Silent Avengers

A smarter idea than cattle-pleasing Oscar-winning The Artist.

Animals of the week

Two Shih Tzus get ready for the start of the dog show competition in Manila, Philippines.

A five-year-old turtle with two heads and six legs is displayed in an exhibition at the Museum of History of Science in Kiev, Ukraine.

Baby polar bear sees snow for the first time at Skandinavisk Dyrepark in Jutland, Denmark. (The baby polar bear in Toronto did the same).

A walrus does sit-ups somewhere.

Toronto Batman

The Flash isn’t the only superhero running around Toronto these days. The Dark Knight has been scouring the city for information too.

The new Captain Cold

DC’s new lineup is overall ranking pretty high on the coolness scale, and it seems like the Flash is naturally taking the lead, by the hands of Toronto’s own Francis Manapul. The new Captain Cold (with actual ice-cold powers instead of cheesy freezing gun) is giving the Scarlet Speedster a run for his money.

Miniature catastrophes

Sculptures by Thomas Doyle.

Wonder Girl

The Cartoon Network’s Wonder Girl is a very slim Donna Troy. By “Powerpuff Girls” artist Lauren Faust.

Queen West End Girls

Trio Plum Thunder made the most perfect homage to both Toronto and the "West End Girls" video by the Pet Shop Boys, with hilarious Toronto-centric lyrics.

The classic:

PSB and A-ha

So A-ha has ended, but Morten Harket keeps on going. The Norwegian band’s lead vocalist is releasing another solo album in April (his fifth), and it contains a new song by the Pet Shop Boys, titled “Listening” (which apparently is a ballad). The bands have never collaborated while A-ha was active, perhaps because Neil and Chris were always peeved at losing the James Bond theme to A-ha in 1987. But you can’t really compare A-ha's "The Living Daylights" to the Boys'…

Going bananas

Madonna and Brazil go way back. The country will forever have a special place in the aging diva’s pantheon. Here’s the kind of thing we do for her:

She gives Brazil so much (Jesus Luz can tell you all about it), that it's only fair that sometimes she may take a little for herself. Apparently her god-awful new single, sugary-poppy-sticky-sweet “Give me all your luvin’” (sic) takes its annoying “L-U-V, Madonna” from a Brazilian confection by João Brasil and Lovefoxx (of CSS) -- only they’re proclaiming their love for bananas. It is uncanny.

Asked if he is going to pursue legal action, João Brasil said: "Personally I don't want to do anything. The last thing I need in my life is a fight with Madonna."

Wallace meets Superman

Great promo for Cartoon Network's DC Nation by Aardman Studios (Wallace & Gromit).

Pandas for Canada

China is lending two pandas to Canada for 10 years. Er Shun and Ji Li will spend five years in Toronto before heading to Calgary for five years.

Rainbows in Rio

Source: O Globo

VW made of trash

VW Beetle decorate with scrap metals materials by artist Haribaabu Naatesan.

Format

Today the Pet Shop Boys release Format, a 38-track compilation collecting B-sides and bonus tracks released from 1996 to 2009 (from "The truck driver and his mate" to "Up and down"). It follows on from their 1995 B-sides collection Alternative (which had much niftier packaging.) But their career-long love affair with the B-side is one more reason why the Boys are better than your favorite band (even though this is probably one of their weakest album covers, compared to previous works by PSB cover-maker Mark Farrow.)

Home chickens

Great article about having backyard chickens. Thanks Dave - a true supporter!

Michelle’s push-ups

You know it’s the future when the black first lady of the United States does pushups at a talk show hosted by an androgynous lesbian.

Happy Iemanjá Day

Turn me on

David Guetta picks Nicki Minaj for his 5th(!) single off of his latest collab-intensive "Nothing But The Beat." The weird video for the song features medieval robotics, creepy SEARS mannequins and some pretty cool animation effects.

Evil pepper