Wednesday, December 17, 2025
I Gotta Feeling
The Ein Prat Fountainheads celebrate Hanukkah, which continues all this week. The Fountainheads are the group who brought us Livin' in a Booth And Dip Your Apple. Here's to a blessed celebration!
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Beatnik Christmas Tale
From 1970. That seems strange to me, as the term beatnik was pretty much replaced by the term hippies by then. I mean, my parents were beatniks. I was a hippie. (via Weird Universe)
A WWII Christmas Story
Christmas can be hard when you're thousands of miles away from your loved ones, and especially when you're facing dangers that could prevent you from ever seeing them again. Anything that makes that ordeal easier is a Christmas miracle. Sean of the South relates one Christmas gift in 1943 that no one involved will ever forget.
The story checks out, but there's a small correction that make it even better. The movie that the sailors received wasn't just still shots, but film footage of wives and children opening the gifts from their husbands and daddies and waving "hi!" to them, all arranged by Macy's. The entire project started out in August, or else it never could have been pulled off.
The Reason You Drink
Mary and Paul Sommers of Dayton, Ohio, sent all three of their children through the same Catholic grade school. This is the final year for their youngest son, Jake. To show their appreciation for the patience the teachers showed, they got Jake's teachers bottles of chardonnay for Christmas, with specially-printed labels you can see here. Their older son DJ Tweeted pictures of the gifts. The response was overwhelming, which Mary did not expect. They even made some TV stations and newspapers. The teachers were more appreciative than shocked. (via Buzzfeed)
Bird Cowboy
Remember that story The Ugly Duckling? If you ever wondered what happened to the subject of that tale, this song will continue the story after he rides off into the sunset. Except here, he remains a duck instead of a swan. Except he's more than a just duck- he's a cowboy! Or rather, a Western gunslinger, because there's no cows in sight. Okay, he's a duck gunslinger who goes by the name Bird Cowboy. A story doesn't have to make sense when it's this good. You can almost hear Johnny Cash singing this. But it's from Mummy Joe, and the illustrations are both silly and adorable. (via Everlasting Blort)
The Christmas Closet
The challenge is to concentrate as many Christmas lights into a small space as possible, or so it seems. Why else would you decorate a tiny room with no furniture? Watch as Justin strings lights in a closet and adds extra Christmas enhancements. You know he fell off those ridiculous homemade stilts at least once. And how many plug-ins can one electrical outlet hold? When the big moment comes, you expect a fire instead of Christmas lights. Watch the video before you continue reading.
Miss Cellania's Links
Volcanic eruption triggered 'butterfly effect' that led to the Black Death, researchers find. https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/volcanic-eruption-triggered-butterfly-effect-that-led-to-the-black-death-researchers-find (via Strange Company)
A child bride who was due to be executed this month in Iran over the death of her husband has had her life spared by his parents, who were paid the equivalent of £70,000 in exchange for their forgiveness. (via Damn Interesting)
Truckers Say These Are The Best (And Worst) Highways In The U.S.
Looking Back at the White Man: The story of Julius Lips. His 1937 book on colonialism as seen from the other side rubbed Hitler the wrong way. (via Metafilter)
Hegseth’s New Pentagon AI Is Telling Military Personnel His Boat Strike Was Completely Illegal. (via Fark)
The Lost Forty: How an 1882 Surveying Error Saved a Patch of Forest from Logging.
The Judy Garland Christmas Movie Meet Me in St. Louis Was Surprisingly Spicy Behind the Scenes.
Most radioactive site in US is moving on from the Manhattan Project. And finally dealing with its nuclear waste in a surprising way. (via Damn Interesting)
A Hamilton Hanukkah
2016 was the year for a Hamilton Hanukkah. The a cappella group Six13 was invited to perform at the White House, and they unveiled their 2016 Hanukkah sequence, modeled on the Broadway musical Hamilton.
Not to be outdone, the a cappella group the Maccabeats also did Hamilton for their annual song parody for Hanukkah 2016. "Hasmonean" tells the tale of the miracle of the lights, also in the style of the Broadway musical Hamilton. (via Metafilter)
The Robot Apocalypse
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/rise-o...
