firehose

Welcome to Pull It Together, where the goal is to narrow the massive field of comic book titles to the ones you shouldn’t overlook. It isn’t about what’s on my pull list, it’s about what could be on yours!

Many comics return this week, including Princess Ugg, Sleepy Hollow, and Harley Quinn’s teamup story with Power Girl. But here are the comics you definitely shouldn’t overlook. Each comic in the following gallery is listed with its official teaser summary (in italics) and my own commentary (below that) where applicable.

What are you picking up this week? Let us know in the comments!

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A number of very clever humans have turned to the Swedish furniture IKEA to provide low-cost luxurious beds for their cats. The Duktig Doll Bed, which costs less than $20.00 USD, are the perfect size for most felines and even provides a convenient hole through which to put their adorable tails.

????IKEA??????????????????????? #?? #cat pic.twitter.com/L0UKLZN9Zi

— miki miki (@nekotoningyo) May 31, 2013

images via Rocket News 24

via matome, Rocket News 24

Mr. Sharpton has regularly sidestepped the sorts of obligations most people see as inevitable, like taxes, rent and other bills.

A new study shows that high-achieving women are not meeting the career goals they set for themselves in their 20s. It’s not because they’re “opting out” of the workforce when they have kids, but because they’re allowing their partners’ careers to take precedence over their own.

A new report has found that seven of the country's 30 largest companies by revenue paid out more to their CEOs than they did in corporate taxes in 2013.

The takeaway: knitting needles and ice skates are welcome on board, but not sparklers, nun chucks and fake chain saws.

This is not a practical bike. "Even on smooth pavement, your vision goes blurry because you're vibrating so hard," Collin said to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter back in 2012 when he was only 15 -- and already building wooden bicycles. Collin's wooden bikes are far from the first ones. Wikipedia says, "The first bicycles recorded, known variously as velocipedes, dandy horses, or hobby horses, were constructed from wood, starting in 1817." And not all wooden bicycles made today are as crude as Collin's. A Portland (OR) company called Renovo makes competition-quality hardwood bicycle frames -- for as little as $2200, and a bunch more for a complete bike with all its hardware fitted and ready to roll. Of course, while it might be sensible to buy a Renovo product if you want a wood-framed bike to Race Across America, you won't improve your woodworking skills the way Collin's projects have improved his to the point where he's made a nice-looking pair of wood-framed sunglasses described in his WOOD YOU? SHOULD YOU? blog. (Alternate Video Link)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

mayormadeleinerobin:

bottaslicious:

Finnish language was originally a game where you take a word and then you try to add as much conjugations as possible. The game was born when  the winter was too fucking cold to do anything and people sat around a fire trying to stay warm and not die. Since Finnish winter is 8 months long people eventually got bored, and came up with this game.

firstyoueatthebaklavaa

Apple is not planning to abandon its now-defunct Mesa, Arizona sapphire facility, reports Bloomberg. The company has told city officials that it remains committed to bringing jobs and manufacturing to Mesa, Arizona, following the bankruptcy that caused hundreds of GT Advanced employees to be laid off.

"They've indicated their commitment to us: They want to repurpose that building and use it again," Mesa City Manager Christopher Brady said in a recent interview. Apple has said it's focused "on preserving jobs in Arizona" and promised to "work with state and local officials as we consider our next steps."

Back in October, Apple confirmed in a statement that it would look for other ways to utilize its Mesa, Arizona facility, stating that it "remained committed to the city" and planned to help GT Advanced employees who had been impacted by the bankruptcy to find new jobs.

Apple initially chose Mesa, Arizona as the site for its sapphire facility after city officials agreed to expedite permitting approvals, build out power infrastructure, and cut property taxes. Apple insisted on 100 percent renewable energy for the facility, which required the city to construct a new power substation.

GT Advanced sapphire facility image via Cult of Mac
Mesa also planned to leverage Apple's presence in the city with the creation of a new technology corridor in the area, with several other companies having already expressed interest in being located near Apple.

