Funny Bone

An intense stare-down: Bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla kneels down in front of a bull during the last bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain.

Adventure-loving Andy Lewis, 26, slacklines at Fisher Towers playground in Utah's Moab Desert. The spectacular location, with towers ranging from 35 to 800 feet...

Just in time for the film premiere on July 3. The Mwanza Flat Headed Agama lizard bears a striking resemblance to Spider-Man and even captures his crouching pose perfectly, albeit in Kenya rather than the Big Apple. (Let's not tell him Lizard is the villain in the latest flick.)

A young girl squeezes between honor guard soldiers to get a glimpse of the Olympic torch on Saturday in Staffordshire, England.

Just 5,000 ducks out for a stroll. A farmer snarls traffic in China as he herds his huge flock three-quarters of a mile to a pond. With only the help of a colleague and long stick, the man claims he didn't lose one bird on the trip.

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*update* Dec. 01, 2012
The first-ever flying drone competition “In the next few years the idea of drones will dramatically change. You no longer need a PhD... The same functions every Web programmer uses to build apps can now make drones navigate, take pictures, find people, fly through windows, play games, and so on. When the low level control of hardware comes built-in, hobbyists can focus on writing algorithms and routines." "Autonomous Flight, with a Few Lines of Javascript"

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July 4, 2012 U.S. drone 'hijackings' - University of Texas professor and grad students manipulate unmanned crafts' flight paths...even able to make them land

Thousands of drones are destined for US skies. The use of drones is taking off in America. Local governments and private businesses see them as a cheap and effective way of maintaining an eye from the sky.

But will the drones be fully under their control? A college professor and his students say not necessarily.

A civilian drone aircraft was "hijacked" by Professor Todd Humphreys and his graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin. They were able to hack into the drone's GPS signals. Later, in an exercise done in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security at White Sands, N.M., they were even able to make the drone land.  read more »

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Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo released photographs of its newborn giant panda on July 6, showing its mother breastfeeding the tiny cub.

Born to 7-year-old Shin Shin on July 5, the panda--a male--is the first born at the zoo in Taito Ward as a result of natural breeding. “Even though she is a new mother, Shin Shin takes very good care of her cub,” said Yutaka Fukuda, deputy director of the zoo. “I'm sure she will be a good mother.”  read more »

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Waddle we look like when we grow up, Mum? Hilda the hen hatches clutch of ducklings after sitting on wrong nest
They may not look like their mum - or sound like her - but that doesn't seem to bother these fluffy little birds. Hilda the hen nested over the five eggs for a month, apparently unaware that they had been laid by a duck. Farm owner Philip Palmer was also none the wiser as Hilda barely left the duck eggs alone until they hatched after 28 days. And even when tiny Indian runner ducklings emerged instead of fluffy yellow chicks, Hilda wasn't put off and adopted the babies as her own.

Phillip, 45, who runs the Farmer Palmer's children's activity farm near Poole, Dorset, said: 'Hilda doesn't seem bothered at all - the ducklings follow her around just as chicks would. 'It was so surprising but lovely and she has proved to be very capable at raising them. The ducklings aren't aware that their mother is a hen and Hilda is totally unaware that she's actually got a bunch of ducks waddling behind her.

'The ducklings don't leave her side and if they get scared they run for cover under their "mum". It is very sweet to see. The only way they will really notice the difference is when the ducks start swimming in the pond.'

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Photos courtesy of BNPS.co.uk / Mail Online

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing-wax --
Of cabbages -- and kings --
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.

"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,
"Is what we chiefly need;
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed--
Now, if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."

~ Lewis Carroll

from "Poem in Art and Story" Collection 1

Poem in Art and Story
Collection 2

From the publisher -
It is a collection of classic poems. It is a collection of art. Top-talent design blending nature and society, sentiment and beauty... All in all, Poem in Art and Story Collection is about inspiration and mystery. The world and Future will remember poem and art, love and wisdom we all share and pass on...

(Includes poems from and stories of Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Clare, John Keats, Edward Lear, and William Shakespeare.)

Poem in Art and Story
Collection 1

(Includes poems from and stories of John Keats, William Wordsworth, William Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Lord Byron, and William Blake.)