Rethink styrofoam cups

I'm not very artistically minded, but I have a great respect for people who can look at an everyday object and see a canvas.

Check out more of Cheeming Boey's exquisite work in this medium here, or his website here.

Probably much more funny for musicians...

This piece of music is just marvelous. Keep an eye out for details like the tempo suggestion "rigatoni," and the opening dynamics indication "msf," meaning mezzo-sforzando, or "somewhat very very loud."

Full view here.

Rethink Africa

Take a look at Binyavanga Wainaina's excellent piece How To Write About Africa for a snarky take on our stereotypes of the continent and its people.

Here's a taste of how Wainaina tackles the general Western failure to conceptualize Africa with an understanding of its complexity, and the nuance it deserves.

"In your text, treat Africa as if it were one country. It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates. Don't get bogged down with precise descriptions. Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book."

Rethink your bad spelling habits

Print out this handy guide for reference, and stop making dumb mistakes.

I want to be a tough mudder

Forget getting a PhD in political science; this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to be this guy:

Or this guy:

Check out this great series of photos from the Tough Guy Challenge 2010 in England here at boston.com. The American equivalent is the Tough Mudder competition, website here.