— The Fake History Hunter (@fakehistoryhunter.net) December 13, 2025 at 9:52 PM
[image or embed]
Monday, December 15, 2025
RIP Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were killed by a knife attack in their home yesterday. Their son Nick has been arrested. We are all shocked and saddened.
When I was a kid, my family never missed watching All in the Family. In its early years, I wanted to be Meathead, because he knew so much and wanted to make the world a better place. Then came This Is Spinal Tap in 1984, and I was in the perfect place to find it outrageously funny. Reiner's movies that followed were all good -or at least the ones that I saw. This 60 Minutes interview is from earlier this year, ahead of the opening of Reiner's last film This Is Spinal Tap: The End Continues.
RÃu ChÃu
The Monkees may have been a musical group manufactured for TV, but they were all talented musicians. Here they sing the 16th century Spanish Christmas carol "RÃu ChÃu" a cappella on their 1967 Christmas episode. That performance was broadcast live, and the song went over so well that they had to record it later to include in their compilation albums. (via Metafilter)
Red Baron vs. White Death
Nice Peter and Epic LLOYD of Epic Rap Battles of History only release a new video maybe once or twice a year now, but they put a lot of thought into each one. Not only is this one clever, it's so fast-paced that you'll need to see it more than once to reap all the highly-accurate historical details in the rap, and then again to catch all the visual details. It pits two of the world's most renowned warriors against each other.
Simo Häyhä was a Finnish farmer and sniper who racked up more than 500 kills in the Winter War of 1938. He became known to the Russians as the White Death. You don't know dread until the snow begins speaking Finnish. Baron Manfred von Richthofen was a German flying ace credited with 80 air battle victories in World War I. And they can both throw flyting words.
The Red Baron has a lasting reputation that allows them include references to pizza, Snoopy, and Meet the Fokkers. Finnish commenters helpfully explained a few terms used here. "Sisu" is a Finnish term for determination, grit, and courage. "Paskapää" means shithead. This video contains NSFW language. (via Boing Boing)
70 People from 70 Countries Imitate Americans
Condé Nast Traveler asked folks from other countries to show what an American is like. They pulled up US slang, put on their best American accent, and planted a big smile on their faces, because we're known for that. Taken all together, they seem to have the same stereotype of what an American is like. Did they get that from tourists, or from the movies? I would guess movies. Mean Girls, to be specific. The woman from South Africa talking about Texas is my favorite. Or maybe Japan, when she just imitated us eating. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Sunday, December 14, 2025
A Jackson 5 Hanukkah
Y-Studs is a Jewish a cappella group that remakes familiar pop songs into celebrations of Jewish life and holidays. Their new song for Hanukkah 2025 is a medley of Jonas Brothers songs. It's a nice performance, but sadly I did not recognize any of the tunes, because I am an old lady. But I looked into their catalog, and their Hanukkah song from last year is right up my alley. The tunes are from "I Want You Back," "I'll Be There," and "ABC" from The Jackson Five.
If you liked that, you can revisit other Y-Studs songs I've posted before.
Bearded Dragon Overcomes the Odds
Valerie Musser knows bearded dragons- she has five of them! She sometimes dresses them up and poses them in miniature kitchen scenes for fun, as you can see at Instagram.
Winny came as a rescue when she was abandoned in front of a pet shop. She may have been considered a defective dragon, as a veterinary workup determined she has muscular dystrophy. Not only that, but Winny was malnourished and full of eggs! Would she survive long enough to lay those eggs? Good food and loving care in her new home helped, but Musser still kept her fingers crossed. And Winny came through like a champ!
Even though all the bearded dragons are treated like royalty, Musser has made extra accommodations for Winny's health. At Facebook, you can see how a bath mat helps her walk without sliding, and an improvised vibrating device helps her digestion. Winny has found the perfect family and is living each day to the fullest.
Air Force One Press Conference
In the opening skit for last night's Saturday Night Live, the president addresses various topics in the news to journalists while flying on Air Force One, making as much sense a usual. He only insults one woman journalists because she's the only one there.
