• Happy birthday, Neil Gaiman!
• "Dancing Meatballs! Singing Blondes! Stockholm, The Musical!"
• A deer managed to enter a Des Moines, Iowa Target store, and wound up in the Christmas section.

  [CBS News] "We kind of thought it was a joke, but then we heard, no, really, there's a buck in soft lines," said Target's Katie Johnson. Customers retreated while workers moved in. "Of course, we're not really trained in deer herding," Willey said. As employees coaxed him toward the door, the deer made a dash -- right at Johnson. "I wasn't anticipating to see such a large deer," she said. "Plus the rack on his head." As the buck ran past the long line of registers, customers at the bottom of the screen kept checking out. After more than 10 minutes, a dozen Target employees had the buck corralled in the dairy section. That's when somebody opened the fire door, and Johnson helped shoo him out.

• It's St. Martin's Day...blood soup, anyone?

  And what of the soup of whisked blood? If you are a traditionalist and want to preserve the purity of St. Martin’s vengeance, you will have to prepare Svartsoppa, or Black Soup. It is a sweet yet savory soup made from the blood drippings of the bird flavored with aromatic spices like cinnamon, clove and ginger. If well prepared, the soup tastes more like rich gravy and is something to tell your family and friends you have ventured to prepare and eat. In all fairness most Swedes gladly opt out of this tradition, so if it turns your stomach no one will hold it against you.

• Locksport is the hobby of picking locks for pleasure, as opposed to criminal intent; in fact, Locksport's Int'l's "prime directive" states that you may only pick "locks that you own, or those which the rightful owner has given you express permission to pick." MAKE Blog links to a fascinating PDF starter guide to Locksport.
• MTV's slideshow photo gallery of CBGB's being dismantled: the posters on the walls are up to four inches thick, and you won't believe state of the urinals. The memorabilia was slated to be relocated to a new Las Vegas location, except for the urinal Hilly Kristal vowed to keep.
  
• A Worcester, Mass. judge has ruled that a burrito is not a sandwich. [via Slashfood]
  
• WIRED news reports that Swedish astronaut Christer Flugelsang's first meal on board the International Space Station will consist of moose meat, crispbread, raspberry jelly and "space yoghurt." Swedish online paper The Local reports it was actually elk meat, not mØØse.
  
• Chicago firefighters stage an experimental high-rise burn designed to test how wind patterns and stairwell drafts influence skyscraper fires. [CBS2 Chicago]
  
• Reese's Elvis Special Edition peanut butter cups have a layer of banana creme inside. Really.
  
• A true Jackass®.

  A man has suffered severe internal injuries after trying to launch a powerful firework from his bottom on bonfire night, it emerged today. It was thought that the 22-year-old was trying to copy a scene from the 2002 film Jackass: The Movie, which has long been condemned by safety campaigners and blamed for inspiring dangerous pranks. The man is reported to have got down on all fours, lowered his trousers and fixed a Black Cat Thunderbolt rocket to himself in front of a group of friends at the end of a firework display in the Monkwearmouth area of Sunderland on Sunday. [via The Guardian]

Labels: links du jour