How sweet it is!

This is an interesting site that gives us a direct comparison of how much sugar we eat in our everyday foods. Find out where sugar is hiding.

They've used regular sugar cubes (4 grams of sugar each) to show how the sugars in your favorite foods literally stack up, gram for gram.

Note: They don't differentiate between different types of sugar - i.e., sucrose, fructose, cane sugar, corn syrup, honey, etc., although there are differences in how these sugars are metabolized. Cubes of white sugar are a visual aid. Nutritional information was taken from package labels, manufacturer websites, or the USDA nutrient database. Calorie amounts are based on 4 calories per gram of sugar unless otherwise noted.

The colourful underground of Tel Aviv

Inspired by their street art muse, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Artists Bar&Shay altered public lighting in Tel Aviv's open underground tunnels.

Live Long and Prosper, Rabbi

The "live long and prosper" hand gesture or "Vulcan salute, " originated on the set of the original Star Trek series by Leonard Nimoy during the filming of the second-season opener, "Amok Time." In this episode, Spock goes into something like a male estrus cycle, called pon farr and he must return to Vulcan to mate with his betrothed bride, T'Pring, or die trying. The wedding ceremony was to be the first glimpse of Spock's homeworld in the series.

Nimoy felt that there should be some kind of distinctive greeting among Vulcans, analogous to a handshake or a bow. Nimoy drew upon his own Jewish background to suggest the now-familiar salute.

The Vulcan greeting is based upon a blessing gesture used by the kohanim (koe-hah-NEEM) during the worship service. The kohanim are the genealogical descendants of the Jewish priests who served in the Jerusalem Temple.

Ottawa's Canada Day Lineup

Ottawa's National Capital Commission announced the musical lineup Thursday for the city's July 1, 2009 Canada Day celebrations.

At the top of the bill for the Parliament Hill show are Juno winner Sarah McLachlan, country singer Shane Yellowbird, and rapper K'Naan.

This year's celebrations, the NCC and Heritage Canada announced, will also feature a tribute to the country's winter athletes as they gear up for the Olympics in 2010.

Along with the musical performances on Parliament Hill, at Majors Hill and Confederation parks, there will also be some activities for sports enthusiasts.

Jacques-Cartier Park will be the end point for several races — including a five-kilometre run — and will feature skiers and snowboarders in an aerial acrobatics shows.

And as usual, the noon show on Parliament Hill will feature several flyovers — this year, by the Snowbirds, CF-18s, and the Golden Centennaire Tutor jets.

Here's a list of when the musicians from across the country will perform in Ottawa:

Parliament Hill — noon show (begins at 12 p.m. ET)

• Sarah McLachlan (British Columbia).
• Shane Yellowbird (Alberta).
• Gregory Charles (Quebec).
• Les Respectables (Quebec) with Gordie Johnson (Manitoba).
• Marie-Jo Therio (New Brunswick).
• Marie-Mai (Quebec).
• Hannah Georgas (Ontario) and Said the Whale (British Columbia).
• DRUM! (Nova Scotia).

Major's Hill Park — noon show (from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET)

• Caridad Cruz (Quebec).
• David Myles (New Brunswick).
• DRUM! (Nova Scotia) – world rhythms.
• The CBC Songwriter Circle featuring the Six String Nation Guitar.
• Julie Doiron (New Brunswick).
• Justin Rutledge (Ontario).
• The Sojourners (British Columbia).
• Maybe Smith (Saskatchewan).

Confederation Park (Ottawa Jazz Festival) (daytime)

• Amanda Tosoff (British Columbia).
• Michael Kaeshammer (Alberta).
• Bell Orchestre (Quebec).
• Gypsophilia (Nova Scotia).
• Carmen Souza (Ontario).
• Coeur de Pirate (Quebec).
• The Worst Pop Band Ever (Ontario and Quebec).
• Jazz Youth Summit.

Parliament Hill — evening show (begins at 7:30 p.m. ET)

• Sarah McLachlan (British Columbia) — pop.
• Chic Gamine (Manitoba).
• Shane Yellowbird (Alberta) and Cassiopee (Quebec) — country.
• Les Respectables (Quebec) with Gordie Johnson (Manitoba) — rock.
• Marie-Jo Therio (New Brunswick) — pop.
• Marie-Mai (Quebec) — rock.
• K'Naan (Ontario) — hip hop/world music.
• Said the Whale (British Columbia) with Hannah Georgas (Ontario) — indie pop.
• Cirque Fantastic Concept (Quebec) — circus arts.
• Nico Archambault (Quebec) — dance.
• Alex Wells (British Columbia) — hoop dancer.
• Cassiopée (Quebec) — soprano soloist.
• Chic Gamine (Man.) — Roots.
• The Canadian Tenors (Ontario) — Classical and contemporary pop.