Dropping a GoPro Down a Well
Mathany Green House is a sustainable off-the-grid home in upstate New York. When their well was installed, they sent a GoPro camera down into the newly-drilled well because the driller said there were limestone caves down there. As the rope is fed, you see what the inside of a modern day drilled well looks like. Then all you can think is "How deep is this well?"
It's 120 feet deep. Or maybe more, but that's as far as the camera went down. Most of it is under water. They either reached the bottom, ran out of rope, or gave up when the light was gone. The caves were reported to be at 110 feet, but we can't see anything that far down. Still, the video is mesmerizing as it plunges further and further into the depths. The ride might be a little claustrophobic if you are so inclined, but you can pretend you're traveling through a wormhole into another dimension, if that helps. (via Geekologie)
Saturday, December 13, 2025
The Prince of Egypt
The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 animated film about Moses from Dreamworks. The story follows the account of Moses' life from the book of Exodus from his adoption in infancy to his receiving of the Ten Commandments. The movie is notable for its lovely visuals and memorable songs. The biggest was "When You Believe" which won an Oscar, but my personal favorite is "Through Heaven's Eyes."
Dick Van Dyke Turns 100 Years Old
Happy Birthday, Dick! Actor, comedian, singer, and dancer Dick Van Dyke was born on December 13, 1925. Van Dyke became famous for this performance in the 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie, for which he won a Tony Award. That got him the starring role in The Dick Van Dyke Show from 1961 to '66 -and three Emmy Awards. He was cast in the 1964 movie Mary Poppins, which garnered him a Grammy Award for his performance on the movie's soundtrack album. He's been working steadily ever since.
Other notable facts from Van Dyke's life include how he dropped out of high school to join the military as a pilot during World War II. He was rejected by the Army Air Force for being underweight until they accepted him as an entertainer. Van Dyke also wrote several books, including one for children based on his experience as a Sunday school teacher. There are other lesser-known facts about Dick Van Dyke's life and career you can read about here.
What's the Best Position to Sleep In?
There is no shortage of "experts" who will tell you how what position to sleep in, whether they are really experts or not. So which is really the optimal position to sleep in? And can you train yourself to do it the "right" way?
First off, remember that humanity has managed to survive for hundreds of thousands of years without worrying about sleep positions. But according to science, the most optimal sleep position depends on who you are and the state of your current health. Even then, it's most likely only going to make a small difference. Dr. Rachel Salas, a neurologist who specializes in sleep medicine, explains the differences in sleep positions.
Serenading Daddy
Three-year-old Isabella doesn't want her daddy to leave her. The ukulele was right there, so she stalled by singing a little song for him. She made it up as she went along. It's adorable. That's pretty resourceful for her age. And now Bella's got a viral video to put on her resume when she's trying to get into a performing arts school in about 15 years. (via Digg)
Heating Happiness
Comic artist Sarah Andersen has been a hiatus, but she has a new cartoon she made to raise money for a British mental health organization called Mind Charity. https://www.instagram.com/mindcharity/
Friday, December 12, 2025
A Brief History of Santa
The tradition of Santa Claus has a long and evolving history that blends legends from many nations into one jolly elf. These traditions don't evolve much any more thanks to movies and television shows, which tend to stay with us. The iconic American version of Santa Claus from the 1947 Miracle on 34th Street was already quite familiar in its time, and is not all that different from his depiction in 21st century films. Thanks to Hollywood, the American Santa is becoming more common around the world. CGP Grey explains where this character came from.
A Cartoon's Revenge
MelBrooks once said, “Tragedy is when I stub my toe. Comedy is when you fall into an open manhole and die.” It's even more so with cartoons, since we don't have to feel bad about laughing at an animated character's misery. Well, maybe we should.
Miss Cellania's Links
Why we have two nostrils instead of one big hole. (via kottke)
Trump Pardons Boatload of Narco Traffickers. The latest from Tom the Dancing Bug.
Why Weird Al Yankovic didn't make any money from "Perform This Way."
Viewer mail can be brutal.
That Christmas When Parisians Ate the Zoo.
The dystopian Pottersville in It’s a Wonderful Life is starting to feel less like fiction.
Size of Life is a slideshow that compares the size of living things on a scale from strands of DNA to to largest living thing on earth. (via kottke)
The Word of the Day is Fornication.
