Saturday, November 30, 2013
Once in a Lifetime
This 1932 pre-code film is based on the George S. Kaufman/Moss Hart stage comedy of the same name. It's about the difficulties Hollywood went through switching from silent films to talkies.
The Problem
The headline that came with this picture at reddit: "I was putting up Christmas lights, but now it looks like I'm stuck on the roof for the time being. Shit."
Well, he has his phone, so he took a picture and posted it to the internet. Would it be so hard to call someone to come help? Even if he doesn't know anyone, there's a solution:
Bravo!
Cats Giving a High Five
Even when you discount the ones in which someone is trying to train a cat with treats, this is an impressive number of high five-giving cats! (via Buzzfeed)
Are Imperial Measurements Outdated?
Matt Parker from Number Hub explains how logical and intuitive our imperial system of measurement is. Why would anyone want to give up such a wonderful system to go metric? How boring it would be to know everything is a multiple of ten -and that you can relate units of length to units of volume, weight, and other dimensions! This video only deals with units of length. We imagine if he got started on imperial liquid volume measurements, such nonsense could go on all day. However, Parker does have a video on the odd way we measure paper. (via Viral Viral Videos)
Friday, November 29, 2013
The A Cappella Little Drummer Boy
Pentatonix sings "The Little Drummer Boy" from their new Christmas album PTXmas, which contains eight a cappella versions of classic Christmas carols.
(via Viral Viral Videos)
Bears Doing Human Things
Bears doing human things in a circus because they are trained to: not funny. Bears doing human things in an everyday setting because they just look like they are: funny! A whole lot of bears put together in one video: really cute. (via Viral Viral Videos)
Jack
Jack English lives in a cabin he built himself deep in the Ventana Wilderness in California. Now 93 years old, he lives exactly the way he wants to: self-sufficient and close to nature.
It's not that I don't like people; I do. But I don't like swarms of them.English bought the property he lives on back in the 1970s. He and his wife built the cabin from nearby rocks and timber, and any other materials were hauled by by mule or on Jack's back. Since his wife died in 2000, he's lived there full time, chopping his own firewood and hand-crafting violin bows for a living. This beautiful video by Grace Jackson lets English tell you the story in his own words. (via the Presurfer)
If this leaves you wanting to know more about English, photographer Bob Towery wrote a six-part series about Jack English a few years ago.
Miss Cellania's Links
The Lake Monsters of America.
Goats in Sweaters.
Who has the tallest Christmas tree in America?
Candy and Gingerbread Galleries by Henry Hargreaves and Caitlin Levin.
Among American workers, poll finds unprecedented anxiety about jobs, economy.
Video of a Computer Model Reconstruction of the Elephant Man Reciting a Poem (and how they did it).
15 Things You Might Not Know About Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Beauty Value Research Review.
Cooking Up Meteors
Aaron Paul (formerly of Breaking Bad) tells the story about that time he pranked his roommate Dave into thinking there was a meteor shower in the backyard. Just when you start to get tired of the story, it takes a left turn that will make your mouth fall open.
Is it true? It's not the first time he told the story, and this clip has proof. (via Daily of the Day)
Miss Cellania's Thanksgiving Links
What to Watch on TV Thanksgiving Weekend.
20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Balloons Used to Be Extremely Creepy.
A WKRP Thanksgiving Quiz. http://mentalfloss.com/node/14069/take
11 Steps For Cooking A PERFECT Thanksgiving Turkey. From the Onion. (via Slate)
Answers to All the Tech Questions Your Family Will Ask You This Holiday.
Thanksgiving: When Lots of College Freshmen Return to Dump Their High-School Sweethearts. (via Fark)
When Thanksgiving Meant a Fancy Meal Out on the Town.
How We Used to Give Thanks in Wartime.
