CNN has an article on "Maid Cafes" in Japan, a popular place for some otaku.

Maids rule in Japan's nerd nirvana

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- "Welcome home, Master," says the maid as she bows deeply, hands clasped in front of a starched pinafore worn over a short pink dress.

This maid serves not some aristocrat but a string of pop-culture-mad customers at a "Maid Cafe" in Tokyo's Akihabara district, long known as a Mecca for electronics buffs but now also the center of the capital's "nerd culture".

"When they address you as 'Master', the feeling you get is like a high," says Koji Abei, a 20-year-old student having coffee with a friend at the Royal Milk Cafe and Aromacare.

"I've never felt that way before." [CNN]

I've been aware of the whole maid thing in Japan for a while just due to the amount of anime shows about maids. They are a whole genre in and of themselves. Everything from victorian romance type stories to action shows with robot maids to catgirl maids. But for some reason the idea of going to a maid cafe just sounds... wrong. It just sounds like too much of a bad joke. I especially like the line in the article about being able to get your ears cleaned (WHAT?). It actually is probably mostly an extremly focused version of what I've heard of called cosplay cafes, where the waitresses are dressed like characters from various anime shows.

Someone online mentioned an odd variety of tomatoes today:

Black Pearl Tomato
Two different flavors in one tomato!
NEW Burpee Exclusive.
A true treasure, 'Black Pearl' is two different flavors in one cherry tomato. Enjoy right off the vine, but be sure to put a big bowlful in the refrigerator for a special treat. When chilled, 'Black Pearl' has a unique, extra sweet, 'Concord' grape flavor.

Is it a grape or a tomato! Make up your mind!

The idea of a squirrel on crack scares the crap out of me.

Squirrels go nuts on crack

squirrels, digging up stashes

SQUIRRELS are getting hooked on crack cocaine -- hidden by addicts in gardens.

They are digging up the stashes and eating the mega-addictive drug, which comes in small chunks.

Several have been spotted behaving bizarrely in Brixton, South London, since a police blitz against pushers and users.

One resident said: "My neighbour said dealers had used my garden to hide crack.

"Just an hour earlier I'd seen a squirrel digging in the flower-beds.

"It was ill-looking and its eyes looked bloodshot, but it kept on desperately digging. It seems a strange thing to say, but it seemed to know what it was looking for."

...

Crack squirrels are a recognised problem in America. They are common in parks used by addicts in New York and Washington DC. [The Sun Online]

Has anyone else heard of this problem with crack squirrels in America? Should I be frightened? The squirrels in my backyard always look a bit crazed and hyper. I'll have to start carrying a bat to fend them off when I go out to the car.

Adrants has links to two videos from AOL promoting their new service AIM mail.

To promote its new AIM Mail, AOL has a couple of strange online videos, created by ATTIK. One has a receptionist drifting into a daydream which consists of superhero midgets...oops...dwarfs...oops...little people giving her a tickle attack. The other has a pair of sushi falling in love only to have one killed by getting eaten. Both end with @aim addresses and no other form of linkage.

Once at the AIM Mail site, there are blogs that promote the videos. The videos can be viewed HERE and HERE. [Adrants]

Those damn people at NASA! How dare they? :)

Russian astrologer sues NASA over comet experiment

MOSCOW (AFP) - A Russian astrologer has taken legal action against NASA for compensation, claiming that the US space agency's bombardment of the Tempel 1 comet will upset her horoscope and violates her spiritual rights.

The experiment, in which NASA fired a projectile the size of a fridge at the comet Monday, was an attack on "the holy of holies," Marina Bai's law suit claims, according to Russian press reports. Her suit, filed at a Moscow court, claims violation of her "life and spiritual values." [Yahoo! News]

I'm still a bit speechless on this one. The images are kind of funky looking. I still can't decide if this will be a good thing or a bad thing.

Powerpuff Girls Anime Announced
Plans for a Powerpuff Girls anime were announced at the Tokyo Animation Fair. A joint venture between Toei Animation, Aniplex, and Cartoon Network, the new project will be tentatively titled "Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z." Posters from the booth can be seen on AV Watch here and here. [via Anime News Network]

From CNN.com:

Jackson hosts 200 kids at Neverland party

LOS OLIVOS, California (AP) -- Christmas came early for some 200 children who got to play at Michael Jackson's amusement park and meet Santa Claus.

