Interesting Reads

A Salute to the Weird World Records Set in 2011. The biggest Afro, the most piercings, the longest tongue, the longest kiss ...wait, those last two are not related.

The top 8 parenting controversies of 2011. Everyone makes mistakes, but throwing common sense out the window will get you on the news.

I only learned today that Alfred Hitchcock's 1961 film The Birds was inspired by a real incident. And they've only now figured out what caused it.

The 7 Creepiest Abandoned Brothels on Earth. Urban exploration takes a turn for the world's oldest profession in this photo gallery.

The Year in Weird: The 10 Most Insane News Stories of 2011. Including the prurient and tragic stories not found in our roundup.

The worst political gaffes of 2011. Everyone makes mistakes; it's how you own up to it that reveals a lot more.

Celebrity Gossip Is Making Us Stupid. While the news outlets cover Charlie Sheen and the Kardashians, news that affects our lives gets swept to the side.

One of the few things that separate humans from apes is the habit of cooking our food. But Kanzi the bonobo learned to cook his own food, from lighting the match to toasting marshmallows on a stick.

So far, orangutans don't cook, but they love their iPads. The Milwaukee Zoo is trying to get them wifi so they can network with each other.

An Interview with George Musser, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to String Theory. You can finally find out what the Large Hadron Collider is supposed to do.

Buff Your Brain! A few shortcuts to increasing your IQ make it simpler than you thought.

Bob Anderson, who choreographed all the major movie sword fights of the past few decades, passed away at age 89. In a video interview, Anderson and Viggo Mortensen talk about the art of film swordplay.

Links for Fun

The Win/Luck Compilation of 2011 video shows people (and animals) getting the most out of life. It's as if they tried to make a fail compilation ...and failed.

If a celebrity were going to move in next door to you, who would you prefer to have as a neighbor? Let's see who everyone else selected.

A new brothel in Nevada is going to cater to geek tastes. Dennis Hof has enlisted Heidi Fleiss to help develop the sci-fi-themed Alien Cathouse.

The Most Overlooked Movies of 2011. If you didn't catch them the first time around, they'll fit in your Netflix queue.

Will Ferrel has a Spanish-language comedy coming out in March. The trailer for Casa De Mi Padre indicates it will be a festival of stereotypes.

The Best Local News Bloopers Of 2011. The news is broadcast live every day, but you screw up once and it's on YouTube forever.

Crocodile Captures Lawnmower.

My Top Ten Top Ten Top Ten list. Plus several articles on why we make top ten lists. (via Metafilter)

Back to the Who-verse features a meeting between Dr. Emmet Brown and Doctor Who. You knew those timelines would cross sooner or later.

Jamu the 500-pound lion gets his hair and nails done. I don't recall this situation being addressed at beauty school at all.

Two brothers add a DVD-style commentary track to their own old home movies. You can tell how the family dynamics have not changed much over the years.

Auld Lang Syne: Celebrating 1950

Happy New Year 2012!

Good Reads and Information

Miss Cellania's Year-end Lists series continues, on TV, Sports, People, News, and

The Avengers was not filmed in 3D, but a 3D version will be produced with post-production effects. Just in case anyone wants to wear glasses and pay more to see the film, which not many people do anymore.

Failed Flavors Of Popular Snack Foods.

Astrophotographer Stephané Guisard created a time-lapse video of the comet Lovejoy over the Andes. If that doesn't make you feel small and awe-struck, I don't know what will.

Fields Awash with the Glow of a Thousand Lights. Bruce Munro art installation looks awesome in places all over the world.

Daredevil John Paul Stapp put his body through the wringer to test ways the transportation industry could be made safer. Along the way, he earned the nickname “The Fastest Man on Earth.”

8 Ways to Cross the English Channel (without a boat). Personally, I'd rather just ride along with someone else.

Gingrich, Perry, Bachmann, and Santorum Go Extreme on Abortion. Opposing abortion even in cases of rape and incest is theologically consistent, but may be too much for voters.

