After I was done scratching my head I only had one question, was this Google's tribute to the Human Centipede?

The logo was actually a tribute to artist Keith Haring, but all the same, I couldn't help but find myself thinking... centipede... centipeeeddddeee... Perhaps I should do a thesis on the Google logo as the modern day Rorschach test?

A BRITISH furniture retailer has been banned from using an ad that claimed its prices were "Sofa King low".

UK advertising watchdog the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) upheld complaints that the advertisement for The Sofa King store in Northampton, central England, was "offensive and unsuitable for general display".

The ASA acknowledged in its ruling that the ad's strap line "could be interpreted as a derivative" of the F-bomb, "which consumer research had found to be a word so likely to offend that it should not be used in ads at all" - even when it was "relevant to the name of a product".

Source: "Sofa King ad banned in UK over F-bomb similarity", Herald Sun

According to the article, a grand total of three people complained about the ad in August 2011. Furthermore the Sofa King had been using the slogan since they began trading in 2004. That's three complains in nine years. Not huge numbers.

So where the ASA justified in pulling the ad or, as the shock jocks would say, 'is this a case of political correctness gone mad'?

The soundtrack to this story proudly brought to you by Dangerdoom. Enjoy.

Actually I think the first thing I should do is either finish this WordPress theme or start using a new one all together. WordPress has changed a little in the past 12-18 months so it might be a good learning experience.

Time for some Bowie.

While I've been away Ricky Gervais has jumped on board Twitter proving that comedy can fit within 140 characters. Check it out here.

Anyway, I better run along now and contemplate the stuff. Deep. Peace.

In case you curious according to Google's AdWords tool, placing AdWords for the term 'Adult Bibs" will cost you between AU$1.01 - AU$1.26 per click. Who would have thought that the Adult Bib market had so much potential?

Well.. *cough* *cough* I guess that these guys did. That's right, it's time for another dodgy infomercial, this time for the "Slopstopper".

This is not your average terry cloth bib you find in a store . . .

Made of the highest quality materials, the SlobStopper™ is constructed with two layers of PUL (polyurethane laminate), a thin absorbent fabric permanently laminated to a thin, waterproof barrier.

Made in the USA, you will not find a more durable, higher quality bib anywhere.

Because nothing attracts the ladies like a man so clumsy that he needs to wear a bib.

I wonder how many they've sold?

First up I got sent a link to this photo fresh from Flickr [original found here]. Why do I like it? It's a pug wearing pug slippers. Enough said.

Through the wonders of technology, I left my little Pug friend and discovered the The Amazing Magnetic Boy. Like the tag line says, "He has more than just a great personality, HE'S MAGNETIC!"

The Amazing Magnetic Boy then Magnetoman. A real life Magneto.

Ever have those moments where your cursor hovers over something and you can't decide whether to click or not? That's about the only way I can explain this Bot Fly removal video.

From Bot Fly to the Smithi Tie Protector. If you thought the Snuggy and the Snazzy Napper were awesome, then you'll probably be placing an order for one of these sooner rather than later.

Have you been keeping count? Yup, only at the fifth degree right now. So where is the sixth degree you ask? I guess it's where ever you end up once you leave this page.

The organisers behind the Awards show should not really be shocked, or able to raise their hands with a "... but we didn't know", as he really just picks up from where he left off at the 2010 Golden Globes.

Around this time last year the Guardian asked "Did Ricky Gervais shine at the Golden Globes?":

His performance, though, wasn't hard-hitting enough for some: the Hollywood Reporter called him "toothless", and sure enough, he did pull some punches. Joking about Mel Gibson's drinking is one thing – but off the leash, Gervais would surely make hay with Gibson's anti-Semitism too.

That, alas, is never going to happen at an event as stage-managed as the Globes – nor from a man as palpably delighted to be a Hollywood insider as Gervais.

