(via Bad Newspaper)
Saturday, March 31, 2018
This is Extremely Dangerous to Our Democracy
Don't ever think that your local station is really producing their own opinions and editorials these days. The script is from the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which now owns a bunch of local stations across the country, no matter what network their logo says. More here. (via reddit)
The Greatest Passover
The a cappella group Y-Studs present their Passover song, a parody of the songs from the movie The Greatest Showman. This gets better as it goes along. Happy Passover!
The Greatest Rabbits In Film History
Think the Easter bunny is the most iconic fictional rabbit? It has a lot of competition. Far from being the ultimate in non-threatening cuddly fluffiness, rabbits in movies are usually terrifying. Watch this and see what I mean. It is not for children. Yeah, there are a few benign cinematic rabbits, like Harvey and Thumper, but the vast majority of them are demons you don't want to confront, ever.
Pigs in Space with Luke Skywalker
In January of 1980, Mark Hamill appeared on The Muppet Show to drum up excitement for The Empire Strikes Back. It was a great excuse to pull out Pigs in Space.
Tweet of the Day
If the person who named Walkie Talkies named everything— Antonia Nicol (@Flaminhaystack) March 25, 2018
Stamps = Lickie Stickie
Defibrillators = Hearty Starty
Bumble bees = Fuzzy Buzzy
Pregnancy test = Maybe Baby
Bra =Breastie Nestie
Fork= Stabby Grabby
Socks = Feetie Heatie
Hippo = Floatie Bloatie
Nightmare = Screamy Dreamy pic.twitter.com/vXyC4v8dUw
Friday, March 30, 2018
Accountant is Suddenly a Hockey Star
Professional hockey teams keep two goaltenders ready, plus a backup emergency goalie in case both the pros get injured. The emergency goalie is often from a recreational league, and it's an honor for them to be selected to sit on the bench. They rarely get to play, and when they do, they aren't expected to shine. That wasn't the case for the Chicago Blackhawks last night.
“I am an accounting professional with experience in financial services. I have expertise in fund accounting and financial reporting.”Foster stole the show by blocking seven goals and preserving the Blackhawk's 6-2 score over the Winnipeg Jets during the third period. It was a night he'll never forget. A good time was had by all. (via Metafilter)
That’s the first sentence on the LinkedIn page of Scott Foster, a 36-year-old accountant (duh) who works in Chicago and played college hockey more than a decade ago. Tonight, he played his first competitive game since finishing his career at Western Michigan University in 2006—for the Chicago Blackhawks, who picked him up as their emergency goaltender today, and then found themselves actually having to play him in the third period of tonight’s game against the Jets.
Slow Mo Kittens
Gavin Free and Dan Gruchy, the Slow Mo Guys, have a segment from the latest episode of their YouTube series The Super Slow Show in which they pander to us with a "montage of lovely, fluffy, soft, 4K kittens." I'm down with that. If you want to rationalize the time you take to watch this video, you could term it educational. Call it a study of how kittens move as they learn how to be graceful cats. But you and I know the real pull is the raw joy of watching kittens play. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Curious Cat Jumps into Vehicle
Britton Hayes was on a photo safari at the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania during spring break. The group stopped to watch three cheetah brothers. Then this happened.
"One of the cheetahs hopped onto the hood and was sniffing around, so we were all focused on the cheetah on the hood that was looking around," said Hayes. "While we were all watching the cheetah in the front, one of the brothers had flanked around the back and hopped in back of the vehicle to try and sniff us and make sure that we weren't a threat."Peter Heistein caught the brief scene on video. Notice the cheetah looking right into the camera and licking his lips in the still frame above. Hayes didn't tell his mother, KOMO news anchor Elisa Jaffe, until he got home. (via Laughing Squid)
Hayes credits his guide for helping him through the ordeal.
"Alex (my guide) kept me calm and made sure I never made eye contact nor startled the cheetah," Hayes said, "allowing the animal to see that it could trust us."
