(via reddit)
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Miss Cellania's Links
9 Fascinating Facts About Nickelodeon's Green Slime. It's been making a mess since 1979.
The Women's Hockey Star Fighting to Grow the Game. Kaliya Johnson went the distance to play the sport she loves.
Here's the Timeline You Need For Assembling Your Kids' Christmas Toys. You don't want to spend Christmas Day figuring out how to do it.
Are Laptops in Class Hindering the Learning Process? Experiments show that taking notes by hand is better.
Build Sand Castles Online With the Web Toy Sandcastles. But hurry, because the ocean waves are coming to get them!
The 19th-Century Swill Milk Scandal that Poisoned Infants with Whiskey Runoff. Because real milk from healthy cows didn't bring in enough profit.
Have you ever seen how a sea cucumber eats? Terrifying, isn't it?
12 Secrets of FedEx Delivery Drivers.
12 Secrets of FedEx Delivery Drivers.
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Tweet of the Day
If home sales & stock markets are booming and unemployment is down why add $1.5T to the debt for future generations to pay when the main beneficiaries of the tax plan - big corporations & the mega-rich - are already prospering? @realDonaldTrump @GOP @SpeakerRyan @SenateMajLdr pic.twitter.com/KXHtxgpzf3— Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) November 28, 2017
The answer is that rich political donors demand it. Meanwhile, the public is against the tax bill. Incumbent republicans believe that voters will forget what they've done to us and listen to expensive campaign advertising instead.
The Last Jedi Trailer Supercut
We don't like to post too many trailers for the same movie, and there have been a boatload of trailers for The Last Jedi, from theatrical previews to 30-second TV ads. Now, with the movie less than three weeks away, Science vs Cinema has compiled the best clips from all the trailers into a somewhat coherent order in this supercut. This is probably the most you're going to see of The Last Jedi before the premiere. My favorite part? Chewbacca knocking a porg out of his way. The Last Jedi opens December 15. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Miss Cellania's Links
10 Things You Didn’t Know about Lois Lane.
The White House's Christmas Decor Looks Straight Out of a Horror Film.
How Apollo 11's Crew Reacted to Lunar Conspiracy Theories. People called the moon landing a hoax as far back as 1969, and there are more skeptics now than ever.
Clearing Up Some Myths About Victorian Post-Mortem Photographs. If they don't look dead, that's because they aren't.
How Charlie Brown Destroyed Aluminum Christmas Trees. The metal trees were all the rage before the Peanuts character bought an ugly pine. (via Digg)
The Martians Claim Canada. Margaret Atwood wrote a short story about a mushroom who explains the concept of "countries" to aliens from outer space. (via Metafilter)
Google Has Figured Out a Way to Detect When Strangers Are Sneaking a Peek at Your Phone. Because privacy threats are not limited to hackers.
This Cat And Dog Love Traveling Together, And Their Pictures Are Absolutely Epic. Henry and Baloo love each other as much as they love the great outdoors.
The Case for Federal Universities. For a tuition-free education, starting a new system would be easier than changing what what we have now.
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
An Honest Trailer for The Room
Hey, do you think that Screen Junkies can find anything bad to say about The Room? Tommy Wiseau's 2003 magnus opus has already achieved cult classic status for being thoroughly terrible. But now that we have an Honest Trailer, we can "watch" the movie without watching the movie. Of course, this is designed to get us up to speed for The Disaster Artist, which is about the making of The Room. However, James Franco assures us that it is not necessary to see The Room before we see The Disaster Artist.
Miss Cellania's Links
A Woman Tried To Sting The Washington Post With A False Roy Moore Accusation, And The Paper Turned The Tables.
The Little Drummer Boy Challenge is the Ultimate Test of Your Christmas Music Avoidance Skills. The last one left without hearing the song wins.
Who Owns the Fish? Good luck figuring this logic puzzle that has a lot of moving parts. (via Nag on the Lake)
Mikayla Holmgren Just Became the First Person with Down Syndrome to Compete in a Miss USA State Pageant. She won two awards at the Miss Minnesota USA pageant.
