Monday, September 20, 2010

Procrastination Station

Do that other stuff later. This stuff is fun!


This gallery of nearly 60 vintage ads will have you smirking and cringing by turns with gems like this:

The description starts off with "ultimate fashion climax" and gets worse/better from there. Read at your own gagging risk. Heh.

This:

And I thought the lawn-watering Nazis were bad.


And this:


Actually, the mind-blowing chauvinism in some of these ads has a kind of car-wreck quality to it: I couldn't look away, wondering how much worse it could get. (The answer? Much, much worse.) So if you're easily riled by that kind of thing, you may want to skip this gallery. Me, I take it as a look-how-far-we've-come, hear-us-roar kind of thing.


Darths and Droids is a "RPG screencap comic." Imagine the Star Wars characters as RPG players who've never heard of Jedi or the Force, and the narrator/game master trying to explain it all to them. Or, just look at this:


The link will bring you to the very beginning (ie the above comic) so you can read on and lose all your time and productivity from there. Yeah. You're welcome.


And finally, thanks to Super Punch I got sucked into this fantastic puzzle game:



The object is to collect the red keys and then exit through the red door to the next level. You move the tiles around to form your paths, using your arrow keys and space bar. The beginning levels are quite simple - this is just the one I'm currently stuck on. :) Play it for free here.


So, what's your favorite online time-suck this week? Share your links in the comments!

75 comments:

  1. I listen to a local radio show here in Portland. Mark and Dave. They have a daily work waster that they post on their site. They are usually pretty fun. I am also addicted to Bejeweled Blitz. I swear it is the main reason I am on facebook.

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  2. Beautiful, relaxing, and challenging!
    http://www.playauditorium.com/index
    Auditorium

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  3. TV Tropes. Visiting that site is a guaranteed loss of at least six hours the first time, and probably another one or two every time after that. It's ridiculous.

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  4. I love Questionable Content by J. Jaques. Since I started at the beginning and he's got over 1500 webcomics, it's taking me awhile to catch up and I read it when I should be doing homework.

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  5. Hey, my name is Julia. This comment has absolutely nothing to do with your post, but I felt the need to post it. Anyway, would you by chance know where I would be able to find a princess peach costume? I need one....

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  6. Those ads are great! I bought my husband (John, of course) a tshirt of the ad that reads "John is not really a dull boy . . ." He asked me to get it for him!

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  7. Ummmmm....your blog. Seriously. I go to most of the links you talk about, so it slows me down quite a bit. THANKS. ;)

    Mostly I'm pretty boring, though. Well, for most people anyway. I own horses, so I do a lot of research on supplements, feed types, riding styles, tack, etc. I also really enjoy going to horses for sale websites and "window shopping." ;) And several blogs I visit on a regular are horse blogs.

    But my daily time wasters are:

    Fugly Horse of the Day
    I Can Has Cheezburger
    Fail Blog

    And, of course, Epbot.

    Do you know about this website? Animals With Lightsabers The photo in their banner at the top is my absolute favorite because it looks just like my cat. She would TOTALLY have a red lightsaber.

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  8. www.logic-puzzles.org
    I'm hooked! I could do these all day and night.

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  9. OMG, I found those retro ads too. So funny!

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  10. On the ads link, I've seen the "John is not dull.." poster before and you will love where. It's in the hallway when you get off the Tower of Terror in Disney's California Adventure!

    Oh and that game is going to cost me, I'm already on level 12. ;-)

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  11. One of my favorite time sucks
    http://www.onecoolthingaday.com/

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  12. Costume express has Peach outfits

    http://www.costumeexpress.com/browse/_/N-a/Ntt-princess+peach/results1.aspx

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  13. Katie's right. Seriously, If I could count how many hours I wasted there, it might be seriously depressing, but I enjoy every minute of it.

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  14. Ack!! How did you get through the level that only has three tiles. The key and the door are in the top layer of one, one is a box with no openings and the other is a shaft straight through. I was doing so well (sob).