MIT Developed a Suit That Makes You Feel 75 Years Old. Its purpose is to make you young whippersnappers aware of how really difficult it is to physically deal with a world that routinely ignores the aging.

Weapons of Mass Seduction: 5 Infamous Female Spies. You would have never known them -if you had ever known them.

Growing wealth widens distance between lawmakers and constituents.

Miss Cellania’s Top 20 Weird News Stories of 2011

Every week, I comb the internet to bring you strange news stories that you might not otherwise see, and it’s been quite an experience. Some are surely worth another look as we say goodbye to 2011. Here are 20 stories from The Weird Week in Review that were particularly bizarre, funny, or memorable, in a year-end list at mental_floss.

Links for Fun

The Coming and Going of Cello Scrotum.

It's always nice to have a friend help you out. This cat helped her kitten friend climb down the ladder.

The 8 wackiest inventions of 2011. Some are actually pretty cool, but may never reach the affordable consumer market.

The geekiest gingerbread house ever resembles the Transformer Megatron. Watch it transform from a house into a robot.

Have you ever seen a young tortoise with a depth perception problem? Wouldn't he be even cuter with tiny little tortoiseshell glasses?

Dinosaur Office Romance. It looks just as civilized at most offices I've worked in.

Friday has been canceled in Samoa.

Die Hard, Interrupted is a mashup of the communications in the movie Die Hard. NSFW language, but if you're lucky, you're still off for holiday vacation.

Why would a soft drink vending machine offer free wi-fi? Because you have to stand close to the machine to use it, and you will eventually get thirsty. Genius!

Introducing LEGO Civil Unrest building sets, featuring Occupy Wall Street and Arab Spring versions. I would buy both if they were real.

Interesting Links

Check out the best and worst of 2011 in Miss Cellania's Year-end lists: Art & Literature, Music, Movies, and Science.

Prometheus is Ridley Scott’s prequel story to Alien, which is a much better idea than doing another sequel. After two teasers, we finally have a trailer for the film.

A Dutch magazine called singer Rihanna “a combination of two of the nastiest words you can call any black woman.” When the reaction came, the editor didn’t understand why no one got the “joke.” (Language warning)

The United States doesn’t even crack the top ten in time spent using social networks. That could be explained by the famously short American attention span.

20 Incredible Images from China’s Giant Snow Sculpture Festival. Artists come to Harbin and try to outdo themselves (and each other) every year.

The 7 biggest political downfalls of 2011. You can tell it was a big year, as the U.S. barely made the top five.

The Forgotten Cold War: 20 Years Later, Myths About U.S. Victory Persist. Helping the Soviets to lose was a delicate and complicated process.

Louis CK’s Shameful Dirty Comedy. The comedian touches something in all of us when he explores the idea of right and wrong and how he -meaning we- fail to live up to our concept of ourselves. (via Metafilter)

A four-word review of the new film War Horse. I could just tell you the words, but you really should see the pictures that go with it.

10 Sleep Snippets. Some facts you really ought to know as you try your best to get the necessary hours of regeneration in.

Funny Links

Siri is so helpful, personable, and uncanny, that she would make a great movie villain. Murder? There’s an app for that!

People Who Didn't Get What They Wanted For Christmas. And then there's this girl.

Edifice Complex. A look at buildings that look like other things besides buildings.

2011's Top UFO Sightings And Paranormal News. You might call the year "out of this world."

The best cat video of 2011. My four cats will probably smother me in my sleep for laughing at this, but I couldn't help myself.

When you put a pair of pants on this dog, something magical happens. Now you can go out and buy tiny little pants, but your mileage may vary.

A close look at a cereal box reveal a basic mistake about the difference between Batman and those who want to be Batman. The end is downright tragic.

Jerome Simpson Scores the Most Ridiculous Touchdown Flip Into the Endzone Ever. Is this American football or Olympic gymnastics?

A young Pomeranian puppy hears and returns the call of the wild. Who knew a dog dreaming of being a wolf could be so gosh-darned adorable?