"Apple could've invested in a facility literally anywhere in the world," said Mesa Mayor John Giles, who is planning to visit Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, to show the city's support. "There's a reason they came here, and none of those reasons have changed."

Apple and GT Advanced reached an agreement to end their partnership back in October, and under the terms of the deal, GT Advanced will wind down operations at the sapphire plant in Arizona before officially closing up shop in December. At the current time, most of the company's employees have already been laid off, while remaining staff cleans and decommissions sapphire furnaces to be sold.

It is unclear how Apple will repurpose the facility, but the company has been working hard to bring more Mac production to the United States. Apple's Mac Pro, released in late 2013, was the first Apple product line to be assembled in the United States as a result of the company's efforts to bring manufacturing jobs back to the country.

Her 57-year-old husband passed away this summer, a victim of cancer. But Maria Raybould says T-Mobile UK wouldn’t stop sending his cellphone bills and late payment alerts to her home. So she visited a local store with his ashes in hand.

The 24-year-old actress who starred in a hidden-camera video that purportedly showed men in Hollywood trying to take advantage of her as she pretended to be drunk says she was hired for a comedic prank that "snowballed" into something more sinister. "I was hired as an actress to play a drunk girl in what was described to me as a light-hearted prank show,” Jennifo Box explained in a videotaped statement posted to YouTube. "Had I known the damaging outcome of this video, I never would have participated." According to the Smoking Gun, the men in the film say they were approached by Stephen Zhang, the video's 20-year-old creator, to be part of a "comedic" student film. After the video was posted, its seemingly creepy male stars complained they had been duped. One informed friends on Facebook that he thought he was doing "a favor for some camera crew," TSG reports. “Guess this is what I get for being agreeable to [someone's] project.”

the issue of Spider-Woman #1 bearing the infamous variant cover arrives tomorrow, and Marvel has made one significant change... they covered her ass with the words "SPIDER-WOMAN"

Residents, with apparently nothing better to do with their time, are conspiring in neighborhood meetings to report traffic, crashes, and other issues on their streets en masse. The idea being that by filing erroneous reports, the Waze algorithm will reroute drivers down another street.

Ms. Landrieu fell one vote short of gathering the 60 needed to advance the legislation. The outcome deprives Ms. Landrieu of an argument she might have used in her increasingly lonely battle against GOP U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, a heavy favorite to oust Ms. Landrieu in her attempt to win a third Senate term.

A second victim also identified Darden as the man who robbed him inside a nearby Bronx subway station just 30 minutes before Kwok’s underground death, police said. According to cops, Darden had at least 30 arrests that stretched from 1999 through his most recent bust for pickpocketing Nov. 9. In 2011, he was arrested for spilling a flammable liquid throughout the Longview, Texas, home of his brother in an attempt to burn the house down, cops said. Darden was suspected of setting an earlier blaze that destroyed another Longview home, police said.

BBC News

Japan falls into recession as consumers 'stop spending' BBC News Japan's economy unexpectedly shrank for the second consecutive quarter, marking a technical recession in the world's third largest economy. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell at annualised 1.6% from July to September, compared with forecasts of a 2.1% ... and more »

The case, which was reportedly previously closed, is being re-opened.

Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard is being investigated for child abuse stemming from an alleged incident that happened during the summer. The investigation was originally closed, according to TMZ, but Cobb County Police re-opened the investigation Tuesday, according to NBC News.

According to the NBC News report, Cobb County Police received a report of alleged child abuse involving Howard and his 6-year-old son. There was an investigation, but police determined there wasn't enough evidence to move forward. That changed in the last 48 hours, according to police, and the investigation has been re-opened.

The incident stems from an allegation that Howard whipped his son with a belt, leaving bruises and abrasions on his leg, according to TMZ. Howard reportedly told police he did whip his son with a belt, but his lawyer filed documents claiming Howard never caused bruises, welts or any injuries requiring medical treatment. NBC reports the investigation was initially closed because there were "no substantiated findings of physical injuries." Howard reportedly told police that he didn't know the punishment was wrong because he received similar punishment as a child.

