Karastan’s new Bellingham Collection delivers the warmth and durability of eco-friendly wool in a diverse selection of transitional and traditional styles.

Karndean Design flooring has expanded its premium Art Select Woods collection by adding eleven new skillfully-crafted designs that replicate the beauty of natural timber.

From ancient royalty to modern fashion, pearls have held sway as the most desired and elegant adornment. Their classic beauty was the primary influence of the String of Pearls Collection. 

Crossville puts its own twist on the traditional appeal of wood with the Wood Impressions Collection, which combines the look of wood with the superior durability of porcelain stone tile. 

The Reclaimé Collection’s new line extensions offer the visual and charm of a floor constructed from reclaimed, vintage wood in a laminate flooring construction, according to Quick-Step.

One of 4,000 "The Far Side" panels Gary Larson drew over 14 years. The full collection is now out in paperback.; Credit: Gary Larson

Off-Ramp animation expert Charles Solomon reviews "The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994" by Gary Larson.

It’s hard to believe the last panel of Gary Larson’s wildly popular comic strip “The Far Side” ran 20 years ago: January 1, 1995. The comics page of the LA Times (and many other papers) still feels empty without it.

RELATED: Charles Solomon interviews artists responsible for look of "Big Hero 6"

During its 14-year run, "The Far Side" brought a new style of humor to newspaper comics that was weird, outré and hilarious. The strip became an international phenomenon, appearing in over 1,900 newspapers worldwide. Larson won both the National Cartoonists' Society Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year and the Best Syndicated Panel Award. An exhibit of original artwork from the strip broke attendance records at natural history museums in San Francisco, Denver and here in L.A. Fans bought tens of millions of "Far Side" books and calendars.

Much of the humor in “The Far Side” derived from Larson's seemingly effortless juxtaposition of the mundane and bizarre. When a bug-housewife declares "I'm leaving you, Charles...and I'm taking the grubs with me," it's the utter normalcy of the scene that makes it so funny. Mrs. Bug wears cats eye glasses, while Mr. Bug reads his newspaper in an easy chair with a doily on the back.

Or, a mummy sits an office waiting room reading a magazine while a secretary says into the intercom, “Mr. Bailey? There’s a gentlemen here who claims an ancestor of your once defiled his crypt, and now you’re the last remaining Bailey and … oh, something about a curse. Should I send him in?”

"The Complete Far Side" contains every strip ever syndicated: more than 4,000 panels. It should probably come with a warning label, "Caution: reading this book may result in hyperventilation from uncontrollable laughter." Except for a few references to Leona Helmsley or other now-forgotten figures, Larson’s humor remains as offbeat and funny as it was when the strips were first printed.

Andrews and McMeel initially released this collection in 2003 in two hardbound volumes that weighed close to 10 pounds apiece. You needed a sturdy table to read them. The three volumes in the paperback re-issue weigh in around three pounds and can be held comfortably in the lap for a while.

Because “The Far Side” ended two decades ago, many people under 30 don’t know it. The reprinted collection offers geezers (35 or older) a chance to give a present that should delight to that impossible-to-shop-for son, daughter, niece or nephew. How often does an older adult get a chance to appear cool at Christmas or Hanuka? 

And if that ingrate kid doesn’t appreciate it, "The Complete Far Side" also makes an excellent self-indulgence.

Charles Solomon lends his animatio expertise to Off-Ramp and Filmweek on Airtalk, and has just been awarded the Annie's (The International Animated Film Society) June Foray Award, "for his significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation." Congratulations, Charles!

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

In preparation for cookie season, the late-night bakery is offering Insomniacs warm, indulgent flavors.

Lululemon and Disney have launched a 34-piece limited-edition collection blending Disney nostalgia with Lululemon's performance and casual styles. The 'Happily Ever Active' campaign celebrates movement with ambassadors like NBA's Jordan Clarkson and Olympian Colleen Quigley. The collection is available online and in stores worldwide, featuring items like Align Tights and the Define Jacket.

H&M is partnering with Glenn Martens for an Autumn 2025 collection. Known for merging streetwear and couture, Martens joins a line of iconic designers H&M has collaborated with since 2004, when it launched its first designer collection with Karl Lagerfeld. This initiative has made top-tier fashion accessible, reflecting each designer’s unique vision and values across two decades of partnerships.

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"Drowned Town is about the ebb-and-flow of water, rivers, lives, time, and stories. My playlist reflects that back and forth in eras, genres, and moods."