Brave Kitten

I know this Rottweiler is a pussycat, but the little kitten doesn't. He stands up to this unknown threat like a real badass! (via Buzzfeed)

You're The Cure For What Ails Me

Al Jolson and Sybil Jason from the 1936 movie The Singing Kid. Jason died this past August.

Carol of the Bells

Four part harmony by one woman. Nice!

7 Strange Christmas Traditions

A few years ago, I wrote about strange Christmas traditions like Krampus, Caga Tia, the Caganer, Mari Lwyd, Zwarte Piet, the pickle ornament, the TV Yule Log, and Christmas in Japan (which involves several odd customs). Since then, I’ve uncovered a few more that may fall outside your experience, in a list I posted at mental_floss.

Christmas Links

26 Of The Best Of The Worst Family Holiday Cards. Something inside me really would like to send out cards like these -or like some of them, anyway.

Your Six Christmas Movies. The stages of your life are defined by the holiday movies you watch. NSFW language.

Where Candy Canes Come From. And where do they go? Mine disappear from the tree in no time.

The Evolution of Santa Claus. The only thing he now has in common with the original is the spirit of giving.

109 Cats Celebrating Christmas. Because wrapping paper, trees, and turkey might just be worth having to wear a silly costume.

Santa Claus gives honest answers to some important but difficult questions from fans. Better stock up on fortune cookies!

The holiday season's 8 most anticipated films. Read and decide which ones to take family to when you get tired of speaking to each other.

5 Questions on the Origins of Christmas. The holiday has changed a lot since it was first celebrated in the fourth century.

Have A Weird Christmas! It's a bunch of links to make you laugh about bot having a perfect holiday. Don't skip the 12 STDs of Christmas.

Jewish Christmas Traditions.

A Mixtape For People Who Hate The Holidays.

You Better Watch Out: 7 Evil Santas in TV and Film. As if sneaking into your house and eating your cookies isn't already evil enough.

Christmas Tree Fads and Fashions. Bringing a tree inside is completely illogical, but we just like to do it.

Fun and Funny Links

Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, and Jim Carey re-enact "The Night Before Christmas." With the help of lots and lots of whiskey. NSFW language.

The remake of American Psycho is supposed to move the story from the 1980s to a modern-day setting, a move that has some film buffs unhappy. Here's a vision of what that might be like: "one of the dumber things we've ever done."

I bet it would be fun to dress up like a snowman and scare people when they get too close. But you run the risk of something like this happening.

It’s Christmas Eve in Arkham City. With Batman around, criminals can't even enjoy a quiet holiday.

The late Kim Jong Il was such a cartoonish character that he almost demanded parody. Pop culture was glad to accommodate, as this list of comedic portrayals illustrates.

The world's most over-the-top Christmas decorations. I joke that my house can be seen from the ISS at night, but it can't hold an LED candle to these homes!

The punsters at Fark are doing their end-of-the-year voting for the funniest headlines. Check out the best geek submissions and pat yourself on the back if you "get" them all.

What should you name a compilation of unintentional double entendres from local newscasts? That’s What She Said, of course. May be unsuitable for work.

Finally, a little relief for Lord of the Rings fans who've been waiting for years to see The Hobbit. The movie won't be out for another year, but we have the trailer!

The trailer for The Dark Knight Rises is barely out and the parodies are already being produced. I'm sure this will not be the last one that makes fun of the fact that you cannot understand what one or two of the main characters say.

The Night Santa Went Crazy

By Weird Al Yankovic. (Thanks, Rich!)

10 Strange and Wonderful 2012 Calendars

If you’re going to look at the same thing every day for an entire year, you should make it something attractive, meaningful, or worth a laugh. This applies to roommates, significant others, or calendars. Last year’s roundup of calendars was so popular, we ended up with a second edition compiled from your suggestions. There are at least as many fascinating calendars offered this year. Here are a few strange and interesting calendars for 2012 in a list I posted at mental_floss.

Good Reads and Interesting Links

8 Reasons why the Nine of Diamonds is Unlucky.

A series on autism starts by asking whether it is more prevalent today or just more likely to be diagnosed. There are links to the other articles in this thoughtful series. (via Metafilter)

Several decisions before the Supreme Court may affect the 2012 presidential election. Learn the issues and what each side wants.