The Ten Best Things about Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Christmas Time At Disneyland & California.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Car L Meets the Lions
I showed you National Geographic's experience with taking pictures of lions with a remote-control robot camera. This is a different story, in a different country, in which we get to see what goes on behind the scenes. Photographer Chris McLennan and engineer Carl Hansen fashioned a robot camera to take close up photographs of lions in Botswana. The lions acted just as your house cats do when confronted by a novel toy moving seemingly on its own. The video was shot from a safe distance, but did they get the close up pictures they wanted? You betcha! (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
Miss Cellania's Links
A 15-year-old commits armed robbery, and gets six life sentences plus 118 years. (via Metafilter)
Vintage Photos of Dressed-up Pets. (via mental_floss)
You think Americans are bad at naming all the states on a map? Wait until you see how the British do on the US map!
Michael Jordan's Chicago home is up for sale to the highest bidder. Take a look inside the 56,000 square foot house and see what you think it's worth.
9 True Crime Books That Will Absolutely Disturb You. I've read enough of them to vouch for the accuracy of this list.
The War on Thanksgiving. Black Friday was bad enough, but now retail workers have to give up their holiday to satisfy the race for Christmas shopping dollars.
Friendly reminder: Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Two stories that didn't pass the smell test ended up in the mainstream media before all the facts were in.
6 Real Heists More Badass Than Any Movie. (via Daily of the Day)
Out of the Ordinary Thanksgivings. Stuff happens, but when you just go with the flow, you can end up with a holiday to remember and cherish.
America's Funniest Thanksgiving Disasters
America's Funniest Videos posted a compilation of Thanksgiving clips as a seasonal greeting. If nothing this horrible happens to you during the family get-together, you can consider your celebration a success. But if one of these horrors really does happen, I hope you get it on video! (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
9 Hanukkah-Thanksgiving Fusion Dishes
OSU Marching Band Does the Gettysburg Address
At the last home game of the season Saturday, the Ohio State University marching band does a tribute to the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. They play songs of the era while making impossibly complicated formations and animated figures. The University Glee Club also makes an appearance. (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
Miss Cellania's Links
38 Pictures That Prove Cats Have Hearts Of Gold.
The Neuroscientist Who Discovered He Was a Psychopath. (via Digg)
When You’re Poor, Bad Decisions Are Rational. Lack of hope for a better tomorrow makes all the difference.
Eau My! is George Takei's signature fragrance. (via Blazenfluff)
The 15 Most Influential Animals That Ever Lived. These set the standard to which Grumpy Cat and Boo can aspire.
31 Things No One Tells You About Becoming A Parent. That extra 15 pounds is from leftovers, not ice cream.
10 Fascinating, Unbelievable Facts About Infomercials That You Probably Didn’t Know. Well, some you may already know, like the products are overpriced, cheap crap.
They said it wouldn't last, but John and Ann Betar have been married for 81 years, the longest of any American couple. John says, "The key is to always agree with your wife."
Five Other Thanksgiving Holidays. Our turkey feast this week is a particularly American event, but many countries set aside a day to be thankful in one way or another.
The Thanksgivukkah Anthem
The confluence of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving is rare enough that the NeatoShop designed a commemorative t-shirt. Now we have a song for the occasion, too! The Jewish a cappella group Six13 gives us a Thanksgivukkah song that will be good for exactly ...three more days. So make the most of it while you can, and send a greeting to someone with the song through the group's website. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Monday, November 25, 2013
Ward's First Year
Ward Miles was born three and a half months premature. You'll first see him at four days old, the first time his mama Lyndsey got the chance to hold him. You can see her fear, joy, and sadness all at once as she cradles her super tiny son who is covered with tubes and monitors. But Miles was a fighter, and came home a few months later, near his original due date (and on his mother's birthday). You can read more of his story at HuffPo.
Miles' father, filmmaker and photographer Benjamin Scot Miller, made this video of their baby's first year as the next year's birthday gift for Lyndsey. You may want to have a hankie ready. (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
Miss Cellania's Links
Unaccountable: The high cost of the Pentagon's bad bookkeeping. (via Metafilter)
Adam Koford's Down with the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats.
Why I Make Terrible Decisions, or, poverty thoughts. (via Boing Boing)
The first three women ever have graduated from Marine Corps infantry training. But they still have to wait two years to be assigned to a combat unit.
