(via Mostly Forbidden Zone)
Sunday, April 30, 2017
White House Correspondents' Dinner Monologue
Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj got the assignment to give the headline speech last night at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Trump was not there, choosing instead to hold a campaign rally. Many of the usual attendees (celebrities) passed on the dinner because of the implications. So it was all about journalism. There was a third alternative event last night, Samantha Bee's Not The White House Correspondents' Dinner is also on YouTube, in several parts with plenty of NSFW language.
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Sean Spicer Counts to 100
To celebrate the 100th day of the current administration, here is White House press secretary Sean Spicer counting to 100. From The Daily Show.
If Credit Card Commercials Were Honest
Roger Horton is back with another Honest Ad from Cracked. The truth about credit cards is that they work well if you use them perfectly. But the reddit companies make bank on the fact that people do not use them optimally. Human nature doesn't work that way. Sure, if you have the discipline to never use a credit card for something you wouldn't buy anyway, you'll be okay and rack up a good credit score. And then you'll have credit for emergencies. But it's so easy to get yourself into a debt spiral otherwise. And no one is perfect. Are there really credit cards that charge 24% interest? I thought mine was usurious at $17%, since my mortgage is 2.5%.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Miss Cellania's Links
It's been twenty years since Mike Myers introduced us to Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery. Myers, director Jay Roach, Elizabeth Hurley, and almost all the cast got together to give us an oral history of the film. (via the A.V. Club)
We spent months bracing and preparing for the death of our daughter. But guess what? We weren’t ready. Royce and Keri Young made the decision to carry their anencephalic baby to term in order to donate her organs. (via Metafilter)
A woman tried to text her daughter, but she dialed a wrong number and instead the message went to a 35-year-old man. That's normal enough, but when he told her she had the wrong number, she did not believe him, and kept texting pretty much all day long.
What Bullets Do to Bodies. The gun debate would change in an instant if Americans witnessed the horrors that trauma surgeons confront every day.
How ESPN went from powerhouse to bloodbath. Around 100 on-air employees were laid off Wednesday.
8 Fictional Places (That Sound Real). You know them, even though they aren't there at all.
The Rise of the Mean Moms. Competitive motherhood leads to outright bullying.
Artificial Intelligence Becomes Judgmental. (via Metafilter)
Flexible working is making us work longer. I can attest to this.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Donald Trump's First 100 Days In Office
The first 100 days of Trump's reign, as illustrated by The Simpsons, in this preview of Sunday's new episode.
Miss Cellania's Links
Trump wants to eliminate the estate tax, which would only benefit multi-millionaires. Too bad so many people think they are multi-millionaires.
The Legacy of Star Wars' Journal of the Whills. The early idea was to narrate the saga, and you won't believe who was going to do it.
J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis went to the theater together to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs together. They both hated it.
There Is A Venomous Snake In This Picture, But Good Luck Finding It. Even after it's pointed out, you might easily step on it.
If a Unicorn Frappuccino doesn't turn you on, maybe you'd prefer some charcoal-black Goth ice cream! Get them at ice cream shops in Los Angeles and New York. (via Boing Boing)
Between December 1884 and December 1885, Austin, Texas, had eight axe murders. The murders did not stop because the killer was caught; they just stopped.
The founder of reddit's misogynic forum The Red Pill has been outed as a New Hampshire state legislator.
The new issue of National Geographic features an in-depth look at What Makes a Genius. We meet examples of genius, from Leonardo da Vinci to jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, with the research into what makes those people different from the rest of us.
Gen. George Patton’s wife put a Hawaiian curse on his ex-mistress. She was dead within days. (via Metafilter)
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
13 Creative Ways to Plant Succulents
From cactus to aloe, drought-resistant succulents come in an amazing variety of shapes and colors. This variety, and the fact that they're easy to care for, make succulents the perfect plants for everything from a tiny planter on the counter to a lavish outdoor display—and all the creative displays in a list I posted at mental_floss.