5 things the world hated most about Kim Jong Il. It will take years to unravel all the craziness he brought North Korea.

It's a family affair: The late North Korean leader's rank passes to his 27-year-old son Kim Jong-un, who may have to battle the despot's sister Kim Kyong Hui and her husband Jang Song-taek for real power. Not to mention his two older brothers and maybe even some non-relatives.

Inside Northampton State Lunatic Asylum. A once-beautiful yet frightening facility is now an abandoned ruin.

Snow-Clearing from SUV Roofs and from Fire Hydrants: An Informal Look.

Eating Less Can Keep Your Brain Young. Young, flexible, and hungry.

As the wife of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Anne Sinclair appears to be the most accepting spouse ever. She's just "too proud to be jealous."

The World's Smallest Firefighter is 19-year-old Vince Brasco. He doesn't let being 4 feet 2 inches tall keep him from doing his job.

Take a peek at the sport of Bunny Rabbit Showjumping! These athletes are the cutest competitors of all time.

Decorating the Christmas Tree at Biltmore

A time-lapse movie of some serious tree decoration.

Link for Fun

A construction crew deals with a runaway concrete buffing machine. Needs more Yakety Sax.

Here's a look at Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer. OK, it's a poster, but it's a striking poster that would look good in your office.

A photo shoot for a couple's engagement in Brooklyn is a keeper. The bride, the groom, the ninja assault, and his comeuppance all turned out nicely.

If you're out past curfew, you might be able to sneak in your house through the chimney. But unless you are Santa Claus, you might get stuck and have to be rescued.

A construction crew deals with a runaway concrete buffing machine. Needs more Yakety Sax.

Here's a look at Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer. OK, it's a poster, but it's a striking poster that would look good in your office.
A dash-cam recording from a trip down an icy road in Russia should remind you to drive slowly and cautiously in bad conditions. It just might also give you the willies.

Wanna play some pinball? Wanna play some pinball on the front of a building? We can do that now!

The 29-second wait to see what this cat will do is totally worth it. Trust me.

The Absolute Very Worst Movies Of 2011! A list that was really difficult to compile as there were so many contenders.

Did I tell you about the night a camel interrupted a news interview in Turkey? That's just the first of several stories of camel shenanigans.

Do you know how Santa Claus keeps up with all the good girls and boys in this modern age? He has a personal assistant named Siri.

Good Reads and Information

The crime against women that no one understands. In the cases against Jeffrey Marsalis the jury certainly didn't. (via Metafilter)

The Affordable Care Act requires that all Americans get health insurance, or pay a fine. Whether or not that's a good idea, some say it is unconstitutional. http://theweek.com/article/index/222477/the-individual-mandate-health-cares-inherent-controversy

A company that contracts for the Pentagon to feed soldiers in Afghanistan was caught overbilling millions for unauthorized and nonexistent supplies. The surprising part is that the Pentagon is demanding that they pay $760 million back.

TV folks tried to tell us that commercials really weren't louder than the programming, but we know they were. The FCC knows it too, and has ruled that broadcasters and cable providers must keep an eye on the volume.

America's child homelessness problem is worse than its ever been, with 1.6 million kids living in shelters, on the streets, or doubled up with another family. Not having a stable, permanent home or school puts a real damper on a childhood.

The 5 Most Horrifyingly Wasteful Film Shoots.

10 of the Greatest Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns of All-Time.

Here's a look at Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer. OK, it's a poster, but it's a striking poster that would look good in your office.

A photo shoot for a couple's engagement in Brooklyn is a keeper. The bride, the groom, the ninja assault, and his comeuppance all turned out nicely.

"A succession of government inquiries dating back to the 1934 McCulloch Report in New South Wales show that over half a million Australians experienced childhood in an orphanage, children's home, training school, institution or some other form of out-of-home care in environments of excessively cruel and brutal institutionalised violence." Read more about the Tamworth Institution for Boys. (via Metafilter)