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Shredded couch armrests, severed chipmunk tails … Sometimes our cats leave us a few clues about their daily activities, but most of their seekrit feline goings-on remain a mystery. Until now. German workshop tinkerer and cat fancier Juergen Perthold whipped up the CatCam — a tiny $20 digital keychain camera rigged to take a shot every 2.5 minutes — and attached it to the collar of his kitty, Mr. Lee. The result? A slightly surreal glimpse into the kitty’s trek through woods, fields, tunnels and garages.

Check out the rest of Mr. Lee’s day, as well as the exploits of a handful of other feline Ansel Adamses. Want to build your own CatCam? Perthold shows you how! (And for only $31, you can order a CatCam kit from Juergen himself.)

From a similar vein comes “Stranger Photos Have Happened.” For this experiment, Jay Carlson (the founder of online ‘zine The Plug) left a disposable camera tied to a bench, accompanied by this note:

Good afternoon,
I attached this camera to the bench so you could take pictures. Seriously. So have fun. I’ll be back later this evening to pick it up.
Love, Jay / The Plug

And lo, the passers-by obliged, begetting much cheesy mugging unto the camera — enough to fill up the whole roll.

See the rest here: http://theplug.net/28/strangerphotos.htm [via Make]

Now that spring has sprung, the grass has riz (almost) and all that good stuff, it’s time to emerge from our down-comforter-filled caverns and start doing things outside again! If you’re looking for a new outdoor project, here’s a cheap, easy and awfully weird one: Wacky Archives shows you how to make your own ethereal apparition. No ectoplasm required — just chicken wire and a slightly twisted sense of whimsy. [Via Make]

^{[photo courtesy Wacky Archives]}

Actually, this reminds me of Nightshirts, one of the installations in the Forest Hill Cemetery. (New Englanders, if you haven’t already, I highly recommend you check this place out. Makes for superb picknicking.)

*Title of this post inspired my favorite IMDB find of all time.

Eggs are everywhere you turn this time of year, in all manner of shapes, sizes and colors. We’ve put together a handbook to help you identify and distinguish between some of the more exotic varieties of eggs. (Click the pictures to see their original sources and contexts!)

Deluxe Chocolate Egg
Description: Noted for its authentic crackable shell and chocolate center. Two known species: Ovochoccolatus naturalis and Ovochoccolatus bling.

Vegreville Pysanka Egg
Description: Descendant of the much smaller pysanka, or Ukrainian decorated egg, and the cutting-edge (by 1974 standards) computer-aided geometric models of Ron Resch. Consists of 2,208 equilateral triangles. Commissioned as a tribute to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of Vegreville, Alberta.

Military Envoy Egg
Description: Always accompanied by a flock of symbiotic Doughboys. Although the Military Envoy Egg is nigh invulnerable around its circumference, predators can easily breach it from above.

Organically Dyed Egg
Description: Easily distinguishable by its unusual coloring, derived from various organic materials such as red cabbage, cherries, onion skins, coffee and green herbs.

Emotional Egg
Description: In contrast to its blank, stoic relatives, the Emotional Egg is capable of a vast expressive range — from sheer terror to absolute panic.

Woolly Egg
Description: Due to its soft, fuzzy exterior, the Woolly Egg is able to withstand falls from even the greatest heights. Enjoys being petted. May smell funny when wet.

Adorable Bento Egg
Description: The Adorable Bento Egg is an expert mimic, able to contort itself into a variety of forms.

Lego Egg
Description: Another master of disguise, the Lego Egg’s unusual camouflage allows it to infiltrate toy boxes and hobby shops; unfortunately, there’s not really much point to it.

Sprouting Egg
Description: A bizarre genetic anomaly, the Sprouting Egg’s shell hosts a variety of grasses and herbs.

Hope you enjoyed ZipiZen! This is the first in what is to be a regular series of theme-based posts that owe a huge inspirational debt to Web Zen. Stay tuned!

OK, let’s explore a hypothetical situation here: Valentine’s Day is just mere hours away, and you’re totally stumped about what to do for your significant other. With restaurants booked to the seams, your options now are rapidly dwindling to raiding the much-picked-over cards and dubious chocolates and ragged bouquets at Shaw’s (or, worse, CVS). And let’s face it, even if you did manage to snag a last-minute reservation at some fancy little boîte, you’re most likely getting jacked for exorbitant prix-fixes and harried service.

Wait, this isn’t so hypothetical, is it?

Fear not, friend — it’s not too late to surprise your special woogums with a totally handmade, heartfelt, delicious meal. With our special V-Day tapas menu, all you need is a working oven, a few groceries, and a few spare hours. (Oh, and some tiny plates wouldn’t hurt, either.)

We decided to go with tapas (basically, classy finger foods traditionally served in Spanish bars) for reasons of variety and efficiency: These recipes allows you to showcase a lot of nice little dishes to dazzle your date; meanwhile, there’s a lot of overlap between recipe ingredients, so you won’t have to worry about making room in your fridge.

MENU

• crusty bread with olive oil
• cheese with quince paste (queso con membrillo)
• marinated olives (aceitunas marinadas)
• roasted peppers (pimientos)
• white bean salad (ensalada de judías blancas)
• pear turnovers (hojaldres de pera)
• Spanish omelette (tortilla española)

Now, this might look like a lot of work, but the nice part is that you can prepare the most labor-intensive dishes in advance: the pimientos keep for days, and the tortilla espanola and white bean salad actually taste better when they’ve spent a few days chilling in the fridge. The rest is basically a cinch to throw together (take it from a kitchen novice). For such minimal efforts, the results are pretty impressive. (Note: Unless your date’s a linebacker with a glandular problem, you’re probably going to have leftovers if you follow these recipes to the letter. In fact, this same menu makes for a great party spread, too — perfect for any cheerfully bitter anti-V-Day celebrations.)

Read on for recipes and more pictures.

Read the rest of this entry »