Thursday, March 31, 2016
The Mansplaining Hotline
Mansplaining has been around forever, even though it’s only had a name for a few years. And some women actually push back sometimes. What’s a guy to do? Call someone who will listen to you explain things, no matter how much she already knows about it! (via Metafilter)
Really, just recently a guy said to me, "Do you know about (whatever it was) ?"
Me: "Yes."
And then he launched into a thorough explanation, as if I had said "No," that was an elementary rehash of what I'd learned years ago about the subject. He wasn't listening, he was waiting to talk, and he didn't even entertain the thought that I might already know.
Miss Cellania's Links
13 Things You Need To Know About The People V. O.J. Simpson. “Our key marching order for the show was: Tell people what they don’t know.”
A horror story made up entirely of front-page headlines from Weather.com. Some are actually promotional teaser lines, but each is linked to the original story.
Meet the Spring-Cleaning, Anti-Clutter Pros. The biggest requirement for the job is a willingness to do it.
Google Earth Engine combined Landsat images of the Ucayali River in Peru over thirty years time to illustrate the advancing meanders, which culminate in the creation of an oxbow lake.
Mark Hogancamp was beaten by badly by five men in 2000 that he lost his memory and had to learn to walk and talk all over again. As he recovered, he found his muse in constructing a 1/6 scale world called Marwencol, a World War II fantasyland.
Only a**holes bother poirnting out typos, accroding to new study.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
On the Catwalk
Just strolling down the walkway in a nature sanctuary when this happened. It’s hard to tell who is more scared. The top reddit comment says it all.
If I saw that I'd puma pants.Tina Dorschel recorded this encounter on a walkway at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Naples in Florida. (via reddit)
The Evolution of a River
I took my first college courses at the age of six, because Mom got a job and Dad took me to work with him as he taught geology and geography during summer school. I was fascinated by the lesson on how rivers matured. As the coursing water bounces off the banks from side to side, it creates meanders, which widen until they are completely cut off from the main flow, creating oxbow lakes. There’s a pretty good explanation of the process here.
Fifty years later, we get to see the process happening on earth, thanks to satellite imagery. Google Earth Engine combined Landsat images of the Ucayali River in Peru over thirty years time to illustrate the advancing meanders, which culminate in the creation of an oxbow lake. Read more about this particular progression at Hindered Settling. (via Boing Boing)
Miss Cellania's Links
The Mystery of the Phantom Page Turner.
Top 10 April Fools' Day Pranks. You still have time to prepare these for Friday’s shenanigans.
The Punisher: A Marvel Universe Reading Guide. If you like the TV show, you’re going to love the comic books.
Carl Sagan Talks Aliens in New Animated Clip from PBS. His vision of them is nothing like Hollywood’s.
Adorable Tiger Cubs Turn Into Fearsome Big Cats Over Course Of One Year. Siberian tigers are so cute, at a safe distance.
Medieval monks invented King Arthur’s grave as an attraction to raise money. P.T. Barnum would have been proud.
How Russia is fortifying the Arctic. Less ice is opening up ocean routes that may be worth fighting over.
It’s Cherry Blossom Time! This year’s festival is going on in Washington through April 17th, but the trees are blooming now.
That One Lightsaber
This video tells the story of a family through one object that is passed down from one generation to the next. So far it’s been only two generations: Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, who owned this particular lightsaber, but in the coming Star Wars movies we will learn who the next rightful owner will be. My bets are not on Kylo Ren, although he believes he is entitled to it.
That part about “Your father wanted you to have it when you’re old enough” was pure BS, but it was easier than Obi-Wan explaining how many people had been killed by that weapon. Christopher Sherwood compiled clips from a half-dozen Star Wars films to tell the story of Luke’s strangely color-changing lightsaber. (via Buzzfeed)
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
The Castles of Phoenix
Researching one castle in Phoenix, Arizona, led to the discovery of another castle, which led to another. How many castles can one city in the American desert have? At least four, and all with interesting stories behind them. Read about each of them in an article I wrote for mental_floss.
Miss Cellania's Links
Naked Lady Politics. When the GOP battle devolves into “whose wife is hotter,” what will the winner do when they have to face Hillary Clinton?
The singing road that plays "America the Beautiful.”
A History Of Batman Movies That Almost Were.
