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They looked as if they were posing, like when a dad picks up a camera and says: OK, I’m going to make a picture. The lamb and the pig were especially brushed up, like perfect little models of what a lamb and a piglet might be, with their own almost self-conscious sense of being alert to the fact they were being photographed. The scratchy, dark bits of hedge in the foreground added a slightly bleak frame to it all. So I just leaned over the wall and took three shots. This is the third.

More about this photo at Jem Southam’s best shot.

Lovely exhibit of origami on clear sheets, to reveal skeletons, by Takayuki Hori. More, and explanation.

Klaus Flugge: ‘I am immensely proud to be the recipient and owner of almost 100 envelopes from talented artists such as David McKee, Satoshi Kitamura, Tony Ross and others.

‘David McKee came across a book of illustrated envelopes entitled Letters to Georgio by the well known French artist Jean-Michel Folon which inspired him to start the collection. His first few envelopes were displayed in my office, and influenced other artists working for Andersen Press to do the same.’ —A publisher’s postbag – in pictures

And then there’s this:

ABC in Australia took aerial photos from before and after the tsunami, and arranged them so you can move your mouse across the before image to reveal the damage—and, heartbreakingly, move it back again, an option available only online.

I have seen this picture a few times and always enjoyed it, but I finally got to Frank Chimero’s article musing on what this scene represents. Recommended.

Hairless clean
ShedAway Pet vacuum attachment

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Like the full-sized Telenoid robot, the Elfoid handset is designed to add an element of realism to long-distance communication by recreating the physical presence of a remote user.

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So, there it is. That’s what it looks like.

That, and, maybe, the Salem witch trials.

Many more at Inside insides.

The Atlantic, a old media publication that has been embracing the Web with stunning effect, has been assembling an incredible team of voices for its site, and it wisely snapped Taylor up this year.

Now Taylor’s new home is live. I think you’re going to want to follow it.

In Focus with Alan Taylor [web]
In Focus with Alan Taylor [Twitter]

And what’s not to love? There’s something intrinsically happy about a chicken. The name: a little hiccup in the mouth. The shape: a jaunty upswing of feathers, a grin. The ceaseless bobbing, scratching, pecking. It’s nearly impossible to feel melancholy in the company of chickens. They are a balm for the weary urban soul….

Imagine our dismay last June, then, when Gertrude, a Rhode Island Red and our prize layer, was stolen.

Chicken Vanishes, Heartbreak Ensues

My Staircase is a shelving unit that combines a bookshelf with a pullout stair system in the bottom three shelves. The shelving unit is 2.6 meters high and the top shelves are accessible by using the bottom shelves as steps for accessing the higher shelves. —Danny Kuo

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See it larger at the exhibition site

Dutch photographer Gerco de Ruijter has taken a series of photographs of tree nurseries and grid forests in the Netherlands using a camera mounted on a fishing rod. They are both hard to recognize and unlike aerial photographs. I like this one, but most of them have a very different sense, exploiting the wide angle of the lens and shadows thrown by the trees.

“On top of this rod is a 2.5″ x 2.5″ camera with a wide-angle lens. A self-timer is adjusted to give me enough time to telescope the rod and manoeuver the camera above the subject. The frame of the image begins in front of my own shoes and measures roughly 30′ x 30′.”

More about these photos and an exhibit of them

A Cooper’s hawk flew into the Library of Congress last week. In a series of blog posts, the LoC recounts the efforts to identify this bird and form a plan to retrieve her and help her out of the building. She has since stolen bait food that was intended to lure her into a trap (for relocation), and I wonder if she’s planning to settle in. After all, it’s a pretty nice gig – weather protection, some gorgeous clear sight lines I’m guessing, and free delivery.

Watching Our Researchers Like a Hawk
And Watch a Hawk Makin’ Lazy Circles in the Dome
Time for Another Hawk Update

Update: She “finally got evicted”.

Hello! Super cute! Visit Anneka Tran’s Flickr stream for more!

Also available in a beautiful wooden box with handle as a 6-pack, with a set of long matches. Oscar Perez has a variety of gifts for the hard-to-shop-for on your list.

From the always charming Christoph Niemann.

Throughout 2010, the folks at Parasite of the Day have been exploring those hardy stowaways of the animal kindgdom. Now they are counting down the 12 Parasites of Christmas. Each entry offers the opportunity to vote—interesting, cool, funny, or yuck!

Shown, that quintessentially holiday parasite—and subject of December 17th’s Parasite of the Day—mistletoe, in a vintage postcard collected by Cheryl Hicks.