The Great Ball Contraption
Eight of the best mechanical minds in Japan collaborated to assemble the Great Ball Contraption at Japan Brickfest 2025. The goal is to design the most elegant and mesmerizing methods of moving tiny basketballs and soccer balls a few inches further down the line. The result is 49 LEGO modules that, strung together, created a circle of the room more than 31 meters long! The elements of this contraption include elevators using genius handoffs; robots that resemble birds, dinosaurs, and, uh, robots; and gear assemblies that look like some kind of voodoo is going on. You might also notice a domino machine that doesn't seem to have anything to do with moving the balls, but it's pretty clever anyway. (via The Awesomer)
War Pigs: Star Wars Version
The Black Sabbath song "War Pigs" is illustrated with the dark side. YouTuber voordeel edited war scenes from all nine Star Wars films into the song with an emphasis on the long line of the bad guys of the galaxy wielding death and destruction. There are grand entrances, light saber fights, and space battles, edited into a breathtaking clash of evil vs. good. The biggest drawback is that it's pretty short. (via Laughing Squid)
The Good Samaritan
Looking around, she spotted an old rusty coat hanger on the ground. She picked it up and whispered, “Lord, I have no idea how to use this.”
So she bowed her head and prayed, “Please, God, send someone to help me.”
Just minutes later, a beat-up old motorcycle pulled into the lot. A bearded man in a biker skull rag got off and asked, “Need some help, ma’am?”
She explained, “My daughter is sick. I’ve locked my keys in the car. I need to get home. Can you use this hanger to open it?”
The biker smiled and said, “Sure.” In less than a minute, her car was unlocked.
Overcome with emotion, she hugged the man and cried, "Thank you, God, for sending me such a good man!"
The biker chuckled and said, "Lady, I’m not a good man. I just got out of prison yesterday… for car theft."
The woman hugged him even tighter and sobbed, "Oh, thank you, God… You even sent me a professional!"
(via reddit)
Thursday, December 11, 2025
Silly Magic
The duo Men in Coats prove that stupid human tricks can be quite entertaining, if you have the style to pull it off. (via Memo of the Air)
How Airlines Transport Your Luggage
You probably travel with just carry-on luggage if you have to fly, because not only does checked baggage cost extra, there's a chance you may never see that baggage again in one piece. What do airlines do to cause all that damage? One commenter told of the time he received his clothing in a garbage bag at baggage claim. The explanation was that an airplane had run over his suitcase.
To show us what happens in the airport baggage conveyor system, Joseph Herscher of Joseph's Machines recreated the path that your suitcase takes through an airport. It's a bit scary in places, but somehow, his suitcase beats the odds and makes it out okay. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Christmas Ads of Yore
Wanna feel old? Relive some of the Christmas ads from the 20th century, for the Sony Handycam, the Ford station wagon, a Texaco toy truck, RCA Victor electronics, and Avon products. It ends with that classic animated Christmas greeting from CBS. It made me feel so old that when one little girl said "This is the best Christmas ever!" I thought, how many have you had, maybe six?
How to Clean Your Marmot
I am thoroughly embarrassed to find that I've been doing it wrong all this time! (via Memo of the Air)
2025 Will Have a KPop Demon Hunters Hanukkah
Hanukkah begins at sundown on Sunday, December 14th, and runs through sundown on Monday the 22nd. Every year, we get a new crop of Hanukkah songs that are set to the tunes of pop songs we all know. Some of the groups have been doing this so long they have used up all their favorites, and therefore go with whatever the big pop culture thing of the year was, which means they can end up doing the same thing. It happened in 2016, when both the Maccabeats and Six13 did songs from Hamilton, and again in 2024 when they both did songs from Wicked. It has happened again this year. Above you have Six13 presenting a medley they call Golden: A KPop Demon Hunters Chanukah. Below is the new Hanukkah medley from the Maccabeats called HanuKpop Demon Hunters.
Both feature tunes from the movie KPop Demon Hunters, both feature clever lyrics that reflect the story of Hanukkah, but the Maccabeats went so far as to animate theirs. Is that a good thing? I don't know; I haven't seen the movie.
