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Mark Frauenfelder

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

Mean Monkey Monday 12

Emmanuel Frémiet (1824 - 1910) “Gorilla Carrying off a Woman” (1887) (Via Suddenly)

Where are the other Mean Monkey Monday posts? Here!

LAX TSA officer shames my 15-year-old daughter for her outfit

This morning, a TSA officer at LAX humiliated and shamed my 15-year-old daughter. She is traveling with a group of high school students on a college tour and we were not with her when he verbally abused her.

Here's what happened, as my daughter described it in text messages to us: she was at the station where the TSA checks IDs. She said the officer was "glaring" at her and mumbling. She said, "Excuse me?" and he said, "You're only 15, COVER YOURSELF!" in a hostile tone. She said she was shaken up by his abusive manner.

I'm including the above photo of the outfit my daughter was wearing when the TSA officer shamed her. It doesn't matter what she was wearing, though, because it's none of his business to tell girls what they should or should not wear. His creepy thoughts are his own problem, and he shouldn't use his position of authority as an excuse to humiliate a girl and blame her for his sick attitude.

Our friend, Maureen Herman, dropped by our house today and we told her what happened. Maureen is the bass player for Babes in Toyland, the executive Director of Project Noise, and a co-founder of A is For, a women's rights advocacy group. She wrote the following response on Facebook, and it neatly sums up why this TSA officer's behavior is very wrong:

Absolutely inappropriate, harassing, aggressive, creepy, unprofessional, and Taliban-y thing that he did. "Cover up" is a dangerous cultural attitude that fuels more than rude comments. It's the foundation of the oppression of women, rape culture ("she was asking for it"), and the drive for reproductive control of women's bodies.

Hillary Clinton puts it well:

"Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. But they all seem to. It doesn't matter what country they're in or what religion they claim. They want to control women. They want to control how we dress, they want to control how we act, they even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and bodies.

Yes, it is hard to believe but even here at home we have to stand up for women's rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one of us because America needs to set an example for the entire world."

Well said, Maureen and Hillary.

My wife and I met with the TSA at LAX and they are opening an investigation. The supervising officer we met with, Officer Murphy, was apologetic, concerned, and professional. He cc'd me on his incident report to his manager and it looks like they are taking this seriously, which is good to know.

I'll keep you posted.

UPDATE: Maureen wrote an excellent post about this on the A is For blog.

Giant women on trailer in Shinjuku

While I'm waiting here at Narita airport for my flight home, I thought I'd share this photo I took last night in Shinjuku. I don't know what it is, but I approve. UPDATE: @llessur says: "Those are ads for a place in which women in giant robot suits battle one another. Pretty much what it looks like."

Cross stitch recreation of a page from the Walking Dead comic book

Walking Dead artist Tony Moore says: "Knowing how long it took me to draw this damn thing in pen and ink, I'm particularly honored and impressed by this painstaking Walking Dead cross-stitch!"

ion: A page from The Walking Dead incredibly recreated in cross-stitch

Good Dog - graphic novel about the life of a stray dog (excerpt)

Here's a preview of Good Dog, Graham Chaffee's beautifully told and illustrated story of a stray dog's life.

Graham Chaffee returns to comics and uses a simple, charming story about a stray dog to examine larger issues.

Good Dog marks the welcome return of alternative cartoonist Graham Chaffee, who, after his successful 2003 collection of short stories, The Most Important Thing and other Stories, took a detour to devote himself to the art of tattooing, before charging back with his new, beautifully conceived graphic novel. Ivan, who is plagued by terrible nightmares about chickens and rabbits, is a good dog — if only someone would notice. Readers accompany the stray as he navigates dog society, weathers pack politics, and surveys canine-human interactions. Good Dog’s story and pen-and-ink art are deceptively simple, but Chaffee uses the approachability of the subject matter as a device to explore topics such as independence, security, assimilation, loyalty, and violence. Preteen-and-up dog fanciers, especially, will warm to the well-meaning Ivan and his exploits with a motley assortment of Scotties, Bulldogs, and mutts. Chaffee combines illustrative gravitas with cartooning verve and creates a richly textured, dog’s-eye view of the world. The story is a rousing Jack Londonesque adventure as well as a moral parable.

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Apps for Kids 38: Knights & Dragons


Apps for Kids is Boing Boing's podcast about cool smartphone apps for kids and parents. My co-host is my 10-year-old daughter, Jane.

In this episode of Apps for Kids, we talk about Knights & Dragons, which is free in the iTunes store and on Google Play.

