Friday Fun Links

15 Most Embarrassing Cakes. Wouldn;t you love to be a fly on the wall at some of these parties!

Where the Wild Things Ought To Be. (via Super Punch)

Tom Delay getting in touch with his feminine side on Dancing with the Stars. (via Everlasting Blort)

You may be getting a laugh out of FMyLife, but remember there are always two sides to a story.

The greatest examples of Banana Art.

The Onion once again pegs us right where we live.

Jewish Haiku.

A Rather Depressing Gallery of Fat Superheroes. (via mental_floss)

Andy Griffith Theme

I’ll bet you didn’t know this had lyrics, did you?

The Brain from Planet Arous

From Wikipedia:

The Brain from Planet Arous is a 1957 science-fiction film concerning the idea of possession. It was shown as a double-feature with Monster from Green Hell from 1958 onwards.

An outer-space terrorist from Planet Arous, a brain creature named Gor, arrives on Earth and possesses young scientist Steve March. Gor then proceeds to use his vast, destructive powers to bend the world to his will, threatening to wipe out the capital city of any nation that defies him.

Meanwhile, another Brain from Arous named Vol arrives on Earth in the form of a dog, and explains that Gor is a wanted criminal on their world. His only weakness is the Fissure of Rolando and he is only vulnerable during one brief period when he needs to exit his host to absorb oxygen.

Good Reads and Information

“...young people today write far more than any generation before them.” That’s a good thing, but most of it is text messages and YouTube comments. What does this say about our overall literacy? (via Metafilter)

8 Weird Weather Phenomena.

A tile supplier in England makes ceramic tiles in Tetris shapes! Pick up to seven colors for the six shapes and design your own video game bathroom or kitchen. For faster installation, they also offer sheets of mosaic tiles with preset patterns. (via Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories)

6 Insane Dog Behaviors Explained by Evolution.

An experiment last year from the University of Toronto showed that thinking about an incident where the subject felt socially excluded led them to estimate the room’s temperature to be lower than those subjects who recalled a better experience. Three more experiments show the converse to be true as well: warm or cold temperatures affect how people perceive relationships.

13 Real Animals Lifted Directly Out of Your Nightmares.

A 13-year-old girl refuses to obey her parents and becomes a national hero.

Pipe Dreams

Animusic brings us a lovely and surreal video of a fantastical musical dream.

Reefer Madness

The classic from 1936. From Wikipedia:

Reefer Madness (aka Tell Your Children) is a 1936 American exploitation film revolving around the tragic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try "marihuana": a hit and run accident, manslaughter, suicide, rape, and descent into madness all ensue. The film was directed by Louis Gasnier and starred a cast composed of mostly unknown bit actors. It was originally financed by a church group and made under the title Tell Your Children.^[1][2]

The film was intended to be shown to parents as a morality tale attempting to teach them about the dangers of cannabis use.^[1] However, soon after the film was shot, it was purchased by producer Dwain Esper, who re-cut the film for distribution on the exploitation film circuit.^[1] The film did not gain an audience until it was rediscovered in the 1970s and gained new life as a piece of unintentional comedy among cannabis smokers.^[1][3] Today, it is in the public domain in the United States and is considered a cult film.^[3] It inspired a musical satire, which premiered off-Broadway in 2001, and a Showtime film, Reefer Madness, based on the musical.

Fun Links

Can you name all the vampires on this t-shirt? You could win the shirt!

Bored farmers do clever things with hay bales. I’m getting some ideas for Halloween here!

4 Awkward Moments in Facebook "Likes". The best line: “How do I unclick?”

Holy Moley, it’s a wireless Rube Goldberg contraption. Nearness, a video by Jack Schulze and Timo Arnall uses RFID chips to activate each step. (via Boing Boing)

Hitler’s Diabolical Plan. (via Buzzfeed)

Come On Down!: 4 Great Moments in The Price is Right. And remember to spay and neuter your pets.

Secret of the Incas was the 1954 film that inspired Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels as well. Watch it in its entirety.

Informative Links

Wired has a collection of videos from the British Medical Association showing surgical operations from the 1930s. Be warned they are graphic, but at least they’re not in color.

The New Homesteaders: Off-the-Grid and Self-Reliant. When the robots/aliens/zombies take over, these are the folks you want to have as close friends.

The Arctic Circle is warmer than it’s been in 2,000 years. Scientists are noticing many changes in animal populations because of it.

Carl Jung’s final book might actually be published after almost a hundred years. Those who’ve read it say it’s a work of genius, or maybe psychosis. (via Metafilter)

15 Spectacular Sinks & Strange Wash Basin Designs. I want them all! And here’s more.

Cable trains run up and down hills in Europe through the power of gravity. Some are filled with water to make them heavy; one goes downhill on sewage.

What do you do when all else has failed to change your kid's behavior? As any experienced parent will tell you, chill out and let it go, at least for a while.

