This is amazing to me on three counts:

• dude built a seriously ridiculous flashlight
• he spent $2k on it
• there’s an internet forum for people who build flashlights

For other reading, check this out.

Generally, on those occasions when I read something from the Bible my reaction is either, “Hmm, hmm . . . sage words,” or, “What kind of crack were these writers smoking and where can I get some?”

But I stumbled across the following yesterday while leafing through an old copy of The Magnificat given me a few years back, and was pretty impressed with the writing.

Whoever Qoheleth was he sure could paint a picture.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the evil days come
And the years approach of which you will say,
“I have no pleasure in them”;

Before the sun is darkened,
And the light, and the moon, and the stars,
While clouds return after the rain;

When the guardians of the house tremble,
And the strong men are bent,
And the grinders are idle because they are few,
And they who look to the windows grow blind;

When the doors to the street are shut,
And the sound of the mill is low;
When one waits for the chirp of a bird,
But all the daughters of song are suppressed;

And one fears heights,
And perils in the street;
When the almond tree blooms,
And the locust grows sluggish
And the caper berry is without effect,
Because man goes to his lasting home,
And mourners go about the streets;

Before the silver cord is snapped
And the golden bowl is broken,
And the pitcher is shattered at the spring,

And the broken pulley falls into the well,
And the dust returns to the earth as it once was,

And the life breath returns to the God who gave it.

“Vanity of vanities,” says Qoheleth,
“All things are vanity!”

– Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

Apparently this is also the origin of the “silvery cord” image adopted by occult literature and popular role-playing games. Who knew?

In this heartwarming tale of towering scientific minds, feeder mice, garbage pails and fruity booze, Princeton University’s Professor Bob Dumper switches his mind with Señor Franco, the mouse, in an attempt to win all the Nobel Prizes. Professor Dumper’s experiment is successful, but once completed he is unable to switch his and Señor Franco’s minds back. Soon Dumper’s IQ plummets while Señor Franco’s rockets to Algernonian proportions. In an ironic twist, Señor Franco goes on to win the first Nobel Prize ever for Quantum Mouse Theory, while the now mentally deficient Dumper takes to driving a garbage route in Ewing, NJ. Animousities ensue when Señor Franco starts sleeping with Dumper’s wife, Penelope Dumper. When Penelope is killed in a game of William Tell, however, Señor Franco and Dumper’s mutual loss brings them together. The two end up taking Dumper’s garbage truck to California on a wine-tasting, whoring romp.