(via Bad Newspaper)
Sunday, May 31, 2020
The Last Day of School
It takes a special person to teach kindergarten, and Miss Kittenger is the kind of teacher we could all use. Her class was upended when she had to teach via Zoom to her kindergarten students at their homes, so she wanted to do something special to end the year. I would call this virtual class extra-special. (via Digg)
The 1959 Curtiss-Wright Model 2500 Air-Car
Colin Furze found his own way to hover around, https://www.neatorama.com/story/Jet-Suit-Hoverboarding/ but back in 1959, you could zip along in Curtiss-Wright Model 2500 Air-Car. Or maybe not, as there weren't many built. Curtiss-Wright is an aircraft company, but delved into experimental vehicles for the military, including this hover car.
Each engine was used to drive, via reduction gears, a single four-bladed lift fan placed within a plenum chamber. The two chambers created a cushion of air 10-15 inches thick. Forward propulsion was supplied by air bled off the chambers and expelled at low velocity through two sets of louvers on each side of the vehicle.It was big and heavy and pretty cool, but that seemed to be about ll it had going for it. Both prototype models are still in existence. Read more at Vintage Everyday. (via Nag on the Lake)
It was fairly maneuverable and could reach speeds up to 38 mph. It was not really capable of all-terrain operation and never caught on commercially.
Leaf Liquid
Leaf liquid or bean water, distractions are what makes it cold. Happens to me every day, and I must admit that part of that cooling time is just me looking for or trying to remember where I left my cup. This comic is from Nathan Pyle's Strange Planet.
Jet Suit Hoverboarding
It's 2020, and we were supposed to have flying cars, or at least flying hover boards by now. Crazy inventor Colin Furze took matters into his own hands to make a Back to the Future 2 experience happen. He took one of the hover boards made to commemorate the film and made it really fly by using a jetpack and two small jetpacks on his arms! He shows us how he did it, but if you want, you can skip to 6:00 to see him fly. That's a lot of equipment to carry around, but he's flying and we're not. (via Geekologie)
Tweet of the Day
here's a dinosaur reading a bedtime story to puppies and I don't know who needs to see this but I sure as hell did pic.twitter.com/RYmymYjOOC— shauna (@goldengateblond) May 28, 2020
(via Nag on the Lake)
Saturday, May 30, 2020
On Rice and Arsenic
Lucky me, I eat basmati rice from India. I've been working on a 25-pound bag for years now. (via Digg)
Innoculation
You've heard people talk about humans as the virus of the earth. For a brief moment, the virus was contained, but soon the bounce back affect will be unleashed. This comic is from Zach Weinersmith at Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.
Farmer has a Rough Day at Work
He must be a farmer, because he's certainly not a forklift driver. I'm not a forklift driver, either, but it appears that he lifted the load too far from the cab. The real payoff of this chain-reaction snafu is his reaction -that poor hat! The security video has no sound, but you can imagine what he's yelling. (via Digg)
Friday, May 29, 2020
Miss Cellania's Links
Some Countries Have Brought New Cases of COVID-19 Down To Nearly Zero. How Did They Do It?
For Sale: The First Printing of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
The Black Investigator Who Went Undercover as a White Man in the Jim Crow South. (via Damn Interesting)
Ancient Roman Mosaic Floor Unearthed Beneath Italian Vineyard.
How the Influenza Pandemic Popularized Lemons.
Artist Chet Phillips has created a series of illustrations that portray fictional creatures from pop culture as vintage scientific field studies.
My fiancée says I'm handsome...like a Japanese woodblock print. (via Everlasting Blort)
Small Towns Won’t Know They’re Infected Until It’s Too Late. (via Digg)
A blast from the past (2011): Deep Fried on a Stick: Innovations in Fair Food.
Tweet of the Day
So my Dad made good use of his time in lockdown and built a huge laughing Kookaburra. pic.twitter.com/UGVC4dZsCL— Rafaan (@RafaanDaliri) May 26, 2020
(via Digg)
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Coming Soon: A Star Wars Game Show
Will Disney ever run out of ways to monetize the Star Wars universe? No. Next up, a competition series centered around everything Star Wars. That's cause for celebration among Disney and Lucasfilm executives, and fans too young to recall the original trilogy in theaters. Or on videotape.
That’s because on June 3, Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge will finally be released to the world. Hosted by Ahmed Best (aka Jar Jar Binks himself), the show is very much like the kids’ game shows many of us grew up with: Double Dare, Endurance, Guts, etc. Except this time, it’s all Star Wars.Strangely, this game show will not air exclusively on Disney+, but will be available online to all. And it's good to see Best given a chance to play a different Star Wars character. Read more at io9.
The Cat and the New Treadmill
Indy is a curious cat. When a new contraption appears in his home, he has to investigate every inch of it. When it's turned on, he puts his best efforts into figuring it out. YouTuber Walter Santi documented Indy's lessons for our vicarious pleasure. (via Digg)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker-HISHE Dubs
The folks at How It Should Have Ended give us The Rise of Skywalker in short form, by only presenting the parts that make no sense with the characters explaining the inconsistencies as we go. It's the entire movie AND all its critiques, boiled down to ten minutes. This could have saved me a lot of time over the last year.
