Senses Working Overtime

Nekobukuro Cat’s House

Link: adorablog.

At Nekobukuro in Tokyo, you can pay 600 yen (approx. $6) to play with twenty cats who all live together in a colorful house (which reminds me vaguely of Animal Crossing)

In this neck of the suburban woods colorful houses inhabited by 20 cats are usually also inhabited by nutty old ladies and feature 6 inches of compacted fecal matter covering the floor and an impressive population of fleas and flies ... and we don't pay $6 to get in and play with them -

As goofy as this idea sounds - though perhaps not so goofy by Tokyo standards - it makes a bit more sense when you learn that Japan is...

...a country where a kitten costs 120,000 yen and not too many apartments allow pets.

If we couldn't afford, or weren't allowed to have a cat my kids would need a lifetime membership to a place like this.

New York City Walk

Link: New York City Walk.

An amazing feat and a wonderful site...

Between May 2002 and December 2004, I walked every street on the island of Manhattan. Every darn street. Here you'll find images of the walk and Manhattan 'off the beaten path'. Also an interactive map of my favorite streets.

"...I began visiting as many neighborhoods as I could. One day in April 2002, I turned down 29th street from Fifth Avenue, and found a nice surprise, the Church of the Transfiguration, or the "Little Church Around the Corner". It's a beautiful old building, set back from the street, off the grid. I had heard of it, many years ago it was sort of a tourist attraction. It occurred to me then that the real secrets of Manhattan lie in the smaller east-west streets. Most people get to know the heavily-travelled Avenues, but you might not see the Streets unless you live or work there. I decided to explore them systematically..."

MSNBC -- Driving Vacations through the Ages

MSNBC -- Driving Vacations through the Ages

Vice Cards

Vice Cards

via BoingBoing > via The Cartoonist

"All cities have their symbols: Paris has its Eiffel Tower, Amsterdam its canals, Sydney its opera house. Think of London and what springs to mind? Double-decker buses, black cabs or Beefeaters guarding the Tower? Nowadays Britain’s capital city has a more ephemeral but equally pervasive symbol: vice cards.

Vice cards are the means by which London prostitutes advertise their services. They have become as ubiquitous a symbol of this city as the red telephone boxes in which they are found. Step in to any central London call box and you will see up to 80 cards inviting you to be tied, teased, spanked or massaged in luxury apartments, fully-equipped chambers or the privacy of your own hotel room. "

Includes a Vice Cards Slide Show