(via Bad Newspaper)
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Blind Taste Test... With A Real Blind Person!
The way to know it’s a real blind test is to use a blind person. Tommy Edison is the man for the job. Can he distinguish the name brand food items from the store brand items?
I really don’t know how fair these tests are. They used Kroger store brands, which is usually better than the name brands. Not all stores have that going for them. (via Tastefully Offensive)
The Dazzling Physics of Peacock Feathers
If you spend enough time watching a peacock shake his tail feathers, you start to see weird things. We were so impressed with a peacock’s magnificent tail feathers that scientists assumed for a long time that a bird with the longest or brightest tail feathers would be the most attractive to peahens. But a new study by a team led by Roslyn Dakin of the University of British Columbia studied the way they vibrate those feathers. A a good frequency, it makes them colors even brighter, and the “eyes” of the feathers stand out without appearing to move themselves. The obvious shake is called “train rattling,” while the fine-tuned vibration is called “train shivering.” That’s where the real optical illusion comes in. No wonder peahens are impressed! Read details on the study at Gizmodo. (via the Presurfer)
How Coca-Cola is Bottled
Well, it was “bottled” in 1965, in recycled bottles, too. Here we get to see the process, all grooved up with hepcat teens doing their thing. If you are old enough, you’ll even sing along with the instrumental tune… “Things go better with Coca-Cola, things go better with Coke.”
Can you imagine the mind-numbing job of looking at bottles go by, checking for nicks and chips, all day, every day? I’m hoping those guys get to drive a truck or something at least one day a week. I know there weren't many chipped bottles, because the grocer would examine them before he's give you the deposit money. Two cents a bottle. Watching these machines do their job on thousands of bottles at once is hypnotic. That’s what it took to bring you such a groovy drink. (via Digg)
Friday, April 29, 2016
Kylo Ren with Better Dialogue
Auralnauts have re-dubbed the lines from Kylo Ren scenes in The Force Awakens, giving him the depth of character that you suspected all along in a young emo Sith wannabe. The movie could have used a bit more humor, after all. And it reveals a connection to another popular fantasy world you didn’t know about. They packaged this video as Kylo Ren outtakes, but it’s much funnier than just flubbed lines and breaking character. There’s even a musical number slipped in the middle. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
The Colonoscopy Song
Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary has a little song to remind you to get a colonoscopy. (via Neatorama)
Miss Cellania's Links
Agent X: The Strange History of the Other Deadpool. Alex Hayden was a replacement meant to boost sales, but he didn’t last long.
Keanu is a Masterclass in Transitioning from a Sketch Comedy Show to the Big Screen. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele now have the world on a string.
Coachella On Instagram Vs. Coachella In Reality. The music festival experience is not at all glamorous.
16 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Plastic Surgeons.
Prince’s Killer Legacy of Hairstyles. (via Everlasting Blort)
33 Rescued Circus Lions Will Feel Like Kings In New South African Digs. They’ll be airlifted today to Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary in Limpopo, South Africa.
The transcendental revelations of astronauts. Seeing the Earth from a distance makes one realize how special it really is.
14 Great Names for Bugs. I nearly spewed coffee at Enema pan, but it got worse from there.
Everything Wrong With Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
I’ve always subscribed to the idea that real Star Wars fans hate Star Wars, and they live to pick apart everything George Lucas ever did. That is apparently transferring to Disney. Now that the warm glow of a new Star Wars film has worn off, and critics all over have their hands on the home video, we get to hear about everything possible they can pick at. Hang on to your seats, the critique of The Force Awakens takes a whopping 19 minutes. Cinema Sins found quite a bit to criticize, while the best part of the video is just reliving those moments we recall from the first theater experience of Star Wars in years. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Prove it on me Blues
Ma Rainey recorded “Prove it on me Blues” in 1928. The song of lesbian defiance was rather explicit for the time, and was promoted with a poster of Rainey dressed in a three-piece suit with the words “What’s all this? Scandal?” You can see that ad and read the lyrics here. Read about Ma Rainey’s life and career at Atlas Obscura.
The New Baywatch Movie
I don't think the second picture will make it into the finished film. (via reddit)
Homemade Hoverbike
Inventor and crazy man Colin Furze has built himself a dual-rotor hovercraft out of two gas engines and a couple of fans. It has no seat, no steering, and no brakes, but it flies! Why doesn’t it have those things? They couldn’t add an ounce more weight, or it wouldn’t have been able to take off. You can see his plans in this video and some of the early tests in this one. Do I have to add that you shouldn’t try this at home?
