Dogs wearing costumes (link roundup)

Good roundup of photos of dogs wearing costumes.

And a few more links:

1. Sean Salisbury is suing Deadspin for defamation.

2. T-Mobile now has a $79.99 unlimited plan with no annual contract. I can't believe that's considered a good deal. I'm never going to get a smartphone at this rate.

3. Gawker was tricked into running ads that hid malware. The emails sent by the trickster were quite sophisticated. (I believe this happened to the New York Times quite recently as well.)

*Previously: Bumbledog.

*Buy pet costumes at Amazon.

Cucos now on sale (link roundup)

Tenacious Toys now has open box Cucos on sale.

And a few more links:

1. Various entries in Project Rooftop's Wolverine redesign contest have been posted.

2. Good roundup of information about the Los Angeles area teens that burglarized the homes of rich celebrities. (Their story will presumably be made into a movie on Lifetime by the end of the month.)

3. Go here to see the toys in Wave 13 of the DC Universe Classic line.

*Previously: Toronto Crime Stoppers places fake bullet holes on car windows.

*Buy DC Universe Classics toys at eBay.

Toothy knitted bear (link roundup)

Toothy bear by MrFoxyy on sale for $40 at Etsy.

And a few more links:

1. Back when the Los Angeles Times was relevant (2002), one of its reporters made the strange claim that someone had left a fish on her car as a threat. I don't think very many people believed her. But this week, famed Hollywood private Anthony Pellicano pled guilty.

2. Ryu and Sagat from Street Fighter Lego CubeDudes.

3. A positive review of the Motorola Droid. Via.

*Previously: Zangief cosplay.

*Buy Street Fighter action figures at eBay.

Dead Tauntaun with Luke wedding cake (link roundup)

Dead Tauntaun with Luke Skywalker wedding cake by Cake Nouveau for Chris Trevas' wedding. More photos here. Relatedly, Cake Nouveau is hosting a jack-o-lantern design contest.

And a few more links:

1. The mother of a dead baseball player is suing Louisville Slugger because aluminum bats make baseballs go fast. Via.

2. Some Jews (and others) object to autopsies on religious grounds. Medical examiners try to accommodate those concerns by making minimal intrusions when possible. But increasingly, medical examiners can use three-dimensional visualizations to inspect the body without making a single cut. The scans are much cheaper than autopsies, which cost approximately $4,500(!). Via.

3. Photo of the new A-Team (and their van).

*Previously: Plush Tauntaun with frozen Luke Skywalker.

*Buy Tauntauns at eBay.

Lego Engagement Proposal Sets (link roundup)

Joe proposed to his girlfriend by arranging a picnic and starting it by giving her specially designed Lego sets. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Eleven paintings by Andy Warhol were stolen from a home in Los Angeles, but the owner decided to pass on claiming $25 million because he didn't want to go through the hassle of the insurance claim?

2. Scientists have figured out how to manipulate the pheromones of fruit flies and make them sexually irresistible - - to the opposite sex, the same sex, and other species.

3. "Fox's Bill O'Reilly has around 3.5 million people watching each night, or about 1% of American adults. That would get you canceled on broadcast television. The three nightly newscasts have about 20 million viewers, not 3.5 million." Via.

*Previously: Warhol vs. Basquiat gallery poster.

*Buy Forbidden LEGO: Build the Models Your Parents Warned You Against! at Amazon.

Split open skull cake (link roundup)

Skull cake via these fine sites.

And a few more links:

1. Man sentenced for stealing a "a centuries-old painting of the Virgin Mary in the hopes of selling it to fund an abortion for the 14-year-old girl he had raped." Via.

2. A USPS worker in Philadelphia stole over 2,000 GameFly Games (GameFly is a video game rental by mail service like Netflix) and apparently traded them in for credit at GameStop (which begs the question of whether anyone at GameStop was curious as to how and why he had so many games to trade in). Via.

3. Shark attacks a subway.

*Previously: Super Mario World as a subway map.

*Buy Start A Cake Business Today at Amazon.

The balloon boy meme

Save Falcon from this Fark thread. And this balloon boy diorama would sell well if available as prints. Meanwhile, CNN is reporting that "criminal charges are expected to be filed against Richard Heene." Via these sites.

*Previously: Draw yourself as a teen meme.

*Buy Up toys at eBay.

Tentacle shower head by Vado (link roundup)

"Sculpture" shower head by Vado. Via these fine sites.

And a few more links:

1. Penny Arcade is hosting a Katamari-themed art contest.

2. Game Informer has a dedicated minisite for its various exclusive stories about the new steampunk video game for the Wii Epic Mickey. They also posted some concept art here. But mostly the site is as user-unfriendly as can be. Indeed, I've seen countless sites that have posted scans from the magazine that are far more enjoyable to look at than the posts at Game Informer. I don't believe it's right to post scans from the magazine, or to link to others who have done so, but Game Informer has really gotten what it deserved in doing such a bad job of getting the content online itself.