Miss Cellania's Links
The Nuclear Explosion Simulator. Pull up a map, select a bomb, and it shows you how far the fireball, radiation, shock wave, and heat would reach, and how many people would be killed. (via Digg)
9 Curses for Book Thieves From the Middle Ages and Beyond.
19 Times John Boyega Proved That We Don't Deserve Him.
10 Ways Americans and Europeans Differ. Be prepared before you cross the pond.
The 2018 Name of the Year Bracket Has Been Revealed. Voting will begin soon at the tournament blog.
Nude Art Generated by Artificial Intelligence. If this is how neural networks see humans, they'll never find us during the robot uprising. (via Boing Boing)
The World's Biggest Cruise Ship Is Coming, and It Looks Straight-Up Insane. Symphony of the Seas is a ocean-bound theme park that can hold 6800 passengers.
Lessons From Europe's Densest Neighborhoods. Built as low-income housing for new workers, they later became chic and coveted locations.
The New Roseanne is Unexpectedly Good. While the sitcom family is familiar, the power structure has changed with the times.
Tweet of the Day
Also would have accepted: "ALL YOU NEED, LOVE IS." 🎼#Yodingo pic.twitter.com/h9pZjDVY2a— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) March 26, 2018
Thursday, March 29, 2018
The Evolution of Disney Character Costumes
Disney Dan has a series of videos he's made over the past several years that trace the evolution of costumed Disney characters. Mickey Mouse was making public appearances decades before Disneyland opened, and he is the first character to get a deep dive into the costume. You'll learn some stories you haven't heard before, like how the first Mickey and Minnie at Disneyland were borrowed from the Ice Capades because Walt didn't have any cast members or costumes.
My kids were excited to meet Mickey in 2002 at Walt Disney World. If we'd waited a couple of years, he could have spoken to them, but by then my daughters would have been older and not as thrilled. There are 14 videos in this series, covering Donald Duck, Winnie-the-Pooh, Peter Pan, Dumbo, and more. Eventually, he'll get around to doing videos on the Disney Princesses. (via Metafilter)
Meet John Bolton
Dana Carvey portrays Trump's new National Security Advisor John Bolton on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night. It's so over-the-top that Colbert had a most difficult time keeping a halfway straight face.
Miss Cellania's Links
Was Genghis Khan the Father of Globalization? The leader we know as a demanding conqueror is a pioneering hero in his homeland.
16 Funny And Creepy Vintage Easter Bunnies.
The Long, Strange History of Medicinal Turpentine. While a small amount will kill parasites, there is no safe dosage.
I Wanted To Love Paris, But It Didn’t Love Me.
A Gentleman’s Guide to Offering Condolences. When you don't know what to say, it's still important to give it a try.
The 25 Best Set Pieces of Steven Spielberg’s Career. Scrolling through them is like watching all your favorite movies again.
My Brother, the White Nationalist.
The Last Jedi Gag Reel
Now that the home version of The Last Jedi is out, we get to see a lot of the extra features -at least the shorter ones. This one is labeled "bloopers and outtakes," but while there are some bloopers, most of it is just silliness on the set. The real gem here is finding out how many times General Leia got to slap Poe. Funny how she took so long to get it right.
Tweet of the Day
my gradnma died when i was 4, but before she passed she wrote me a graduation letter & left a gift. i just got to open it after 14 years❤😢 pic.twitter.com/5BMr4oafEc— kayla buckmaster (@buckee8) May 28, 2017
(via Buzzfeed)
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
The First Venus Flytrap
Even though species evolve in tiny increments, when one develops something that is different from their ancestors, there has to be a first one to try it. YouTube comedian CalebCity imagined how that very first plant decided it would be carnivorous and then evolve into a Venus Flytrap. He plays the roles of two plants and a bumblebee. Brace yourselves. This is the one-man version of Little Shop of Horrors. (via Tastefully Offensive)
The 1940s Mermaid Show That's Still Pulling Crowds
The Weeki Wachee mermaids were magical creatures to me as a child, even though I was old enough to know they were real women. Women with awesome jobs, in my eyes. But I did not realize they were still putting on shows three times a day in 2018! Tom Scott takes us on a tour of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Florida, and gives us the history of the famous mermaid show.