13 Questions to Ask Before Getting Married. (via Swiss Miss)
10 Heartwarming Facts About Miracle on 34th Street.
10 Heartwarming Facts About Miracle on 34th Street.
To fight for my son, I have to argue that he should never have been born.
Tweet of the Day
Tell me again how I unloaded the dishwasher too loudly when you were watching golf. Detectives will want to know exactly how this went down.— Annie Hatfield (@HatfieldAnne) June 3, 2015
(via 22 Words)
Monday, November 27, 2017
Elton John Talks About Tiny Dancer
In this clip from 1970, Elton John explains how he composed the tune of "Tiny Dancer" to Bernie Taupin's lyrics. He was only 23 years old at the time. He makes it look easy, but you know that only applies to musical geniuses. (via reddit)
Miss Cellania's Links
Trump is still botching the Puerto Rico crisis. Will a quarter-million refugees be able to swing the Florida vote?
The Full 2017 Schedule of Christmas Movies and TV Specials. It's a long list, and constantly being updated.
What If Consciousness Doesn't Drive the Mind? Our thoughts and feelings might be completely separate from our self-awareness.
A Cake That Demands an Oven of Its Own. The delicious German cake called baumkuchen comes in the shape of a cross-cut slice of a tree trunk. (via Digg)
The Last of the Iron Lungs. Three people who may be the very last to depend on the devices are having trouble getting them serviced. (via TYWKIWDBI)
The 10 Most Expensive Movie Flops of All Time. Financial failures are so big these days that neither Ishtar nor Heaven's Gate made the list.
Dog Folklore: Companion Dogs as Seers, Healers, and Fairy Steeds. Our pets are so special, they must be magic! (via Strange Company)
25 Sexual Harassment Horror Stories That Happened To Girls And Women At Work. There's more in the comments, because every woman has these stories.
The Crime that Inspired the 1984 Robert Redford Movie The Natural.
Sharing Things: Sesame Street Does Stranger Things
The Muppets are trick-or-treating in the Snackside Down and confront the Cookiegorgon in this Sesame Street parody video of Stranger Things. "That's not strange, that's just an octopus trick-or-treating." As usual, the object lesson here is sharing. But don't let that stop you from laughing at Cookie Monster's lame costume, the growing worm, and the grand entrance of Eleven. (via Digg)
Tweet of the Day
I love #SW fruits & vegetables-We ALL should try to eat healthier-But Yoda & Vader lucked out (who doesn't love grapes & apples?) Luke has it tougher (pushing salads) & poor R2-D2! No matter how adorable he is on package: IT'S STILL CAULIFLOWER! #EpisodeAte😩 pic.twitter.com/4VQzMgQFNW— @HamillHimself (@HamillHimself) November 26, 2017
(via Uproxx)
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Brazen Bird Theft
Here's one of those stories you wouldn't believe if we didn't have the security footage. A woman in a shop lays her cash out on the scale while she waits for her purchase to be rung up. A bird lands right in front of her. Then things get weird. Talk about feathering your nest egg! This happened just last Tuesday in Brazil. From the scant information at YouTube, I don't think she ever recovered her money. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Synchronized Swimming Sketch
Who says guys can't do a synchronized swimming routine? Of course, it helps that they don't have all that pesky water to deal with. Stay with it, this gets funnier at 1:45. (via Everlasting Blort)
This Wrestling Match is an Illusion
This wrestling match between two puppets on a Chinese TV show is not as it appears. It's an old Manchurian folk dance called Er Gui Shuai Jiao (二贵摔跤), which translates to "Too Expensive Wrestling." This type of performance goes back to at least the 17th century. Here's a clip of the same type of performance filmed in Shanghai in 1927.
(via reddit)
Tweet of the Day
Best business card ever. pic.twitter.com/QFacwNy8co— Academia Obscura (@AcademiaObscura) November 24, 2017
How To Make A Gift Box Out Of Paper
This is pretty neat. Amanda Moor shows us how to make a pretty gift box out of a sheet of paper. You'll need paper, a dish, a straight edge, a pencil, and a protractor. And it will help to have some ribbon to tie it shut with.
