This kind of surprised me. I went to my login page at mental_floss by accident and saw that I've been there eight years now. The last time I looked at it, it said seven years and twelve months, which is kind of amusing.
Eight years! I never worked for the same employer that long in my entire career in radio. I've actually been posting at Neatorama for longer than that, but mental_floss was the first blog that ever paid me for posting. Neatorama and YesButNoButYes started paying when they started making money.
Of course, job longevity is a double-edged sword. Thinking of topics to write about gets harder, because when some idea comes up, I've most likely already done that post by now. And after eight years, you'd think I'd be good at it. Go figure.
Jack Storms is a glass artist who doesn’t melt glass. Instead, he cuts and polishes and assembles solid glass into beautiful works of shininess. He says it can take 18 weeks to complete a project, so of course we would wonder what they sell for. You can see some of Storms’ completed works at his website, but you have to make a serious inquiry to get a price quote. That should tell you something. Meanwhile, we can learn about the process of making these cold glass sculptures. (via Digg)
Here we have a video from Kruger National Park in South Africa that doesn’t involve any blood, guts, or mutterings of “that’s nature’s way.” A lioness had somehow gotten separated from her pride -for three days. She hid in the brush and sadly called out for them. Then on the third day, here they come down the road! She wants to make sure its her pride, but as soon as she recognizes them, the party is on! (via Arbroath)
Just imagine, if this guy slides off the roof, not only will he faceplant in the front yard, but then a couch will fall on him. Hmm, notice the crutch? Maybe it's not his first time. (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
Google is no longer selling Google Glass, but insists that the company committed to to product, which will be retooled and eventually launched in a different form. That’s not very reassuring to the people who bought one, as they will no longer receive software upgrades. What happened? If you watch this video, you might think it’s telling you that forces from beyond the grave caused the failure of Google Glass, but I believe the point is hidden in the simple fact that these guys couldn’t manage to summon porn with it. (via b3ta)
It’s not unusual for the parent in the passenger seat to record video of the baby in the backseat. This compilation of clips proves that there’s a universal reaction to riding through an unexpected tunnel for these little ones. “Hey! The world changed!” Or something like that. The totally unrelated music in this video only adds to the surrealism. Metafilter has a string of puns and jokes about what’s going on in their heads, including the title of their link post: OMG, it's full of cars!
Some Facebook etiquette rules are presented here as a 194s-style educational film. Facebook is described here as “the electric friendship generator.” The anachronistic idioms are hilarious! But the advice here deals with real-life modern social conventions, and it can be boiled down to “think before you post.” (via Nag on the Lake)
This ad for the French cable channel Canal+ from the ad agency BETC Paris gives a little twist to the old story of why there are no unicorns in existence today. Yeah, the setting is still Noah’s Ark. Read more about this minute-long epic film at AdFreak. About one second of the video may be NSFW, but fine by barnyard standards. I hope that doesn’t give away too much. (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
Snickers has unveiled their Super Bowl ad. It features the Brady Bunch, Danny Trejo, and a surprise appearance by… well, let’s leave that as a surprise. (via Digg)
The “fifth Marx brother” would be Zeppo if you’re going by birth order, or Gummo, in order of popularity (Gummo only did Vaudeville and did not appear in any of the movies). However, the title actually refers to actress Margaret Dumont. Dumont is best known, even by movie fans who don’t know her name, as the “straight woman” in seven Marx Brothers films. She joined them in The Cocoanuts (1929), Animal Crackers (1930), Duck Soup (1933), A Night at the Opera (1935), A Day at the Races (1937), At the Circus (1939), and The Big Store (1941). But she had quite a career outside of the Marx Brothers. Read about Margaret Dumont in an article I posted at mental_floss.
The vast majority of my two kids’ homework assignments must be handed in electronically. The required format for most classes is an online word processing program that my kids’ 2009 Mac Mini cannot access because their system is suddenly obsolete. There was also a required online homework program or two that was not accessible by a Mac, only a PC. So they stay after school at the media center, which is often crowded with kids that have no computer at all at home. The public library is even more crowded.
Now imagine that your family cannot afford to buy an up-to-date computer. They also cannot afford to have a landline or cable installed, much less pay for the required services to access the internet. Maybe you don’t even have a permanent address. Those waiting lines to do homework are an every day thing, if you have a parent who can take you to the library. If not, you’re out of luck.
Older folks, who have enough trouble learning to use computers, now have to have internet access to get IRS forms, sign up for unemployment, get Social Security information, and so many other government services. But library budgets keep being cut, so they cannot expand their computer services, much less upgrade the obsolete equipment they have. Something’s gotta give sometime. (via Metafilter)
You could call them insanely good. This combination sport and art form is called Xpogo, and it looks terrifying. At least these guys are wearing helmets. That only makes sense, as the best practitioners are well aware of how many falls it takes to achieve this level of competence. This compilation is brought to you by the folks who do the People Are Awesome series. (Thanks, Dan!)
