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A short film by Patrick Smith. The protagonist makes a hand puppet, who apparently doesn't like his creator. -via I Am Bored

Death is looked upon differently by many cultures. One of the stranger and more macabre (at least to look at) is the Mexican tradition of Santa Muerte - or Saint Death if you are an English speaker. She is also known as Dona Sebastiana and is a religious figure that is the result of a mish-mash of several cultures. Paganism and Catholicism come head on to produce a remarkable hybrid of contemporary religiosity and supernaturalism.

Take a look at several incarnations of Santa Muerte at socyberty. Link -Thanks, RJ Evans!

(image credit: volante)

You think my jokes are old! A Greek joke book has been published that dates back to the 4th century AD. Some of the jokes are still around, although they are now told in somewhat different terms. For example, one of the jokes is similar to Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch.

The 1,600-year-old work entitled "Philogelos: The Laugh Addict," one of the world's oldest joke books, features a joke in which a man complains that a slave he has just bought has died, its publisher said Friday.

"By the gods," answers the slave's seller, "when he was with me, he never did any such thing!"

In a British comedy act Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch, first aired in 1969 and regularly voted one of the funniest ever, the pet-shop owner says the parrot, a "Norwegian Blue," is not dead, just "resting" or "pining for the fjords."

The English-language book will appeal to those who swear that the old jokes are the best ones. Many of its 265 gags will seem strikingly familiar, suggesting that sex, dimwits, nagging wives and flatulence have raised laughs for centuries.

Link -Thanks, Jayne Howley!

Every year on December 14th we celebrate Monkey Day! One of this year's events is a charity art auction at the Basement 414 gallery in Lansing, Michigan. Proceeds from the auction will benefit Chimps, Inc., a shelter that takes in unwanted chimpanzees from circuses, zoos, and private homes. Several artists have already donated works, including a chimpanzee from Chimps, Inc. Artists are invited to submit their work for donation. There are other Monkey Day events scheduled around the country; read about them and the history of Monkey Day at the official website. http://www.monkeyday.com/ to Monkey Day website. Link to art auction information on Facebook. -Thanks, casey!

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Jayen Varma, known as the world's fastest bass player, can play up to 36 percussive notes per second! Here he is jamming with guitarist Sumesh Parameswar. Their band RagacatZZ plays a fusion of Indian raga and jazz. -Thanks, Jayen Varma!

Salon has a look at why we are drawn to LOLcats, and particularly to sad LOLcats. They consulted New York Times cartoon editor Bob Mankoff.

The first reason sad lolcats can be so powerful, Mankoff suggested, is their comedic structure. The meaning of a lolcat is rarely straightforward -- rather, there's a punch line of sorts, a layer of meaning you have to think about for a moment in order to grasp. So the punch line, the same thing that makes the lolcat funny, is what makes it sad. You could call these tragic strips.

A second major factor in the poignancy of the sad lolcat, I would argue, is the use of animals. The comic form is generally a prophylaxis against sentimentality. By articulating profound feelings through cats and marine mammals speaking garbled English, we're able to shroud genuine emotions in pseudo-irony -- which means those animals can evoke deeper emotions without fear of mockery or cheapness.

Link -Thanks, Adam Stanhope!

(image credit: I Can Has Cheezburger)

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Remember the "Choose Your Adventure" books where you skipped around different versions of the story? The comedy team of Chad, Matt, and Rob have created a video version! Watch as the three zip around the space/time continuum and you decide what happens next. The first chapter is here, your selections will take you to YouTube. -Thanks, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin!

"Spike the Potato" is a highly amusing game for any party. All that is needed is a single large potato, a number of paper cones, and some needles.

Actually, according to the above blurb, you also need glue, string, and cotton balls. But you could skip a lot of this and use darts. Add a few cocktails per guest, and you'll have a really swinging party! This amusement is from 1933. Link -Thanks, Lee!

You can have a mustache without growing one! Albotas has a list of Ten Awesome Things with Mustaches. Link -Thanks, brownkidd!

Designer Amy Lau was inspired by the serial killer show on Showtime when she came up with these Dexter dining room chairs. The chairs are decorated with embroidered blood spatters. There are also bloody dinner plates and flatware to match. But hurry and buy yours, these are limited edition items. Link -via J-Walk Blog

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Looks like the mirror won this time. -via Arbroath

The question is: how much sticky tape would you have to use to climb a wall like Spiderman? Tom Scott started out with cellophane tape, then moved to duct tape, then changed his procedure a few times, and lost of lot of arm hair finding out. Link -via b3ta

The words “Last picture taken” before his or her death conjure up many emotions, whether in front of the camera or behind it. This list consists of 10 last time stamps in history taken of and by some fascinating individuals.

This is the last known picture of Elvis Presley, taken the night before he died in 1977. See nine more at The List Universe. Link -Thanks, G.D. Rawlinson!

The Kuro Hitsuji restaurant chain in Japan features Genghis Khan Cuisine, which is mutton cooked on a dome-shaped stove. What's really interesting is their English translation on the menus, which attempts to be American hip. See the rest of it at Urlesque. Link -Thanks, Jessica Amason!

This picture would make a great fishing story, but the truth is that this enormous Chinook salmon was found dead in Battle Creek, California.

Biologist Doug Killam made the find while conducting a survey of spawned-out fall-run salmon on lower Battle Creek near the Northern California town of Red Bluff. (Salmon die after they spawn.)

"I have counted tens of thousands of salmon during my career, and this is the biggest I have ever seen," Killam said. "When alive, it could have weighed more than the largest Chinook officially recorded in California, an 88-pound fish caught in the Sacramento River."

Most of the salmon found in these surveys weigh 20 to 30 pounds.

Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!

(image credit: California Department of Fish and Game)