John Boyega Pranks Star Wars Fans
In order to promote the Star Wars Force for Change charity sweepstakes, John Boyega did surprise photobombs at Star Wars Celebration earlier this month. Avid fans posing for pictures with a couple of stormtroopers and BB-8 were first shocked and then delighted to find Finn in their finished photo. Star Wars Force for Change benefits the UnNICEF and the Starlight Foundation. You can enter the drawing at Omaze.
Miss Cellania's Links
The Story of Europe's First Muslim Ruler. When the Roman Empire fell, Abd al-Rahman I swept into Spain and Portugal.
Scientists aim to grow humans in plastic bag after successful test on baby sheep. The Biobag artificial uterus won't be for full pregnancies, but could help preemies grow a bit more.
The Rise of Slime Videos. It appears to be this generation's version of birdwatching. (via TYWKIWDBI)
Purposefully removing condoms during sex without consent is heinous and dangerous. Is it also sexual assault?
Bill Hitler, Hitler's Idiot Nephew. A story told in the colorful language of Cracked.
The beauty of being an older mom. What you lack in energy is made up by more patience and focus.
21 Band Names Based on TV Shows. When you get the reference, you're already a fan.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
An Honest Trailer for The Social Network
I never saw The Social Network, since I already knew the outline of the Facebook story, and thought it had to be boring. Now I don't need to, since Screen Junkies has an Honest Trailer for the 2010 film. Well, maybe it wasn't as boring as I had imagined, since apparently it was quite fictionalized to add drama. But I can see that the movie is so poorly-lit that I probably wouldn't have been able to see it anyway.
Miss Cellania's Links
Tips are taxable, but gifts aren't (up to a point). So what if we gave waitress gifts instead of tips?
Donald Trump Is Unintelligible. Reading a printed transcript doesn't help.
Edward Gorey was a masterful storyteller and artist, and he was also a collector. Not of anything in particular that he could become an expert on, but everything.
Rethinking Critical Thinking With the Help of Carl Sagan. One place to start would be Sagan's "baloney detection kit."
Although Less Deadly Than Crinolines, Bustles Were Still a Pain in the Behind. Get a look at both and be thankful you live in the 21st century.
A father turned two Cozy Coupes into Mad Max: Fury Road vehicles for his children. They are now the coolest toddlers in Glendale.
Aristocrats of the 18th century were always on the lookout for something new and impressive to spend money on. For some, that meant hiring their own hermit, to entertain guests and to, let's say, outsource their interest in philosophy.
Build a Better Monster: Morality, Machine Learning, and Mass Surveillance. How technology outruns morality because of of money. (via Metafilter)
Stop Worrying That You Worry Too Much.
11 Outrageous Ballpark Foods
Major League ballpark food has gone way beyond peanuts, Cracker Jacks, and the all-American hot dog. Now you can enjoy full meals, international cuisine, and eye-popping, gut-busting specialty dishes concocted for maximum publicity. Let's sample some of the outrageous dishes available at baseball games this year, in a list I posted at mental_floss.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Tweet of the Day
The sign game was strong at the #ScienceMarch today, but this was my favorite. #marchforscience #ScienceMarchSF pic.twitter.com/qNUWlpg1ad— Sasha Aickin (@xander76) April 22, 2017
Spotted at the March for Science in San Francisco.
Miss Cellania's Links
The web’s funniest stories. This should keep you busy for days. (via Nimble Pundit)
The Creators of This is Spinal Tap Still Haven't Been Paid. It's lawsuit time in a 33-year-old case of Hollywood accounting. (via Digg)
Why Poverty Is Like a Disease. The effects can last for generations.
In April of 1945, Swedish Jew Norbert Masur met with Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler as a representative of the World Jewish Congress. Himmler spent the time him actions and covering his tracks. [PDF] (via Metafilter)
Does Iceland Really Have the Best Hot Dog in the World? Here are opinions from two correspondents who tried them.
Disposable lighters come in all colors, but the white ones are bad luck. How did this superstition ever come about?
