Paco Rosic paints ceiling after Michelangelo in Iowa

Article (above) and Paco's website

RIP Pear.ATK.TITS - Aric Southard

Aric was a fine graffiti artist and a pillar of the Bay Area skateboarding community, from Salinas CA. We mourn his untimely death at 35 particularly because he was so full of life, and at the top of his game. Things just won't be the same at Bill's Wheels without him. He had a show there this month too. If you're in the area, stop by and pay your respects. Rest in Peace, Pear.

White and Nerdy - Weird Al

Too funny.

AOL cancelled the "world premiere" of this music video this week, because it was leaked to YouTube. Top link is to Wikipedia, which has all the nerdy knowleges you need about this video.

Pretending to be writers, police bust 27 MySpace users

The Associated Press reported today that "Undercover police posed as taggers [sic] on the Web site during the four-month investigation, befriending vandals who bragged about their work .... Some of the alleged vandals even shared photos of their work with the officers on the site."

[Same old story. Beware also of people online pretending to be YOU, because they want to trick you into proving who you are.]

Security expert advises renewing passports before RFID rolls out

Too late for UK, NZ, NL, and Germany, but Americans may still have a small window of opportunity to get a chip-free document. Read the article to find out why chips are bad news for you.

Update: It seems it's also too late if you send your passport to Colorado for renewal: Notice from State Dept.

But what if explosives could be triggered when a US passport is detected? It seems the shielding on the passports is flawed. There's a YouTube video with this eecue.com post that explains the problem

Great. Another half-baked idea that doesn't increase safety or security. Just what we need.

Update2: Someone told me that he applied for a passport recently and the form said he would get a chipped passport but that when it arrived it was still the old style, so you can't tell just by reading the form.

$c13nt0logy exposé movie, free online

Download it because you can. 1 hr playing time, several formats and sizes.

More Banksy in LA

Prisoner at Disneyland - Not sure Banksy has actually claimed responsibility for this one, but speculation is.

Warehouse exhibit in LA
but there's an elephant in the room.

I'm a big fan of Banksy's ideas and work, but I sure wish he'd stop using real animals.

Other people agree, and in the end, the elephant is shown "naked" again.
Latest Banksy news posting on BoingBoing.net points out that non-toxic paint was used, FWIW.

Update: But animal control didn't like the paint type used, so they ordered the owners of the elephant to remove it. The officials suggested child-safe face paint. On the upside, Angela Jolie bought almost $400,000 worth of artwork from Banksy, reportedly, and the elephant is being well looked after and taken home each night by its owners.
Daily Mail and LA Times.
In another article the owner explains that the elephant is "used to wearing makup" which makes sense, in Hollywood. She certainly looked good in it, that's for sure.

Banksy does Paris (youtube)

... and, he's coming to LA next: Watch for details at www.banksy.co.uk

Vulcan in San Francisco

Dude paints a beautiful painting. Thanks to Neck for the tip about this great feature story on one of the New York Kings of Style.

Ian's Shoelace Site

... because I know you care. Don't miss the More Lacing Photos link at the very bottom.

Time Out for Lady Pink