For my birthday, Kevin sent me a one-pound box of Frango Mints, some of the best chocolate candies in the world. I’m sharing them with the family, of course, but as the birthday boy I call dibs on the “lucky Frango,” as big as 11 normal Frangos stuck together. Thanks, Kevin!

Phoebe gave me a gigantic cheeseburger birthday cake!

The “burger” is chocolate cake, the “bun” is frosted white cake, and the “cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions” are all icing. The “sesame seeds” are sesame seeds.
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Every once in a while, I go and read all the old newspaper ads from the 1910s through the 1960s, rescued from microfilm by James Lileks. If you’ve seen ‘em before, see ‘em again sometime. They always make me smile.

This candid video of a photo booth is evidence that imitating a computer-generated voice will compel strangers to obey you.

(Hat tip to Daily Flog)

I just got a disturbing message from actor Samuel L. Jackson. He says he wants me to take my daughter Abaigeal to see “Snakes on a Plane.” Doesn’t he know Abby is five years old? I don’t think that’s a good idea at all. Jackson threatens to “come after” me if I don’t, but I think I can take him.

Clicking on the picture above will take you to his page with his message to me. [UPDATE: No it won’t; I reckon that page expired.] I saved it as an MP3 file here, if you just want to hear the audio. And you can make him threaten someone else with death, here.

(Hat tip to Pamela.)

The Oklahoma commemorative quarter will be minted in 2008. Gov. Brad Henry has asked me to assist him in selecting the final design for our quarter. (Well, he didn’t ask me personally; but he did specifically ask “fellow Oklahomans” to assist him, and that includes me.)

On Henry’s website is a form, where you can vote for up to five of the ten “narratives” depicted. You can see a pencil draft of each design on his site, but I thought it would help you to visualize the coins if I ran these sketches through the old Photoshop emboss filter, so they would look a little more like embossed coins. Here, to aid you in your deliberations, are all ten designs.
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