Happy holidays

Nothing says holiday cheer like a Chihuahua with a tiny rifle, so with this card (dated 1895), I wish the best to you and yours for 2007.

Gift from the Sea: "Heirloom whale barf"

Why, I've never read a more gripping tale of ambergris (a.k.a. "petrified whale vomit," "floating gold," or "whale's pearl"). Here's the tale of Dorothy Ferreira, whose 82-year-old sister sent her a green chunk she found on the seashore 50 years ago, with the admonition, "You’re the one who lives by the ocean; ask someone out there what it is."

She did, and discovered that she's got a key (and rare) ingredient of fine perfume, ambergris, which can sell for $10 per gram. Her holiday gift could be worth around $18,000.

And what is ambergris?

Ambergris begins as a waxlike substance secreted in the intestines of some sperm whales, perhaps to protect the whale from the hard, indigestible “beaks” of giant squid it feeds upon. The whales expel the blobs, dark and foul-smelling, to float the ocean. After much seasoning by waves, wind, salt and sun, they may wash up as solid, fragrant chunks.

Because ambergris varies widely in color, shape and texture, identification falls to those who have handled it before, a group that in a post-whaling age is very small. Ms. Ferreira says she has yet to find an ambergris expert.

“A hundred years ago, you would have no problem finding someone who could identify this,” said James G. Mead, curator of marine mammals at the Smithsonian Institution, who said he hears of new ambergris surfacing somewhere in the world maybe once every five or six years. “More often, you have people who think they’ve found it and they can retire, only to find out it’s a big hunk of floor wax.”

Lucky pig?

This unfortunate-looking two-faced pig is an indicator of luck to Thais in Mookdahan Province, according to Thai-Blogs. Villagers sought out the piglet in hopes of learning lucky numbers for the national lottery. Richard Barrow writes that Thais "look for anything auspicious or unusual" to improve their lottery chances:

One was the footprints of a Naga snake on top of a car. People were looking for numbers in the patterns. Another was a pig which had two faces. Today comes another story from the Thai Rath newspaper. A man from Udornthanee bought a betel nut palm to decorate his restaurant. After a short while, he noticed that the leaves of the plant were growing into the shape of the King of the Nagas, a highly respected serpent snake. As soon as the locals heard about this they came flocking to his restaurant to pay respect and also to beg for the winning lottery numbers!

Homosexuality's milky origin revealed!

Soy Toys? Tofoofs? Edamame's Boys?

According to conservative news site WorldNetDaily, soy milk turns boys gay!

James Rutz of Megashift Ministries writes:

Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products.

The Nietsche Family Circus

"The Nietzsche Family Circus pairs a randomized Family Circus cartoon with a randomized Friedrich Nietzsche quote."

File under: "Not my job"

Found on Flickr.