"I hope you have a wonderful day. Merry Christmas. I love you," the pop singer called out to the children Friday from the driveway of his estate.

Jackson, who faces trial next year on child molestation charges, appeared happy during the few minutes he spoke to the arriving throng.

One of the youngsters shouted, "We love you."

"I love you more," Jackson replied before putting an umbrella over his head and walking back toward his house. [cnn.com]

If I was a parent I'm not sure I'd want my kids going anywhere near him.

Okay, someone needs to stop coming up with ideas for reality shows. This is getting ridiculous.

New Fox Show: Adoptee IDs dad for $100K

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Fox network said Tuesday it will air a special next month, "Who's Your Daddy?", where a daughter given up for adoption as an infant attempts to guess the identity of her birth father for a $100,000 prize.

Activists in the adoption community immediately attacked the special, which will air for 90 minutes on January 3.[cnn.com]

I don't even want to think about what will be next.

In case you ever wondered what To Kill a Mockingbird was about.

It's the true story of To Kill a Mockingbird. Complete with pirates, robots, slaves, lasers, flaming sharks, ninjas, the moon, and a pickle, done in Flash. [via jenett.radio] [via waxy]

In the world of bizzare news:

Pickled cats thrown at police

Hamilton woman angry at police confiscation of pickled snakes so threw a jar of pickled kittens at them

It has been revealed a Hamilton woman was so angry about police taking her three preserved snakes that she stormed into the station and threw a jar of pickled kittens at the counter.

The jar shattered. [NZCity News]

I personally think the sentence "It has been revealed a Hamilton woman was so angry about police taking her three preserved snakes that she stormed into the station and threw a jar of pickled kittens at the counter." would make a great entry into the Bulwer-Lytton Contest.

Seen via Compendium, SBC's new RSS reader: Project D.U.. I guess D.U. stands for Digital Universe.

proj·ect · d. u.
(noun) 1. a reader populated with headlines pulled from across the web.
2. relater of news and rumors
3. hiding place for next month's topic of conversation.
4. the center of your Digital Universe. Synonyms: middleman, informant, eavesdropper.

First off, the site. It feels like it is trying way too hard to be 'Hip'. Almost all the buttons you can click are animated in some way. Luckily none of them burst into flames. Next, the Project D.U. Reader. I personally found it to be pretty lame in a bunch of ways.

• The interface leaves much to be desired. It just feels clunky.
• When you look at the lists of posts for a blog it only shows you excerpts, even if the blog provides full posts. Clicking on their 'read more' link opens up the actual post .

• No way to export your subscriptions.
• No support for enclosures.
• Kinda slow and clunky.
• When it couldn't resolve a hostname right away it told me that the feed was bad.

• Project D.U. is a stupid name.

And as I was about to close my browser window on the site, I noticed this on their about page:

One of the best features of this site, not unlike the advent of color television, is the Project D.U. Reader. It’s filled with headlines from some of the best blogs you’ve never heard of. In fact, we’ve spent hundreds, maybe thousands of hours scouring the web, trying to find the most intriguing sites the world has to offer. To be fair, we pay the favored blogs a bit each month for the right to use their stuff. But we don’t edit what they say, that would be a very un-fun read.

Wait, they are paying the blogs they list money?? How can I get in on that racket.

There's an article in the New York Times today about Wingwomen.com. It's a service where you rent a woman to help you meet other women.

Are You With Him? Why Yes, Want to Date Him?

... When he expressed no interest in the next woman she pointed to, a brunette in a preppy sweater, Ms. Frenkel shrugged. "He's the man, whatever he wants," she said. "It is not about me." Then Mr. Blumberg gestured toward the bar area. "What about that Kylie Minogue look-alike over there?" A moment later the couple headed over.

Ms. Frenkel was not on a date with Mr. Blumberg, in pursuit of a kinky threesome; she was on the clock. A 29-year-old graduate student, she is one of a dozen women who work for a New York-based Web site called Wingwomen.com, earning up to $30 an hour to accompany single men to bars and help them chat up other women. The Web site's founder, Shane Forbes, a computer programmer, started it in December after realizing he had more success with women when he went to clubs with female friends. "Every time I was with them, I would meet women," he said.

