TheMishMash.com

Hiatus

2008-05-08T08:25:40Z

(Photo by Joshua Davis).

"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen." -Leonardo da Vinci

We're about the furthest you can get from da Vinci, we know; he was, however, no dummy and, to that end, we're taking his advice and, for a time, taking a break.

To our readers: thank you for everything thus far.

Ubiquitous [-adj. being everywhere] Jesus

2008-04-29T22:45:20Z

There's no escape.

1. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten ... high back armchair.

(Photo by AslanSRB).

2. "Because no matter what you do in life, [Jesus] takes Visa."

(Photo by lobsterstuffedwithtacos).

3. Blessed are the balloon artists ...

(Photo by DiscoWeasel).

4. Touchdown Jesus?

Available for purchase here and here.

5. Give me the Virgin Mary grilled cheese any day.

The dog? Angus MacDougall, a three-year-old terrier mix.

6. To cleanse your sins...and your b.o.

(Photo by PJ Chmiel).

7. Three words: sick and wrong.

Some People Have No Business Sense

2008-04-28T19:17:53Z

(Photo by kpe).

We're guessing Mr. Baldwin is not next in line for Season 6 of The Apprentice.

Ba Da Ba Ba Baa...

2008-04-24T09:04:33Z

(Photo by Jason Weill).

Taken at the McDonald's on the corner of Madison St. and Minor Ave. in Seattle, WA. Thanks again, Jason.

At Last a Convenience Store with a Renewable Source of Gas

2008-04-23T17:21:49Z

(Photo by Karen).

The Fart Market was/is located in Krakow, Poland.

With a Name Like That, It Damn Well Better Be Good

2008-04-20T22:47:56Z

According to Entrepreneur.com, "[n]aming a business is a lot like laying the cornerstone of a building. Once it's in place, the entire foundation and structure is aligned to that original stone."

For example, Smucker's, famous for its jams and jellies, skillfully capitalized on its unusual name with the slogan, "With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."

The jury's out, though, on the following establishments:

1. Yeah, it's a liquor store; we get it. The modern day connotation is difficult, at least for our juvenile minds, to get past, however.

(Photo by bartendermagic.com).

2. Bubba, you're not running a bait shop. You have a last name. Use it.

(Photo by Alex Cockroach).

3. Scarier is the Lovejuice slogan: "It's a natural thing."

(Photo by Tom Adcock).

4. No comment.

(Photo by Chris Gladis).

5. Tee hee.

(Photo by Andy Cunningham).

6. Only in France.

(Photo by simonyfrontsjones).

7. And of course, only in America.

(Photo by Kevin Trotman).

8. Keep out...because it's always that time of the month.

(Photo by that_james).

9. Next door to Cabbages and Condoms.

(Photo by hexodus).

10. I guess lightning can strike in the same place twice.

(Photo by Chuck Walker).

11. Schwing always gets it up.

(Photo by Justin Taylor).

12. Where there's always a happy ending.

(Photo by Colin Ryan).

13. A euphemism might come in handy here.

(Photo by Lee Otis).

14. Mr. Lynch, you're asking for trouble.

(Photo by Jiffy Cat).

Giving a Whole, New Meaning to the Phrase 'Golden Shower'

2008-04-18T10:25:19Z

Not just a whole, new meaning but a much more socially acceptable and far less nauseating connotation also.

(Photo by Jim Bowers).

(Photo by Paul D. Carey).

Like another favorite photo, these images were also taken at the Burning Man annual event. Wikipedia has more here.

9 Weird Public Art Displays That Surprisingly Don't Suck

2008-04-10T11:49:06Z

It's said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and for purposes of this feature, in all our puerility, we're the beholders. We present then nine weird public art displays/exhibits that, in our lowly opinion, surprisingly don't suck.

1. Jane Alexander's Butcher Boys. Good for a nightmare or two.

(Photo by barbie in spyland).

2. Luckily for fans of the movie Alien, HR Giger had issues. From the HR Giger Museum in Gruyères, Switzerland:

(Photo by Republicanito).

According to the Museum: "It was Giger’s popular art book, Necronomicon, that caught the eye of director Ridley Scott as he was searching for the right look for a creature in his upcoming film. That creature, of course, turned out to be the Alien, and Giger’s masterful designs for the film of the same name garnered him a much-deserved Academy Award."