20 Fashionable Facts About Miami Vice.
Star Trek brought heat to the Cold War. Even while decrying the stupidity of warfare, the series still championed American values.
Money Makes Men Think Their Partners Are Less Physically Attractive. With a few more bucks, they think they can do better.
The Demonic Origins of Ventriloquism. The art of ventriloquism went through a lot of different stages, and most of them had to do with the supernatural.
One Chart Explains What Your Pee Says About Your Health. Have you taken a good look lately?
Twins June and Jennifer Gibbons had oddly synchronous lives. They made the decision that one of them would have to die to free the other.
Group Jump Rope Routine
These are year 6 students at a school in Japan. Not a one of them gets tangled up in the rope, and no one falls. That alone is remarkable, but wait until you see how they do it. As far as I can tell, there’s about 60 kids here, and they all jump rope together in groups of four to six kids, with no pauses in between ever. This video was originally posted to Facebook by the Fuji Jump Rope Association. (via the Presurfer)
Monday, March 28, 2016
Eluveitie
Eluveitie is folk metal band from Switzerland that performs with bagpipes, fiddle, and hurdy-gurdy. From Wikipedia:
Eluveitie describe themselves as "The new wave of folk metal".[10] The band's style incorporates characteristics of melodic death metal combined with the melodies of traditional Celtic music. They use traditional European instruments, including the hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes, amidst guitars and both clean and harsh vocals. Their lyrics include references to Celtic mythology, particularly the Celtic Gaul village. The lyrics are often in the extinct ancient language Gaulish. The name of the band comes from graffiti on a vessel from Mantua (ca. 300 BC).[11] The inscription in Etruscan letters reads eluveitie, which has been interpreted as the Etruscan form of the Celtic (h)elvetios (“the Helvetian”),[12] presumably referring to a man of Helvetian descent living in Mantua.Drop the vocals, and this would be so awesome.
Crazy YouTube Conspiracy Videos
Even though Last Week Tonight wasn’t on this week, John Oliver takes care of the internet audience by recording a web exclusive. This one is about crazy conspiracy videos, in which people take tenuous connections and connect dots that don’t connect at all.
Miss Cellania's Links
Why The New Year’s Attacks On Women In Germany Weren’t Even A Crime. “We [men] can hardly know, with a simple ‘no,’ whether she really means it.”
Celebrated For You: The Birthdays of Hollywood Directors. Guess who the director is from the look of their cakes and candles.
15 Big Facts About My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Should Parents of Children With Severe Disabilities Be Allowed to Stop Their Growth? (via Metafilter, where you’ll find a thought-provoking discussion)
Batman and Superman have fought each other many times before. Here are 10 Unexpected Reasons Behind Past Batman vs. Superman Battles.
“Sad Papaw” went viral when everyone felt sorry for him. So he threw a party and invited the entire internet!
A brief history of body odor. Our standards of personal hygiene have changed quite a bit over time.
An Open Letter To Supergirl Stars Melissa Benoist and Chyler Leigh, From An Adoptive Mom. (via Metafilter)
A Math Riddle
You might expect someone to jump to conclusions and give the same answer as this girl before thinking too much. But when you make it clear that that answer is wrong, the normal procedure would be to think it through and come up with something different. She’s having a hard time with that, which is what makes this funny. (via Viral Viral Videos)
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Body-Positive Underwear Ad for Men
Aerie, American Eagle’s underwear division, made a small splash last year with an ad campaign that featured woman who weren’t Photoshopped. They were still young and beautiful models, so the response was not exactly overwhelming. Now they’ve released a similar ad for men’s underwear, which is spoof of how women’s underwear is marketed. Besides parodying ads aimed at women, it highlights how “body-positivity” isn’t much of a struggle for men. You can see more of the models Devon, Kelvin, Matt, and Doug at the Aerie website. (via reddit)
The LEGO Batman Movie Teaser
Warner Bros. is taking the next step in the Batman franchise …or maybe the next step in the LEGO Movie franchise, by bringing us Lego Batman! Check out the first teaser trailer, filled with action, except that part where Batman reheats his lobster thermidor in the microwave. With Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice now in theaters, it was a good enough time to unveil this one. The LEGO Batman Movie will be in theaters in 2017. (via Metafilter)
Saturday, March 26, 2016
How Airplanes Deal with Sewage
You used to hear about chunks of blue sewage falling off airplanes and crashing through roofs or even hitting someone on the ground. That doesn’t happen much anymore, because airlines use a more modern system, although I can imagine some of the older planes haven’t caught up yet. Here’s how it works, from the folks at Smithsonian.