Miss Cellania's Links
The Randy Rainbow Christmas Special. Contains NSFW language.
“The Matilda Effect”: How Pioneering Women Scientists Have Been Written Out of Science History. (via Damn Interesting)
How the 50 states got their abbreviations. not quite as dull as you might think.
QUICKSAND! Rescue by SAR. No rodents of unusual size, though.
A "Wonderful Plague" and a New Found Golgotha: The Mystery Behind the Great Dying of 1616-1619. (via Strange Company)
Why A Charlie Brown Christmas almost didn’t air − and why it endures.
In 1946, the University of Southern California staged a "Miss Famine" contest to raise awareness of postwar food shortages in Europe. Contestants went on a "famine diet" to see who could lose the least weight.
Best $5 I’ve spent all season.
How The Animal Kingdom Sleeps
All animals sleep, although we really don't know why. We have several theories, but there is no consensus on the matter. Animals don't sleep the same way. Elephants sleep only a few minutes at a time, while cats sleep most of their lives. And dolphins only sleep with half their brains at a time.
Ed Yong tells us about research into how different animals sleep. One thing we're sure about -you have to get the right amount of sleep to function properly. I've been reading his science articles for years, and this is the first time I've ever heard him speak. Up until now, I've read those articles in an American accent, but will read them in a British accent from now on. (via The Atlantic)
Holiday Greetings
— Mr. Joshua (@pantspants.bsky.social) November 28, 2025 at 3:13 PMI received my first Christmas cards in the mail yesterday. They are from my dentist and my accountant. Those are the two I can count on each year, although I will have a few others by December 25th. Those will be mostly handed to me without postage. The ones from my long distance family members will arrive after Christmas. (via Everlasting Blort)
Tuesday, December 09, 2025
If Radiohead Did "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"
There's an old radio adage that you can make any tune a Christmas song if you add jingle bells. That may be true for instrumentals, but it doesn't quite work here. Dustin Ballard of There I Ruined It took the lyrics of the 1934 classic "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and adapted them to the tune of Radiohead's song "Creep" (the broadcast safe version). Sure, he added jingle bells, but it still sounds more like "Creep" than like any Christmas song.
The Fan
What's the most absurd way to install a ceiling fan? This disaster seems to be the result of sequential problem solving, meaning figuring out one task at a time without looking at the goal of the finished product. If the genius idea you had at the beginning results in an unintended consequences, well, we'll just cross that bridge when we get there. (via reddit)
Tom BetGeorge's 2025 Christmas Angels
Tom BetGeorge has spent years trying to outdo himself with his Halloween and Christmas light shows (so much that he's built a light show business out of his success). He's choreographed them to Star Wars, rock songs, rap songs, and various movie themes. For 2025, BetGeorge has raised the "wow" factor, as always, but the music is less pop culture and more Christmas. Three singing Christmas trees croon Phil Wickham's remix of "Angels We Have Heard on High" that he calls "Angels (Glory to God)." Meanwhile, lights dance across the house, augmented with lasers, spotlights, and projections, while fireworks explode in the night.
But wait, there's more! BetGeorge always has several songs in his Christmas light show, which will appear one at a time over the next few days at his YouTube channel.
Tortoise Chases Cat Around Yard
This tortoise must really love his buddy the cat. He's learned to put it in high gear to keep up with the feline as she travels all over the backyard. This reminds me of what it's like to be the mother of a couple of preschoolers. They didn't care where I was going, they were just going to follow me, single file, period. If I turned around suddenly, we all collided. (via Laughing Squid)
Monday, December 08, 2025
Dinosaur Stampede!
Richmond, Virginia, had their annual T. rex run a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, all kinds of dinos were welcome, from dragons to Barney to Godzilla to a couple of alligators. (via Everlasting Blort)
Christmas Cakes You Will Never Make
So beautiful, so delicious, so complicated. I watched this and all I could think of was how many times you would be willing to try these in order to perfect the technique. I'll stick with what I already know, thank you.
