Take The A Train

The Charles Mingus Sextet performs in Oslo, Norway. The lineup is Charles Mingus Double Bass, Eric Dolphy Bass Clarinet, Dannie Richmond Drum, Clifford Jordan Tenor Sax, Jackie Byard Piano, and Johnny Coles Trumpet.

8 Weird and Wonderful Local Festivals

Some years ago, I wrote about 8 Wacky Fall Festivals, which didn’t even scratch the surface of the roster of odd municipal celebrations around the USA. At one time, most of these fairs and festivals were scheduled for harvest season, to show off the bounty and recognize the finest produce and livestock with ribbons. Now, to maximize participation and profits, festivals are held year-round somewhere or other. Let’s look at eight festivals that strive to stand out from the rest in this list I posted at mental_floss.

Lnks for Fun

Snow skiing in August will cool you off like nothing else! Watch A Video Postcard from a Summer Shred Session in Chile.

Tao Tao is a giant panda born at the Wolong Panda wild training base in China, but he has never seen a human face. His caretakers always dressed in panda costumes to train Tao Tao for a life in the wild. (via Buzzfeed)

No need to get your ducks in a row. They tend to do that all by themselves.

People Who Got Owned By The Internet. The web can wreck your life, but only rarely through no fault of your own. (via Film Drunk)

Animals like to get high, as you’ll see in this slideshow of stoned critters. That’s why we don’t let them drive or operate heavy machinery.

Why The Robot Takeover Won’t Be Anytime Soon. Every new model has some spectacular misfires, which leaves us with entertaining videos, if nothing else.

Surely you can spare five seconds to watch Patton Oswalt portray a wizard in the 5-Second Film called The Final Battle? Heck, I would have watched that for ten seconds!

Jonathan Stark posted his Starbucks card online, with the barcode visible, to see what smartphone owners would do with it. Some got a cup of coffee, but many others reloaded the card for him!

In The Hospital of the Future, the entire body can be fluoroscoped and babies come out of sliding drawers. At least, that was in the vision in the 1950s.

A man in Beijing spent $15,000 to make his proposal memorable -by dressing himself and 48 friends as giant carrots! See it and a gallery of other wacky proposals.

Interesting and Informative Links

The Toll of “Rassenschande” on a Family. Auguste Landmesser was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for falling in love. The rest of the family suffered their own fates.

The Newspaper Hoax that Shook the World.

How the Rainbow Became Associated with Gay Rights.

New hi-tech goggles convert visual data into sound. Once a blind person learns to use the device and interpret the audio, he can navigate by technology alone.

A new study says the NHS is one of the most cost-effective health systems in the developed world. The US health care system performed dismally in this regard.

The Hanging at Mankato. The story of the 1852 execution of thirty-eight Dakota Indians is told in pictures and the memories of those who witnessed it.

Burning the Shelter. In this book excerpt, a Forest Service worker ponders the value of wiping out evidence of human intervention when humans are a part of the environment, too.

One Man’s Hands: The Watts Towers. The iconic artworks in Los Angeles are Simon Rodia’s labor of love.

The Vice Guide to Norwegian Prisons. Their progressive corrections system may be the nicest on earth, but there’s a reason for what they do.

What kind of people should NASA select to send to space in future programs? Risk-taking military test pilots like John Glenn can inspire the masses, but so can regular folks like Christa McAuliff.

Transplant patient Lyndon Baty can’t attend school in person since his immune system shut down. So he controls a robot that attends classes for him. (via Metafilter)

Viva America!

By French singer Claude François. Les Claudettes were his backup dancers in the mid '60s. (via Everlasting Blort)

Fun and Funny Links

NPR is trying to decide on a list of the top 100 science fiction books. Their audience suggested thousands of titles, which they narrowed to only several hundred, on which you are invited to vote. (via Metafilter)

The Mammoth, a 1,763-foot water coaster set to open next year in Santa Claus, Indiana, will be the longest such thrill ride in the world. You can get a preview with this virtual video rendering.

The best names for WI-FI networks. There’s a whole list, but you can’t beat PlzBringVodkaToApt1310. (via Neatorama)

If you’ve been following the HBO series Game of Thrones, you may be a bit unsettled to see how BlueBolt created that fantasy world through visual effects. May contain spoilers, but only the first season is on this video.

Disappointed Dad Batman. (via Gorilla Mask)

A Day in California. A combination of stop-motion and tilt-shift video turns 10,000 photographs into a sweet video.

Do you remember that athlete you were supposed to control in the game QWOP? The poor guy showed up at the main floor at Comic-Con.

The Dark Knight Rises is the new Batman film in production now. See pictures of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman on her, um, Catcycle.