Major's Hill Park — evening show (from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET)

• The Sojourners (British Columbia) — roots.
• Dominique Reynolds (Manitoba) — pop.
• Alex Cuba (British Columbia) — Latin, pop, soul.
• Ellen McIlwain (Alberta) — blues.
• DRUM! (Nova Scotia) — world rhythms.

Jacques-Cartier Park (from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET)

• IMA (Quebec) — pop.
• Radio Radio (New Brunswick) — Acadian hip hop.
• David Jalbert (Quebec) folk, pop.
• Beast (Quebec) — electronic.
• Julie Doiron (New Brunswick) — folk, pop.
• Marie-Pierre Arthur (Quebec) — folk, rock.

For more information about what's happening in Ottawa on Canada Day, call the NCC at 613-239-5000, 1-800-465-1867, 613-239-5090 (TTY), or 1-866-661-3530 (toll-free TTY) or visit their website at www.canadaday.gc.ca.

You are getting sleepy ... and thinner

A woman in England has lost nearly 60 lbs after being hypnotized into believing she had surgery for a gastric stomach band.

A therapist convinced Marion Corns, 35, she had had surgery to fit the band by talking her through the procedure while in a trance. Hospital smells were even pumped into the room to boost the effect.

Housewife Marion, who has slimmed from 216 lbs to 161 lb , said: “Bizarrely I can even ‘remember’ being wheeled into theatre, the clink of the surgeon’s knife and smell of the anaesthetic.”

Looking for TAIL in your aerobics class?

OK. This is just funny!

What do you mean you haven't seen 2 men dance together before?!

I watched this episode of SYTYCD, and was really disappointed that the judges weren't able to appreciate these same-sex dancers. Nigel said several times, "If I just look at the dancing ..." - which is EXACTLY what the judges are supposed to look at.

Read this guy's opinion and judge for yourself.

I've written before about So You Think You Can Dance's Nigel Lythgoe and his cretinous attitude toward what he terms "effeminate dancers." Well, that condescending attitude was on full-blown display during last night's auditions in Denver as the show returned for its fifth season.

The show featured its first same-sex couple — Misha Belfer and Mitchel Kibel — who were introduced with incredibly condescending dramatics including a clip of "It's Raining Men" and many "dramatic" shots of the two swirling about.

During the couple's audition (Misha is gay and Mitchel is straight), Lythgoe and fellow judges Mary Murphy and Sonya Tayeh kept exchanging bemused looks, and at one point Nigel covers his eyes as if he's too horrified by what he's seeing. Then when the two guys take a tumble, Nigel laughs at them.

Okay, much of the above can be expected during auditions when you get folks who aren't always great. But what came next definitely shouldn't have happened.

After the two dance, Nigel comments that it's the first time they've had two guys do a Samba and he says he doesn't really know what to say. He notes their styles were good, if he just "sticks with the dancing" and ignores their gender, but that the pair would probably alienate a lot of the SYTYCD audience. Nice way to assume your audience is as intolerant as you are, Mr. Lythgoe!

Nigel also shares that that he "likes to see guys be guys and girls be girls on stage."

Read to the bottom of the article for an interview with one of the participants.

Look Ma, no arms!

Art consumes all of James time, professionally and personally, and much of it is centered around character design, which gives him both time — and money — to fantasize about mods on fictional characters. With the help of his friend Oliver this idea for piercing-mounted eyeglasses was made real.

What type are you?

... and for those of you who know a bit about typefaces, here is what happens when good fonts go bad !!! mmwwaahahaha (evil laugh)

Watch Font Conference and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

... and the sequel ...

Watch Font Fight on CollegeHumor

A picture is a thousand words

Typography is much more than just graphic design or illustration with some text thrown in. It’s an art form in itself that combines carefully chosen and arranged fonts with visual elements, sometimes as a relatively straightforward communication device and sometimes as artistic expression. Follow the link to view 15 examples of typography artwork which embody a broad variety of techniques and styles, but they’re all brilliant.

Take, for example, this entirely typographical portrait of President Barack Obama created by artist Gui Borchert from 20,000 of Obama’s own words, meticulously arranged in various sizes and colors.