    Kathy

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  15. Watching all of the episodes of QI (Quite Interesting), a weekly, British, "fake" quiz show with a rotating panel of comedians, hosted by Stephen Fry. If it sounds awesome, it's 'cause it is.

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  16. Crap, I just started Continuity, and now it is going to destroy my time, and I have no time left to lose! Damn you! However, I love it!

    Rosalind
    Girls Are Geeks

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  17. Scary thing, I remember those beautiful men's jumpsuits from my childhood! And to think they come in rust color, and in short-sleeved styles too!

    A few daily guilty pleasures/time wasters for me (besides this and Cake Wrecks, of course):
    Engrish.com (mangled English signs, menus, etc.)
    The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks (signs, etc. that throw around the quotation marks like candy)
    New Dress a Day (gal that takes a hideous thrift store find and fixes it into a cute outfit each day on only $1)
    Wozofoto (daily featured photograph you can purchase)

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  18. lauren, why oh WHY did you introduce me to logic-puzzles.com? Now I must play all night! CURSE YOU!

    ;)

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  19. Darth and Droids reminds me of the DM of the Rings. Start here: http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612

    It's hilarious.

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  20. Darths and Droids was made by a guy who is copying The DM of the Rings' style (but he admits it, so it's not sketchy). The DM of the Rings is hilarious.

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  21. Castke Smashers

    I can't beat the last level, so I am addicted.

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  22. I love that you've linked to Darths and Droids, it's a great comic! You should try Irregular Webcomic too, there's a link to it from darths and droids.

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  23. Anne, Darths & Droids was inspired by DM of the Rings. And watch out for episode 50, as there are bonus strips to go through there!

    The one website I've constantly hung out on for the past...5 years is Museum of Hoaxes.

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  25. Hyperbole and a Half is always a good time waster. And YAFGC (or Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic if you want the full name) If you are into Doctor Who, Rich Morris, the artist of YAGC has another comic blog which had a fairly long comic series featured all ten incarnations of The Doctor. I highly recommend anything

    http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/
    http://yafgc.net/
    http://comics.shipsinker.com/

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  26. Kingdom of Camelot on Facebook.

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  27. I like to go to this blog called Epbot. It is soo cool. Lots of different topics and some really great tutorials. You should totally go to that one! :)

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  28. Acutally Darths and Droids was inspired from DM of the Rings, which is totally worth reading too. I go through the archives about once a year and I'm no longer allowed to eat or drink while doing so ;)

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  29. I LOVE Darths and Droids, I've been reading it for a while now. They did it with DM of the Rings in mind, but I like Darths and Droids a lot better.

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  30. I count the most time lost here:
    Physics Games-99 Bricks All of the games on that site are awesome but I can't stay away from this one. It's tetris...where the pieces fall over! Crap. I guess I can forget about getting anything done today!

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  31. I spend far to much time on the internet, this week alot of it has been on this website
    http://notalwaysright.com/
    Great for anyone who has ever had a job in customer service.

    oh and talking of awesome webcomics I assume you already know about girl genius but if not here's the link:
    http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/
    It's essentially a steampunk webcomic

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  32. Thanks for posting that puzzle game. I doubt I'll get anything else done today! :-D

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  33. I'll second (or third/fourth/whatever) DM of the Rings, and I love Darths and Droids too - especially the bit early on that serves to explain a LOT about Jar-Jar Binks {grin}.

    And the TV Tropes site mentioned by Katie is another favorite time-sink of mine - I've discovered a lot of new books and videos from that site alone. Oh, and it has an entry on a familiar-sounding blog too... a delightful time-sink in itself!

    And then there's James Lilek's delightful collection of offbeat and/or frighteningly outdated images; my favorite page is probably the Gallery of Regrettable Food, but it's all fun.

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  34. www.catatlogliving.net this site actually makes me laugh out loud!

