Mad ProfessorMark Frauenfelder reviews neat stuffHi-Fructose Vol.5- August 15, 2007 Whenever a new issue of Hi-Fructose shows up in my mailbox, I climb on my roof and genuflect in the direction of Arcturus to pay homage to master Zogg for allowing such beauty to exist in this lowly mortal plane. Volume 5 of the best art magazine in the Universe has articles about Travis Louie, Parskid, Lori Early, Amy Sol, Mark Jenkins, Aaron Noble, Mars-1, Friends With You's Rainbow Valley, Brendan Danielson, Josh Keyes, and other artists. There's a lifetime of material to study in these...http://www.madprofessor.net/2007/08/hifructose_vol5.html Short video of cliff diving at Topanga State Park- August 14, 2007 (Click on thumbnails for enlargement) I went with my wife and kids to Topanga State Park a couple of weeks ago. It offers wonderful hiking, rock climbing, and pond swimming. The best part of the day was watching the brave souls jump from the 40 or 50 foot cliffs into a swimming hole. I shot a video of the divers, which you can see here: Linkhttp://www.madprofessor.net/2007/08/short_video_of_cliff_diving_at.html Casper the Friendly Ghost comic book anthology- August 14, 2007 Graphic designer and cartoon historian Leslie Cabarga, went to great pains to clean up the excellent artwork in this 480-page homage to Casper the Friendly Ghost. I've always been a fan of a clean line in cartooning, and the Harvey artists who drew Casper were masters of this appealing style. I loved Casper comics as a child, and seeing them again with adult eyes, I can understand why. The presentation draws you in immediately. I prefer to the scratchy hyper-dynamic, border-busting work that's.http://www.madprofessor.net/2007/08/casper_the_friendly_ghost_comi.html Beetles devouring my figs- August 11, 2007 (Click on thumbnail for enlargement) Yesterday I was harvesting figs from my tree before the fig thieves who regularly drive through the neighborhood to poach fruit could get to them, and I spotted these three large shiny green beetles gorging on a fig. The topmost beetle had his entire head buried in the obscenely red meat of these delicious figs. Unlike the human fig thieves who eat my fruit, these iridescent scarabs are always welcome guests at my home. Appropriately enough, they are...http://www.madprofessor.net/2007/08/beetles_devouring_my_figs.html Cheap prescription glasses- August 8, 2007 Last year, I stumbled upon Ira Mitchell's blog, Glassyeyes.com, which is all about buying inexpensive eyeglasses from online retailers. Here's a recent Minneapolis Star Tribune article about Mr. Mitchell and his blog. Here's an excerpt: Ira Mitchell of Eagan has nothing against eye doctors. It's the markups on frames and lenses that make him rant about the high cost of eyeglasses on his blog, which he began last November. "Eyeglass stores are for suckers," he wrote. Indeed, the markup on...http://www.madprofessor.net/2007/08/cheap_prescription_glasses.html Note from summer camp- August 2, 2007 My 9-year-old daughter is at summer camp for a week. She sent this letter to us: Dear Mom and Dad, Last night was so awful. Lilli had a migrain all night. A girl needed medication at 10:00. Are bedtime is 9:30. When the conslers were getting the medication a girl started to puke! A different girl was moaning. A huge spider was on the floor. The consler came in to help. We got to sleep at 12:00! Everything is fine. I'm having a great time. Love, Sarinahttp://www.madprofessor.net/2007/08/note_from_summer_camp.html How to Make It 1926- August 2, 2007 Automata maker extraordinaire Dug North says: I went into an antique shop that was going out of business and picked up a large-format magazinebook entitled How to Make It. The book is made up of selected excerpts from Science and Invention Magazine published in 1926. You would not believe the stuff in there -- some of it really cool and really dangerous. An motor-powered ice sled that uses a sawmill-sized circular blade as the front wheel. A brazing torch powered by gasoline An airplane...http://www.madprofessor.net/2007/08/how_to_make_it_1926.html |