Unhappy Hipsters

Unhappy Hipsters is a collection of photos depicting stylishly joyless hipsters, cadged from design magazines and accompanied by snide captions.

Everyone always leaves.

Thanks to Yao for the tip.

Protocol Droids aren’t always helpful

But what if I wanted Vanilla Ice?

Dik-Dik baby

The dik-dik is a tiny, delicate species of antelope found in Angola and Namibia. They’re smaller than a housecat, usually just over a foot tall, and if you scare them, they yell “dik dik dik” in a tiny voice. Stoppit.

One was just born in a zoo in the UK. Its hobbies include standing, staring, and having an adorable rump.

o hai! i iz tu smal to uze capitle lerrerz wen i yellz!

Here are some more dik-dik photos.

Here is what I would do all day long if I had a dik-dik. I would pet it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

And here is a video of a dik-dik being accosted by peeping toms.

Based on the name, you wouldn’t think it, but it turns out that the dik-dik is a rather prim little sort.

Thanks to Peneycad for the tip-tip.

I am disliked by a cat

I like this dude. He’s like a Japanese John Krasinski. And that cat is dee ranged. The English translations really made this one for me.

I am disliked by a cat. The name of the cat is “Sashimi”. She attacks me at the risk of life. The fear! The seriousness of the animal!

Thanks to Steve from GracingTheStage for the tip.

Conan does expensive comedy

Conan’s mad at NBC and he’s making them pay. Literally.

Umbrella Today

(Photo source)

Umbrella Today is a website that will send you an email only on days when you should bring an umbrella. Customize by your location and the time of day you’d like the emails to arrive. There’s also an iPhone app.
Via AskMe.

Elliott Malkin – Mother’s History of Birds

My friend Elliott made a really great documentary short (7.5 minutes) about his mother, Roberta Malkin, and her pet birds. I really like it. It’s online here.

Lego You

I think I picked the most manic facial expression one of these little guys can have. Don't think that wasn't deliberate.

You guys, make a Lego of yourself here. Unfortunately all Lego people have cankles, but nothing in this world is perfect.
Thanks to Willow for the tip.

Log Driver’s Waltz

And he goes birling down a-down the white water; That's where the Log Driver learns to step lightly....

The Log Driver’s Waltz is a sweet short film (3 minutes) by the Canadian National Film Board, romanticizing the moves of Canada’s nimblest lumberjacks, the Log Drivers. These guys rode logs as they floated down the river from forest to lumbermill.

This film used to play often in the morning between cartoons when I was a kid. Sung by the McGarrigle Sisters, one of whom, Kate (Rufus and Martha Wainwright’s mother), died this week.

The Log Driver’s Waltz is online here in beautiful quality.

If you ask any girl from the parish around
What pleases her most from her head to her toes
She’ll say, “I’m not sure that it’s business of yours,
But I do like to waltz with the Log Driver.
For he goes birlin’ down a-down the white water,
That’s where the Log Driver learns to step lightly,
It’s birlin’ down a-down the white water,
A Log Driver’s waltz pleases girls completely.”

In researching this post this morning, I learned that the Log Driver is not going “Whirling, twirling, down white water”, as I’d always thought. Instead, he’s going “birling down a-down the white water“. And it’s an actual sport. Birling, huh.

Oh hey, Peneycad just reminded me that there’s a French version, too, also sung by the McGarrigles. The harmonies are a little richer in this version, and the parish maiden tells the nosey questioner in verse one to “mind his own onions”.