Cheeto Poetry
My name is cat, I am no theef. I hold the puff between my teef. When man is sleep, myself I please, I hop above and crumch the cheese. https://t.co/JsixxQSfEa pic.twitter.com/uv36o6qITR— Meow IRL (@ItsMeowIRL) March 27, 2018
This poem is discussed here. (via Metafilter)
Miss Cellania's Links
How Jeremy Bentham Finally Came to America, Nearly 200 Years After His Death.
Do Astronauts Believe in Aliens?
The Best and Worst Movies of the 2018 SXSW Film Festival. Many are documentaries that you'll need to seek out to see.
The Surprising History of the Wolf Whistle. It originally had a connection to real wolves.
The Oral History of Fanboys, a Love Letter to Star Wars Obliterated By the Dark Side of Hollywood. It's a wonder anyone ever got to see it at all.
The Terror's Fatal Voyage Gets Off to a Promising Start. The new AMC series fills in a 170-year-old mystery with possibly supernatural details.
Why It's Impossible to Be Constantly Happy. A neuroscientist explains how our nerve cells are programmed to detect change and ignore constant stimuli. (via Metafilter)
Is This Treasure Trove of Movie Ads From the Heyday of Newspapers Worth $20 Million? Even for a one-of-a-kind collection, the trick is in finding the right buyer.
The Divisiveness of Olive Gardens. Is a preference for local restaurants over a chain protective or pretentious?
Garfield's Lasagna
Garfield, the fat cat of comics and movie fame, always craved lasagna. Andrew Rea shows us why that lasagna was so delicious in the latest episode of Binging With Babish. The good news is that Garfield doesn't have to appear in this cooking video, so he doesn't. All the parts of this lasagna are hand-made before they are assembled. J. Kenji López-Alt's recipe for Ragu Bolognese is at Serious Eats. To see Brad Leone make the ricotta cheese, see his video. The instructions for homemade pasta is in a previous video by Andrew Rea. I can guarantee that after going through all this for a pan of lasagna, the cat is not getting it. (via reddit)
Tweet of the Day
I don’t pretend to fully understand it, but chess is a beautiful game to watch. pic.twitter.com/1SeokgahuM— looool why am i like this (@custardgannet) February 14, 2018
(via Buzzfeed)
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
An Honest Trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi
As The Last Jedi rolls out on home video, it's not a moment too soon for an Honest Trailer! Screen Junkies repeats a technique they used for The Force Awakens, in using both the current announcer Jon Bailey and their original Honest Trailer voice, Gannon Nickell. Why? Because any Star Wars movie can only be discussed by arguing whether the old ones or the new ones are better. If you've just ordered The Last Jedi for your first viewing, save this trailer for afterward. Not only does it spoil every plot point, it explores why this movie is the most divisive Star Wars movie since the last one. Or the one before that. I got a real giggle out of the cast names, especially Short Round as BB-8. In case you want to take a deep dive into the making of this Honest Trailer, there's a commentary video to accompany this one.
Cats Meeting Babies for the First Time Compilation
"What's this? Something new! It smells like a human. And a little like milk. It kinda looks like a human, too, but it's so little! It must be a kitten. A human kitten! I've never seen anything like this... but I love it."
Ashiarai Yashiki, the Giant Foot of Doom
In Japanese Folklore, the Ashiarai Yashiki is a giant filthy foot that crashes through the ceiling at night and demands to be washed. If you don't wash it, it will rampage through your house pic.twitter.com/MBwalGWFDZ— 41 Strange (@41Strange) March 26, 2018
Japanese monster stories are so bizarre that it's hard to know whether they are old or were made up for some modern manga, but Ashiarai Yashiki is apparently a real legend. According to the Villains Wiki,
The Ashiarai Yashiki is an extremely bizarre Japanese spirit that takes the form of a disembodied leg and foot, many times larger than a normal human and often covered in mud or blood - this frightening being was believed to literally smash its way into the homes of terrified humans and demand them to wash it.The only way I can picture this happening is in a Terry Gilliam animation. You have to wonder if he was familiar with the legend of Ashiarai Yashiki. (via madamjujujive)
The reason behind this attack was unknown and most likely could never really be understood as spirits such as the Ashiarai Yashiki were believed to be governed by laws far beyond human understanding, yet even by Japanese mythology standards the Ashiarai Yashiki stands out as one of the more unique monsters of folklore and despite being little more than a giant foot it was capable of human speech.