It’s Very Hard Not To Laugh At This Sleeping Dog Whose Owners Keep Dressing Him Up. Rufus makes the perfect somnambulistic art model.
Watch a Weatherman Stay Cool When His Map Shows Ridiculously Hot Temperatures. “I think steel boils at about this temperature.”
New York During the Great Blizzard of 1888. http://mentalfloss.com/article/61301/photos-new-york-after-blizzard-1888
Almost-two-year-old Violet Pietrok’s facial bones didn’t fuse together properly prenatally. Dr. John Meara at Boston Children’s Hospital performed surgery, with the help of 3D models made of the toddler’s skull. (via Metafilter)
It’s a scene that we will never, ever forget. The 1979 film Alien introduced the monster by having it emerge from John Hurt’s chest where it was apparently incubating. We were horrified, not only by the idea of an alien growing inside his body, but also the death of a major movie star so early in the film. The new series Art of the Scene by Cinefix looks at the nuts and bolts of conceiving, designing, and pulling off the horrific scene in the days before non-stop CGI. (via Laughing Squid)
Fadi Saleh of the YouTube channel baracksdubs has been working steadily to edit the president into singing songs for years now. This time he’s outdone himself, as Obama does the Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars song “Uptown Funk.” (via Viral Viral Videos)
Teddy Bear the talkative porcupine has predicted the winner of the last three Super Bowls. Can he make it four for four? We will find out this Sunday, but for now, let’s unveil the porcupine’s pick. (via Buzzfeed)
Children make up a particularly gullible audience, so its very tempting to impress them with whatever nonsense you want to concoct, and sometimes those tall tales have a positive effect. Or one like this could just as easily scar them for life. This tall tale was inspired by a real-life train ride with children. It was produced by British animation studio Kilogramme, which had already produced another episode of tall tales you can see here. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
The Koch brothers plan to spend nearly $900 million to buy the 2016 elections. It’s just a drop from their buckets, but it could spell disaster for us regular folks. (via Metafilter)
A lonely, damaged, and obsolete robot roams the city, looking for a human connection. But it turns out that R32 is more human than those he meets along the way. This short film by Vladimir Vlasenko might surprise you. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
Su Daocheng is a farmer in a China and a self-taught mechanical genius. He built this gas engine-powered horse to help him plow his fields, but I honestly don’t see him getting a lot of that done, at least in this version. That fact that he actually built it himself is pretty neat, yet when it starts walking, you’ll laugh out loud just like I did. Later in the video, you’ll get to see more of Su’s kinetic sculptures. (via Boing Boing)
Redditor emlod takes lots of video of his cat, Luna. She’s three years old, but still has the heart of a kitten. He made a compilation of her craziest cat behavior, which encompasses the stuff we see on individual viral cat videos: climbing, jumping, sneaking around, napping, drinking out of the faucet, chasing tiny things, play fighting, not landing on all fours, hiding, ninja attacks, maiows, and making biscuits. I think chattymcgee summed it up well:
So, I'm not a vet, but I've done a lot of internet research on my own cats. This cat appears to have a full blown case of Nut Butt, with probable early onset Furry Ninjitus. I'm sad to say I'm also seeing some indication of an infection of cinnimonbunius patikakius, known to the common man as Biscuit Makers disease.
As he's a young cat I'd advise treats, sun beams for naps, and maybe some more rugs so he stops slipping around so much and looking like a dingus.
If school’s been cancelled, or you can’t get to work due to weather or road conditions, you may be looking for distractions you can enjoy indoors. We’ve got you covered, with another round of web toys. If the weather is fine, you’ll just have to come up with another excuse to enjoy these pleasures of procrastination, found in a list I posted at mental_floss.
A large number of apparently first-time parents gather at the neighborhood park to defend their baby care choices by snarking at those who have selected a different path. I say they must be first-time parents because there’s no older kids with them, and by the time you’ve have several kids, you might tend to be less defensive and judgmental. (Then I wonder, why would you take an infant to a park?) Such dogmatism is one of the main reasons I stay away from mommy blogs and parenting forums. Chill out, moms (and dads)! (via Buzzfeed)
Thanks to market forces, particularly the demands of the French fry industry, the overwhelming majority of potatoes available in the U.S. are Russet potatoes. But a few folks are trying to bring back potato diversity. (via Digg)
The voices of Auschwitz. Seventy years on, few Holocaust survivors remain, and recording their stories is more important than ever.
Open Letter to the Man offended by Locally Laid Eggs. (Thanks Carol Anne!)