Bless Lothar and all the working folks who do the dirty jobs that enable us to live in a civilized age. By the way, when they mention “long haul flights” in which you get two meals, they are talking about international flights. You can fly from one end of the US to the other and not get a meal these days, but few people bemoan the lack of airline food. (via Bits and Pieces)
Star Wars Episodes IV and VII Comparison
When you saw The Force Awakens, you were reminded of the first Star Wars movie, admit it. But you don’t know how close they really are until you’ve seen this shot-for-shot comparison.
But when you put two wide-screen movies side-by-side, they are way too small on an internet video, so you’ll want to make this full-screen to really see the similarities. Yes, this contains spoilers. I think. (via Digg)
Friday, March 25, 2016
Miss Cellania's Links
The 13th Annual Smithsonian.com Photo Contest has announced their winners. The 2016 contest is now taking submissions.
Life Is Hell After Narcan, Heroin’s Miracle Cure.
The Blood on The Walking Dead. The show’s prop master explains why they use so many different kinds of blood. (via Digg)
Abandoned Glasgow: 10 Derelict Places in Scotland’s Largest City.
Death Wish and The Golden Age of Vigilante Movies. Angry people felt cathartic pleasure in seeing the good guys break bad on the screen.
50 Signs of Hope for Culture in 2016. There’s a lot of new things that might just stick around a while.
How Biological Anthropology Works. The way humans evolve and adapt will never be uninteresting.
Goat Rituals and Tree-Trunk Gravestones: The Peculiar History of Life Insurance.
9 Strange and Different Easter Treats. Try them while eggs are still on sale!
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Watermelon Experiment Gone Wrong
If you put enough rubber bands around a watermelon, it will eventually explode, although it may take hundreds of rubber bands to do it. A lot of other people have tried this “experiment” in the years since, but for some reason, these young fellows were allowed to do it inside the house. What could possibly go wrong? (via Uproxx)
Virtual Reality Dad
There’s no need to invest in Oculus Rift or another virtual reality gadget when you’ve got TV and a Dad who’s willing to help out! (Though a commenter did call this “Oculus Thrift”.) Too bad this idea will be shelved when the child gains another twenty pounds or so. Still, she’ll probably remember this adventure for the rest of her life. (via reddit)
6 Easter Customs from Around the World
Easter is celebrated around the globe, but the customs can be very
different depending on where you live. The feast dishes, the public
celebrations, even the candy we consume often has a local flavor. Learn about some ways that people celebrate Easter in different countries in a list I posted at mental_floss.
Image: Patrizia via Flickr
Miss Cellania's Links
Multiple Talents Can Be a Curse. Should you choose one thing, or try them all?
The Science of Skin Color. Angela Koine Flynn fills us in on how our different hues all came about.
11 Single Facts About Bridget Jones’s Diary.
The Most Spectacular Dystopia of the 1970s. The creator of Scarfolk tells how it came about.
19 Times Someone Gets Thrown Into the Vacuum of Space, ranked from worst to best. The problem is that “scientifically accurate” is not all that dramatic.
What it’s like to play Tinder in rural America. In a word: disappointing.
What it’s like to be bitten by a funnel web spider. A riveting story tols in colorful language by an Australian who’s been there, done that.
A new survey shows that women quit their jobs not because of family concerns, but because you don’t pay them enough to stay. This is only surprising to male workplace managers. (via Metafilter, where you’ll find a great discussion)
Peeps on Television: 20 Shows Starring Marshmallow Peeps. You’d recognize these characters anywhere.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
How The Force Awakens Should Have Ended -in LEGO!
The YouTube channel How It Should Have Ended takes a left turn with their latest video. Instead of taking The Force Awakens and making it more logical (which they’ve already done), they imagined a scenario in which Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker face off in battle. And it’s in LEGO! HISHE collaborated with Brotherhood Workshop to produce this video for SXSW’s Video Game Awards ceremony. They should do more of these. Contains minor spoilers. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Miss Cellania's Links
The Story Behind the Deadpool Title Sequence. And there are videos. (via Metafilter)
The 30 Funniest Single Panels in Comic Book History.