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  35. www.imdb.com
    It's the place I visit the most after my email and facebook.
    It's got everything you ever wanted to know about every movie ever made. Discussion boards, trivia, list of all the actors.
    Since I'm such a big movie buff, it's my home away from home. I love looking at future movies and learning weird trivia about some of the most famous.
    It's simple entertainment to me. :)

    My other time-waster is Yahoo!Answers. If you have a yahoo account, you can join yahoo! answers and gain points by answering questions about everything under the sun. I usually stick to the movie catergory. :)

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  36. Olga, I wasted so much time in college by watching QI, and I even watched a couple of episodes today from Series C. Related to that (because Jeremy Clarkson has been on QI), I just started watching Top Gear, a BBC show about cars. It's so funny, especially in the later seasons when the hosts start to do more insane challenges like driving through Botswana in cars they bought for less than 1500 pounds. Such a time waster.

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  37. Agh! I'm so glad that someone else mentioned James Lilek's blog/website. It is SUPER AMAZING. I have a few of his books, and they make me giggle (read: laugh to the point of tears) every time.

    If you like games (and a few of the ones that have been mentioned, including the one you posted and 99 bricks are on this site), you should try Kongregate, a great little game site. There are achievements and weekly challenges and the occasional contest, if you're into that sort of thing.

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  38. Thanks Jen *sarcastic voice* there goes my evening! :P (With the game...but I *love* suggestions like these!!)

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  39. Thank you for Continuity! I've been playing on & off all day & have 2 levels left. I hope they make more because I'm hooked.

    By the way, level 28 - the one you posted that you were stuck on - just about killed me. I got all the keys fairly quickly & then I couldn't get back to the door. Ugh! Of course, when I finally did I felt really stupid!!

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  40. My time wasters are all the blogs in my Google reader and Angry Birds on my iphone (Love. It.)

    I'm terrible with any kind of game though. I get totally addicted, much more so that my fiance.

    Halo? I'll just get my assault rifle and set my controller to boxer.

    Tetris? What do you mean I still have to go to work???

    Angry Birds? Yeah!!! Let's show those pigs!

    Star Wars Galaxies (a long long time ago) Of course I want to spend 7 hours getting XP for my twi'lek dancer/martial arts master

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  41. Ooo someone already said Questionable Content and Not Always Right. I read both of those daily! I also love King.com and Maze Frenzy. Crazy addictive! I'm all about time wasting internet use. :) Why else would they have invented Farmville?

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  42. I remembered another one, something that's in some ways akin to both the Lileks "Regrettable Food" site and to our beloved "Cake Wrecks" - this would more like "Recipe Wrecks", I think. Anyway, it's a page showing actual Weight Watchers recipe cards circa 1974, with delightfully snarky commentary (click on each picture to see the comments). Just to give you some idea what to expect, there's a book version of all this, with the mind-boggling title "The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan"!

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  43. Thanks so much Jen! I clicked on that link for Continuity and all of a sudden 3 hours are gone!!! I had no idea it was a time/space warp... :)

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  44. Hey, I read "Darths and Droids"! I will second "Irregular Webcomic" and cast another vote for TV Tropes with the caveat that it will probably take up ALL of your free time. And let's see...something that hasn't been mentioned yet.

    http://www.reasonablyclever.com/?page_id=31

    This link allows you to make your own virtual Lego people...as imagined by a true geek. T-shirt designs include a couple different Trek uniforms, tons of superheroes, and the Watchmen smiley face.

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  45. OMG! That game is totally addicting. Reminds of Logan's Run on my old Apple IIe. Ah, good times. Love your blog(s)!

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  46. My little bit of indulgence as far as time-wasting goes would have to be www.bontegames.com where they have almost every time wonderful wasting brain teasing site possible.

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  48. have you seen Star Trek: tik tok?

    if not, YOU MUST.

    i found it here, at movin' meat

    (hope my link worked! I have never tried it in a comment before)

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  49. All I can think about is how hairy that guy must be under his jumpsuit. Wouldn't it get caught in the zipper? :(

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  50. Thank you for the Darth and Droids link. It combines my two most favorite geek things ever. I am now two hours into it. Productivity be damned lol!

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  51. Mental_floss always seems to have things worth reading.

