Toothpick City Took 34 Years to Build

A California man has spent the last 34 years building a model of San Francisco out of toothpicks.

Scott Weaver, 49, has used a million tiny sticks to construct the city and its many landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf. "Rolling Through the Bay" also features entry points where ping-pong balls can be inserted to run along tracks. The sculpture is 9 feet tall and 7 feet wide.  Talk about having some serious time on your hands...

NBC News going the way of reality shows?

THE staff at NBC News isn't younger and hotter than the staffs at other network news operations -- it just seems that way. Sources say that when Brian Williams left his desk to deliver Wednesday's nightly broadcast from the middle of the newsroom, producers brought in some ringers. "NBC newsroom staffers don't look like Vogue staffers," said one source. "So they asked less attractive, heavier staffers to move seats and allow younger, thinner members of the staff to act as extras." The "extras," including two interns who normally run errands, were told to sit up straight, look busy and keep their computers on the MSNBC Web site. "No porn behind Brian," our source laughed. An NBC rep denied any reality-altering: "The majority of the people seen on the newscast are the same people who are there every night." As for the interns? "They were serving a purpose. They were helping out with the broadcast."

'Barrel monster' gains following, from North Carolina to South Korea

The Barrel Monster, a playful statue made of orange and white construction barrels, only had a few hours of life but is basking in popularity as news spreads of its suspected creator's arrest by Raleigh police.

In the week since Joseph Carnevale, a student at North Carolina State University, was arrested June 10, both he and the Barrel Monster have attracted attention from around the country, and even the world.

The monster's image was broadcast on national television networks Thursday amid coverage of the mass street demonstrations in Iran to protest the disputed election there. An interview with Carnevale aired that afternoon on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," a national radio program.

Nearly 3,000 people have joined a page on Facebook, the social networking site, urging Wake prosecutors to drop the charges.

I love this Barrel Monster - perhaps the makers of the construction barrels should use it as a logo or something and pay Carnevale for the idea.