As a growing population financed more costly purchases, total debt rose. But income rose even faster in recent quarters. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. Total household debt outstanding ticked up by $71 billion in Q3, or by 0.57%, from Q2, to $17.9 trillion, according to the Household Debt and…

Retired banker, M Purushothaman has an extensive collection of vinyls and amplifiers, all in perfect working condition

1. 'Singham Again' box office collection day 13: The Ajay Devgn starrer makes Rs 3.15 crore on second wednes  TOI Etimes
2. 'Singham Again' becomes Ajay Devgn’s biggest hit in North America as it crosses Rs 35 crore mark  TOI Etimes
3. Singham Again box office collection: Ajay Devgn film zooms past 200 crore in India, set to cross 300 crore worldwide  Hindustan Times
4. This Bollywood Filmmaker Has 10 Films In Rs 100 Cr Club, And No He's NOT Karan Johar Or Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Guess Who?  Zee News
5. Singham Again Leaves Behind This Movie To Become 2nd Highest-Grossing Bollywood Film In 2024  News18

Global collection of Amaran in the first 11 days was ₹248 crore, which was far less than the Vijay starrer The GOAT that had a whopping collection of ₹397 crore but ahead of Rajinikanth’s Vettaiyan at ₹225 crore, according to data

This week Singapore Post Limited  begins a pilot designed to study the benefits of utilising MRT trains to collect postal items in terms of operational cost efficiencies and carbon emission savings. 

1. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 Box Office Collection Day 12: Kartik Aaryan Delivers 402% More Than His Entire Paycheck For The Horror-Comedy!  Koimoi
2. Bhushan Kumar reveals favouritism behind Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Singham Again Diwali clash: 'I even met Aj  TOI Etimes
3. Hindi video: Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 Ami Je Tomar 3.0 full video goes viral; who won dance dare, Madhuri Dixit or Vidya Balan?  Mint
4. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 vs Singham Again box office collection day 12: Kartik Aaryan-led horror comedy, Ajay Devgn's film in neck-and-neck fight ahead of Kanguva release  Business Today
5. Kartik Aaryan smashes records with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, becomes youngest actor to join crore 200 club  Hindustan Times

It's time for more Irem. Approximately one year after the launch of the first volume, publisher ININ and developers Tozai Games & Ratalaika Games have produced Irem Collection Volume 2, the second installment of a five-part anthology. Like the last one, this collection includes three Irem arcade games from yesteryear. In this instance, the games are the vertically-scrolling shoot-'em-up Air Duel, the side-scrolling run-and-gun game GunForce, and its direct sequel GunForce II. And just like the coin-op games from the first volume, these titles arrive with a few bells and whistles, although fewer than you'd like.

The first game on offer is Air Duel, a middle-of-the-pack shoot-'em-up from 1990. For the most part the game is hopelessly generic, but it does benefit from a couple of interesting ideas. The first is that it allows players to change their aircraft at the start of each level; you can choose between a forward-firing jet fighter or a helicopter that turns and fires at an angle. The second is the bomb, which extends outward in several horizontal blasts that can actually be directed left, right, and center by the player. Even with these wrinkles, though, the game fails to leave a strong impression. The scoring system is rudimentary, the backgrounds are mostly boring, and the action is rather basic.

Things improve with GunForce, also known by the amazingly bonkers subtitle Battle Fire Engulfed Terror Island. A precursor of sorts to Metal Slug, GunForce is a bit rough around the edges but undeniably fun to play. The action is fast-moving, there are many different weapon types to collect, and, best of all, almost every stage has an assortment of vehicles and turrets to occupy. At various points, you can jump inside a cable car, a raft, a helicopter, a jeep, a mech, you name it. In the fourth stage, you actually start inside a tank. The game suffers from a couple of nagging problems, including a floaty jump and not enough enemy diversity, but overall it's a competent shooter.

Its sequel, GunForce II, is much more than competent. In fact, it's downright great. Developed by the team that would eventually leave Irem and form Nazca, the studio responsible for Metal Slug, it's a high-octane run-and-gun game with explosive action, spectacular boss fights, and lots of exciting vehicle sections. Everything from the premier GunForce has been dialed up to 11. The graphics are more vibrant and detailed; the explosions more fiery; the bosses far more unusual, dynamic, and dangerous; and the set-pieces more inspired. At one point, you'll scream down train tracks on a motorcycle while a mechanical centipede gives chase; at another point, in the beginning of the final stage, you'll pilot a hovercraft above the clouds and shoot down enemy missiles. The only downside: significant slowdown at times, when there are simply too many bullets, explosions, and bad guys on screen.

