World’s Strangest

Artist Andrew DeGraff illustrates non-map concepts with maps. The result can be confusing unless you are familiar with the subject matter. Of course, almost everyone is familiar enough with the  original Star Wars films to follow these three new maps created for a gallery show from Andrew DeGraff and Bennett Slater opening Saturday at Gallery [...]

John recently posted an article about how you can actually buy the original Batmobile, but for those without the cash, you can at least still go see the classic cruiser and all the other Batmobiles as well, including the new Tumbler from The Dark Knight Rises at an exhibit in LA created to help promote [...]

I would like to draw your attention to a horrible epidemic of toy abuse. Teddy bears are being treated like objects in that we find ways to hurt, maim, and destroy them in the name of recycling, art, politics, or even entertainment. It’s not that Ursus teddius domesticus is an endangered species (quite the contrary), [...]

We already looked at libraries in all the major continents, but there were so many great ones in the United States that the article featuring libraries in North America had to leave many beautiful buildings out. Now’s the time to share some of the stunning libraries that might not make it in the top 10 [...]

by Shepard Fairey: Untitled Nothing tastes more like iconography than Hello Kitty. The character has been printed and copied over generations through culture, pop art, graphic design, toys and pretty much any other way imaginable. Conceived by the Japanese company Sanrio, Hello Kitty first appeared in 1974 and made its American debut in 1976. Together with [...]

The famous mascot of Metro-Goldwyn Mayer is not one lion, but five lions. These are their stories. Slats (1917–1928) Wikimedia Commons Slats, born at the Dublin Zoo in 1919, was MGM’s first lion. He had previously appeared in the logo of the Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, where designer Howard Dietz chose the lion as a mascot as a tribute [...]

Living in Los Angeles, it’s hard not to notice the motorcycles. Whether it’s the loud choppers rolling down Sunset, or the rocketing crotch-rockets dodging in and out of traffic on the 405- they are everywhere. If I was invincible, a motorcycle would by my primary mode of transportation- but alas much to my chagrin I [...]

Photo: Bill Ingalls/NASA Got traffic jam? Not like Los Angeles, I bet, where the latest traffic jam was caused by a shuttle crossing From NASA: The space shuttle Endeavour is seen atop the Over Land Transporter [...]

What do actors, musicians, and writers say when they die? I consulted the reference Last Words of Notable People by Bill Brahms to collect eleven examples. Read on, and get a hanky ready. 1. Bob Hope (1903-2003) The words: “Surprise me.” The story: “Bob” Hope’s full name was Leslie Townes Hope. As an actor [...]

Photo: nonu photography/Flickr Actor and comedian Jim Carrey was a born entertainer. In school, his teacher let him perform his comedy routines for his classmates at the [...]