Tetris Theme on Bottles

Someone in the comments at Digg suggested that after this and the radio-controlled car doing the Mario theme, the next video should be the Halo theme done by cat yodeling.

All Quiet on the Western Front

From Wikipedia:

All Quiet on the Western Front is an Academy Award-winning 1930 war film based on the Erich Maria Remarque novel All Quiet on the Western Front. It was directed by Lewis Milestone, and stars Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray, Arnold Lucy and Ben Alexander.

Released in 1930 (see 1930 in film), it is considered a realistic and harrowing account of war and World War I, and was named #54 on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies. However, it was removed from the top 100 list in the 2007 revision. Also, in 1990, this film was selected and preserved by the United States Library of Congress' National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Good Reads

The Rise and Fall of Atari. This is why you play video games today instead of pinball.

We naturally like to try and figure out other people's motivations. The problem is that sober and logical reflection seems to kill the pleasure and romance of a moment.

Humans are arguably the most bizarre creatures in the animal kingdom. Each of these 53 reasons leads to an expended explanation.

The Amazing Story of the 256-year-old man. His 1933 obituary listed his year of birth as 1677.

An economist blames the ethanol industry for high food prices. And the cost of transporting food is not helping matters.

The R2D2 DVD projector. Also can be used with your iPod, Wii, and USB peripherals. The Millennium Falcon remote is the icing on the cake!

Dialect Map of American English. (via Metafilter)

Debunking Grammar Myths. Maybe your English isn’t as bad as you’ve been told!

Ten Ways to Mess Up Your Own Wedding. (via Interesting Pile)

Creative Ways to Reuse "Disposable" Items.

14 Notable Multiple Births (for a total of 69 babies)

Triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, and more may seem almost commonplace now compared to years past, at least to those of us who just read about them. But they are anything but commonplace to parents who find themselves suddenly leading a large family!

read more | digg story

Information Links

They’re big, they’re buoyant, and when they fail, they might stay right where they are for many years. Dark Roasted Blend has a fleet of shipwrecks and abandoned boats for you to see.

The Trouble with Rocket Packs. They're crowd-pleasers, but they'll never live up to the expectation Buck Rogers set in the 1920s.

How to start a fire without matches. These nine methods might save your life someday, or more likely may impress your friends.

Staying healthy and happy is a struggle for about half of Americans, according to a survey of 100,000 people. 49% say they are thriving, while 83% of people in Denmark are.

The Art Of Creating Creatures. Theo Jansen’s discusses his beach-walking animals and the marvelous engineering that makes them possible.

Things your body can do after you die.

Cultcase looked at classic films to find the toughest (male) characters in cinema history. No special effects, just tough guys written and acted that way. (via Geek Like Me)

8 Reasons Why People Drink Soda & 16 Reasons To Give Up Soda Drinking. Aha! For every reason to drink it, there are two reasons not to.

Cheetahs could be extinct in as little as 15 years. A conservation program called Cheetah Outreach allows people to literally reach out and pet a cheetah.

7 Common Cooking Mistakes, and how to avoid them. Honestly, in 40 years of cooking, I’ve only committed three of these sins.

Peter Sellers and his Amazing Arm

From the movie Dr. Strangelove.

Fun Links

Silly Political Parties (of the non-elephant-or-donkey variety).

Rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. But funny. A rap song about looking for the perfect woman.

9 Greatest Nerds on Film: "I'm a nerd, and uh, I'm pretty proud of it." And they made us all proud to be nerds!

In the game Catstration, you have to control the cat population by throwing a meat cleaver at their testicles. Catch the falling testicles and throw them into your collection. Avoid cat poop and hairballs. If you don’t castrate enough cats, they will multiply, just like real cats. (via Bits and Pieces)

Sell your bad memories or pick up someone else’s bargains at Ex Boyfriend Jewelry. And you can read some of the stories behind the sales. (via Saurly Yours)

Five metronomes synchronize themselves. Read the comments for explanation and discussion.

LooLoo. These people are very happy about their bidet!

Top 20 Screen Robots. Whether you agree with the rankings or not, you can relive some memories with this list, with video clips for each robot.

When you read a good book, you must have the proper beer to accompany it. Omnivoracious has some suggestions. (via mental_floss)

Seriously Twisted Trees.

Beans

From the 1974 film Blazing Saddles.

One Way to Tow a Car

Maybe the tow truck driver wanted to be paid up front and wasn’t. Spotted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (via Arbroath)

10 Insult Words Everyone Should Learn

The sophisticated way to name call -and still show your class! I didn't know there were so many words that meant "fling poo".

read more | digg story

Take Five

The 12 Girls Band performs Take Five.

The Origin of Booze

A historical look at the stuff that gets us hammered. Who’s ready for the first round?

read more | digg story

The Outlaw

From Wikipedia:

The Outlaw is a 1943 Western movie, directed by Howard Hughes and Howard Hawks (uncredited), which turned Jane Russell into one of Hollywood's movie legends. The film also starred Jack Buetel, Thomas Mitchell, and Walter Huston.

Although the movie was completed in 1941, it was released to only a limited showing two years later. It did not see a general release until 1946. The delay was a result of Hughes defying the Hays Code, which set the standard of morally acceptable content in motion pictures. By showcasing Jane Russell's breasts in both the movie and the poster artwork, The Outlaw became one of the most controversial pictures of its time. Hughes even created a new type of bra just for this movie.