If you're an app developer and would like to have Jane and me try one of your apps for possible review, email a redeem code to appsforkids@boingboing.net.

Listen to past episodes of Apps for Kids here.

To get a weekly email to notify you when a new episode of Apps for Kids is up, sign up here.

RSS | iTunes | Download this episode | Stitcher

Made By Dad: 67 Blueprints for Making Cool Stuff - excerpt

Scott Bedford is creative director at an ad agency in London and for the past several years has been writing and illustrating a how-to column of kid-friendly projects for MAKE. His sense of humor and artistic skill appeal to me, so I was excited to find out that he's got a new book out: Made By Dad: 67 Blueprints for Making Cool Stuff.

Here's a few of the projects in Made by Dad: Martian Door Decal, Earthquake Coat Hook, 1-Ton Lampshade, Cat-Trap Birdfeeder, Table Leg Moon Mine, Snappy Toast Rack, Titanic Bookshelf Art, Slingshot Car Launcher, Marvelous Marble Bouncer, Teddy Through the Center of the Earth, Snail Soup Decoy, and Surveillance Camera Stash. How can you go wrong with a list like that?

Below, complete instructions for making a Godzilla Skyline.

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Game of Drones - video show about drone fighting

"Hi, and welcome to Game of Drones, the new show where we design, build, and fight unmanned aerial vehicles." A fun show with a lot of good info for budding drone enthusiasts.

Vintage plaster and chalk nude statuettes

Deanna of Kitsch-Slapped takes us on a tour of vintage plaster and chalk nude statuettes.

[Some] vintage plaster or chalkware figurines have little fabric skirts or loincloths, which may come on as modest cover-up... Surprise, these vintage pieces show the genitalia! Aren’t you just dying to flip the grass skirt made of string aside on this vintage piece by what appears to be Ferguson Studios?

Mark's Bullseye picks: Good Dog and Super Durak

In the latest episode of Bullseye with Jesse Thorn I talked about the graphic novel Good Dog and the iPhone version of the Russian card game Durak, called Super Durak. (Durak means idiot in Russian. There's no winner in the card game, just a loser - the durak.)

Short documentary about cartoonist Charles Addams

This 12-minute documentary about Charles Addams reveals that he had a lifelong fascination with decrepit mansions and cemeteries. Who knew! (Via Jim Gurney)

A User's Guide to Neglectful Parenting, by Guy Delisle

A User's Guide to Neglectful Parenting is a funny and truthful book about being a parent, and as a bonus, it's told in cartoons. Guy Delisle, a French Canadian cartoonist and animator, is best known for his award-winning graphic travelogues about Jerusalem, Pyongyang, Burma, and Shenzen.

This book is closer to home -- it contains 190 pages worth of light-hearted stories about his relationship with his adorable, smart kids. To give you a taste, our friends at Drawn & Quarterly gave me one of the stories to share with you. It's about Delisle, his daughter, and a box of Shredded Wheat. Enjoy!

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John Muir Trail Adventure Journal: Day One

Boing Boing reader Tom Fassbender says: "On June 10, 2012 (one year ago) I embarked on a 13-day solo hike of the 212-mile John Muir Trail. My memories of those days are still very vivid. To commemorate, I'm posting my trail journal, one day at a time, with photos, warts and all."

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My week with the 2013 Toyota RAV4 EV

SPONSORED: This post is presented by the Toyota RAV4 EV. Because innovation can be measured in miles, kilowatts and cubic feet. Learn more at toyota.com/rav4ev.

Last week our sponsor Toyota delivered a 2013 Toyota RAV4 EV to my house so I could drive it for a week. As soon as the friendly fellow who dropped it off went away, I jumped in and drove it around town. The first thing I noticed was how, in many ways, the 5-passenger RAV4 EV felt like a traditional gasoline-powered car. And that's a good thing.

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The Official Sophie Madeleine Ukulele Tab Book

Sophie Madeleine says:

"I'm very pleased to announce that you can now pre-order my Official Limited Edition Ukulele Tab Book. This is the first edition, limited to only 200 copies. Each one is numbered and signed by Sophie.

The front of the book is full tablature, chord boxes, lyrics, and melody notation. Then turn the book over and upside-down and there's a "Quick Chord Book" in the back - with lyrics and chord boxes for those who want a quick reference sheet. Take A Look!

Featuring 10 songs from Sophie's first two albums (all of the songs that feature the ukulele!)

I wrote it all by myself, and it took me a very long time indeed. I sincerely hope you like it!

More Sophie Madeleine music