If Video Game Commercials Were Honest
You really can’t know what it’s like to play a game until you actually play it, which most of the time requires payment ahead of time. Maybe even before the game is ready for retail. And even if you like it, it will be obsolete by the time you master it -or pay it off. In the latest of their Honest Ads series, Cracked gives us the lowdown on video games and how they sell them to you. You have to wonder what the complete series will do to their ad revenue. (via Viral Viral Videos)
Miss Cellania's Links
14 Things You Might Not Know About Aliens.
If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy? An interview with Raj Raghunathan about the attitudes we bring to life.
What really happened at the Massacre at Frog Lake. Cree Chief Big Bear didn’t encourage the attack, but he was punished anyway.
10 Unidentified Sounds That Scientists Are Seriously Looking Into. I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation, we just haven’t found it yet.
If you block every ad on Twitter, things start to get weird (and can be fun). When you get rid of the big targeted accounts, the strange and wonderful niche ads come out.
Bill Rankin at Radical Cartography created a set of maps that show the growth of slavery in the US between 1790 and 1870.
The CEO of Chobani Yogurt is giving all 2,000 employees stock in the company. Those who’ve been there since the beginning could cash out with a million dollars.
Watch a bumblebee dislodge pollen in slow-motion. Bees harness the power of vibration as a tool.
The Behind-The-Scenes Story Of Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” Video. It was the breakout video that showed what he was capable of.
Cat Escapes from Polygon
We know how to trap a cat. But have you ever thought about the anxiety you cause for a cat trapped in such an awful way? This dramatic video shows the angst and desperation of a helpless cat trapped in a hexagon taped to the floor. He cannot escape on his own, but needs a little help from a friend. Together, they create an opening in the infernal trap and allow escape. Yay! (via Boing Boing)
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
LEGO Train Set POV Ride
Take a POV ride on a train with this model engine on a LEGO track with a GoPro strapped to the front! First you think, this is pretty neat. Then you get a little dizzy. Then you wonder how big this house is, and then it goes outside! By the time it’s done, you’ll have an urge to start building your own track. But you know what’s even more fun? The blooper reel.
Yeah, this wasn’t a perfect one-take video. TrainGuy 659 had to deal with wrecks, pets, wildlife, and more. Here's more.
This is a more realistic version of model train videography. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Star Trek Meets Batman
Kirk, Spock, and McCoy took a little trip back in time when they headed out in the shuttlecraft! They find a mysterious machine we know as the Batmobile. SpockBoy made this mashup in honor of the 50th anniversary of both the Batman TV show and the original Star Trek series. (via Neatorama)
Miss Cellania's Links
What happened when I tried to comply with North Carolina's new bathroom law.
How to Survive the Apocalypse, According to Hollywood.
These Badass Historical Women Cross-Dressed So They Could Fight With the Boys. The rules said women couldn’t fight, so they made an end-run around the rules.
27 Reasons Old People On Facebook Are The Funniest. I still want to know what I’m supposed to do with the orange.
The 10 Best Pieces Of Alien Merchandise Ever. Never mind that the movie was rated R, there were toys to sell!
Exploring the World of Mail-order Marriages. It’s awkward, and the odds are against lasting happiness.
An Australian politician set a river on fire to show the effects of fracking. It’s good that he was in a metal boat.
The 15 Best Podcasts for Diving into Nerd Culture. Listen as you drive or fold laundry, and you’ll bed up to speed in no time.
Jane Goodall on blazing a trail, finding passion, and overcoming the odds. At age 82, she’s still busy trying to save our planet and its animals.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Vineyard Ducks March to Work
Twice a day, you can see a parade of ducks in Stellenbosch, South Africa, when hundreds of ducks go to work at 9:45 AM, and when they come home at 3:45 PM. The Vergenoegd Wine Estate keeps 700-800 ducks as pest control specialists for the vines. The ducks eat slugs, bugs, and other pests that threaten the vineyards. They have been employed since 1984 (not the same ducks), and have proven invaluable. Since no chemical pesticides are needed, the vineyard has a WWF biodiversity certificate. (via the Presurfer)
Miss Cellania's Links
What It's Like to Actually See an Atomic Explosion. Richard Feynman and Ralph Carlisle Smith opted out of wearing protective glasses when they watched a detonation.