Miss Cellania's Links
The Strange Saga of the Rogue Kentucky Constables Who Arrested an FBI Agent. (via Digg)
The Guys With Backyard Roller Coasters, and Even Whole Theme Parks.
Which Grocery Chain Has the Best Health and Safety Policies for Its Workers?
Dinosaur Asteroid's Trajectory was 'Perfect Storm.' Chicxulub hit the worst possible place on the planet at the most lethal angle. (via Damn Interesting)
He asked Twitter to remove Trump's false tweets about his dead wife. Twitter refused.
Man finds out his wife is having triplets. Warning: NSFW language.
The Latest on Indiana Jones 5. (via Uproxx)
Executive extortion goes domestic in "The Don, Part II." The latest from Tom the Dancing Bug.
A blast from the past (2017): 10 Amazing LEGO Artists.
Tweet of the Day
Service doggo meets idol! pic.twitter.com/pWP0nVLhbv— Welcome To Nature (@welcomet0nature) May 23, 2020
(via Everlasting Blort)
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
A Modern Trailer for The Empire Strikes Back
Move trailers in the 21st century tend to follow a pattern, a formula if you will, and over time began to all look alike. AD_edits did a nice job on The Empire Strikes back, with a trailer that will make you want to see the movie again. But what if you'd never seen it before? What makes the "modern trailer" above so noteworthy is the contrast between it and the real 1979 trailer.
The production values and the use of a narrator make it seem hopelessly dated, but this one honestly gives fewer plot points away. It worked 40 years ago. (via Geekologie)
Das Fone Hell
Even movie stars are looking for something to do during quarantine. Sam Neil and Helena Bonham Carter made a short film on two different continents. Bonham Carter plays Sam's phone, and she is not happy. (via Laughing Squid)
An Honest Trailer for Friends
People all over have been binge-watching Friends during isolation, either because they always meant to see it or they haven't seen it in so long they barely recall it. The show ran for ten seasons, with a total of 236 episodes. While the adventures of six friends in New York was not at all realistic, it was funny. And the editor who cut this Honest Trailer should get some kind of award.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Pharmaceutical Ad
While I understand what this video is saying about the state of the modern world, real pharma ads drive me up a wall. They are targeted to the .0001% of people who have a very specific condition, and expect those people to ask their doctor for this specific medicine, even though the side effects can be death, and by the way, if you are in the target group and have have a terminal condition for which other treatments have not worked, tell your doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, because she might not know.
The Past We Can Never Return To
Yes, it looks like a Kurzgesagt video, but only the Day-Glo illustrations. They felt that an essay from John Green fit into their mission of spreading thought-provoking ideas. He tells a story about the records left from people who lived long, long ago, but also still live on in the things they left behind. Green and his brother Frank have an entire podcast series called The Anthropocene Reviewed which you can listen to here.
Miss Cellania's Links
"Take on Me" on a Washing Machine. And more songs on household appliances.
Inside the Flour Company Supplying America’s Sudden Baking Obsession. (via Nag on the Lake)
10 Chance Meetings That Changed the World.
Star Cities Scattered Across our Globe. Yeah, there are plenty of pictures.
Quarantine TV Choices by State. (via Digg)
What Kind of Country Do We Want? (via Metafilter)
Why Players Around the World Gobbled Up Pac-Man.
From Bizarre Gardening Accident to Sheer Heart Attack. It turns out that a torn butt was just the beginning of guitarist Brian May's health problems. (via reddit)
A blast from the past (2011): Pyrophonia: Music on Fire.
Tweet of the Day
Quite something... pic.twitter.com/XOwOogg04p— Lord Ashcroft (@LordAshcroft) May 14, 2020
The replies to this video are in three categories: 1. Why? 2. That seems dangerous! and 3. James Bond did that years ago holding a martini. (via Nag on the Lake)
Monday, May 25, 2020
Summer Camp in Antarctica
Union Glacier Camp is a unique, but real, camping experience in Antarctica. it is only open from November through January, which is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and houses guests in tents. Talk about getting away from it all! (via The Kid Should See This)
Building the Perfect Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder
Mark Rober took up birdwatching as a hobby. However, squirrels discovered his new bird feeders. So, handy fellow that he is, Robert constructed an obstacle course to make things more difficult. But it's not just an obstacle course; it's more involved than anything you'd see on American Ninja Warrior. He even designed a photo opportunity in the middle of it! Yeah, the video is long, but you can skip to 7:40 and see squirrels trying to negotiate the course. Watch from the beginning to see how he built it. (via Gizmodo)
Check
Teaching Children to enjoy new and novel foods was much easier when school lunches were government surplus slop. We were hungry enough to eat them, so anything else was greatly appreciated. But you never know how things will turn out. I was pretty liberal, letting my kids eat pretty much what they wanted within my budget. Now both Princess and Gothgrrl are adventurous eaters who pay attention to nutrition. How did that happen? This comic is from Chris Hallbeck at Maximumble.