DoggoLingo is the internet language about dogs. Even if you've never heard of it, you recognize it when you read it. (via Metafilter)
19 Fictional Characters Whose Names You Don't Know. But you will after you read this!
Sunday, April 23, 2017
The Best Signs from the March for Science
The March For Science took place on Saturday, with demonstrators converging on Washington DC and almost 500 other cities in the U.S. and around the world to advance science-based policies and funding for science. Considering the subject of the march, you would expect to see a lot of clever, nerdy, pun-filled signs. There were plenty of them. See roundups of the best signs at CNN, the Washington Post, Time, Mashable, Uproxx, and the nerdiest of all at the Boston Globe. Buzzfeed had a list of humans with signs and another of dogs with signs. See more pictures of signs being added constantly at Twitter. (via Metafilter, where you'll find even more)
Your Brain On Drug Policy
In 1987, Partnership for a Drug-Free America began airing a campaign known as This Is Your Brain On Drugs. The ads were unforgettable, but in case you need a refreshers, see this. In 1997, Rachael Leigh Cook starred in a version that addressed heroin specifically. Now she has returned to illustrate the far-reaching effects of the War on Drugs.
Our nation’s drug war is leading us to lock up more people than ever. Those charged with a non violent drug crime face fines and incarceration. More people are arrested for drugs than for rape, murder and robbery combined. And minorities are being railroaded into this system at much higher rates than their white counterparts even though drug use between both groups is about the same.Oh, this one's not from the PDFA, but from Green Point Creative. (via Digg)
Embers & Dust
Orson Welles broadcast his radio play "War of the Worlds," about an alien invasion, on October 30th, 1938. Some folks missed the disclaimer at the beginning that assured listeners that it was a work of fiction. Now, if they'd listened long enough, these folks would know that. But as luck would have it, a transformer blew in Concrete, Washington, during the broadcast. What would you do? This short film by Patrick Biesemans for Dust follows a curious young boy out on his own on that fateful night. (via Nag on the Lake)
Saturday, April 22, 2017
10 Earth Day Celebrations Around the World
Are you going to the March for Science today? That's the big one, but there are plenty of Earth Day celebrations, events, and demonstrations going on around the world. Learn about a few of them in a list I wrote for mental_floss.
Happy Birthday, Princess!
She's come a long way since first grade, but she's still got that smile. Where did all those years go? Princess turns twenty years old today. She's grown up to be a resilient, thoughtful, and self-sufficient young lady. I am so proud. She's coming home for the summer, and has a job lined up in Europe this fall. Happy Birthday, Sweetie!
Update: She got flowers from her boyfriend... first time she's ever had flowers delivered.
Update: She got flowers from her boyfriend... first time she's ever had flowers delivered.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Miss Cellania's Links
The Many Possible Reasons British People Hire Chimney Sweeps for Their Weddings. Mainly because they are good luck.
10 Things You Should Never Do to Your Lawn. You want it to be a nice place to walk through in your bare feet.
How Realistic are New York Apartments on TV Shows? Hint: less realistic as time goes by.
17 Secrets of Wedding Photographers.
New Super-Earth May Be Best Yet for Finding Signs of Life. Until a better one is discovered in another week or so.
How Office Culture Can Crush Women’s Ambitions.
How To Know When Your Roommate Is Bad. Some annoyances are trivial, others are a sign that you need to get out.
Fox News dumped Bill O'Reilly over money. It's that simple. Change comes when it affects the bottom line.
Women in Medicine: 6 Pioneering Activists. They had to fight for the right to save lives.
Thursday, April 20, 2017
9 Dedicated Dogs with Amazing Jobs
Dogs live to please us, and some are bred to love work. Give them a job helping people, and the rewards go both ways. Here are nine dogs who do amazing work every day, in a list I posted at mental_floss.
Miss Cellania's Links
The Unsavory History of Sugar, the Insatiable American Craving. Once it was hard to get, now it's hard to avoid.
The Best 100 Episodes of The Simpsons. Strangely, they are all from the show's first ten years.
How Florida Entraps Pain Patients, Forces Them to Snitch, Then Locks Them Up for Decades.
Each Tree Is Its Own Adventure: Climbing giant sequoias for science. Not a job for someone with acrophobia.
