup of cross-stitchers who are working on their own versions, using Lopianowski-Roberts' patterns. Link -via Nag on the Lake

The new cartoon short from Pixar is about a hungry bunny and the revenge he takes on a stingy magician. Presto can be seen in high definition at Gamaniak. Link -via Andy's Blog

Debbie Herot arrived at the veterinary clinic she managed last week to find a dog and a note on the doorstep.

"Dear Drs., please forgive me for this horrible transgression. I have no where else to turn so I ask you to mercifully, gently and lovingly please help him sleep. His name is Kaiser and he's 16-and-a half years old. He's been my friend, my teacher, my pupil, my lifelong loving and loyal companion," the letter said.

On the envelope, the author of the letter said that he thought Kaiser had two strokes the night before.

"Be good to him as you would your own child, for he's been mine for a loving lifetime," the envelope read.

The note continued, describing the life Kaiser led with the homeless disabled veteran who wrote the letter, and how close they were. Herot could not euthanize this dog. The rest of Kaiser's story involves a deceased clinic worker, veterinary staff, a Los Angeles newspaper and TV station, and Bob Mikolasko, who was reunited with Kaiser. http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-vet-dog-reunited,0,5137067.story (with video) -via Simply Left Behind

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Simon Gesrel and Xavier Ehretsmann made this video for the song "Driving this road until death sets you free", by Zombie Zombie. It's a remake of the 1982 John Carpenter movie The Thing, using stop-motion G.I. Joe action figures. -via Gorilla Mask

The You Are Beautiful project made an installation on a fence using disposable cups in late 2003. They returned to find the cups had been moved over and over again, shown in a series of photographs. Click each picture at the link to advance to the next photo. http://www.you-are-beautiful.com/INSTALLATIONS/cupfence1.html -via Dark Roasted Blend

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A pygmy slow loris shown being adorable, although very slowly. -via Arbroath

In 1996, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were Stanford University graduate students, working on their Digital Library Project, later known as Google. They needed a lot of storage, and the largest hard disk available was 4 gigabytes. So they connected ten of them together and built their own 40GB drive, in a case made of of Legos. It is now on display at the Stanford University Museum. Link -via the Presurfer

How do you lose a 44 pound cat? Someone in Camden, New Jersey managed to do it.

Camden County Animal Control Officer Jim McCleery got the call Friday. There was a a stray cat prowling on a patio in the Ashley Run condominium development.

"We picked him up and I knew from the get-go it wouldn't fit in the regular cat carrier, so we had to put him in a dog carrier. . . it was a big cat, the biggest one this year," said McCleery of the Camden County Joint Municipal Animal Control Program.

Employees at Camden County Animal Shelter called the feline "Captain Chunk." Realizing she was female, the name was quickly changed to "Princess Chunk." Her "foster mom" -- shelter volunteer Deborah Wright -- calls her "Princess Chunky."

Chunk had to be weighed on a dog scale, because the shelter's cat scale only goes to 25 pounds, according to Jennifer Anderch, the shelter's executive director. After a seven-day waiting period to give her owner a chance to claim her, they will run medical tests to see if Princess Chunk has diabetes or other medical conditions.

Shelter staff is hoping that the owner of Princess Chunky comes forward soon. If no one claims her by Saturday, Anderch is confident that she will be adopted quickly.

"We have gotten several adoption applications, from five or six people already, and we are going through them now. We will choose the one that appears to be the best for her," said Anderch.

Princess Chunk will be a guest Thursday morning on the TV show Live with Regis and Kathy Lee Kelly. http://www.philly.com/philly/living/pets/20080729_Here_kitty__kitty__S_J__officials_seek_owner_of_44-pound_cat.html -via Metafilter

(image credit: John Costello/Inquirer)

Previously at Neatorama: Top 15 Amazingly Fat Cats.

Today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss grew out of Sandy Wood doing an impression of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. That has nothing to do with the questions, however. They all have to do with people, places, and things with "ello" in the name. Good luck -I scored only 44%. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/17027

From Hello Kitty Hell, which has outdone itself with this one. How much does Sanrio have to pay a cycle racer to wear this? Link -via Everlasting Blort

Take a walk in the grass wherever you are in these flip flops that have real grass growing in the soles! They are supposed to last up to four months with proper care. Have you watered your shoes lately? It's a promotion from Krispy Kreme donuts. Link -via the Presurfer

When the carnival comes to town during your local festival, you may be tempted to play a game of chance or skill. Keep in mind that the advantage is to the house; otherwise, they wouldn't be in business. If the price of playing is more than the prize is worth, you'll have better odds. Otherwise, try the tips in this Wired How-to Wiki. Link -via Geek Like Me

(image credit: SpacePotato)

Want a pair of really vintage jeans? These Levis are over 100 years old!

This old pair of LEVI'S were found in a mine in the Rand Mining District, on the Mojave Desert,. California. They are covered in candlewax from the candle's the miner was using to light the tunnel he was working in. They were found with and old paper bag with the name of a mercantile store which operated between 1895 and 1898 in the town or Randsburg. Their was also a gunny sack with the initials A.P.K. and Randsburg marked on it. A.P.K. is through to be Adam P. Kuffel who was a partner in the mercantile store.

With less than a day to go on the eBay auction, the bidding is over $15,000. In case you are wondering, the size is W34 x L33. You can assume they are prewashed, but they aren't all that clean. Link -via YesButNoButYes

The media is full of scare stories, but everything is relative. The New York Times give you the lowdown on ten things that you shouldn't bother worrying abut on your vacation.

Now, I can’t guarantee you that any of these worries is groundless, because I can’t guarantee you that anything is absolutely safe, including the act of reading a newspaper. With enough money, an enterprising researcher could surely identify a chemical in newsprint or keyboards that is dangerously carcinogenic for any rat that reads a trillion science columns every day.

What I can guarantee is that I wouldn’t spend a nanosecond of my vacation worrying about any of these 10 things:

I just got home from my vacation, and I forgot the sunscreen, ate a hot dog, and drove around with the windows down AND the A/C on! Link -Thanks, Duke!

(image credit: Viktor Koen)

Update 7/30/08 by Alex: Treehugger has a "rebuttal" of this John Tierney article: Link - Thanks Chris!