Strandbeests or "beach monsters"
These are huge kinetic sculptures made of plastic tubing by Theo Jansen. Powered by the wind, they stalk menacingly around the beaches of Holland, patrolling the zone between the water and the dunes. If you have never seen one, then go straightaway here or here.
I saw them for the first time on an episode of QI, and was instantly captivated. Seeing them move, you see some complicated whirling and an insectile flexing of the limbs, but the exact mechanism of how they walk is almost concealed. Googling around, I found that the inimitable Adam Savage from Mythbusters was similarly obsessed, and discovered that it is possible to buy kits to make some miniature versions. I immediately purchased one and put it together - as you can see here.
Basically, their movements are wonderful, I could watch them all day. Go now and look at one, or make one for yourself.
In an act of pure serendipity I found an radio-controlled strandbeest in a "reduced-to-clear" bin. Hard to believe that they weren't snapped up immediately.
There are a lot of physics blogs out there - but most of them deal with particle physics or astronomy. There are only a few dealing with condensed matter or solid state physics, but what they lack in quantity they gain in quality. I can recommend:
Uncertain Principles, Chad Orzel's blog on physics at the interface between atomic/optical and condensed matter
nanoscale views, Doug Natelson's take on condensed matter and nanoscale physics
Shtetl optimized, Scott Aaronson's blog on computation and quantum computation
Sadly both Incoherently Scattered Proceedings, The Quantum Pontiff, and Swans on Tea have hung up their blogging hats. However I can thoroughly recommend some other blogs which I have taken to reading recently:
This Condensed Life, a blog about Condensed Matter Physics that Trespasses on Topical Tangents
Condensed Concepts, "Ruminations on emergent phenomena in condensed phases of matter". Ross Mackenzie's fascinating blog on condensed matter physics
Journal Club for Condensed Matter Physics. Just what it says on the tin.
Web-comics for the geekily-inclined
Cricket As you might expect, the Spanish coverage of The Beautiful Game is a bit erratic. Thanks to the wonders of the web, however, ball-by-ball coverage and all sorts of other goodies can be obtained at Cricinfo.
I spent the summer of 2012 in Utrecht, visiting the group of Cristiane de Morais Smith. To anyone making a stay in Utrecht I can thoroughly recommend the B&B run by Jan and his wife Geeske,