Miss Cellania's Links
How One ‘Yesterday’ Screenwriter’s Dream Became Something Of A Nightmare.
Ancient Egyptian coffins and mystery of ‘black goo.’ (via Strange Company)
Practicing the can-can. Sound on!
You know how we judge people by the homes they choose and the way they keep them? Science writer Ferris Jabr studied bird nests to see what they say about the bird itself. Part one and part two. (via Metafilter)
Images From This Year's Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, So far.
This Giant Monument to Elon Musk Has Tulsa Residents Furious. (via Digg)
Genius Bees Force Plants to Bloom by Biting Them.
So I tried to support another Black Owned Business for lunch today. It’s called Ava’s Kitchen, just opened end of April. It’s a very clean establishment, but whewww let me tell you about this owner. (via Metafilter)
A blast from the past (2017): 11 Unusual Footraces.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Zoom Block Tango
Socialites Comedy gives us a 2020 version of "Cell Block Tango" from the musical Chicago. (via Nag on the Lake)
The Most Watched Television Series From 1951 - 2019
Data Broz gives us a mesmerizing visualization of the most watched TV shows over the past seven decades. Before that, few people actually owned TV sets. But during the time analyzed here, the number of people rose greatly, and the number of TV sets per person also exploded. Notice that about 1987 the total number of people watching the same shows started to drop, as cable began offering a wider variety of channels. The data is "mostly" based on the USA, and NFL shows are excluded. (via Geekologie)
The Dam Busters a la Star Wars
George Lucas used the film The Dam Busters as inspiration for the Star Wars final action scene. HenryvKeiper took footage from the 1955 movie and synced it with audio from the climactic Death Star scene from Star Wars episode IV. (via YesButNoButYes)
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Training Barbers
This British short from 1950 shows how barbers got their start -shaving balloons! (via Nag on the Lake)
Toothpaste
Ah yeah, I remember when my Dad used to go off on anyone squeezing the toothpaste tube wrong. However, the idea is pretty much moot now. Back then, toothpaste came in metal tubes, and if you bent it in the middle, you permanently lost some toothpaste in the bottom. But then they switched to plastic tubes, and it really doesn't matter where you squeeze, as long as you don't mess up the tube completely. So my advice would be to chill out and not judge others on such things. This comic is from Zach Weinersmith at Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.
Traffic in Cairo
On the surface, it appears that there are no rules, but there are. They just aren't written down. I've heard people marvel at how Americans follow traffic laws so diligently compared to other places, and I tell them it's because not following the rules is very expensive here- insurance, car repair, fines, injuries. After all, we drive long distances at high speeds so much of the time that following the rules is crucial. (via reddit)
Speedy the Turtle
Who says turtles are slow? This strange-looking soft shell turtle made a quick getaway! (via Unique Daily)
Tweet of the Day
It's the little things that can make a difference... such as this Bagger machine operator taking a minute to bring smiles to the kids!👍🧑🏭 pic.twitter.com/fGVRru9dhq— Madeyousmile (@Thund3rB0lt) May 18, 2020
This is cute, but I would have made my kids stand way back while the dumping was happening. (via Laughing Squid)
Friday, May 22, 2020
Trying to Find a Job as a College Graduate in 2020
You have to feel sorry for the graduates of 2020. They get no commencement ceremony, no unemployment benefits, no stimulus check for most of them, and they are thrust into a world that's had a weird job market for years and became infinitely weirder in a pandemic. College placement offices are closed, and have been for months.
There are quite a few things they don't tell you about getting a job when you finish school. One thing is that when companies say "entry level," they don't mean your first job, they just mean your first job with them, so they can pay you the lowest salary they have. Another thing is that the required qualifications they post are a wish list, not a deal breaker, no matter how they make it sound. Good luck out there. (via Digg)
Deanna
YouTuber jchalex used the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song "Deanna" as the soundtrack for a tribute to Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation. (via Metafilter)
Disneyland Tokyo
This promotional short aired when Disneyland opened in Tokyo in 1983. The stereotypes are cringe, and it amazes me now that Americans ever thought the Japanese should buy our cars. (via reddit)
Miss Cellania's Links
Why are liberals more afraid of the coronavirus than conservatives?
Watch da kitty!
15+ Photoshop Gurus Who Broke All Records. (Thanks gwdMaine!)
Monster-Building Instructions, IKEA-style, from Ed Harrington.
The Kentucky Miner Who Scammed Americans by Claiming He Was Hitler and Plotting a ‘Revolt’ With ‘Spaceships.’ (via Fark)
Inexplicably creepy cakes. I'd love to hear the stories behind them.
Mother-Daughter Medical School Graduates. (via reddit)
A blast from the past (2011): 8 Strange Sea Creatures.