Normally, babies learn how to look at the world before they can communicate their experiences. The rare cases of people who have been blind all their lives and then had their sight restored offer scientists a unique opportunity to study how we learn to interpret visual signals.

The Stutter Rap

By Morris Minor & The Majors. (via Gorilla Mask)

Puppy Escape

Not only did she escape without damaging the crate, but she then tried to destroy the evidence! (via Metafilter)

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day! See lots of links and fun at Miss Cellania, and more pirate fun in the archives. Also check out how other people talk like pirates.

The Pirate Song

From George Harrison. Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Friday Fun Links

What if Raiders of the Lost Ark had been filmed in 1951? Charlton Heston would be the perfect casting choice.

Dan Brown's 20 worst sentences. The author of The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol can entertain completely out of context with his purple prose.

Look what 375 Days of Exercise an do! It can be done, if you can ever get past that horrible third day.

In this clip from National Geographic’s Wild Chronicles, two filmmakers study Johnny Rooks in the Falkland Islands. meanwhile, the birds sometimes called Flying Devils are having fun with the filmmakers!

Ants on a school trip! When chaperoning, always remember to count heads and take the roll.

The 15 Most Shameless Fake Photos Ever Passed Off as Real. They don’t even look real, but hindsight is 20/20.

Use this awesome and creepy Japanese generator to animate a still portrait. Or mug shot. Upload, wait, and click your mouse on it for the full effect. (via Fark)

Which goes faster, your sofa or your garden shed? I think the dumpster can overtake them all!

The Muppet Show’s Ten Weirdest Moments. These are exactly the moments that made it such a delightfully funny show. (via Look At This)

Can a preschooler stare at a marshmallow and not eat it if it meant getting TWO marshmallows just for waiting? This cute video is a recreation of a well-known experiment by psychologist Walter Mischel.

Woody Takes A Shower

(via Arbroath)

10 Strange and Wonderful Umbrellas

Umbrellas are utilitarian objects that most of us have -unless we don’t. A wise woman (or man, maybe) once said you need three umbrellas: one to forget at home, one to leave on the train, one to leave at the restaurant. If you are the kind of person who can keep up with an umbrella, you should treat yourself to a distinctive and memorable accessory, like the ten featured in this list I posted at mental_floss.

Good Reads and Information

Photographer Howard Schatz took pictures of boxers before and after fights. It hurts just to look! (via J-Walk Blog)

One of my favorite scientists, Carl Zimmer has an extensive article in Time Magazine that looks at recent research on how your dog thinks. They are apparently smarter than they want us to know. (via Metafilter)

5 Facts About Woodstock The Hippies Don't Want You to Know. It’s not so much that these facts are secret, but 40 years later you might not know them. (via Fark)

How did our handwriting get so bad? Is there any need to learn proper handwriting in the modern world?

Seven New Rules for the First-Time Home Buyer. The best advice is to listen to those who aren’t going to profit from your decision. (via Lifehacker)

How the values of Wal-Mart are shaping the US economy. That’s not necessarily a good thing.

The 6 Strangest Coming of Age Rituals in the World. If we don’t go through any of these, can we stay young forever?

World Record or Genetic Cheat? Sean Konrad caught a world record 48-pound genetically-modified rainbow trout that escaped from a fish farm years ago.

As the new Dan Brown book The Lost Symbol is released, National Geographic takes a look at eight myths about the Freemasons and their symbols. Only the secrecy surrounding the Masons makes them seem eerily powerful.

Ducklings in the Pool

How do you get a family of duckling out of the pool? All they need are the right tools! (via Arbroath)

Fun and Funny Links

Why parents should not be allowed on Facebook. Someone should explain to this woman that social networking is like gossiping on a party line, only a million times more public.

“Bacon is good for me!” This little boy has his priorities, and he’s not going to compromise on what’s important.

22 Awesome Ways to Reboot Classic TV. This time, Lassie an acronym for Lethal Anti-Terrorist Super Secret Intelligence Entity.

The 20 most Bizarre Craigslist Ads of All Time. I just wish we knew whether the deals worked out for these people.

This puppy is as agile as a turtle, but it’s okay because he’s adorable. Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!

Animal faces you can buy and wear. So well done, but oh so creepy!

A sloth goes on a date. I never understood how this campaign was supposed to sell Alfa Romeo cars, but it’s fun to watch.

6 Classical Scandals Straight from the Tabloids. Mom always told you to never trust a professional musician; that reputation goes way back.

Pachelbel Bedtime

Canon for kids.

Sergeant Alvin York

Sergeant York has been called “the greatest soldier in history” for his exploits during World War I. But Alvin York never set out to become a soldier, and he never wanted to fight a war or kill anyone. In fact, what he considered his greatest accomplishments came after all the glory of his war exploits. Others tend to disagree. He was a true hero. Read why in this article I wrote for mental_floss.