Howard's attorney, David Oscar Markus, released a statement to the Orlando Sentinel calling the allegations "frivolous." Howard recently filed for custody of his son and Markus said the timing of the reports of the abuse investigation was not a coincidence.

"It is troubling to see a mother use her son as a pawn against his father, which is what is happening in this case," Markus said is a statement, via the Orlando Sentinel. "Dwight Howard will continue to act in the best interest of his children and do whatever is necessary to protect their welfare and best interests."

Police have not released details of the new information that led to the case being re-opened.

Celebration over ESA’s historic landing on a comet may have been temporarily put on hold when the Philae lander was determined to be in a poor position to use its solar panels and lost power, but data it sent back before then still holds potential for some amazing discoveries. Now, ESA has announced that the comet is indeed home to organic compounds—but no actual organic organisms. Still just one little robot. Sorry.

There is no word yet on just how complex the organic (carbon-based) compounds are—whether they’re simple molecules or amino acids. Philae’s readings and experiments on the comet’s surface are still being examined, but one of its instruments was able to sample the loose atmosphere around the comet and found the organic building blocks that will help us understand where those compounds come from during the formation of a star system—including ours.

Philae also managed to try to drill into the comet’s surface and found that under about half a foot of dust, the comet is solid ice that it was mostly unable to penetrate even with the maximum force of its instruments, despite risking flinging itself into space. For more, we’ll have to wait until the sun is at a higher angle in the comet’s sky and Philae gets more sunlight on its solar panels for further attempts at data collection.

But with these discoveries so far and more to come as existing data is analyzed, Rosetta mission manager Fred Jansen told New Scientist that Philae’s bouncy landing has actually allowed them to get data from multiple sites on the comet, saying, “For me this is an absolute success on such a daring enterprise.”

(via Universe Today and New Scientist, image via ESA)

Previously in Rosetta

• You can play Rosetta at home with NASA’s free Comet Quest game
• Catch up on ESA’s latest animated Rosetta info video
• Or look at an amazing picture of a the comet behind Rosetta

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This is Filipino basketball player Ogie Menor of the PBA's Blackwater Elite:

Ogie Menor with the greatest PBA Hairstyle of all time! #LizardLook #BayawakLook #WinnerKaOgie pic.twitter.com/PkOv1Eim0k

— Nuki Sabio (@NukiSabio) November 18, 2014

And yes, good lord, that is the greatest haircut I've ever seen. It has a tail! I would believe you if you told me it has a cloaca! I'd believe you if you told me it parthenogenetically reproduces other hair lizards!

I've just learned it is A Thing, and not at all new. "The Lizard" is a standard 3D hair look (also see The Spider):

HOW IS THAT DUDE JUST SITTING THERE LIKE HE DOESN'T HAVE A FUR LIZARD HUGGING HIS SKULL? HOW DO MENOR'S OPPONENTS NOT FREAK OUT AND CRY WHILE THEY'RE GUARDING HIM?

(h/t Rob Perez)

Tiger Woods, in what's likely a lose-lose PR misstep, issues a public response to a biting satirical article by Dan Jenkins.

What has been a boring offseason in golf jolted to life when Tiger Woods issued a public rebuke to a fake satirical interview between Woods and 84-year-old Hall of Fame golf writer Dan Jenkins. The fake Q&A ran in the December issue of Golf Digest, and Jenkins, legendary for his snark and wit, as well as a frosty relationship with Tiger, took jabs at all manner of personal and professional Woods failings.

The fake interview would have gone relatively unnoticed if not for Tiger's public response, which appeared on Derek Jeter's The Players Tribune with the title "Not True, Not Funny." Woods is criticized in one form or another almost daily by the press but rarely responds or addresses any individual publicly. In this instance, he started with a de facto call to action to go read the made-up interview that is now getting much wider distribution and attention.