Dancing Furry Ball
Barnaby Dixon can make a puppet out of anything. He does just that in this video, fashioning a dancer out of a fluorescent silicon furry ball, and has another puppet narrate the process. The dancing puffball look neat, but the narrator, called Dabchick, is the real star of the show. (via Digg)
Miss Cellania's Links
17 Harmless April Fool's Pranks That are Easy to Pull Off. April Fools Day falls on Easter Sunday this year, not a day you want to wet someone's clothing, hide the dinner entree, or mess with a child's Easter basket.
Gangster’s paradise: how organised crime took over Russia.
Westworld: A Look at the Movie That Inspired the HBO Series. The marriage between the Western and dystopian science fiction took place in 1973.
The Long History of a Lame Joke. It did not start with Winston Churchill and Lady Astor. (via Strange Company)
The Day an Airliner Crashed in Sadie Burkhalter’s Front Yard. She didn't have water or even phone service to help the survivors of Southern Airways Flight 242.
John W. Jones: The Runaway Slave Who Buried Nearly 3000 Confederate Soldiers. http://mentalfloss.com/article/531737/john-w-jones-runaway-slave-who-buried-nearly-3000-confederate-soldiers
The Face Licker is a custom-made lollipop made to look like your face -or the face of someone you'd like to lick. (via Mashable)
Why Some Americans Are Risking It and Skipping Health Insurance.
Try these 9 Strange and Different Easter Treats, creative and tasty variations on the Easter egg.
What Marvel Movies Look Like Without Special Effects
If you have a Marvel superhero movie you've looked forward to but haven't seen yet, this video might spoil some really great scenes for you. But if you are caught up on them, and have a firm control of your suspension of disbelief, it's cool to see what went on before the special effects were added. Weird, yeah? This look behind the scenes from Looper gives us a new respect for the actors who had to deliver lines with a straight face when everything going on around them wasn't really going on around them. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Tweet of the Day
This is the greatest book about writing that I have ever read. pic.twitter.com/lLIehZzeyg— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) March 18, 2018
Monday, March 26, 2018
Jetpack Samurai
A surefire formula for a viral video is to put all the cool things you can think of in a hat and pull two out. Combine them, and you've got a hit. Jetpack Samurai surely fills the bill. Japanese designer Shota Mori came up with the sport he calls Jet Samurai and gives a demonstration of it to his technology class. While it seems like it may be a little dangerous, Jet Samurai could instantly have leagues and tournaments if jetpacks were a bit more available. (via Laughing Squid)
Cutting Through Ice with a Red Hot Jackhammer
Finnish YouTuber Lauri Vuohensilta spends a lot of time dreaming up new ways to impress us with cool machinery. In this video, he checks to see if a jackhammer is better to break through a frozen lake than the usual chainsaw. But you know what would be cooler? If he heated up the hammer part. If you want to skip ahead to the fun part, the heating-up is at about four minutes in. I don't want to give anything away, but it doesn't go exactly as he thought it would. Vuohensilta follows that with more jackhammer vs. ice stunts. (via Digg)
Miss Cellania's Links
Japan’s Prisons Are a Haven for Elderly Women. Something is wrong when life on the inside is an improvement.
Notes, emails reveal Trump appointees' war to end HHS teen pregnancy prevention program.
In 1933, Four Cows Went to Antarctica. It was a publicity stunt, but explorers and researchers really appreciated the milk.
The Mystery of Thismia Americana, the Parasitic Plant Found Only in Chicago. The species went extinct only two years after its discovery.
How March Got So Mad: The Story Behind the NCAA Basketball Tournament. The tournament and the phrase "March Madness" came from different places.
The Perils of Selling a Mirror. A compilation of 63 pictures of people who didn't want to be seen, or else didn't realize they would be seen.
How Archie Bunker Forever Changed the American Sitcom. Surprise! Television families are better when they're not perfect.
Lud’s Church: Lollards and the Green Chapel of Arthurian Legend. A narrow gorge in Staffordshire looks like something out of a fairy tale, but it more likely inspired those tales.