Since I have forty years' worth of nice boxes of all sizes saved from previous gift-giving occasions, there is zero chance that I will ever need to do this. Still, I found the process interesting and clever. This would be a neat project to do with kids. (via Boing Boing)
L’homme à la Tête de Caoutchouc
Georges Méliès created this film in 1901, which translates to English as The Man with the Rubber Head. It just goes to show that special effects were part of the filmmaking process almost from the beginning. (via The Kid Should See This)
Friday, November 24, 2017
The Sound of Violence
Batman sings, if you can call that hoarse growl singing, in a song parody set to the tune of "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel. The song tells an almost-coherent story of the Caped Crusader fighting against crime and villainy in the streets of Gotham City. As usual. Batman is played by a variety of actors: Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Adam West, Michael Keaton, and a few others. The villains? There's a whole fleet of them making appearances in this video from How It Should Have Ended.
The Man in the Husky Mask
At first glance, you'd think that these dogs recognize one of their own. Boy, will they be disappointed when he takes that mask off! But no, in this video from Sakon Nakhon, Thailand, the dogs recognize the man underneath. It's their owner, and they are giving him their customary enthusiastic greeting as he returns home from work. It's very possibly, though, that they appreciate his attempts at fitting in with them. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Miss Cellania's Links
Here’s a Path to Medicare for (Almost) All That Isn’t Doomed to Fail.
Crew members Danielle and Graeme of the Queensland Ambulance Service in Australia reported a detour they took on the way to deliver a patient to hospice care. Get your hankie ready. (via Buzzfeed)
The Story Behind The Disaster Artist. (via Digg)
Pictures of Weird Stuff in Your Parents' House. (via Metafilter)
College is indentured servitude. Absolutely nothing about the way we pay for higher education in this country makes sense.
7 Airports More Interesting Than the One You’re Stuck In.
OK Go Dancing with 567 Printers
OK Go has a new song. For this group, the song itself is pretty much an extraneous detail just a reason to put together an innovative video that will make people say, "How'd they do that?" The gimmick of this one is printers, which they use for intricately-programmed background choreography. The video comes with a warning for those susceptible to seizures due to flashing lights, and a recommendation to watch it in high def.
Watch this, and think about all the trouble you've have with printers in your life. It's a miracle the paper feeds worked as well as they did. Oh, yeah, the name of the song is "Obsession." It's a pretty good song, but like their other songs, overwhelmed by the visuals. (via reddit)
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Expiration Dates Don't Mean What You Think
Foods you buy at the grocery store has sell-by dates, which does not mean that the food expires on that date. What the date really does mean can vary depending on the food, the state, and exactly how it's worded. Stores use sell-by dates so they can make sure they're rotating their stock properly -to sell the oldest stuff first so nothing is wasted. Speaking of waste, you may be wasting food if you are convinced it goes bad by the date on the package. Adam Conover of Adam Ruins Everything has the lowdown on how expiration dates work in the real world. And spoiled milk, which is a little icky. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Miss Cellania's Links
14 Moving Facts About Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Punch Lines for Book Titles. Snide Octopus is an Instagram account that takes book titles right out of the library and subtitles them to make you laugh. (via Nag on the Lake)
The Cranberry's Bitter History.
I have a feeling tax cuts for the rich aren't in Kansas anymore.
Why My Parents Eat Paprika On Cottage Cheese. By the end, all I could think of was how sad that people can actually grow up in America without spices.
Non-Americans Label the US States.
A Brief History of “Alice’s Restaurant.”
Thankful
Honestly, 2017 has sucked. I'll be thankful when it's over. Well, if I look hard enough, I can find a few things to be thankful for. Altogether, it's hard to think about this year without turning fatalistic. But I'm afraid to say, "Hey, things could be worse!" because you know what happens then.
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Tweet of the Day
Let me explain net neutrality in the most horrific way:— Tom Nikl 🤔 (@Tom_Nikl) November 21, 2017
if FCC dismantles it, and you get internet from Verizon, they may force you to use YAHOO as your search engine (because they own it), but PAY to use GOOGLE.