Creepy Tales from Chernobyl
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was in the USSR when it was the site of the worst nuclear accident in history in 1986. Now it is in Pripyat, Ukraine. No, it wasn't blown across the border; the map changed after the fall of the Soviet Union. Reactor number four melted down and exploded, killing dozens of people from injuries and/or radiation and contaminating a huge area. More than 68,000 people were evacuated, and the area is still under restrictions almost 40 years later. Well, officially; the Russian Army doesn't pay attention to Ukraine's restrictions.
The Soviet Union couldn't hide the event, but they weren't exactly forthcoming about the evacuation, cleanup attempts, and later expeditions to the site. Lack of information from authorities confused and enraged the former residents of Pripyat and the surrounding villages, as well as the rest of the world. Some people didn't believe the place was a dangerous as they said, while others spread rumors about what the real truth about Chernobyl could be. After Ukraine became an independent nation, more and more of these stories came to light. Weird History takes a look at the fallout (pun intended) of the Chernobyl disaster and its aftermath. Some of those tales include creepy supernatural elements, as if the real story isn't scary enough.
Miss Cellania's Links
The Festive History of Gingerbread and “The Twelve Days of Christmas” by Grace Tierney. (via Strange Company)
British Museum is promising ‘Good Vibrations’ for the Bayeux Tapestry’s trip to the London. (via Nag on the Lake)
Pantone's Color of the Year is... White? The backlash started the moment Pantone made the announcement.
Alain Bombard: The Biologist Who Shipwrecked Himself to Prove a Point. Sixty-five days without fresh water was a long way to a point.
"God Rest Yes Merry Gentlemen" is a great song, but where does the punctuation go?
We were worried about the wrong dystopia. We were all so busy worrying about Big Brother we forgot to worry about Soma. (via Fark)
How the Disappearance of Flight 19, a Navy Squadron Lost in 1945, Fueled the Legend of the Bermuda Triangle.
"Mar-a-Lago face" has its own Wikipedia entry. (via Nag on the Lake)
Quoting myself from elsewhere on the 'net: They said she is "one of the good ones," not realizing that every brown-skinned immigrant these people know in real life are "one of the good ones."
Paul McCartney Rabbit Hole
The simple explanation for this is that Swede Mason has Paul McCartney doing a rap song about modern music. That doesn't quite do it justice, however. The tight editing, quick rhythm, and masterful rhyming make it a quirky masterpiece. Someone asked Swede Mason how he made videos like this.
Alot of grinding. I don't use transcribed audio. I think it sounds shit when things are kinda just stuck together with the correct words. I look for the right intonation of sounds and syllables, sometimes chop up words to make the words i need. Writing this down makes it sound like a total ballache, and thats cos it is a total ballache.And there ensued a discussion on the proper pronunciation and meaning of ballache, because it looks like a French musical term (ball-ACH-ay). He meant ball ache. (via reddit)
Sunday, December 07, 2025
Bring It On
Bring It On is a 2000 movie about a cheerleading squad, starring Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union. At the time, I did not expect to enjoy a teen movie about cheerleaders, but it was really well done, with a decent story about young people learning the importance of right and wrong. Plus it didn't hang on a questionable romance story and it was genuinely funny in all the right places.
What About the Kola in Coca-Cola?
Coca-Cola is the most popular soft drink in the world. It's sweet, fizzy, a little tart and usually cold. It was developed in the 19th century as a medicinal product due to the coca leaves. But that was only half the story- there was also the kola nut that contributed half the drink's name. Kola nuts have twice the caffeine found in coffee beans. Combine it with cocaine, and you have products like "forced march tablets" that serve as nature's speed.
The kola nut has an interesting history of its own. Considered sacred in many West African cultures since ancient times, it figured in some of the darker parts of our history. Does Coca-Cola still use kola nuts in their signature drink? No one knows for sure, because unlike cocaine, the kola nut isn't illegal. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
Pentagon Press Conference
Colin Jost seems to have a lot of fun playing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He was quite combative during the opening skit on Saturday Night Live last night.
Tradition
This xkcd comic came out in 2011, but it's still valid. Sure, we hear these songs re-recorded by different artists, but they still form the core of Christmas listening, with the exception of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" and that one is now 31 years old. Read more about this chart here.
Saturday, December 06, 2025
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)