KFC introduced the Double Down Dog,
which is a hot dog enclosed by pieces of fried chicken. But they are
only available at 12 outlets in the Philippines, and today will be the
last day they’re sold.
The Smartest Person Who Ever Lived. It would have to be someone who demonstrated not only intelligence, but knowledge and creativity as well.
Matt Glendinning, the head of Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island, made the decision to close school for the big snow event. But he had to dress the announcement up a bit in the song his students have been singing for over a year now. Oh yeah, you know he had this video ready months ago, but it’s still funny. (via Time)
TheMadKing trained his girlfriend’s rabbit Wallace to deliver beer in a little pushcart! He says it was an epic accomplishment.
I couldn't have done any of this if it wasn't for Wallace, and he wouldn't have done any of it if he was given a choice... or had any brain power to make a choice.
John Oliver’s TV show Last Week Tonight is still on hiatus until February, but he’s on YouTube to give us an update. This one involves 50 Shades of Grey. (via Uproxx)
The crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation flew aboard the Enterprise for seven seasons, the first two in onesies. The jumpsuits were futuristic, but they has a tendency to ride up a bit. This led to the famous Picard Maneuver, which you’ll see over and over in this supercut. Oh, he’s not the only one doing it (Riker’s solo begins at 3:50), but the poor captain had to adjust his accoutrements in almost every scene. By the third season, the wardrobe department had seen the error of their ways and replaced the jumpsuits with shirts and pants that looked the same, but still rode up, so the shirts were still tugged down every time someone stood up. Now I wonder how much the uniforms contributed to Riker’s odd method of using a chair. (via Uproxx)
This epic supercut of move sword fights follows dozens of movies from the challenge to the bloody end. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The movies used are listed at the vimeo page. (via Neatorama)
The countdown has began, and the Super Bowl is one week away. The old cat, played by Ze Frank, explains the peculiar American holiday Super Bowl Sunday to the new cat in this Friskies ad. Makes perfect sense to me. Humans are weird. (via Neatorama)
While I check out Facebook links to bring you interesting posts, I try to stay away from my personal feed for just this reason. The people you know are always posting the best parts of their lives, which will only make you feel worse about yours. What’s more, your friends’ posts lead to you to notice other friends, and before you know it, you’re tired as well as depressed. Yes, I’m all for posting pleasantness, but among friends it can become a game of one-upmanship or trying to keep up with the Joneses, even if it’s only in your head. This song is from comedian Pat Regan. https://twitter.com/pattyregan (via Viral Viral Videos)
Peter Cohen is a home builder, so he can fix his house any way he wants to. What he wanted was to make his cats safe, healthy, and happy. One thing led to another, and now he has 15 cats and a house custom-designed for their pleasure. There are catwalks, tunnels, staircases, beds, a koi pond, ventilated litter box closets, and Roombas. So far, he’s spent almost $40,000. These cats have it made! (via Tastefully Offensive)
This morning I awoke to see my world covered in snow. The temperature is warm enough for the roads to clear and for snow to pack together nicely, yet cold enough for the white stuff to survive the day. It’s a perfect day to build a snowman, whether Elsa wants to participate or not. If you don’t have snow, enjoy these snowmen built by other folks, in a list I posted at mental_floss.
Reggie is a very patient and long-suffering cat. He’s well aware that these Australian terriers are puppies and don’t know any better, but he isn’t enjoying their company. He finally gets up to leave, but hesitates while he gets one last puppy scratch. Oh, don’t miss the half-hearted foot push at :50. (via Metafilter)
There have been three Jurassic Park movies so far, and a fourth, Jurassic World, is on the way. If you are like me and only saw the first one, the series TL;DW is here to catch you up on the entire trilogy. Or at least the parts you need to know about. What I gleaned from this recap is that I probably didn’t miss anything. I’m still open to seeing Jurassic World (because: dinosaurs), confident that it will not depend on the previous movies for plot continuity. Or something like that. (via Gamma Squad)
Can you teach the concept of futility to a dog? No, he’ll have to learn on his own. Buddy found a rock he particularly liked, but the sidewalk is not level and the rock is just too round. Will he continue to fetch it for eternity? Will he give up? Or will he figure out a way around this predicament? (via Tastefully Offensive)
We've visited many places, but I've never been in Kahoots. Apparently, you can' t go alone. You have to be in
Kahoots with someone. I've also never been in Cognito either. I hear no
one recognizes you there. I have, however, been in Sane. They don't
have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips
there, thanks to my children, friends, family and work.
I
would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too
much on physical activity anymore. I have also been in Doubt. That is a
sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often. I've been in
Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.
Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting
older. One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets
the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all
the stimuli I can get!
I have been in Continent, but I don't
remember what country I was in. It's an age thing. They tell me it is
very wet and damp there.