Would you like that? If not, you SUPPORT #NetNeutrality.
The FCC is about to kill net neutrality and make the internet work like TV cable companies. Want HBO? Another $10. Want to get AMC? Pay for a bundle that includes channels you don't care about -which includes a surcharge for sports. But on an even bigger scale for the internet. Want access a small website you like? Sorry, that one doesn't appear on any of our bundles currently, as they haven't paid the company to be considered. Want Hulu? We don't offer that, watch our company-run streaming service instead. But you'll have a limited monthly bandwidth. And it's not like you have a choice of another ISP in your area- the big telecoms have already taken care of that. Oh, yeah, that small website that couldn't afford to get on any bundles? They'll be out of business soon, and we who run them will be out of a job.
The FCC is determined to do this. They will vote December 14. Call your congressman and ask him/her to stop this, or send a message somehow. And be sure to explain this to everyone you see during the Thanksgiving weekend.
Miss Cellania's Links
Your Reckoning. And Mine. As stories about abuse, assault, and complicity come flooding out, how do we think about the culprits in our lives? Including, sometimes, ourselves.
The True Story Behind Plymouth Rock.
They were once Olympic rivals- one the captain of the U.S. women's hockey team, the other the captain of Canada's women's hockey team. But now Julie Chu and Caroline Ouellette are celebrating the birth of their daughter, and they're melting hockey fans' hearts. (via Metafilter)
The Savvy Marketing That Put Marshmallows on Your Sweet Potato Casserole.
America Rediscovers Its Love of the Front Porch.
12 Pieces of 100-Year-Old Advice for Dealing With Your In-Laws. Some of those tips will make you cringe.
The Silver Trail: How An Italian Immigrant Made His Mark on Southwestern Jewelry.
The Long Ethical Arc of Displaying Human Remains. (via Metafilter)
Russian Traffic Ice Ballet
Residents of Vladivostok, in far eastern Russia, woke Friday morning to snow-covered roads. The snow hid a layer of ice, which drivers soon discovered. Oh, you could go places, as long as those places were downhill. Police received reports of 350 accidents in one day, some involving up to twenty vehicles.
The Russian news site VL.ru has 19 videos taken of traffic problems due to the snowstorm. You can vote on which is best in a poll at the bottom. I particularly like #19, in which a camera was focused on a hill across the street.
(via Boing Boing)
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Tweet of the Day
According to Trump a black guy who shoplifts should be locked up in a Chinese prison for 10 years, a black guy who sits during the anthem should be fired, and a white guy who rapes a 14 year old should be in the US Senate.— Brian Krassenstein🐬 (@krassenstein) November 21, 2017
When tax cuts for the rich becomes the price of your soul.
The German Town That's Literally Breaking Apart
Tom Scott has ended his tour of America and is back in Europe, finding places with interesting stories to tell us about. The picturesque town of Staufen, Germany, is one such place. A geothermal drilling operation in 2007 has caused the ground to swell up under the downtown area, and the buildings are cracking. When the foundation underneath has moved, there's not a lot you can do for the buildings on top. Those buildings stood firm for hundreds of years, but in the last ten, they are crumbling. The problem is explained in depth in this article from the journal Geothermal Energy. (via reddit)
Miss Cellania's Links
Rare Photograph of Billy the Kid Found at a Flea Market. This is not a repeat of the 2015 story.
How many holes does a straw have?
America's private health-care is rationed, but socialized medicine is luxury medicine.
Colin J. Carlson is a biologist, but he's not an expert on foxes. Still, he decided to make a list of foxes and rate them with letter grades for their "weirdness" in a Twitter thread. (via Metafilter)
Things People Should, But Don't, Tell You About Having Kids.
Strange and Curious Wills of the Georgian Era in the Canterbury Court. Many contain final and lasting insults. (via Strange Company)
Stray Cats Captured in Martial Arts Poses by Hiroyuki Hisakata. (via Swiss Miss)
The Twisting History of Blood on Film. (via Digg)
Meet Doug Jones, One Of The Biggest Movie Stars You’ve Probably Never Seen. That's because he's almost always buried under a layer of latex and prosthetics as an alien, a monster, or a ghost. (via Metafilter)
Monday, November 20, 2017
A Wrinkle in Time Official US Trailer
The book changed my life when I was about ten years old. The movie is coming in March. I hope it's as good as it looks in this trailer. Still wouldn't be as good as my ten-year-old imagination.