3. The AP says:

Shepard Fairey has now been forced to admit that he sued the AP under false pretenses by lying about which AP photograph he used to make the Hope and Progress posters. Mr. Fairey has also now admitted to the AP that he fabricated and attempted to destroy other evidence in an effort to bolster his fair use case and cover up his previous lies and omissions.

Read on. Indeed, Fairey describes his conduct here. Via.

*Previously: Shepard Fairey's profanity-laced response to a report that he had taken action to deter graffiti at his studio.

*Buy Katamari collectibles at eBay.

Minimalist video game designs (link roundup)

Samus and Kirby - - two of the minimalist video game designs posted here. Two of the designs are also on sale on t-shirts here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Funny Fark headline:

Coming soon to a Borders near you, free Wi-Fi. Well, great, that's what we need more of in our bookstores: cheap hippies with laptops drinking coffee and discussing the importance of Keroauc. Goddammit so much.

2. The first generation Taco Bell vinyl toys were so ghastly, I don't know why anyone even bothered mentioning them. The second generation is looking a little better, and the ad campaign directly targets Kidrobot.

3. The FBI made an arrest in the Erin Andrews video case. You can read the complaint here.

*Previously: Kirby/Team Fortress 2 Mashup.

*Buy Metroid toys at eBay.

Like the worst day ever (link roundup)

Or the best, since I'm guessing the guy wins. Tiger and train and snake via these sites. Source unknown.

And a few more links:

1. Impressive: How to use web tools to assemble a magazine from scratch in less than two days. Via these sites.

2. Writing for Esquire, Charles Pierce explains why he really dislikes Tony La Russa. Via.

3. Chris Rock mocks Roman Polanksi's supporters.

*Previously: Alltime 10 worst baseball all-star selections.

*Buy Japanese baseball toys at eBay.

Animated ink drawing (link roundup)

Ink commercial directed by Niko Tziopanos for CCTV. Via these sites. (Heads up, Niko's site resizes your browser.)

And a few more links:

1. California "prison officials have confiscated 4,130 contraband cellphones this year, more than all those seized in the previous three years combined."

2. NASA has almost completely run out of the plutonium it uses to power deep space probes. Via these sites.

3. Short and sweet explanation of the different types of missile defense.

*Previously: Inflatable Guantanomo Bay bouncy prison cell.

*Buy the CIA Catalog Of Clandestine Weapons, Tools, And Gadgets at Amazon.

Minimalist Star Wars poster (link roundup)

Minimalist poster for A New Hope by Gary Clarke, who has various posters on sale here and here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Long, long article in GQ about Spike Jonze. It's mostly a bore, broken up to maximize page views, but interesting sections include the half-truth that he's the heir to the Spiegel Catalog fortune, and a list of some of his media pranks.

2. Here's excerpts from Roman Polanski's victim's testimony. And here's the retired prosecutor saying he lied about an alleged improper communication he had with the trial judge.

3. Tiger versus lion photo.

*Previously: Van Damme is The Lion King.

*Buy Where the Wild Things Are toys at Amazon.

Hello Kitty spaceship (link roundup)

Hello Kitty spaceship made by Metin Seven to illustrate a news article about a Japanese spaceship docking with the ISS space station. Metin has some great toys on sale here, including a radioactive sheep lamp.

And a few more links:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West was arrested while driving a motorcycle. He had a pistol in his waistband, another pistol strapped to his leg, and a shotgun in a guitar case slung over his back.

2. Man walking the plank bachelor cake. See also: Gallery of heinous pirate cakes.

3. A sign the economy's improved at least a little - - four months ago, I applied for a Chase Visa card and was rejected despite excellent credit. Today I received unsolicited mail telling me I'm preapproved for the card.

*Previously: Hello Kitty desktop icons.

*Buy vintage spaceships at eBay.

Magic bicycle (link roundup)

Magic bicycle by Olli Erkkila. Via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. A surgical technician was convicted of firing a gun into an occupied car, but returned to work at Harbor-UCLA hospital in Los Angeles days after being released from jail. He was also previously suspended after threatening a doctor.

2. White supremacists are angry at the NFL for honoring Hispanic Heritage Month and are scheming to disrupt the coach to helmet radio feed?

3. Anyone want to buy KOTOR for the PC cheap? You can buy it for $10 here, and I was recently sent a 25% off coupon. I think it's a single use code, so let me know if you want it.

*Previously: Homemade tank powered by six sets of bicycle pedals.

*Buy KOTOR toys at eBay.

San Mateo County Sheriff Greg Munks and his undersheriff were swept up in Las Vegas prostitution sting

"I believed I was going to a legitimate business," Munks said, reading from a written statement. "It was not."

Read the rest.

Last year, the City of Los Angeles removed more than 27 million square feet of graffiti

Read more here.

Hard-Boiled Fortune Cookie

Found here.

Headline of the Day: Miss America helps cops in sex sting

You know you want to read on

Sean McCabe Illustrations of Phil Spector

From April's Edition of Los Angeles Magazine

Twin Sisters, Both Famous Plagiarists

"Katie Couric's plagiarizing producer has an identical twin sister - with an identical poaching problem, The Post has learned."