So where's the peanut butter?

As my friend Donna said, this is the "gratest" thing since… never mind. (Toast by Mark Jenkins.)

What do you think of this painting?

It’s called 'Sydney Sun', and it sold for half a million dollars. So it’s good, right? Not so fast. Waldemar Januszczak wrote that it “successfully evokes the sensation of standing under a cascade of diarrhea.”

That’s cold, Waldemar Januszczak!

Incoming!

Historic Japanese Fartwork (plus: water goblins!)

In The Big Book of Gross Stuff, I wrote about one of Japan’s most famous monsters: a water goblin called the kappa. If a human swimmer makes the kappa angry, the goblin will comes up beneath the paddler and pull his intestines out through his—uh—poop chute.

Ouch! What might annoy the kappa enough to do this? Let’s just say you should never pee while swimming.

As you can guess, the kappa is strongly associated with poop. After all, this monster is known for its horrible gas, as well as the fact that it has three (yes, THREE) anuses.

So if you’re wondering what in the heck is going on in the painting above, it’s a print from the 1860s by Kawanabe Kyosai called “The Water Imp's Fart.” It shows fishermen being blown off their boat by a kappa’s wind.

How can you keep a kappa away? Fart. That’s what the artwork below shows. It’s by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, and it’s titled “Farting at a kappa at the lumber yard in Fukagawa.”

Hey, it’s fartwork! (More kappa info here, here, and here.)

Balloon dogs are easy to clean up after.

It's a T-shirt design!

Piñata Anatomy Chart!

Via.

Pick up poop, get free Wifi!

 Here’s the way this awesome program works:

1.) Dog owners in Mexico City parks throw their bags of canine poop in special waste containers.

2.) The container weighs the weight of the dog poop and then gives free minutes of Wifi for everyone in the park. More poop, more free Wifi! 


In other "pin up your dog's poop" news, Lukasz Rostkowski, an artist/rapper in Poland, came up with a nice visual to remind park visitors not to leave behind anything. (Via, by way of here.)

Leela spins a roll.

Futurama fans unspool! Via.

Super Mario Bathroom

Over at Reddit, a genius is sharing pictures of her Super Mario bathroom. She calls it the "princess castle," but I just call it awesome.

Particularly noteworthy: The "GAME OVER" sign, which is exactly what I roar every time I bust a grumpy.

Thinking about picking your nose?

Why not have a deity do it for you? (Via.)

These kids are gross, mean, snotty, rude, and rebellious. (I love them!)

Garbage Pail Kids were a mockery of Cabbage Patch Kids from back in the 1980s. The GPK showed up on various trading cards. As artist John Pound fondly recalls:

Using shock tactics for maximum impact, GPKs would be gross, mean, snotty, rude, and rebellious. But since I had to look at these violent, miserable, and disgusting kids all day while painting them, I selfishly wanted them to also feel good to look at—to be cute and lovable while spewing mayhem, disasters, and wild, crazy nonsense like they’re proud to be weird!

Buy the book! (If you want. No pressure. Not in the mood? Buy my books instead!)

Hurray for Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Art Museum!

Yep, it's a real museum in Texas. There was a New York Times article on it yesterday. And you can visit the museum's Facebook page here.

Happy Val— oh, gag.

Last February, I shared this zombie Valentine's Day card from Elliott Quince over at QuinkyArt. And it's so good, I'm resurrecting it!

Happy Holidays!

This scary head/skull is from a German rosary that was made over 500 years ago. Here’s its description from the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

[This shows] the head of a deceased man, with half the image eaten away from decay. Such images served as reminders that life is fleeting and that leading a virtuous life . . . is key to salvation.

Well, isn't that lovely!

Gross Santa!

In 1955, a man named Bradley McGinty came up with an idea for kooky holiday cards. The idea didn't work out; if you'd like to read the story behind them, go here. (Via.)

These barf bags sure are purty!

Artist Lydia Leith has designed an Art Nouveau (or "Noeveauurrgh") barf bag, as well as the Victorian ("Sictorian") bag below.

Nice!

Lisa Hanawalt is funny.

Heheh, "bottom turkey". (From here.)

Toilet Fountain Waterfall

You're welcome.

I've seen big toilets before.

But I have NOT seen a toilet so big, it has its own diving board! Wait, it's a trick— this is just a model by Frank Kunert. But it's still mighty impressive! (Via.)

Global Interest in Saddam Hussein’s Butt

From the National Post

In 2003, a British soldier named Nigel “Spud” Ely was serving in Iraq. He was there when the famous statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down. And with the help of another soldier with a crowbar and sledgehammer, he pried off one-half of the statue’s butt.

Ely snuck the butt out of Iraq by claiming it was military vehicle armor. Now he’s putting the bronze butt cheek up for auction, with proceeds to help other veterans. Anyway, this has caused a frenzy of headlines in bad taste (e.g., "You could own a piece of Saddam Hussein's butt" or this post's title). Here's more! 

• Saddam’s bronze butt is now up for grabs
• Bum deal for Iraq souvenir hunters
• Soldier offers cheeky deal
• War relic is prized ass-et
• Cashing a cheek: Soldier sees bottom line in Saddam’s ass 

Update: Saddam's butt didn't sell!