10 Legendary Celebrity Parties. Magic happens at the intersection of celebration and public relations.
How To Win Every Thanksgiving Argument. The downside is that you might not be invited back next year.
The 35 Most Touching Photos on the Internet. You'll smile one moment, and then cry in the next.
What do you do when the local police keep arresting your employees and customers for trespassing and loitering? (via Metafilter) The police are circling the wagons.
Marion Stokes Taped 35 Years Of TV News. Now it belongs to the Internet Archive. (via mental_floss)
Rob Ford: The Movie
Toronto mayor Rob Ford is constantly in the news for smoking crack, cavorting with prostitutes, and making a mockery of city government. The question is: who will play him in the inevitable movie version? Despite having died in 1997, Chris Farley is the number one choice. And that movie has already been made. (via Time Newsfeed)
Chapter One: Thanksgiving Menu
Several family members may or may not show up for Thanksgiving, and all are welcome, but I hope the ones I am specifically cooking for are really hungry. You see, the key to Thanksgiving in my family is apparently carbohydrates. In this case, starchy side dishes.
Everyone has their own idea of tradition and comfort food. For Thanksgiving, these come together in that everyone wants the comfort food of their childhood. My originating family always ate grandma's turkey dressing recipe of cornbread and onions and a few other simple ingredients that turns out oh so delicious. To make this recipe properly, you have to have the background of eating it every year and helping make it, so you know how much of each ingredient to use. Otherwise, you really don't know how you are doing until it's done. This is what I make every year, and it's comfort food to me.
My husband, however, is from California. He doesn't care for cornbread much at all, unless it's full of sugar, which clashes with my Southern sensibilities. His traditional Thanksgiving comfort food is Stovetop Stuffing. He will have it, which is okay as one of the kids likes it, too.
Lest you think he comes from an instant food tradition, he insists that mashed potatoes be a part of the feast, and they cannot be instant. So we will also have mashed potatoes, which he gets to make. I've got enough to deal with with the 24-pound bird and everything else. I will triple the gravy recipe.
The kids' grandmother, who is my late husband's mother, always made chicken and dumplings as a side dish for Thanksgiving. I never really understood it, as I consider chicken and dumplings to be a main dish. My older daughter feels that dumplings are a tradition, and she particularly likes them. But that grandmother is too old to cook now, and I never cared for dumplings at all. So my mother has volunteered to help Princess make chicken and dumplings for Thanksgiving.
A couple of years ago, Princess asked why we don't serve sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving like everyone else. Goodness, child, how many starchy side dishes will the table hold? At the time, I was trying to get the kids to try new foods, and she liked sweet potatoes, so I made some for Thanksgiving. This year, she's getting her brown sugar fix with glazed carrots instead.
For a few years, I also offered macaroni and cheese for dinner, particularly for picky children who won't find much else to eat among the traditional dishes. That's gone by the wayside, too, and I'm glad. My younger daughter doesn't eat any starchy carbs, so she gets her dose of tradition from deviled eggs.
So that's four current starchy side dishes and two discontinued ones. We won't have any trouble putting on a layer of fat for winter! I'm just glad we never had much of a controversy over crescent rolls vs. brown-and-serve rolls vs. my sister-in-law's homemade challah. The challah wins out, because it's good and anyone who suggests we need more than one kind of bread for Thanksgiving will get what for from me.
Thanks to Brother Bill for the graphic, which is part of a set that is forcing me to actually write more personal content for my personal blog. There's more to come.
Everyone has their own idea of tradition and comfort food. For Thanksgiving, these come together in that everyone wants the comfort food of their childhood. My originating family always ate grandma's turkey dressing recipe of cornbread and onions and a few other simple ingredients that turns out oh so delicious. To make this recipe properly, you have to have the background of eating it every year and helping make it, so you know how much of each ingredient to use. Otherwise, you really don't know how you are doing until it's done. This is what I make every year, and it's comfort food to me.
My husband, however, is from California. He doesn't care for cornbread much at all, unless it's full of sugar, which clashes with my Southern sensibilities. His traditional Thanksgiving comfort food is Stovetop Stuffing. He will have it, which is okay as one of the kids likes it, too.
