LET'S GET WEIRD!

It's Wednesday! It's also July 29th! If that means it's also your birthday, congrats — you made it another revolution around the G-type main-sequence star we colloquially (and collectively) refer to as the Sun! Unless, of course, this is a disappointment to you, in which case I offer my condolences.

Speaking of birthdays...

• Happy birthday to cartoonist Hank Ketcham, born this day in 1920! Unfamiliar? Well, he's only responsible for THE original menace to society — a little slingshot-wielding blond nightmare named Dennis.

• Also due for a sepia-toned slice of cake? Documentarian Ken Burns, who was born this day in 1953! Whether you favor Baseball, The Civil War, Jazz, Country Music, or none of his epic PBS series, you have to admit that no one has done more with slow motion zoom-ins and cross-pans of vintage photography than the diminutive Brooklyn-born Red Sox fan.

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OK, enough of this cake talk — on to the links!

1. Digital Meddle repurposes vintage children's book covers and illustrations with salty language and themes.

Is this the most original creative pursuit? No, but it's done well, and outside of the cave paintings at Chauvet and Lascaux in France what artist can truly say they're mining wholly original territory?

2. Milo the Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever has time for just two things: photo ops and his butterfly friends.

Sure, he's an adorable doggo with a sensitive streak, but the more urgent question (for me, anyway) is "WTF is duck tolling?"

*looks up duck tolling, finds answer, is still very confused from an etymological standpoint*

3. GrowingChange.org repurposes abandoned prisons into vibrant farms to help at-risk youth and jobless veterans.

I know that still sounds like a bummer, but this is actually very cool and well worth the read!

4. Ever wondered what outer space and/or the Moon smell like? Back this Kickstarter and find out!

Unless I know the people behind the project personally I don't usually back Kickstarter/GoFundMe stuff, but this is still pretty interesting. If only I wore a fragrance! Alas, fabric soaks up scents, and I'm pretty sure none of our more sensitive-snooted customers want to receive shirts that smell like the Sea of Tranquility.

5. Penguins chasing bubbles is the best thing I've seen all week!

Don't get me wrong — with the exception of the human zoo Bon Scott sang about in AC/DC's 'If You Want Blood (You've Got It)', I'm no fan of zoos* in the abstract or concrete — but they are a thing that exists, so I at least want the critters therein to be entertained and/or enriched.

*If you or a loved one work at a zoo, please don't take umbrage. This sentiment is more about the exploitative for-profit ventures that aren't about conservation.