She Thought She’d Shot A Burglar. Then She Realized It Was Her Roommate. Tales of good guys with guns.
Tweet of the Day
For us to be Successful we go through difficult things or challenges 💔♥😊 pic.twitter.com/VcHf8dRoCE— IG:vhutali_n 🇿🇦 (@vhutaliii) March 14, 2018
(via Swiss Miss)
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Fulfilling His Dream
Will always wanted to be an air dancer, one of these "tube men" that dances by blown air power to catch your attention. And he got his wish! Not only is he a tube man, but a professional tube man! The kicker is that this is a real ad, a local commercial for a car dealer. It matters little that you see any of the actual products for sale. If you live in the local area, you'll remember the ad, and the name of the dealer. (via Tastefully Offensive)
What Darth Vader Eats
The question had been circulating among Star Wars fans, who overthink everything, for years. The answer is here, although is isn't in English, and you can't feed graphics into a text translator. I know enough French to get the gist of this, but people who know say it's even funnier in French.
1. Milk exists on Tatooine. Luke drinks Bantha milk.
2. Moisture exists, so therefore mold can exist to create cheese.
3. Darth Vader can't eat most things, because he needs his mask to breathe.
4. That's why his mask has a cheese grater in the front.
If you read French and can offer any further insights, please leave a comment. (via Gizmodo)
2. Moisture exists, so therefore mold can exist to create cheese.
3. Darth Vader can't eat most things, because he needs his mask to breathe.
4. That's why his mask has a cheese grater in the front.
If you read French and can offer any further insights, please leave a comment. (via Gizmodo)
Keeping Your Ducks in a Row
Traffic in rural Vietnam stopped because some ducks were crossing the road. How many ducks? All of them! Lê Tấn Tài started recording them after noticing how many there were. We'll never know how many ducks had already crossed by that time. I don't know what that guy was thinking, honking his horn. They aren't going to go any faster. And you can't make them stop following each other. (via Digg)
Hollywood Nights
Bob Seger performing in San Diego in 1978. This song will always remind me of a disc jockey I later met in Brookfield, Missouri.
Tweet of the Day
When Ur Dog Stages An Intervention pic.twitter.com/gI4nnJfNwh— Humor And Animals (@humorandanimals) March 19, 2018
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Anglerfish Mating Pair Caught on Video
Anglerfish don't just mate- they bond for life, literally. The tiny male bites into a female, and never lets go. He eventually becomes fused with her body. She provides nutrients to keep him alive, and he provides sperm for her eggs. The scary-looking anglerfish lives so deep in the ocean that they very rarely survive being brought to the surface. What we know about them is mainly from studying dead specimens. But in 2016, a mating pair was captured on video for the first time.
The video was captured at a depth of 800 meters by deep-sea explorers Kirsten and Joachim Jakobsen in a submersible. The husband and wife team was nearing the end of a grueling 5-hour dive along a steep deep-sea wall on the south side of São Jorge Island, when “something with a funny form” caught their eye, Kirsten Jakobsen says. Aborting their plan to surface, the filmmakers followed the strange creature around for 25 minutes, capturing its movements through the submersible’s 1.4-meter-wide window. It was exciting, but also challenging to maneuver the craft to get the best images because the female was only about 16 centimeters long, she says.Read more about anglerfish and how this video was taken at Science. (via Damn Interesting)
After surfacing, the duo sent the video to Pietsch, who identified the species as Caulophryne jordani, known as the fanfin angler. He was entranced by the species’s “gracefulness,” especially the way those whiskerlike structures—called filaments and fin rays—enveloped the animal. “Any prey item touching one of those would cause the angler to turn and gobble up that particular animal,” he says. “They can’t afford to let a meal go by because there’s so little to eat down there.” The video was captured in August 2016, but this is the first time it’s been released to the public.
Troy James at the Apollo
When you go to Showtime at the Apollo, you expect to hear some awesome music, and maybe see a dance routine or two. The audience wasn't prepared for Troy James. James is a noted contortionist who has appeared in several movies, usually as a monster or supernatural being, designed to freak people out. He's good at that! (via reddit)
For Our Lives
Various graphic artists and ad agencies have contributed posters for today's March For Our Lives. There are a lot more here.