Lest you think he comes from an instant food tradition, he insists that mashed potatoes be a part of the feast, and they cannot be instant. So we will also have mashed potatoes, which he gets to make. I've got enough to deal with with the 24-pound bird and everything else. I will triple the gravy recipe.
The kids' grandmother, who is my late husband's mother, always made chicken and dumplings as a side dish for Thanksgiving. I never really understood it, as I consider chicken and dumplings to be a main dish. My older daughter feels that dumplings are a tradition, and she particularly likes them. But that grandmother is too old to cook now, and I never cared for dumplings at all. So my mother has volunteered to help Princess make chicken and dumplings for Thanksgiving.
A couple of years ago, Princess asked why we don't serve sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving like everyone else. Goodness, child, how many starchy side dishes will the table hold? At the time, I was trying to get the kids to try new foods, and she liked sweet potatoes, so I made some for Thanksgiving. This year, she's getting her brown sugar fix with glazed carrots instead.
For a few years, I also offered macaroni and cheese for dinner, particularly for picky children who won't find much else to eat among the traditional dishes. That's gone by the wayside, too, and I'm glad. My younger daughter doesn't eat any starchy carbs, so she gets her dose of tradition from deviled eggs.
So that's four current starchy side dishes and two discontinued ones. We won't have any trouble putting on a layer of fat for winter! I'm just glad we never had much of a controversy over crescent rolls vs. brown-and-serve rolls vs. my sister-in-law's homemade challah. The challah wins out, because it's good and anyone who suggests we need more than one kind of bread for Thanksgiving will get what for from me.
Thanks to Brother Bill for the graphic, which is part of a set that is forcing me to actually write more personal content for my personal blog. There's more to come.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Cat Trapeze Act
Whatever in the world gave this cat the idea that you can just walk across a clothesline like that? (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
World Record Tallest Domino Fall
An array of over 100,000 dominos was set up by the group Austrian Domino Art with help from HLUW Yspertal students (the fall took place at the school). Five months of preparation and four days of setup went into this stunt.
Last Thursday, for Guinness World Records Day, they were all pushed over. The world record was broken for the tallest domino structure, which was over 6 meters tall and consisted of 11,465 dominoes! The performance includes the "guy setting up dominos at the last second" trick, which always lends a little tension. That job takes nerves of steel. (via Viral Viral Videos)
Friday, November 22, 2013
Breaking Bad Stars Read Series Finale Script
Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul were recorded as they found out how Breaking Bad would end. It gets a little bit emotional as they realize it will all soon be over.
Yes, this contains spoilers, so if you want to be surprised when you get around to watching the last season of Breaking Bad, skip this video. It wouldn't mean as much to you anyway, as it would to someone who has seen how the series ended. This featurette is from the boxed Breaking Bad home video set. (via Digg)
Miss Cellania's Links
36 Stunning Color Photos Of The Kennedy White House. The picture of John-John at the controls of Marine One presage another family tragedy to come.
The Republic of Madawaska--A Short-Lived Nation on the US-Canadian Border.
Hawaii politician wields sledgehammer to address homeless problem.
Find the Invisible Cow. When you find it, click on it. Warning: sound. (via Metafilter)
The Topography of Tears: Do Tears of Joy and Sorrow Look Different Under the Microscope?
Obamacare Shows How Americans Are Becoming Jerks.
How to Animate Still Photos using the Parallax Effect.
Retailers are pushing Black Friday sales earlier and earlier -in some cases, even before Thanksgiving. It's a desperate move to get the spending money you don't have.
The posthumous Scottsboro pardons: Too little, too late. The best it can do is to remind us of the shameful past.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
A Very Cosby Thanksgiving
Bill Cosby sends his sincere Thanksgiving greetings in a story about how cavemen prepared turkey. Appropriately, the caveman is wearing a Cosby -style sweater.
Cosby is making a comeback at the age of 76. His first standup special "Bill Cosby: Far From Finished" will air on Comedy Central Saturday evening. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Miss Cellania's Links
Why did USA Today refer to The Best Man Holiday as “Race-Themed” when it's not at all about race or racism? Because the romantic comedy has a mostly black cast.