This time around Gervais took another swipe at Gibson while introducing crowd favorite - OK one of my favorites - Scarlett Johansson:

"Our first presenter is beautiful, talented, and Jewish apparently. Mel Gibson told me that. He’s obsessed. Please welcome Scarlett Johansson."

Some of Ricky's other quotable quotes - read the ones most likely to offend - included:

“It’s going to be a night of partying and heaving drinking, or as Charlie Sheen calls it: breakfast.”

“Do you want to go see Cher? No. Why not? Because it’s not 1975.”

“Also not nominated I Love You Phillip Morris. Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. Two heterosexual actors pretending to be gay. So, the complete opposite of some famous Scientologist… My lawyers helped me with the wording of that joke.”

“Next up, Eva Longoria has the daunting task of introducing the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press. That’s nothing, I had just had to help him off the toilet and pop his teeth in.”

“Everything this year was three-dimensional, except the characters in The Tourist. I feel bad about that joke. I’m jumping on the bandwagon, because I haven’t even seen that movie. Who has?”

“And thank you to God. For making me an atheist.”

“I love this next presenter; he’s so cool. He’s the star of Iron Man. Two Girls and a Guy. Wonderboys. I’m sorry are these porn films? Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Bowfinger? Up the Academy. Come on! He has done all of those films, but many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as The Betty Ford Clinic and the Los Angeles County Jail. Robert Downey, Jr.”

“You know our next presenter from such films as Hudson Hawk, Look Who’s Talking, Mercury Rising, Color of Night, The Fifth Element, Hart’s War. Please welcome Aston Kutcher’s dad, Bruce Willis.”

Reading them on screen doesn't quite convey the awkwardness you feel when you watch the lines delivered and the reaction of the audience, so here's a little highlights package.

* Note: Generally, but not always. Please see Sarah Silverman for another example.

These were produced by the H-57 Creative Station Advertising Agency from Milan, Italy. Having a look at their website it appears that they were also responsible for developing the 'Blade' font for the promotion of the Blade movies (I'm not a fluent Italian speaker/reader so much of the website is a mystery to me).

I have to say, when I first glanced at these images I had to take a second look before I realized what was going on here.

Source: H-57 Creative Station Advertising Agency

Whether or not I decide to keep a plugin is largely going to come down to one question, 'does the plugin make life easier?' If the answer is no, then there's a fair chance it won't be hanging around that much longer.

Off I go to switch off some plugins, if the lights go out, don't panic.

On the week I sat down and browsed through the Swollen Pickles archive. Some of what I found was good, some terrible, some a crass cash grab and some a reflection of where I was at personally at that point in time. This blog originally started off as a personal development experience. I wanted to see if I could start something from scratch and stick to it. In that respect, it's been a success. When I started I had no idea what was involved in starting up website from scratch, let along digging into any sort of code.

Not long after I set this up I decided that I'd try to make it self sustaining. I wanted to see if I could set up a blog to pay its own way in the world, and not rely upon me propping it up financially. This led to the inevitable monetization of the site. It didn't take me all that long to learn that income was directly related to traffic volume. More traffic, meant more money. This led me to analytics. Why were people coming here? What were they looking for? Tailoring content to search results had its advantages, more traffic. Giving people more of what they wanted was a fairly solid formula. The disadvantage being that it took me a little further away off the track that I had originally set out on. I set up other sites but in doing so found that I was spread too thin.

In looking through the archive I can almost pin point the moment in which this became more of a chore and less fun. In attempting to give people what they wanted, or what I thought they wanted, I wasn't getting what I needed out of the process. I'm sure I'm not the only person in the world that isn't a huge fan of chores. When something becomes a chore, I naturally steer away from it, toward something more fun and entertaining.

I guess what I'm trying to say, in a rather long winded fashion, is that I think it's time to get back to basics. Embrace minimalism. Strip the site back. Rebuild it. Make it something that I would visit myself, rather than something to cater to others. Back to basics.