Bio of right-wing LSD evangelist, Al "Cappy" Hubbard (from the book, Acid Dreams).

While re-reading Robert Anton Wilson's Cosmic Trigger, I decided to look on the Web for Kerry Thornley, creator of Discordianism (a joke/not-joke religion that was prominently featured in Wilson and Shea's Illuminatus Trilogy). Turns out, Thornley died a couple of years ago. Here's his obit.

The front page of Gnutella.com has a funny parody.

Fave new blog: Astropimp.

Scanwave is a nifty fun-n-games site from the creator of Schwa (that alien-head art project).

An excellent variation on the "Has anybody seen Mike Hunt?" prank.

Great comic strip about a girl who works in a one-hour photo developing shop. Bee: Shutterbug Follies.

The Lunar Hilton. From a speech delivered in 1967.

My friend David told me about the novel The Toy Collector, about a guy who deals drugs to get money to buy his favorite childhood toys. (You can read an excerpt.) The book refers to a toy called Scrunch 'Em Grow 'Em Dinosaurs. The toy is real, but it was really called Strange Change and was made by Mattel. Here's a page with some pictures of the Strange Change, and here's another with a good description of the toy.

Mondo 2000's founding editor R.U. Sirius and ur-weblogger Justin Hall talk about the early days of cyberculture and the Web.

From The Mainichi Interactive: "The Hyatt Regency Osaka will offer a Hello Kitty and Friends package plan from July 31 through Aug. 31. Satisfaction is guaranteed for those who love Hello Kitty. Benefits of the plan include: accommodation in a "Kitty room," which is decorated with Hello Kitty goods; a complimentary ticket to an event (held near the hotel) related to Hello Kitty; a complimentary set of Kitty merchandise (a stuffed toy Kitty, mini bag, toothbrush and more); and breakfast. The prices are set as follows: 15,500 yen per adult and 10,000 yen per child aged 4 to 12 based on double occupancy, and 13,000 yen per adult and 10,000 yen per child based on triple occupancy. On Saturdays, and Aug. 13, prices increase by 3,000 yen. Prices include service charge but not tax. The hotel will offer up to 22 Kitty rooms a day. There will be Kitty rooms specifically designed for handicapped people. Almost all the hotel's rooms have no floor-level differences. In addition, in the Kitty rooms designed for handicapped people there are features such as specially designed handrails and low washing stands. The hotel does not offer accommodations to children only. For further information and reservations, call (06) 6612-1234."

A new, highly recommended, serialized comic strip by Mack White: "Kid Hico in Diablo Canyon."

Pocket knives made from meteorites for sale.

I wrote this article for Wired called "Revenge of the Know-It-Alls."

Futurist F.M. Esfandiary (akaFM2030), died Saturday of pancreatic cancer. He coined the term "upwinger" (as opposed to right-winger or left-winger). Here's the LA Times obituary.