3. Klaus Weber's The Big Giving in London, which may mirror your feelings about it.

(Photo by Lisa Chu).

4. Damien Hirst's the Virgin Mother is HUGE.

(Photo by Chantal Jackson).

5. You're a sick man, Peter Lenk. From Konstanz, Germany:

6. The nearly seven foot tall Big Baby from the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park is disturbing.

(Photo by jayu).

7. Actually, this one sucks. It's the fat lady at the Tower of Hercules. The shot is nice though.

(Photo by darksheik).

8. From Vancouver, the Device to Root Out Evil?

(Photo by midnightglory).

9. And, lastly, César Baldaccini's Le Pouce, which, big surprise, means (we think) The Thumb.

(Photo by that_james).

An Apology and a Request for Help

2008-04-07T09:13:40Z

(Photo by Mike Scullen).

Over the weekend, on Saturday, April 5, 2008, one of our features, I is Stewpid, hit the Digg.com front page. Though we have been there before, this instance was unique in that a few spyware redirects (from TheMishMash.com, not Digg.com) were reported.

We hoped to draw attention to these reports for two reasons:

1. We hate spyware too and we wanted to apologize to the affected users; and

2. We are not tech-savy and we need help finding out how this happened. We DON'T want it happening again.

For you sleuths then, here is what we know:

a. First, our website is run and hosted on TypePad, a reputable and easy-to-use blogging platform.

b. The numbers of visitors affected was small. Though on Saturday and Sunday our approximate pageviews exceeded 170,000 there were only 35 to 40 comments/complaints about spyware, pop-up's, redirects, etc. In fact, none of us here could recreate the problem.

c. According to some Digg reader comments, affected users, after visiting the I is Stewpid page, were presented with a misleading popup. It further appears that a few were then directed to (DO NOT VISIT) imunizator.com. One Digg user mentioned as a possible cause "an .swf file from [again DO NOT VISIT] promoplexer.com." A third user said he/she was redirected to [DO NOT VISIT] antispywaredeluxe.com.

d. Shortly after we learned what was reported, we immediately contacted Google AdSense, a TheMishMash.com advertising provider, and requested assistance. We further blocked AdSense from displaying ads from imunizator.com, promoplexer.com and antispywaredeluxe.com. We do not, however, yet know whether any even advertise on AdSense.

e. The problem seemed to affect only visitors coming from Digg.com.

f. To our knowledge we have never approved pop-up advertising, whether through AdSense or otherwise, though we intend on Monday to verify that.

Obviously we have no idea at this point who, if anyone, or what, was to blame. It very well could have been something we did wrong; we just don't yet know.

The long and short of it? To the Digg users who were affected, we are sorry. To those readers with expertise and/or experience in these matters, help. Any suggestions, further information, clues, etc. is appreciated. Please contact us at mail@themishmash.com.

So, (1.) sorry, (2.) help, (3.) thanks in advance and (4.) fu@k spyware!

Dookie McBride
TheMishMash.com

I is Stewpid

2008-04-04T14:35:03Z

stu·pid [stoo-pid, styoo-] –adjective
1. lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.
2. characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless: a stupid question.

Stupidity is of course right up our alley; and, as they say, "It takes one to know one." Hence:

1. Anna, here's a tip: go back and finish the 6th grade.

(Photo by py0tr3).

2. Why?

(Photo by aperrypic).

3. Next to Bewar of Dog.

(Photo by espelina).

4. Monorail? Memorial? Memorail? Regardless, someone's train left the station a long time ago.

(Photo by Stephan Segraves).

5. Seek help.

(Photo by archigeek).

6. We can't spell either but, come on, that sign's been around for more than just a few days.

(Photo by Donna B. Cooper).

7. Spelling phonetically I get but bi-hide? Sounds like something Anne Heche might call her favorite leather jacket.

(Photo by heathercore).

8. Bad customer! Bad customer!

(Photo by juliebee).

9. Out of a garbage can is where I prefer to shop for shellfish.

(Photo by Adam Melancon).

10. So clowes but yet so far.

(Photo by mickaul).