Category: goodies

Pet rocks

November 25, 2016 • 2:30 pm

Because about 40% of my Facebook feed consists of complaints about Donald Trump, and because I can’t brain today, I’m proffering cats as a palliative.

Italian artist Roberto Rizzo Pittore specializes in painting animals on rocks; what’s amazing is the lifelike job he does. Here’s a video, along with a picture of the animal he’s painting.

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Surprisingly, these thing are not nearly as pricey as I thought: they go for around $100 at Pittore’s Etsy shop. It’s a nice gift for an animal lover. He does foxes, ducks, and other stuff, too.

h/t: Debby

Kelly Houle’s Darwin cards available again

November 22, 2016 • 3:45 pm

I’ve sent out tons of Kelly Houle’s fantastic Darwin greeting cards, and was disappointed to learn that they were out of stock and that no more were available. Here’s what they look like: they are gorgeous, with Darwin’s famous “I think” phylogeny, and the memorable phrase from the final paragraph of The Origin—all in heavy raised gold ink. The plastic box with a gold band comes with matching heavy envelopes and a gold sticker to seal each one. (The cards are blank inside so you can write your own Darwinian message.)

Click image to enlarge:

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After I hectored Kelly about this for a while, she finally contacted the printer and found out that the price has gone up, but they’ll print a run if she can get 10 boxes or more pre-ordered.  You can order them at this link on eBay at Kelly’s site for $45 a box of 8 with envelopes and gold seals, along with $5 shipping,  An extra: if you order one or more boxes before midnight GMT on Sunday, 11/27, you will be entered into a drawing for one of Kelly’s original paintings.

Kelly didn’t ask me to put up this post, but I think evolution people should have a chance to get these unique cards. They make an extra-special greeting to the naturalists and evolution lovers in your life. And they’re a gazillion times better than the ordinary card you’d pay $5 for in a store.