Miss Cellania's Links
Thanks for Nothing. A collection of links about the tax bill now in Congress.
Norway’s Medieval Wooden Churches Look Plucked From a Fairy Tale.
True Kilts: Debunking the Myths About Highlanders and Clan Tartans. You might be surprised to find out how recent registered family tartans are.
Women Waiting Tables Get Harassed Constantly, And We Know How To Stop It.
The Long Journey to Make Pixar's Dia de los Muertos Movie Coco. Coco opens November 22 nationwide.
Why the Nazi Party Loved Decaf Coffee.
Flamin' Hot Cheetos Turkey, and other recipes for stoned Millennials. (via Cracked)
Married Young: The Fight Over Child Marriage in America. (via Nag on the Lake)
New York's Holiday Nostalgia Trains. (via Metafilter)
Slippery Stairs
In case you just can't wait for the Winter Games because you love watching people slip and fall, here's a Japanese game show that will fulfill that desire. Slippery Stairs takes the agony of maneuvering a world covered with ice and puts it relatively safely on TV. Contestants must climb a series of stairs that are not only lubricated, but slightly angled. At least they are wearing helmets.
The competition starts out looking like a normal, albeit slow, race, but quickly escalates into a human demolition derby. At about three minutes in, it begins to resemble bowling, with these guys as the pins. See, it doesn't matter that you're ahead of the pack when one false move can send you back to the beginning. The best you can do when that happens is to take everyone else with you. And even if you make it to the top, you will look ridiculous doing it. (via reddit)
Sunday, November 19, 2017
The Secret Protocol for When the Queen Dies
We don't like to speculate on someone's future death, especially someone who isn't even sick, but Queen Elizabeth II is 91 years old. The British monarchy is mostly ceremonial these days, yet the British take it very seriously. There is a set procedure in place to handle getting out the news when the time comes, and a process for transferring the crown to Prince Charles. A monarch's death sets up a whole slew of changes we hadn't thought of, like reprinting all the money to reflect a new monarch's face. What? American cash, for all its drawbacks, never go out of style because everyone on the bills is already dead. (via Mental Floss)
A New Thanksgiving Song
Chance the Rapper was on Saturday Night Live last night. He wasn't the musical guest this time -Eminem was. Chance was the guest host, but he still managed to give a musical performance during his opening monologue. It's a modern Thanksgiving song that tells it like it is, about the relatives you haven't seen since last Thanksgiving (for a reason).
Tweet of the Day
I'm gonna write a book about the difficulties of watching Pride and Prejudice dubbed into French. It will be called L'Austen Translation— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) October 21, 2013
(via Buzzfeed)
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Rey and Kylo …and Luke
The new Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer confirms what many fans thought about the first trailer: Rey is not asking Kylo Ren for help. Those two closeups were obviously blocked and filtered to make them seem part of the same scene, but we all know her question was directed to Luke. The same question has a different lighting in this trailer.
The repetition of the "Who are you?" from The Force Awakens clues us in that the ultimate reveal in episode nine will be Rey's background. They just can't have a completely unrelated hero appear out of nowhere and save the day. (via The Mary Sue)
Friday, November 17, 2017
Justice League B-Team
Justice League is in theaters nationwide, and bound to be a blockbuster whether it's any good or not. But what happens if Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, or Cyborg aren't available to save the world? Batman must call up the benchwarmers. The heroes that didn't quite make the cut. The B-team superheroes, as it were. In other words, superheroes whose movies didn't make blockbuster status. There are plenty of them in this video from Funny or Die. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Atlas Robot Practices for the Olympics
Boston Dynamics has been working on their Atlas humanoid robot, fine-tuning its balance and speed. The results are approaching uncanny valley territory.