Do you remember Harley-Davidson perfume? Bic For Her? TwitterPeek? They are all exhibits at the new Museum of Failure in Helsingborg, Sweden. (via Metafilter)
This Man Can Help You Escape the IRS Forever. All you need is a small fortune -and a taste for foreign food. (via Boing Boing)
See specimens of Xenophora, a genus of mollusks that are very real -and very weird. These sea snails decorate their own shells with other shells!
The employment system in the U.S. no longer works the way it should. We have to move past the idea that a job defines who we are.
19 Interesting Facts About the Movie Casino.
Biisuke Ball's Big Adventure Part 2
A couple of years ago, we were treated to Biisuke Ball’s Big Adventure from the Japanese TV show Pitagora Suitchi (Pythagora Switch). The bad news is that video has been erased from the internet, but the good news is that we now have part two of Biisuke, Biita, and Biigoro's adventures. In this story, Biisuke becomes trapped and must be rescued by his brothers Biita and Biigoro. In case you don't remember, the three brothers are balls who race around on some amazing chain reaction courses. In Japanese with English subtitles. What a world we live in that a Rube Goldberg machine can have a plot, victims, bad guys, and heroes. (via Digg)
Tweet of the Day
@HamillHimself what was your reaction when you got the script for star wars come to find out you say nothing— cup of joe (@Jolo_swagg69) January 7, 2016
Speechless. #TFA https://t.co/4W2WyT4j5J— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 7, 2016
It's over a year old, but clever.
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Miss Cellania's Links
The Lost City of Z and Its Brutal Production. Director James Gray talks about the difficulties of filming in the Amazon rainforest.
WLKY wasn't allowed to take video of a football game, so they had to get creative for the TV broadcast. They used an "artist" to produce a reasonable facsimile of the plays.
Trump Ignores Fairness Concerns On Turkey Referendum By Congratulating Erdogan On Victory.
Peter Flax crossed the U.S. four times in a 36-hour period for the Hollywood Reporter. That sounds like pure hell for most of us, but his assignment was to experience and compare four different airlines' premium first-class service. (via Digg)
Screenwriters Share Their Weirdest Script Notes from producers and studio executives. Many of the best stories are about "totally missing the point." (via Boing Boing)
Unsuspecting Woman Brings Therapy Dog to Local Furry Convention. She was invited, and figured it was about pets. (via Metafilter)
Got a big tax refund? Here's what you should — and shouldn't — do with it.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
The Best of Star Wars Celebration Orlando 2017
If you are a Star Wars fan and couldn't attend Star Wars Celebration this past week, you can enjoy the highlights of the convention. See the passionate fans, the cute kids, the movie stars, the music, the cosplay, and the excitement surrounding the 40th anniversary of Star Wars.
Fans got to see previews of the new Star Wars video game, new toys, the planned Star Wars theme parks, and the first trailer for episode eight. And then there's the tributes to Carrie Fisher. A good time was had by all. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Artist Covers Up Racist Tattoos For Free
Dave Cutlip of Southside Tattoo Parlor in Baltimore has a plan for people who want to start a new life. He will give you a tattoo to cover up an old racist or gang-related tat for free! Cutlip and his wife Beth just want to do some good, but when word got around, everyone wanted to get in on the act. Now Dave and Beth are launching a non-profit organization called Redemption Ink to help folks get beyond the tattoos they now regret. They are recruiting tattoo artists in other areas to provide the same service, and using donated funds to purchase laser removal for those who require more than a cover up. (via reddit)
Miss Cellania's Links
The mainstream and conservative media are living in different worlds. So are those who read them.
Starbucks' Unicorn Frappuccino is set to make it's official debut on Wednesday. But some folks have already taste-tested the flavor-changing drink for us.
The Modern Era's Most Destructive War Took Place in … Paraguay. In six years, 90 percent of the country' adult men were killed.
The Soviets Made A Real Doomsday Device In The '80s And The Russians Still Have It Today. But what good is a deterrence system if the other side doesn't know about it?
The New Star Wars Theme Parks will be Fully Immersive. The places you go and the things you do will have consequences- choose wisely. (via Uproxx)
The Hatfields and the McCoys were related to each other in many surprising ways. See the tangled family trees of the feuding clans.