Trying to control a classroom boner. (via reddit)

Uncle Tom's Cabin

As performed by the Siamese royal house in the 1956 movie The King and I, which was based on the 1951 musical, which was based on the 1944 book, Anna and the King of Siam, which was based on the 1870 memoir The English Governess at the Siamese Court and the 1872 book Romance of the Harem.

Informative Links

Journalism students at Florida Atlantic University recently constructed their final summer issue of the student newspaper. It was a very special and different issue, as they avoided all their digital equipment and did it the old-fashioned way: with typewriters, paste-up editing, and cameras with film- which they had to develop themselves. Part one and part two. (via Laughing Squid)

What Home Looked Like For Seven Million Years. Many traits that make us human came about when we left the jungles and settled in the open grasslands.

Lt. Commander Nathaniel Minter Dial’s Annapolis class ring was found in Korea in 1962. The story of how it got there, and how it finally went home, is a story you can’t stop reading. (via Metafilter)

6 Crazy Things About the Metric System. Because even Americans should learn something about it.

Who Was the Real "Georgie Porgie"?

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is sending back data that may indicate that the red planet has some flowing water during part of the Martian year. The streams are small, short-lived, and must be salty -if it is what they think it is.

How Much of Twitter Is Spam? Probably quite a few of your followers are bots, or even a majority if you’re popular.

SOINN is a Japanese robot that can think on its own. “It is not quite Skynet,” but how long before it figures out how to stab us in the back?

7 Ways to Cope with Movie Star Deaths. We mourn, of course, but if you’re in the middle of filming, you’ve got to come up with some slick tricks.

Over Time

In Over Time, a group of puppets find that their creator has passed away. This 2004 film by Oury Atlan, Thibaut Berland, and Damien Ferrie doesn't explicitly say it is about Jim Henson, but you recognize the story anyway. When I first saw this a few years ago, I couldn't help but tear up. (via the Presurfer)

Harry Potter Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans - $2.95

Attention Harry Potter fans! Are you looking for a great after movie treat? You need Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from the NeatoShop. The complete mix (may not be present in all boxes) includes:

• Banana


• Black Pepper


• Blueberry


• Booger


• Candyfloss


• Cherry


• Cinnamon


• Dirt


• Earthworm


• Earwax


• Grass


• Green Apple


• Lemon


• Marshmallow


• Rotten Egg


• Sausage


• Soap


• Tutti-Frutti


• Vomit


• Watermellon

Are you brave enough to eat a whole box? Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fun Mints & Candies!

Get your beans

today!

Lucy Packing Candy

Today, August 6th, would have been Lucille Ball's 100th birthday. What a treasure. (via the Presurfer)

Friday Fun Links

“What, Not How”: The Case of Specifications of the New York Bagel.

For Shark Week: This is what sharks think of tourists filming them from the safety of those cages. (Thanks, KtotheK!)

A mariachi band serenades a beluga whale at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. The whale seemed to appreciate the music as much as the wedding party they were hired to play for.

6 ‘Insane’ Details from The Real World Cast Members Contracts. MTV even reserves the right to the “fictionalization and “dramatization” of a participant’s life story -how real is that?

This puppy may be tiny, but he’s not about to let a flock of ducks steal his kibble!

Pre-Code Movie Posters. Gorgeous, and just a little bit salacious. (via Everlasting Blort)

So, you're mad about something on the internet.

Can you solve the Zebra Puzzle? (via mental_floss)

The mark of a great actor: when they hire you to act the part of an ape, so animators can study you to discover exactly how an ape moves. That’s the role Andy Serkis plays for the makers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

A Big Round of Niche Blogs

If you are looking for new places to explore online, there are more and more niche blogs that might tickle your funny bone for a few minutes or may be something you are passionately into, especially with the explosion in the number of Tumblr blogs -over 20 million of them! There’s something about the Tumbler combination blogging and social network platform that inspires new bloggers to try it out, and also inspires established bloggers to launch two, three, or dozens of new blogs about very narrow subjects (even mental_floss has one). Find some on all kinds of subjects in this article I posted at mental_floss.

Good Reads and Interesting Links

The Poop on Dog Breeding.

The mission to get Osama bin Laden. The news trickled in in bits and pieces but now you can read the whole story (it may take a while).

A middle school teacher considers the effect of the way we teach history. “In accepting history courses shaped by war and structured around war, we allow our students to internalize war as normal, constant, at times attractive.” (via Metafilter)

National Geographic Traveler magazine has announced the winners of their 2011 photo contest. Do not miss the Viewer’s Choice winner.

Newsflash: teachers don’t work only until they reach tenure and then slack off when their jobs are secure. Matt Damon compares teachers’ vocational motivations to his own. (slightly NSFW language)

LIFE presents a gallery of famous people who simply disappeared. Some were never found, so take a good look in case you recognize someone.

NASA is just a few days away from launching a solar-powered Jupiter probe. It should arrive in 2016, if the weather stays good.