In addition to the three main games, all of which support two player local co-op, Irem Collection Volume 2 includes the SNES and Super Famicom ports of GunForce. While it's always nice to have extra games, the home console versions in this instance are inferior, due to frame rate issues and downgraded graphics & animations.

Unfortunately, the developers didn't go the extra mile to remove the slowdown, either from GunForce II or from the SNES/Super Famicom version of GunForce. Nor did they include any instruction manuals or bonus materials, although that was to be expected based on Volume 1.

This volume would have benefited particularly from some bonus content on Nazca, which seems to be the common denominator connecting all three games. Although it's difficult to tell due to the use of pseudonyms at the time, it's generally accepted that the team that would one day develop Metal Slug started its career within Irem with Air Duel and finished with GunForce II. Profiles of the developers and/or interviews with the people involved would certainly enhance this collection and help explain the theme.

While there's no bonus content to speak of, there are multiple quality-of-life features, including rewind, cheats, save states, control mapping, and auto-fire, plus plenty of display, shader, and wallpaper options. There are also online leaderboards for each game, as long as you play in "classic" mode.

Irem Collection Volume 2 is very much like the first volume — an uneven collection of old-school coin-op shooters ideal for collectors and arcade enthusiasts. The games here are arguably better overall than those in Volume 1, mostly due to the greatness of GunForce II, but they've received fewer upgrades. Hopefully future installments will include more refinements, more bonus content, and more ways to appreciate and celebrate each game. 

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463017/irem-collection-volume-2-ns/

Egypt's Golden Empire: In 1570 B.C., when Rome was still a marsh and the Acropolis was an empty rock, Egypt was already 1000 years old. Although the period of the pyramid-builders was long over, Egypt lay on the threshold of its greatest age. The New Kingdom would be an empire forged by conquest, maintained by intimidation and diplomacy, and remembered long after its demise. Led by a dynasty of rich personalities, whose dramatic lives changed the course of civilization, Egypt's Golden Empire presents the most extraordinary period in Egyptian history: from 1570 B.C. to 1070 B.C., when the Egyptian Empire reached its zenith. -- The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance - From a small Italian community in 15th century Florence, the Medici family would rise to rule Europe in many ways. Using charm, patronage, skill, duplicity and ruthlessness, they would amass unparalleled wealth and unprecedented power. They would also ignite the most important cultural and artistic revolution in Western history- the European Renaissance. But the forces of change the Medici helped unleash would one day topple their ordered world. An epic drama played out in the courts, cathedrals and palaces of Europe, this series is both the tale of one family's powerful ambition and of Europe's tortured struggle to emerge from the ravages of the Dark Ages. -- Japan: Memoirs Of A Secret Empire - Commanding shoguns and samurai warriors, exotic geisha and exquisite artisans -- all were part of the Japanese "renaissance" -- a period between the 16th and 19th centuries when Japan went from chaos and violence to a land of ritual refinement and peace. But stability came at a price: for nearly 250 years, Japan was a land closed to the Western world, ruled by the Shogun under his absolute power and control. Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire brings to life the unknown story of a mysterious empire, its relationship to the West, and the forging of a nation that would emerge as one of the most important countries in the world. -- The Roman Empire in the First Century: Two thousand years ago, at the dawn of the first century, the ancient world was ruled by Rome. Through the experiences, memories and writings of the people who lived it, this series tells the story of that time - the emperors and slaves, poets and plebeians, who wrested order from chaos, built the most cosmopolitan society the world had ever seen and shaped the Roman empire in the first century A.D. -- The Greeks: Crucible [melting pot] of Civilization - The Greeks - Classical Greece of the 4th and 5th centuries, B.C. was a magnificent civilization that laid the foundations for modern science, politics, warfare, and philosophy, and produced some of the most breathtaking art and architecture the world has ever known. Through the eyes and words of the great heroes of ancient Greece, this dazzling production charts the rise, triumph, and eventual decline of the world's first democracy. Now, through dramatic storytelling and state-of-the-art computer animation, you witness history, art, and government with giants like Pericles, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

Over 25000 people are now receiving Monitor (ISSN 1472-0221), the free newsletter for PC-based data collection.

Six games that can be played straight from the box. Each game is self-contained and stored in easy to use plastic cases so that they are ideal for quick and convenient game play and for travel.

Grief Can Be Difficult To Go Through But You Don't Have To Be Alone

A Journey Of Self Discovery Told In Verse.