Did you read Dan Jenkins' interview with me in the latest Golf Digest? I hope not. Because it wasn't me. It was some jerk he created to pretend he was talking to me. That's right, Jenkins faked an interview, which fails as parody, and is really more like a grudge-fueled piece of character assassination.

Journalistically and ethically, can you sink any lower?

Jenkins has covered golf since the the mid-20th century and came to prominence in Fort Worth alongside the legendary Ben Hogan. He's attended almost every major championship since the 1950s, and missed his first British Open in 45 years this past July. In that time and starting with the fellow Texan Hogan, he's developed relationships with all of the Hall of Fame giants in the game ... except Woods.

Tiger and Jenkins have had a non-existent working relationship, and Jenkins, as is his wont, doesn't miss many chances to poke Tiger on Twitter or at Golf Digest. He's at his best when he's cracking wise on golf courses, venues, broadcasts, tournaments, and players, most notably Tiger (and often Sergio). Jenkins has never had a sit down interview with Woods, something he addressed in a 2010 column titled Nice (Not) Knowing You.

I once made an effort to get to know the old silicone collector. Tried to arrange dinners with him for a little Q&A, on or off the record, his choice. But the closest I ever got was this word from his agent: "We have nothing to gain."

So Jenkins, in what is an especially dead part of the golf calendar, opted to go with a satirical bit for the December issue and make up his own interview with Tiger. In it, he pokes at:

• Tiger repeatedly firing people on his "team," notably 3 swing coaches
• His reputation as a cheap tipper
• His troubles with the Rules of Golf in recent years
• His dad's quote that Tiger would have a greater impact on the world than Gandhi
• His poor Ryder Cup record
• His poor play and injury problems since his last major in 2008
• And of course repeated jabs about his Escalade crash with a fire hydrant and his sex scandal

The fake interview is accompanied by some cold artwork -- a Tiger impersonator dining at Perkins and cleaning off his Escalade.

The satire is personal at points, but it's not especially cruel or mean on the Jenkins scale.

Tiger, not known for having the thickest skin when it comes to criticism in the press, just felt like he had to respond. The article at The Players Tribune came after Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, also a subject of many Jenkins cracks, sent a letter directly to Golf Digest asking for an apology (You can read that letter here).

(Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Last year, when Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee wrote that Woods was "cavalier with the rules," Tiger spent several months blowing off Golf Channel post-round interviews. He remembers most media critiques and often holds grudges. He will probably never sit for another Golf Digest interview or be the subject of one their photo shoots. Until Tuesday, Tiger had been relatively out-of-sight and out-of-mind, as he preps to return to golf with what is hopefully a healthy back at December's Hero World Challenge, a tournament he hosts and operates.

Jenkins, meanwhile, will go on at 84 years old unperturbed by Tiger's public criticism that has now made his latest column so popular.

My next column for Tiger: defining parody and satire. I thought I let him off easy: http://t.co/E7e9imSKwO

— Dan Jenkins (@danjenkinsgd) November 18, 2014

In terms of public relations and any feud with Jenkins, Tiger won't win -- he's called attention to an unkind article, appeared thin-skinned and humorless, and won't get any sympathy from a press that mostly adores the legendary Jenkins. But at least we have something to talk about now during this dead spot in the golf calendar.

In a video just posted on the Doctor Who YouTube page, Peter Capaldi admits to something shocking (Which we mentioned earlier today but felt we needed to make a much bigger deal out of!). He had the chance to audition for Doctor Who previously and TURNED. IT. DOWN. Well, there’s a bit more too it than that. Listen to him tell the story which surprised even Steven Moffat, which includes something we already knew about Capaldi – he’s a huge Doctor Who fan.

Previously in Doctor Who

• BBC Children in Need Debut Doctor Who Christmas Special Scene With Nick Frost
• The BBC is Very Happy About Doctor Who Season 8 Ratings But Capaldi Would Like a New TARDIS Please and Thank You
• Peter Capaldi Saved Doctor Who By “Making It New Again,” Says Steven Moffat

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