In 1941, director Howard Hughes, while filming The Outlaw, felt that the camera did not do justice to Jane Russell's large bust. He employed his engineering skills to design an underwired, cantilevered bra to emphasise her assets. Hughes added rods of curved structural steel that were sewn into the brassiere below each breast. The rods were connected to the bra's shoulder straps. The arrangement allowed the breasts to be pulled upward and made it possible to move the shoulder straps away from the neck. The design allowed for any amount of bosom to be freely exposed.

Regardless, the emphasis on her breasts proved too much for the Hollywood Production Code Administration, which ordered cuts to the film. To obtain the Boards' required Seal of Approval, Hughes reluctantly removed about 40 feet, or a half-minute, of footage that featured Jane Russell's bosom.

Friday Fun Links

FOX News: Lincoln debated Frederick Douglass in 1858?!?

Facebook in Real Life.

Five People Killed By Their Own Inventions. I believe we have found the origin of the phrase, “You’re doing it wrong.”

Posing as a ten-year-old, Bill Geerhart began corresponding with famous people, including several serial killers. Now you can read their letters of advice.

I want a Neo Cube. This simple toy has the ability to suck up all the free time around it.

9 Greatest Nerds on Film: "I'm a nerd, and uh, I'm pretty proud of it." And they made us all proud to be nerds!

Dog Thong to iPaw: 15 Pet Products We Can't Believe Exist. The political dog chews are kid of tempting.

The Tasty Art of Chocolate & Candy. It looks too good to eat, but it’s chocolate, so you know I would anyway!

A gospel song in praise of the Ewoks, with a special appearance by Billy Dee Williams.

The weirdest news stories of the week.

Retired Drill Team

(via Phil’s Phun)

Houses Made of Straw

Straw is a renewable resource. In fact, we produce 200 million tons of straw that is wasted every year, after the wheat or other grain is removed. A bale of straw costs just a few dollars. Bales are sturdy, thick, and come in uniform size. They make wonderful insulation. Together, this makes it the perfect material for building homes.

read more | digg story

The Things That Carried Him

Esquire has a compelling feature that details the journey of Sgt. Joe Montgomery from Iraq to his final resting place in Indiana.

Looking at the faces of Joey's family, they could know that he was loved. Looking at his friends in their black concert T-shirts, they could guess that he really liked Nine Inch Nails. Looking at his Aunt Vicki, standing behind the pulpit and holding it together just long enough to read one of Joey's poems, they could learn that he liked to write. Looking at his flag-draped casket, they could be certain that he was a soldier. Looking at General Pinckney, giving Missie both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star and promoting Sergeant Montgomery posthumously to staff sergeant, they could deduce that he was a brave one. They may have believed that he became a soldier because he had loved his country, but they could not have known that before he was a soldier he had been ashamed that his jobs in the steel forge and running cable for security systems had left his young family living in a bad part of town in a rented house with holes in the floor. They couldn't have known that he became a soldier because he wanted to make his older brother proud, and that he wanted even more to make a better life for his wife and his kids, this second generation of fatherless Montgomerys.

I’ve made it through two pages so far, and I have to take a break and compose myself. But this is one worth bookmarking. Everyone should read this, if it takes you all weekend.

(via Metafilter)

Good Reads and Information

Sorry, Absinthe Trippers: Scientists Say You're Just Really Drunk. Wormwood is not the hallucinogenic it’s made out to be.

It’s a pity that marvelous old architecture is left to rot, often due to lack of funds. But there’s beauty to be found in the ruins, as you’ll see in this collection of abandoned hotels from all over.

Grain Companies' Profits Soar As Global Food Crisis Mounts.

The healthiest chain restaurants and what you should order from them. Just in case you absolutely cannot find any other place to eat besides a chain restaurant.

Real-life Superman’s survival confounds the experts. A fireman is trapped in a burning building, falls 3 stories, lifts an impossibly heavy beam, and lives to tell the tale.

The Ultimate Act of Sportsmanship. Which is more important, this game, or someone else's last chance at a career highlight? Read this story and try not to tear up. (via Metafilter)

16 Surefire Ways to Make Your Commute Less Stressful. Calling in sick did not make the list.

Intelligence And Rhythmic Accuracy Go Hand In Hand. That still doesn’t make you a good dancer.

8 Essential Gadgets For a Secret Agent. All available for sale to James Bond wannabes.

Happy May Day! ...Whatever that means to you.

Sit on My Face

(via Milk and Cookies)

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon

From Wikipedia:
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) is the fourth in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes films.

Holmes successfully removes Professor Tobel and his new invention - the "Tobel Bombsight" (analogous to the real-life Norden Bombsight) - from Switzerland to safety in England under the noses of German agents. However once in England, Tobel disappears, kidnapped by Holmes' arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty, now in league with the Nazis. However Tobel has left a cryptic message in code behind (taken from the Arthur Conan Doyle story The Adventure of the Dancing Men).

Holmes cracks the code and tracks Tobel down, in the process utilizing his skill in disguises, appearing as a Swiss inventor, a criminal Lascar, and an elderly German bookseller.