How Beautiful Can This World Become When Snow Starts To Fall

ChessBase, the world leading chess software company, announces the auction of a unique collection of currently 14 artworks with the chess world champions. Each champion's artwork is a unique 1080 x 1080 px GIF showing the notation of one of his most famous games, a ray traced 3D rendering of the key position and a photo of the champion from his active time. These are all authorized by the champion himself or his family resp. descendants.

In the online auction The Beauty of Space - Iconic Photographs of Early NASA Missions, which ends on 27 September 2023, the Austrian auction house Dorotheum offers around 200 historic photographs of the US space agency NASA, dating from the beginning of manned spaceflight in the early 1960s to the mid-1970s.

Life Is Something We All Go Through And Humanity Is Something We All Have.

We Can Look To Nature To See Similarities To Humanity.

Recommended

The Alice Howell Collection:

From where we are now, it's weird to think of these silent comedies as being filmed and released 25 to 35 years after the advent of motion pictures. I mean, with the first true examples of 'film' coming from the mid-1880s, you'd think that by 1914 a picture like Shot in the Excitement, featuring early film comedienne Alice Howell, would look more sophisticated. Aah, but those were the olden days, when horse-drawn carriages still regularly shared the road with motor cars.

This 2-disc collection of silent motion picture comedies, curated by Steve Massa and Ben Model, features Alice Howell, one of the earliest and well-renowned stars of slapstick comedies, who was active from 1914 to 1926 or so. The titles included here on disc one are the aforementioned Shot in the Excitement (1914, 14 minutes), Father was a Loafer (1915, 13 minutes), Unde...Read the entire review

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The Show:

As my two-year old goes from infant to toddler and is more of a sponge soaking up data and information I try to keep his media above board with things on education, and having Sesame Street as your driver in the club bag is a clutch one I have to say. He can watch Elmo, or Kermit or Bert and Ernie with content while I get his meals ready, and he gets the chance to learn something in the process. So yeah, damn right I grabbed Awesome Alphabet Collection as a surrogate parent!

The disc is less a series of show episodes and more focused on segments, all of which surround a particular letter of the alphabet, that the Sesame Street puppets and humans talk through in a means of education and illustration. Occasionally a celebrity will pop by, whether its singers like Norah Jones, Pharrell Williams or Smokey Robinson, or actors like Ricky Gervais (Read the entire review

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Gather round, kiddos, for this review of The Brady-est Brady Bunch TV & Movie Collection will, as never before, attempt to make sense of this unkillable piece of pop culture iconography. Your humble reviewer was in the thick of things when The Brady Bunch, the 1969-74 family sitcom, staked its claim onto the American consciousness, and can offer a bit perspective those generations, just before and since, can't quite reconcile.

But before we do that, let's first point out that this compact if unruly boxed DVD set, with a total running time of around 75 hours (!) of material includes with one notable exception just about everything Brady-related one might possibly ever want: the original series; The Brady Kids animated spin-off; The Brady Girls Get Married TV movie and its short-lived sitcom follow-up, The Brady Brides; A Very Brady Christmas, a later TV ...Read the entire review

In the first of this new series, amateur radio stations from around the world that have worked ZL2ADN Palmerston North, New Zealand, are featured...

Art of Amateur Radio Japan : A selection of amateur QSLs from the Quartz Hill Collection...

The Digital Collections Cataloger and Archivist creates and reviews metadata for collections in the Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library and helps to train and support others assisting with the cataloging. They also work with newly acquired physical archival collections to prepare them for storage, preservation, and presentation on the web and in other media. https://tinyurl.com/y3h2v68h | … Continue reading "Digital Collections Cataloger and Archivist at Dickinson State University"

Whether shopping for friends, family, or colleagues, this fun-sized book is sure to spark conversation and bring some unexpected humor to the holiday season. Words like "moist," "load," and "soil" have a way of making people squirm, chuckle, or even cringe. In his latest release, "The Book of Those Words," author and branding expert Russ Napolitano delves into the humor and [PR.com]

Featuring visionary style themes for 2025. [PR.com]

Regal and refined, a traditional size chair that looks like a throne. [PR.com]

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January 16, 2006 - In 2004, Congress passed the American Jobs Creation Act. As innocuous as the title sounds, it contained a provision allowing the IRS to outsource collection efforts to private contractors. But both the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) are questioning the wisdom of this; saying that the move may jeopardize personal privacy and lead to cases of fraud and identity theft.

Shemalatha Sundar, a school teacher in the city, sources the plants from across the country