Sitting in a tin can: 12 songs sung by orbiting astronauts. With astronaut stories and (mostly) original artist videos.
Millennials are now America's largest living generation. And they are projected to stay on top for a long time to come.
The Top Secret Military Base Hidden in Chernobyl's Irradiated Forest. Thirty years later, see pictures of the suddenly-abandoned and now-crumbling Duga-3.
A Member of the Little Rock Nine Discusses Her Struggle to Attend Central High.
Audubon Made Up At Least 28 Fake Species To Prank A Rival.
Riots, Guns, Bribes: Teddy Roosevelt’s Contested Convention. (via Digg)
The Lazy, Inept Amateur's Guide To Lawn Care.
'The Most Important Takeover of Any Organization in History.’ Perfecting the presidential transition process.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is in deep financial trouble, and who’s fault is that? And what are we going to do about it? John Oliver lays out the details on his TV shows Last Week Tonight. At about twenty minutes in, you’ll be very glad you stayed with this video.
Miss Cellania's Links
The Victorians Who Flew As High As Jumbo Jets. (via Digg)
The Shit Pyramids of King Sneferu. (via Metafilter)
14 Simple Charts For Teaching Children That Life Is Hard.
How are viruses, viroids and prions related? They’re all so weird they stretch the very definition of life.
From The Night Manager to Star Trek — The Best Gender-Swapped Characters in TV History. Many you wouldn’t even know about if you hadn’t read the book.
93 Percent Of The Great Barrier Reef Is Practically Dead. Overfishing, pollution, and climate change are the culprits.
Here are all the ways it costs more to be a woman. Or maybe not all -they didn’t even cover childbirth costs and maternity leave.
Why Friends is still so popular. Because that’s the kind of life people would love to have.
The Oldest Libraries Around the World. Their books are pretty old, too.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Simon’s Cat in Fast Track
You’re asking for trouble when you set up a remote control toy around a cat -especially Simon’s Cat!
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Prince and the Muppets
On September 13, 1997, Prince, who wasn’t going by that name at the time, appeared on Muppets Tonight. Pretty funny! Here’s part two:
(via Laughing Squid)
Miss Cellania's Links
Phrenology Favorites.
A lot of reading on Confederate Heritage Month.
The breakthrough addiction treatment and the doctors who risk everything to prescribe it.
The Bard’s Ballot: 2016 Candidates as Shakespeare Characters.
What It’s Like to Write for Reality TV.
The Cast Of The Color Purple Sang A Powerful Version Of “Purple Rain” In Tribute To Prince.
The Kitten in ‘Keanu’ Was Actually Seven Trained Kittens, Plus More Kitten Trivia. What could possibly be better than kitten trivia?
The Most Brutally Difficult Video Games Ever. Certainly you’re up for the challenge!
In order to get her son the psychiatric care he needed, she had to give up her parental rights. It happens all over the country, because our system is screwed up. (via Metafilter)
4 Legendary Plant-Animal Hybrids
In the Middle Ages, travelers brought home tales from all over the globe of wondrous plants and beasts that the rest of the world had never seen. Many of these travelers were relaying stories they’d heard instead of things they’d actually seen. They were written about by educated men who’d never traveled. And they were illustrated by artists who only had hearsay to go by. It’s no wonder they were completely misunderstood. Read about four of the strangest plants ever reported, in an article I wrote for mental_floss.
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Fighting Superbugs by Hacking Antibiotic Resistance. A variety of tactic are being tested to fight ever-stronger bacterial diseases.
The state hardest hit by the opioid crisis thinks it has a solution. A new pain-prescribing algorithm may help, but what West Virginia really needs is jobs that don’t tear one’s body apart.
PodShare is not a cult, but it is weird. It’s a hostel with no space and no privacy with people lining up to pay $900 a month.
The real reason men grow beards. It’s not to impress women, but to impress other men.
How to identify any language at a glance. But only if you bookmark this handy reference.
11 Mental Floss Contributors Who Wrote Great Books. When you catch up on the internet, you should read them.
People Are Responding to Transphobia in NC With These Powerful Photos.
10 Out-of-This-World Facts About Plan 9 From Outer Space.
Game of Thrones In Numbers
A superlative show like Game of Thrones has a lot of numbers involved. How much does it cost? How many characters are in it? How long does it take to put it together? Those are some big numbers! Season six finally starts this coming Sunday, so enjoy a little Game of Thrones trivia to get you in the mood for a rousing season opener! (via Tastefully Offensive)
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Miss Cellania's Links
Inside Laredo, the Secret, Members-Only Wild West Town in England.
