It's the Pits....

It's always nice when you don't have to spend extra money on hobbies. From Inhabitat.com comes this suggestion:

How To Grow An Avocado Tree From An Avocado Pit

The big caveat is that like many other fruit trees, avocados grown from seed don't necessarily turn out like their parent, and it can take 3 to 15 years to find this out.

For Musical Masochists...

Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was born on June 2, 1740.  In honor of his birthday, I present you with the two most painful pieces of music I have ever heard:

There are many, many recordings of Steve Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood, and I could have tortured you for hours with all of them.  They do sound pretty similar, though, leaving you with the question, is the ringing in your ears meant to be part of the music? What makes this video particularly excruciating is eliminating the human element, just seeing the pure geometry of the passing notes.

John Cage's Fontana Mix is quite a different beast.  He did not notate it in a traditional manner, so different performers can have radically different realizations.  What makes Max Neuhaus's interpretation so ear curdling is that his primary "instrument" was a speaker and microphone, which he manipulated the feedback between.

Flea Be Gone

The weather is getting warmer, so that means nasty buggies are coming out.  Plenty of ways are available to poison them, but you have to be careful they don't poison you or your pets -- even if they are natural.

O Frabjous Day!

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

      And the mome raths outgrabe.

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

How a Carpenter Says I Love You

There are many ways to express your love: words, touches, gifts.  A gift you make yourself that is exactly what the person needs is an extra special way, and when it is made by the hands of a master carpenter, it becomes a work of art:

Terms and Conditions Apply....

Be Wild

How to Make Christmas Pudding

Getting ready for the holidays can be very stressful.  High on that list is making special dishes.  Here is a very easy-to-follow recipe for making Christmas pudding.  I think you'll find your stress levels will go down just watching it.