Regional Baby Names: names that were significantly more popular in certain areas of the US than they were in other areas, mapped by decade. (via Laughing Squid)
Our Ancestors Bred with Neanderthals, Denisovans, and "Mystery Humans." Maybe extraterrestrials? (via Boing Boing)
Why Wal-Mart can afford to give its workers a 50% raise. Yes, there will be math involved.
Ben Blatt spent three hours in a Barnes & Noble going through all seven primary Where's Waldo books to figure out a system for finding Waldo. (via Metafilter)
10 Delightful Dave Grohl Facts To Remind You Dave Grohl Is The King Of Cool Rock Stars. Anyone can be talented, but Grohl is also funny and downright nice to people.
Adam took the opportunity of a rap battle to propose to his girlfriend Rapunsell live on stage. I bet he got extra points for that.
Fifty years later, people are still trying to figure out who killed President Kennedy. The craziest conspiracy theories range from an accidental discharge to aliens.
11 Impressive Thanksgiving Cupcakes. If you picture anything normally on a Thanksgiving dinner table, it can also be made into a cupcake.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Cyriak Plays with Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien entrusted Cyriak Harris and Nick denBoer (Smearballs ) to edit 150 hours of his show CONAN into a highlight reel. The result is another work of art with the unmistakable Cyriak look. Yes, it eventually has a cow. (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
Miss Cellania's Links
Owning Cats Can Inflict Permanent Damage To Mental Health But Nobody Bothered To Warn Us.
Cook Dinner in Your Coffeemaker! (via Uproxx)
Jeffrey and Jermaine are brother dogs who spend every minute together. That's because Jeffrey is blind and his littermate is his seeing-eye dog.
The internet is changing the way we use language. We just thought it was online slang, but "because" is now considered a preposition.
The Fathomless Mysteries of the Deepest Lake on Earth. Russia's Lake Baikal has 20% of the world's fresh water and plenty of myths and legends.
Only 14 people in the world are the sole survivors of commercial airline crashes. A new documentary tells the stories of four people who live with the gratitude and guilt that comes with a miracle.
The Verrückt Meg-A-Blaster will be the world's tallest waterside when it opens in Kansas City next year. One look at it and I'm all NOPE NOPE NOPE NO WAY.
Jack Vale convinces strangers he's either a psychic or a stalker in a social media experiment. The truth is, they gave all that personal information away to the public without reservation.
Haunting Civil War portraits. For many, it was the only photo they ever sat for, taken in case they never came home.
The Hungry Games: Catching Fur
The Sesame Street Muppets present their parody version of The Hunger Games. Cookie Monster stars as Cookiness Evereat who must lead her team through trials that strain the brain (and the monster's self-control), but in this version, nobody has to kill anyone. Best pun: Peeta is a piece of pita. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
The Wall of Boxes
It's human Jenga! In an episode of Japan's TV series Gaki No Tsukai, contestants perch on a wall of cardboard boxes and try not to fall. The show makes it very difficult, of course. Keep your eyes on the subtitles, because they spend all their time giving each other grief through the various trials. (via reddit)
Miss Cellania's Links
Pola Negri: A Life in the Gossip Columns. (via Metafilter)
The Warcraft Wedding.
Dinovember: Bringing Toy Dinosaurs to Life. Much funnier than the title implies.
Wedding Planning: Expectations Vs. Reality.
"Selfie" has been declared 2013’s Word of the Year. Oxford Dictionaries had the wisdom to select it over "twerk."
They Might Be Giants covers Chumbawamba. They didn't know "Tubthumping," so the crowd helps out a lot.
20 Surprising Pulp Fiction Facts You Might Not Know. But they might just make you want to see the movie again after all these years.
Watch the hilarious blooper reel from Breaking Bad's grim final season. And as a bonus, watch the blooper reels from all the other seasons, too!
8 Thanksgiving Flowcharts. Not just a decision-making aid, but a way to take a smile break when holiday pressure gets you down.