How Seattle Gave Up on Busing and Allowed Its Public Schools to Become Alarmingly Resegregated. It’s happening in other cities, too.
The 100th Anniversary Pulitzer Prize Winners. Journalism worth looking up and a musical worth saving up for.
The Difference Between Normal Food And Hipster Food. Color and packaging make all the difference.
Fear the Walking Dead: A Cultural Mirror That Explores Territory Its Predecessor Can’t. The spinoff fills in some of the gaps the The Walking Dead glossed over in its race to action scenes.
An Acoustic Analysis of Freddie Mercury’s Voice. The science says, yes, he was phenomenal.
How a 26-year-old white woman died a horrible death in an American jail. Hundreds of people die in jails every year, and most haven’t been convicted of any crime.
How a Charm Bracelet Inspired the Monopoly Tokens. And how those tokens changed over time.
Bendito Machine V
Many of you remember the first Bendito Machine video and how wonderful trip it was. Now Zumbakamera has the fifth version ready, and it’s just as marvelous! The series is scheduled to end with the sixth chapter.
Bendito Machine is a series of simple-minded organisms and their dazed relation with machines. Gentle creatures that survive in a state of perpetual dependence, where artifacts mark the passage of a glorious future.This chapter brings us to a fairly-modern age, and is slightly NSFW. If everything goes as it has before, we’ll see the final chapter in about three or four years. (via Metafilter)
You can see all five episodes on one page here.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Miss Cellania's Links
Inside the strange, retro world of Russian ‘womanhood schools.’ Teaching women to be happy by finding a man to support them.
Soccer Players Conveniently 'Get Injured' When Their Team Benefits From It. We knew that, but now the science is in.
The Controversial History of Letterboxing for Movies on Your TV. You’re just going to have to buy a bigger television set.
The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air meets its match, the “Fresher Prince.” Comic artist Lucy Knisley imagines the sequel we’d all watch.
17 More Of The Greatest Yearbook Moments Of All Time. These senior quotes are the only reason yearbooks will ever be seen by anyone.
America’s First Forgotten Supermodel. You can find the short version of what happened to her at Wikipedia.
Swimming In Socks. Bring a hankie.
The Tragic History of RC Cola.
I Was a Men’s Rights Activist. Not anymore.
Monday, April 18, 2016
John Oliver on Lead Poisoning
The water in Flint not only has lead in it, but an awful lot of our homes and plumbing around the country does, too. John Oliver looks into the problem on his HBO show Last Week Tonight.
The Capital of Canada
If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with BS. This kid will make an adequate politician someday, or a comedian. Yeah, it could well be fake, but it’s still funny. This bonus test question appeared on imgur under the title “This is why I teach.” Incidentally, this is the correct answer. (via Peter Lindelauf)
10 Web Toys Perfect for Procrastinating
You need to finish up your taxes and other projects so you can start studying for finals. It’s hard to get motivated when you think about the long hours of work ahead. Extended periods of work or study can seem easier when you take a short break every so often and do something relaxing and fun. Take a mini-break and try out a few of these web toys in a list I posted at mental_floss. But you’d better set an alarm, so your break doesn’t eat up all your work time!
Miss Cellania's Links
16 Lively Facts About Death Wish.
Read these pictures top to bottom, quickly. You’ll have to click once to get all of them to load. It’s Bo-MEME-mian Rhapsody.
Every Disney Song Ranked from Worst to Best. Tarzan was robbed, and “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” should have ranked much higher. (via Metafilter)
The Secret History Of The Photo At The Center Of The Black Confederate Myth. Two families with the same last name see Silas Chandler’s participation in the Civil War in very different lights.
Photos of an Abandoned Cleveland Vaudeville Theater Turned Rock Music Venue. The decayed grandeur is scheduled to be restored to its former glory.
Apartment Inspections: 10 Things to Check. If you find something wrong after you move in, your landlord is liable to blame you.
The Battle Over the Sea-Monkey Fortune. You don’t own a company just because you bought a lot of their product.
A feminist among the centerfolds. When Playboy magazine contracted a woman to write about feminism, it turned out all they wanted was a hit piece.
Cats Who Collect Things.