This would be terrifying if Boston Dynamics was still working for DARPA to develop military robots. Or even Google, which is determined to take over the world. But the company was sold to SoftBank, a Japanese corporation. No wonder they taught Atlas to dance. Next, the robot will be serving tea in restaurants and keeping grandma company in the nursing home. (via reddit)
Miss Cellania's Links
Why Are Your Wages So Low? Because the rate of exploitation is growing.
Incredible Teamwork From Little Clownfish. An entire family works together to build a new nest for the next generation.
10 People Who Survived the Impossible. When their lives were at stake, they rose to the occasion.
An Illustrated Look at the Terlingua Chili Cook-Off. In Texas, where chili cook-offs are thick as thieves, this one is the biggie and it comes with a ton of history. (Thanks, Walter!)
Meet the Actor Behind the New Star Wars Character. Kelly Marie Tran spent years going to auditions, then in 2015, her life changed forever.
The Hidden Science and Tech of the Byzantine Empire. The successor to the Roman Empire was responsible for breakthroughs in math, engineering, astronomy, and other sciences.
Taking the abortion debate down to its elemental level.
Why the Movies Are So Obsessed With Capes. It's how a costume can add to the drama. (via Kottke)
9 Vintage Thanksgiving Side Dishes We Shouldn’t Bring Back.
Tweet of the Day
[ordering cake over phone]— k e i t h 🐤🥔 (@KeetPotato) June 8, 2015
"and what would you like the cake to say?"
[covers phone to ask wife]
"do we want a talking cake?"
(via Buzzfeed)
Thursday, November 16, 2017
The Pips (without Gladys Knight)
In 1977, The Richard Pryor Show featured music from The Pips, but not Gladys Knight. I don't know who had the idea, but someone mentioned a contractual dispute, and many remember this bit as the funniest thing on TV. The Pips had a ton of talent, but they rarely ever got to shine. (via TYWKIWDBI)
On another note, you might wonder how "TYWKIWDBI" is pronounced. There's an explanation at the top of the blog, but I always pronounce it "Minnesotastan." I'd never be able to spell it if I didn't know it stands for Things You Wouldn't Know If We Didn't Blog Intermittently.
Christmas Decorations Completed
When is the right time to switch from Halloween decorations to Christmas decorations? In a perfect world, the Halloween stuff would come down on November 1, and Christmas decorations would go up sometime during Thanksgiving weekend. Redditor savage_irony did the changeover in one fell swoop, and he acts like he's both exhausted and proud of himself. I like the finished product, though. (via reddit)
Miss Cellania's Links
Every State, Ranked by Its Food. (via Digg)
Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (via Metafilter)
15 Thanksgiving Dinner Disasters (And How to Avoid Them). We learn from our mistakes, but it's less painful to learn from other people's mistakes.
How far into the horrific past will 2017 regress?
The Lucrative Business of Prescribing Booze During Prohibition. Medicinal liquor was a legal loophole that everyone wanted to use.
How Nick Offerman Is Using Woodworking to Help Americans in Need. Would Works is a nonprofit organization that pays homeless people for helping in a woodworking shop.
Mangilaluk’s Highway. The story of an Inuit boy who ran away from residential school illustrates the problems of an entire region.
The Underrated Charm of Ice Fishing. Looking at vintage photographs of the pastime is quite charming, as long as we can stay warm inside while we do it.
12 Terrible Pieces of Advice for Pregnant Women. When in doubt, ask your doctor.
Tweet of the Day
[restaurant]— Reverend Scott (@Reverend_Scott) November 13, 2017
Manager: sir, you can't bring that thing in here.
Me: excuse me, but this "thing" is Charlie, my service dog. he is very important to my health and well-being. it's a known fact that petting a dog lowers stress and blood pressure-
Manager: I meant the chainsaw
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Bumper Sticker
(via reddit)
The guy who designed these released it into the public domain. Here's the story. You can buy them here (and other places).
The guy who designed these released it into the public domain. Here's the story. You can buy them here (and other places).