The Real People Behind 10 Fashion Houses. They were either born into it or overcame difficulties to get there.
MST3K Does Stranger Things
Well, of course MST3K does stranger things, every time we watch it. Oh, but in this promo, the cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000 watches the Netflix TV series Stranger Things! The show is a definite left turn from the quality of the movies Jonah and the bots are used to, but they still have plenty to say about what's directly in front of them. Any production that has sequences without dialogue is just asking for the MST3K treatment. The new version of MST3K is now available on Netflix, and Stranger Things will return for season two on October 31. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
Monday, April 17, 2017
Red Panda Triplets
Symbio Wildlife Park in New South Wales, Australia, has a set of red panda triplets: Mohan, Raj, and Phinju. They were born on Christmas Eve, and are just old enough now to go exploring outside their den. The moment was captured on video. You can tell they are excited by the way they are tripping over each other! Their mother Kesari is right behind them, though, to make sure everything goes alright. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Miss Cellania's Links
The Embarrassing History of Crap Thrown Into Yellowstone’s Geysers. Mother Nature doesn't take kindly to these shenanigans.
Are the Viruses That Infect Everybody Friends or Foes? Anelloviruses may provide target practice for our immune system.
The United Airlines Incident Is The Culmination Of Years Of Process Over People.
It's common knowledge that you don't want to wear a red shirt if you are serving under Captain Kirk in Starfleet. But mathematician James Grime asserts that the idea that you are more likely to be killed if you are a redshirt is not true. (via the A.V. Club)
The U.S. Department of Defense has quite a few Armed Forces Recreation Centers, but there's only one in the continental U.S. The military resort called Shades of Green is in the middle of Walt Disney World in Orlando. (via Gorilla Mask)
14 Simple Ways To Actually Improve Your Handwriting. The web offers help, and then it's just practice.
Why Trump is beating a hasty retreat from populism. It was good for getting elected; not so great for running a country.
17 Hilarious Subtitles That Make a Scene So Much Better. Weird descriptions, bad translations, and double entendres.
15 Fascinating Flamingo Facts. Watch them dance the flamingo flamenco!
There's a Man in the Woods
A rumor started by a child grows out of control and ruins the teacher's life. This is a project from the students of the CalArts School of Film/Video. (via reddit)
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Simon's Cat in Easter Eggstravaganza
While everyone else is looking for Easter eggs, Simon's cat wants to catch the Easter bunny! However, Simon's cat, while holding all the instincts of a predator, is not driven by hunger, just a sense of fun. (via Blame It On The Voices)
Beach Ball
I found it. The coolest dog of all time. pic.twitter.com/ghlmQTeirQ— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) April 15, 2017
Wish I had a dog like that. And a beach. And a ball. (via Metafilter)
Jurassic Prank
When French prankster Rémi Gaillard goes on an Easter egg hunt, he's looking for nothing but the biggest, rarest eggs of all. In his latest caper, he comes running out from the bushes with a velociraptor egg -and the mother is following him! The hapless runner that encounters the scene suffers a brain overload, and will probably never be the same again. Aren't you glad Gaillard doesn't live near you? (via reddit)
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Where the Streets Have No Name
The Soweto Gospel Choir sings joyfully, and the Irish band playing with them isn't bad, either.
12 of the World's Most Impressive Easter Services
Easter, the most holy of all Christian holidays, is celebrated with special services all over the world. Some of these Easter services may even inspire you to plan a pilgrimage. Read about them in a list I wrote for mental_floss.
18 Adorable Pets Dressed Up as the Easter Bunny
Your pet would look so cute dressed as the Easter bunny! But if you don't have a cooperative pet, there are plenty of people who do, and are willing to show us those adorable bunnies, in a list I compiled for mental_floss.
Bloopers and Ad Libs that Stayed in the Movies
Sometimes actors go off-script while filming a movie, either intentionally or accidentally. It could be a last-minute idea, a joke, a way to cover up flubbing your lines, or even clumsiness. What's rare are those times that these incidents are so good they ended up in the film. In this video, Looper explains great movie scenes that did not go as planned, but ended up even better for it. (via Laughing Squid)
Friday, April 14, 2017
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