    Achievement Unlocked is easy, has happy music, and lots of silly "achievements". Really. I earned more than 10 achievements between pressing play and typing this post.

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  52. Oh man, I spent at least two hours on that Star Wars comic site. That was hi-larious. My hubby and his friends are gamers so I was giggling a lot.

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  53. I would like to share sporcle.com They have new quizes throughout the day on many different topics.

    (btw thanks for the tips on inserting a link in a comment)

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  54. I plan fictitious vacations for me, me and Jeff, or the whole family.

    I've been spending a lot of time on Sandals.com, Beaches.com, Disneyland.com, and various spa retreat sites. Then I go to youtube and look at other people enjoying said vacations.

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  55. I loved that continuity game! I sat down before making dinner and half an hour was gone.
    so after dinner I showed my husband before leaving to the library. I get home and he passed all the levels! :-) Ah, sweet time wasting revenge.

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  56. You are evil. Now all I want to do is read those DM comics! :)

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  57. Just found http://foundmagazine.com/ today ... total time waster!

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  58. I loved the Continuity game. But you don't get anything for finishing it! Not even a congratulations. Just a screen that says, "Click any key to exit."

    Of course, I'll probably do it all over again, anyway....

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  59. That neato puzzle game you have a the end of this post is really addicting. It's better if you hum some kind of spy theme song along while you're playing, though. My brain landed on "Chuck" but I'm sure a "Bond" or "Mission Impossible" theme would be good as well.

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  60. Woo hoo! A whole new online comic to read!!! Have you ever checked out Sluggy Freelance? It's at sluggy.com, and is without a doubt the best comic ever. It took the cartoonist some time to get in the groove, so don't judge it by its first strips, but if you start at the beginning and read straight through, it is so worth it.

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  61. I absolutely loved the scary ads. I had seen all the horribly sexist ones before so was rendered somewhat immune to their horror, but I think the one that cracked me up the most was the ad for Staydry Panties. Nothing says psychological disturbance averted quite like putting your school age boy in absorbent panties.

    I've been happily going through the Darths and Droids comic, and I love it. Qui-Gon is cracking me up.

    Thanks so much for the laughs. I'm going to have a go at the game now. I think I'm suffering from Sally overload :D

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  62. Started playing Continuity. Almost forgot to have lunch. DARN YOU WOMAN, AND YOUR AWESOME TIME-WASTERY GOODNESS! I'm almost afraid to read the comments to see what others have suggested. The last time I did that, I developed an addiction to Hyperbole and a Half.

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  63. Thanks, I can tell you, the one thing I need the most is more wasted time. :P I got all the way through that game.

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  64. Man, thanks to you and the person who linked logic-puzzles.org in the comments, I didn't get to sleep until past four a.m. this morning. Thank God I've got the day off! ;)

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  65. It has been over 24 hours. I have finished the Darths and Droids archives and am working on the DM of the Rings.

    I think I may have hurt myself laughing. Thank you. I needed that.

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  66. Thank you so much for the star wars comic. I needed that. There's a lord of the rings one too, did you know? I told my mom about it and she's been chuckling away all afternoon.

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  67. Hi, Im one of the creators of Continuity and I stumbled over this blog. Thanks for all the wonderful comments. My apologies for wasting your time. Unfortunately there is more underway. And thanks for all the additional tips.

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  68. Stefan, glad you found us! Your game is amaaaazing. (pardon the pun.) Please let us know when any of your new projects are out!

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  69. Dear Lord. I have just spent the last...(checks original post date)...FOUR DAYS going through Darths and Droids. Instead of writing my dissertation.

    Now I'm caught up and I WANT MORE. You have created a monster.

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  70. i got sucked into the game... the last level is IMPOSSIBLE

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  71. Is it bad that I really want that suit?

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  72. When I first saw the one about hitler in school, I snorted out loud. But I was the only one who snorted so that was an akward moment... Glad to know I'm not the only one.

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  73. did you ever tried Shift? http://www.koreus.com/jeu/shift.html
    there are 4 games, each excellent!

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