How I Trained My Cats
People who watch any video from Jun's Kitchen are fascinated by the cats Haku and Nagi who watch Jun Yoshizuki making tasty treats. They sit calmly and never try to interfere or ask for a bite! Jun explains how he treats the cats so that they behave so well. Haku and Nagi are very cooperative, but that doesn't apply to Poki, the world's most annoying cat. Maybe he'll come around as he matures. (via Laughing Squid)
American Things Europeans Find Weird
We Americans know that the rest of the world sees us as rich, obese, and armed. But there are quite a few other aspects of life that we take for granted but seem weird to Europeans. While food and gas are relatively cheap in the US, our healthcare and education are frighteningly expensive to Europeans. Guess what- they are frighteningly expensive to us, too. And there are a lot more things that make Americans exceptional.
Of course, this is just a general overview and does contain some stereotypes that aren't true (for example, Brits actually have better teeth than Americans). And they didn't even touch on the weird way Americans wear shoes inside the house, use the Imperial system of measurements, and play football. (via Digg)
Miss Cellania's Links
The GOP Has Done the Impossible: Make Tax Cuts Unpopular. The only people left that want the current bill are millionaire political donors. (via Boing Boing)
One Night in the Emergency Department. On the evening of October 1, Dr. Kevin Menes and his staff treated 215 victims of gunshot wounds in Las Vegas. (via Metafilter)
The German Who Made John Gotti the Most Powerful Mobster in New York. Hitman Joe Watts parlayed his insider knowledge into both money and respect.
Why Boaty McBoatface is the Meme that Just Won’t Die. The good news is that it may mean the end of naming polls.
The False Cheer of Office Parties Can’t Cure the Loneliness Epidemic. In other words, don't rely on your workplace for long-lasting friendships.
Inside Connecticut’s Secret Museum of Retro-Future Oddities. The Space Age Museum has aliens, robots, rockets, and spaceships that you'll only see online, as the museum is not open to the public.
American Employers's Mindless Obsession with College Degrees. Requiring one is a shortcut for eliminating job candidates more than a necessary career qualification.
Last year, Tye Lombardi made a Chestburster Turkey for Thanksgiving, and was told to never do that again. She said okay, and then developed a recipe for Facehugger Feast Roasted Chicken. Behold the horror.
Why a tour guide at Disney World decided to become a character instead. Warning: grab a hankie. (via Metafilter)
A Story About Spirit Airlines
Spirit is one of the ultra-cheap airlines that will take you somewhere for a really low price, as long as you don't make any changes, don't take any luggage, and don't expect legroom or amenities. Comedian Brent Pella https://www.facebook.com/BrentPella told about his experience with Spirit Airlines in a show and the audio was later animated to make this video.
This was posted to reddit, where Europeans said it couldn't be as bad as Ryanair. Ryanair is world famous for their bare bones flight service and the crew's surprise at every successful landing.
Tweet of the Day
sometimes. if a treat. is on the line. i’m asked. to sit.. one last good boy test. but i’m usually. so excited. i can only do. several half sits. i think. those should count— Thoughts of Dog (@dog_feelings) November 13, 2017
Click on the date stamp to see plenty of good boys in the comments.
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
What To Do If Your Parachute Fails
Austin McConnell tells you very quickly what you should do if your parachute fails, apparently because you Googled this video when it happened. Yeah, it would have been better if you paid attention before you jumped out of the plane, but whatever. Your chances of survival are slim, but not zero, so you may as well do what you can to raise those odds on your way down. If you survive the impact, there's plenty more to do to keep from dying. Good luck. (via Rusty Blazenhoff)
The Idiot's Guide to Japanese Squat Toilets
Chef Jun Yoshizuki and his wife Rachel give us westerners some tips about confronting squat toilets, which are found all over Asia. Watch as Rachel suffers from STSD- Squat Toilet Stress Disorder. This does not have to be you! A little knowledge ahead of time will help you avoid falling in, losing your phone and money in the toilet, peeing all over the floor, or injuring yourself.
Learning to squat properly is good for your health, too, and will undo a lot of the damage to our bodies from sitting all day. With a little practice, we'll all be able to do away with chairs altogether (yeah, right). (via Viral Viral Videos)
Why Incompetent People Think They're Amazing
You know the basics of the Dunning-Kruger effect: incompetent people don't recognize how incompetent they are because …they're incompetent. That's the simplified version. David Dunning, one of the scientists the effect is named for, designed a TED-Ed lesson that goes a little deeper into the subject.
