Considering the fact that I look at internal organs all day long for a living, my score on the name all the internal organs in four minutes quiz is shamefully bad. I only got 15 out of 24 total organs, isn’t that pathetic? Granted, it was mainly because I didn’t really read the directions and forgot to pluralize things like parathyroids and ovaries (and jeez, who knew the esophagus would be included, but skin wouldn’t? And they rejected spelling gallbladder as one word. I say, look it up in the dictionary, bitches). Anyway, learn from my mistakes, pluralize, and take the quiz. The clock does start ticking right away, so be ready to go when you click on the link and don’t dawdle like I did.
Archive for July, 2009
Test For Humans
Posted: Thursday, July 30th, 2009We Heart Hollywood
Posted: Thursday, July 30th, 2009
I wasn’t going to post anything on Unique LA’s Mini-Market at Space 15 Twenty until later in the month, but since they announced there will be FREE BEER, we figured we should give your livers advance notice. Stop by 1520 N. Cahuenga in Hollywood, CA, for this special parking lot sale, conveniently located near Amoeba Records and the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, August 23rd, 10am – 4pm, we will be there shilling guts and swilling Pabst. Some of our favorite vendors will be there, too, including Two Rabbits Studios (great band posters), Eva Franco (fantastic clothing designer), Stella Neptune (silkscreened vintage wear) and Kinckerocker (adorable undies). Won’t you stop by and say hello? See you there.
Urban Transplants
Posted: Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
Well, this is fun — Urban Outfitters has added a few guts to their online collectibles depot. Looks like the marketing department had some fun with the text for the heart: “He’ll really take a beating for ya. Somehow adorable anatomical heart plush with an included little fun-fact-filled tag. Get PUMPED!” and the lung: “Take a deep breath and contemplate the cuteness of this plush set of lungs,” and the liver, too: “Intoxicating little liver likes to keep it clean.” (Wow, the liver is sold out! What’d they do, bundle it with a free bottle of Jack Daniels?) If you already own one of these plush guts and care to write a review (if you happen have to have an UO account), I’ll be your best friend. Also awesome — it seems they also bought stuff from two other California plush scenesters — Lauren of Sweet Meats and Kerry and Darth of Evil Ice Cream. Woo hoo!
Body Tags
Posted: Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
We had long wanted to fix our website and make it a better place to browse, and perhaps you noticed we spruced things up recently. Despite having worked in web design for close to a decade, I realized what needed doing was waaaay beyond my scope of knowledge, so I turned to Aeolidia Design, the brains behind delightful and creative websites like Renegade Handmade and Fomato Cards. They made a great site, and I’m ecstatic about it — at long last you don’t get lost going from the shop to the blog to the gutsy info pages, and this is really geeky, but the backend is a dream (that sounds pretty dirty, doesn’t it?). It’s a dream come true. If you ever need a great web team to help you, I highly recommend them!
Those Divine Entrails
Posted: Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Talk about loving guts, the ancient Etruscans hearted organs so much they read animal organs as a fortune teller might read a crystal ball. The practice of studying the guts of sacrificed animals, called haruspicy, was practiced by ancient Babylonians and later Romans (that’s a bronzed sheep’s liver, pictured, known as the Liver of Piacenza, it is on display at the Municipal Museum of Piacenza). Before humans understood the circulation system, the liver was thought to be the body’s most important organ, being as it is the biggest, heaviest and baddest of them all. The haruspex would read the guts — usually the liver, sometimes the lungs, too – of the sacrificial animal and tell all about lightning, flooding, bad omens, etc. As you can imagine, it was probably about as accurate as crystal balls.
Ya Gotta Be Kidney
Posted: Monday, July 27th, 2009
Though the unwitting organ donor left in a bathtub full of ice story is little more than a tall tale, the need for donated kidneys is very real. These popular organs are indeed in short supply, so much so that 44 people were arrested for brokering the sale of kidneys to a few of the approximately 80,000 Americans waiting for a donor organ. An opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal remarks that it’s not so shocking for someone to try and profit from the buying and selling of kidneys, since there’s so much money involved and lives are quite literally at stake. Some medical ethicists argue that people should be allowed to sell their own kidneys because the worldwide kidney shortage is so bad. Others say paying people for their kidneys would exploit the poor, especially in countries like India. Anyway, what do you think? [photo by Getty Images via Time]
Little Felted Friends
Posted: Monday, July 27th, 2009
I’ve been sewing like crazy working on a few new projects for the upcoming Plush You handmade art plush show, including this Menstrual Cycle pillow at left. Hopefully you can tell it’s a uterus. Plush You put up a nice interview with our guts up on this blog, so read away if you like, or check out some of the other incredible artists slated to show felted fabulousness this October at Schmancy in Seattle. We’re also doing a few small pieces for their sister store, Fancy, which is having a Plush Jewels show in conjunction with the Plush You show. See below for the Urine Luck bladder brooch I just finished for that show. Well, I gotta get back to sewing, deadlines are a-looming.
Celebrity Organ Failure!
Posted: Friday, July 24th, 2009
This marks the first in an occasional series that examines the organs that failed some of the world’s most interesting people — let’s begin with Andy Warhol’s gallbladder! Warhol died in 1987 following gallbladder surgery, but his gall was giving him grief long before surgery. He had recurring gallbladder problems that he didn’t keep up with allegedly because of fears about doctors and hospitals. The gallbladder is one of two organs humans can do without (the spleen is the other) and about a half-million Americans had their gallbladders removed last year alone. Nowadays, it’s generally done laproscopically, and is quite routine, but things can definitely go wrong. When his gallbladder became infected, a sonogram showed it had become enlarged and a routine surgery to remove the pesky organ was underway. Complications following surgery led to his death at age 58. What a bummer!
Visit Guts at Comic-Con!
Posted: Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
Though we still haven’t managed to get an actual booth at this year’s Comic-Con (drat!), the guts will still be there via our wonderful distributor, DKE Toys. Go visit their booth and you’ll get a sneak peek at something special — testicle, ovary, mammary and prostate (pictured) plushies by I Heart Guts, slated to come out in 2010. Go on and meet ‘em in person! And hopefully we’ll be there next year.
Pills for Every Gut
Posted: Thursday, July 16th, 2009
It’s never a good idea to wander the aisles of your local health food store when you’re not feeling 100%, because next thing you know, you’re wondering if your adrenal glands are making you feel tired, or perhaps you need a little something to detoxify that liver of yours. On my last voyage to Whole Foods, I was impressed to learn there’s a supplement for practically every organ and gland in the human body — Mammary and Uterus Care Tea, Thymus Natural Glandular, Thyroid Energy — you name it, they’ve got it. Call these supplements life-savers or a total waste of time, they are still pretty interesting either way. For you skeptics out there, consider that many modern pharmaceuticals are based on these very same herbs and plants, or think also about the workings of the placebo effect. For the converts, consider the fact that none of this stuff is regulated by the FDA (not that the FDA knows everything).