What the rest of the world said about the US debt crisis -with pictures of pretty animals to soften the blow.

Average IQ scores have been rising for 100 years. Is this because smart people are getting smarter, or are we helping low scorers improve?

Meet Karakuri Ningyō, Japan’s First Robot. The mechanical puppets of the 17th century started the country on the road to Asimo and the uncanny valley.

Rainbow Connection

Eight-year-old Sean channels Kermit as he sings Rainbow Connection and plays his ukulele. (via 22 Words)

Links for Fun and Entertainment

College Humor thinks Shark Week should be changed to Bear Week, but you know what would be the most awesome predator of all? BearShark!

A boy has his toy boat down in the water, and he is pulling it to shore by a string. If he pulls in one yard of string, will the boat advance a yard, or less than a yard, or more than a yard? (via TYWKIWDBI)

After considering the new Smurfs movie, the folks at Slate compiled the interactive Cartoon Character Color Wheel to show the spectrum of colors by which we know our favorite cartoon characters. The brighter, the better! (via Buzzfeed)

There are people who don’t know how doors work, and there are doors that just don’t work. Or are the doors taking their revenge on people?

Ranker has gathered together 35 catchy viral musical videos that swept the internet. You can relive the good old days of “All Your Base” and “Peanut Butter Jelly Time” and also catch up with tunes you may have missed as well.

The Best Oblivion Machinima Video Ever. You don’t have to be a gamer to appreciate the utter ridiculousness of this fan-made sequence.

5 Things You Didn’t Know About COPS. You know, the show that set the standard for all the “on the job” reality shows to follow.

For Shark Week: This is what sharks think of tourists filming them from the saferty of those cages. (Thanks, KtotheK!)

The Mouse on the Moon

In this 1963 film, the tiny duchy of Grand Fenwick beats both the USA and the USSR to the moon- by mere minutes. The movie was billed as a sequel to the hilarious 1959 film The Mouse That Roared, but unfortunately it was missing what made the first film work: Peter Sellers.

Adventures in Pickling

Cucumbers never grew well in the garden at my old home. But this year we broke ground for a garden in the backyard, unearthing flood plain soil that hadn’t been cultivated in decades. Add my homemade compost and a sturdy trellis, and here comes an amazing crop of foot-long cucumbers! Read how I found myself knee-deep in pickle brine in a story I posted at mental_floss.

Information Links and Stuff

Ten Incredible Perfect Moments in the History of Editing.

9 Types of Job that Will Destroy Your Soul. The first five all fit my last "real" job as a radio announcer.

The debt ceiling standoff may ruin the government’s credit rating no matter whether the deadline is met. Here are five consequences of a U.S. credit downgrade.

An odd but understandable conundrum: women who are not sexually harassed do not want to be harassed, but know the lack of unwanted attention is a statement on their attractiveness. They feel left out, and then guilty about their feelings. (via Metafilter)

How One Man Hacked His Way Into the Slot-Machine Industry. Instead of cheating the machines, he cheated those who designed and built the machines. (via Dark Roasted Blend)

The Bigger They Are: 10 Ice Age Giants. Ten thousand years ago, the world was a lot like a made-for-SyFy movie.

Inventory of Older Octagon, Hexagon, and Round Houses. There’s at least one in your state, plus some mysteries you might solve. (via Metafilter)

5 Famed Retired Corporate Mascots. Two racist caricatures and three who just plain wore out their welcomes.

Almost ten years after the attacks of 9/11, New Yorkers are thinking about dropping the term “Ground Zero” and moving on. Their choice name for the area would be the “World Trade Center.”

Syria has closed its doors to reporters since the Middle East uprisings last spring. Journalist Alexander Christie-Miller managed to get inside Syria to see what’s happening.

Fun and Funny Links

Take a 150-year-old British story, soak it in the culture of cute Japanese anime, and run it through the technology of Vocaloid audio recording and animation software, and you end up with Alice in Musicland!

11 Incredibly Satisfying Simple Pleasures.

Here's a blog about chum.

The 20 Greatest Sharks in Pop Culture History. I bet you’ll see some you’d forgotten about in this list celebrating Shark Week.

As an exercise, ESL teacher Pony sends student “A” strange found photos, and she writes a few sentences about each one. The result is a taste of Japanese humor rendered in intermediate English at Pony and “A” Take Over the World. (via Gorilla Mask)

In Cowboys & Aliens, Jon Favreau gave us a winning premise and an unbeatable cast. Alas, the reviews are coming in, and it’s not pretty.

Mirai Mizue’s Hypnotic Compositions will delight you. Watch three animated videos and another of the artist in action.

The Netflix rate hike is “literally the worst thing that has ever happened to white people.” The Netflix Relief Fund With Jason Alexander might alleviate some of the misery.

Here’s something you don’t have to think about. Just move your mouse around and enjoy. (via TYWKIWDBI)