People as a whole are very bad at evaluating their own skills and expertise in one area or another due to lack of knowledge. Even experts have a hard time evaluating their relative expertise because, while they may know their own subject well, they have a knowledge gap in evaluating others for comparison. The Dunning-Kruger effect doesn't have to hold us back, but overcoming it requires an open mind and at least some humility. (via Digg)
Miss Cellania's Links
The History of American Spy Agencies. There are more of them than you thought.
Love’s Road Home. Sam and Ashley's path to happiness had plenty of obstacles, and luckily, a little help.
The assault on voting rights is getting messy.
5 Famous News Stories You Didn't Know Had Insane Epilogues. No, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is not included.
Spain on the Edge. Sheer cliffs don't stop the Spanish from erecting beautiful buildings.
The Kyshtym Disaster: The Largest Nuclear Disaster You've Never Heard Of. The highly-populated Soviet town that did not exist became the most contaminated place on earth.
11 Things You Might Not Know About the Marine Corps.
Cows Go Moo.
A sociologist explains why wealthy women are doomed to be miserable. I'm so glad I escaped that fate.
Roy Moore's alleged pursuit of a young girl is the symptom of a larger problem in evangelical circles. (via Boing Boing)
Love’s Road Home. Sam and Ashley's path to happiness had plenty of obstacles, and luckily, a little help.
The assault on voting rights is getting messy.
5 Famous News Stories You Didn't Know Had Insane Epilogues. No, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is not included.
Spain on the Edge. Sheer cliffs don't stop the Spanish from erecting beautiful buildings.
The Kyshtym Disaster: The Largest Nuclear Disaster You've Never Heard Of. The highly-populated Soviet town that did not exist became the most contaminated place on earth.
11 Things You Might Not Know About the Marine Corps.
Cows Go Moo.
A sociologist explains why wealthy women are doomed to be miserable. I'm so glad I escaped that fate.
Roy Moore's alleged pursuit of a young girl is the symptom of a larger problem in evangelical circles. (via Boing Boing)
The Secret Behind "So Bad It's Good" Movies
Occasionally we watch a movie that we regret spending our time on. That's a "bad" movie, often boring, and one we'll forget. Then we see something that makes you wonder how it ever got made. Along the way we start laughing because the poor acting, incomprehensible script, implausible premise, or a combination of those things are so over-the-top. These are the "so-bad-its-good" movies.
Jack Nugent of Now You See It explains how really great movies and so-bad-its-good movies have something in common. It's just that the great movies do it on purpose (and do it well), and the so-bad-its-good movies stumble upon it by accident. The result is that there are more clips from great movies in this video than awful movies. And the lesson is that whether a movie is good or bad is less important than whether the movie is entertaining. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Tweet of the Day
Go home evolution, you're drunk. pic.twitter.com/zhvLRgzkbJ— D Attenborough (@Attenboroughs_D) November 9, 2017
The top comment is "What's its name?" and Sir David responded, "Ian." (via Swiss Miss)
Monday, November 13, 2017
Miss Cellania's Links
Pre-Trump vs. Post-Trump: How Americans Feel Now.
When The Photographer Asks You to Look Seductive…
The Long, Strange History of Dieting Fads. We're always looking for an easier way to shed extra weight.
Is a Cat a Liquid? A 2017 Ig Nobel Prize winner explains his work.
A Universal Travel Tip to Get to Know Any New City. Look for the most elaborate sit-down breakfast.
Hedonist Hollywood’s Lost Garden of Allah. Scandalous behavior in the early film industry found a place to happen behind walls and away from the press, fans, and families.
The Truth About Medieval Toilet Habits. People tried all kinds of ways to dispose of their household sewage.
How Corporations and the Wealthy Avoid Taxes (and How to Stop Them).
The Traveling Buddha. Taken as a Vietnam War souvenir, the statue went home 48 years later.
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