The wingwoman is the latest twist on the wingman, that devoted male sidekick who helps a buddy pick up women at bars and clubs. Originally a "Top Gun" kind of term that referred to a pilot flying protectively behind his squadron leader, its more recent meaning entered popular culture around 1996 through the movie "Swingers," about two men road-tripping to Las Vegas, serving as each other's wingmen in attempted conquests. [more] [nytimes.com]

Reason #5 Katamary Damacy rocks: You can roll up cows. They Moo. Reason #4 is the music for the game.

If you haven't seen this game, check out this clip of the gameplay.

Even drug abusers know that cheese rocks:

Drug abusers target cheese

ST. JOHN'S  —  Police in St. John's say drug abusers trying to pay for their habits has led to a thriving black market for cheese.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary says stealing and reselling food from supermarkets and other stores to support addictions is becoming quite common.

Earlier this week, they say a man threatened to stab people with a hypodermic needle in the parking lot of a supermarket.

Staff Sgt. June Layden says he was holding a number of blocks of cheese when police arrested him "Right now we believe it was between 12 and 16 blocks, quite a quantity of cheese," she says.

Patrick Corrigan, 26, is charged with theft and assault in connection with the incident.

Layden says cheese theft is a growing problem in this province — and that the people stealing it need quick money to buy drugs like OxyContin.

"From speaking with a number of people yesterday including some employees at some of our larger supermarkets ... they are finding people are coming in and stealing it by blocks," she says. [read more] [via lonita.links.log]

From the warped minds at weebls-stuff.com: Choccy

Warning, may cause nightmares or chocolate cravings.

Just the text of this clip alone is bound to give me some good search traffic.

Japanese men's sperm comes in 2 types
Japanese men's sperm concentration changes seasonally and is categorized in two types according to the season when it becomes more concentrated, research jointly conducted by two universities revealed. [via Medical News Today]

My friend Selma pointed me at this article from Popular Science that covers the worst jobs in science.

The Worst Jobs in Science

From fart sniffer to postdoc, the most torturous ways to make a living in science.

October 2003

Ah, science! Ennobling. Fascinating. Deeply challenging. Also, dangerous, gross and mind-bogglingly boring. We at Popular Science are sometimes brought up short by the realization that there are aspects of science—entire jobs, even—that, when you strip away the imposing titles and advanced degrees, sound at best distasteful and at worst unbearable. Having chosen last month our second annual Brilliant 10 -- a group of dynamic researchers making remarkable discoveries—we turned to this pressing question: For the rest out there, just how bad can a science job get?

The answer: Really, really bad.

We solicited nominations from more than a thousand working scientists and culled the list for the most noxious. Then we voted. Which is to say, there is absolutely nothing scientific about the ranking of the worst jobs in science that appears on these pages; it is simply the collective opinion of a group of alternately awestruck and disturbed editors who rarely suffer anything worse on the job than keyboard- induced repetitive-motion syndrome. [Popular Science]

Um. Ew. I don't think I could ever see some kid saying they'd want to do any of these when they grow up.

Cthulhu Plush Slippers. I wonder what sounds one gets from stepping on Cthulhu's face repeatedly. I wonder if anyone else carries these too, must look. [via Neil Gaiman]

Maybe if I share this with the world it will get out of my head. Those wonderful wacky people at weebls have a little cartoon that I'm finding more addicting than Badgers. I mean, Everyone Love Magical Trevor. He makes cows disappear than reappear! I blame ladysissyphus for my knowledge of this.

Relaxation Combat Team Valerian, at your service! That seems to be the battle cry of these superheros in a new creation by CLAMP called Sweet Valerian. I personally think this is just further evidence of drug use on the part of people producing anime. This show is like the Powerpuff Girls on Acid and E at the same time. In the second episode they fight a cell phone monster and defeat it by drowning it in water. My brain hurts.

Further proof that they'll make a sequel for just about anything (and keep making them).

Though I have to admit, it's definitely original. I'm also amazed that there is still any life in the Chucky franchise. [via jwz]