22 Pictures That Show How Different England And America Truly Are.
An Experimental Autism Treatment Cost Me My Marriage. Reading emotions in other people can be overwhelming if you’re not used to it.
The Pre-Internet Viral Video. Heavy Metal Parking Lot is still a hit 30 years later. (via Digg)
Massage Lotion Leads to Bathroom Gardens.
The Troubled Production of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. After years of waffling, Paramount suddenly wanted it done immediately.
18 Terrifying Easter Bunnies. Has there ever been a rabbit costume that wasn’t terrifyingly creepy?
How my fantasy of marriage settled into the reality of marriage. Sooner or later, you learn what’s really important.
6 Songs About Bananas
Bananas are delicious, nutritious, and are considered the funniest of fruits. No wonder they're frequent fodder for songwriters. What's your favorite banana song? Read about six of them, while they play along on video, in a list I posted at mental_floss.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Bowling Tricks with Andy Varipapa
In this 1948 short, we see trick shot bowler Andy Varipapa perform an increasingly complex sequence of strikes that should not be humanly possible. If you are impatient, skip the first minute. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Miss Cellania's Links
A Brief History of Rock Stars Destroying Guitars. Not all the damage is done intentionally.
Phil Collins had a long career, then retired, and is now back at work. In an interview, he talks about everything he’s been up to in the past 35 years.
The Best Star Trek Episodes for Science Fans and Skeptics. They don’t have all the answers, but they will make you think.
Hollywood Peeps: 15 Oscar-Winning Films in Marshmallow.
11 Great BB-8 Cosplays.
The Lost City of Benin. While medieval Europe was dealing with feudalism, barbarian invasions, and the plague, Africa boasted a magnificent city with straight roads, record-breaking fortifications, and even street lamps. (via Metafilter)
Victorian Secret: Sitting in a Lobster Bustle Skirt Is Easier Than It Looks.
13 Fast Facts About Easy Rider. contains spoilers, but that shouldn’t keep you from reading it, or watching the movie eventually.
Comcast failed to install Internet for 10 months and then demanded $60,000 in fees. And no one is surprised.
Monday, March 21, 2016
The Border Wall
Some folks think that we can stop illegal immigration by building a tall wall along the US-Mexico border. John Oliver takes a closer look at the nuts and bolts of that idea, which has been tried before, on last night’s episode of Last Week Tonight.
Miss Cellania's Links
Out Here, No One Can Hear You Scream. The dangerous culture of male entitlement and sexual hostility hiding within America's national parks and forests. (via Metafilter)
The Secret Trash Museum in New York.
A Complete List of Donald Trump’s Business Disasters. Well, all of them outside real estate.
Classic Short Stories, Summarized By Someone Who Has Never Read Them.
10 of the Most Groundbreaking Female Politicians in Pop Culture. These successful fictional women highlight the difficulties of breaking the glass ceiling.
23 Jokes That Are Both Stupid And Smart. They are intellectual groaners, high concept, low humor.
An Experimental Autism Treatment Cost Me My Marriage. This story highlights the need to add professional counseling to experimental treatments, just in case they work.
Why you should really start talking to old people more. That’s where you find out what the rest of life is really like.
Dirty Laundry and Civil War Espionage. Union intelligence let the Confederates’ racial prejudice work against them.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Art of Time
This Japanese ad for Seiko watches features the world’s tiniest Rube Goldberg contraption. Since it is an ad, I can’t say for sure that there is no video magic involved, but a couple of instances of human intervention would lead one to think not. The device is composed of 1200 mechanical watch parts, the smallest being less than a millimeter in size. The final sequence sure is pretty. The video description focuses on the song, which was composed by Seiko CEO Shinji Hattori, with lyrics by Seiko employees, and sung by Etsuko Yakushimaru. (via Viral Viral Videos)
Friday, March 18, 2016
Chloe Ate the Lipstick
I believe this dog named Chloe is in trouble. But can you blame her? First off, she sees you putting that pink stuff to your mouth every day. Second, it smells good, like they usually do. Third, she’s a dog; they will eat anything. And we know what Chloe just ate. I live in a home that has neither dogs nor lipstick. But my first thought was still about the difficulty of getting lipstick out of the carpet. (via Uproxx)
