Sailboat Fountain
This lovely fountain is called Fuente del Barco de Agua, which means "water boat fountain." You can see it at Playa de la Malvarrosa in Valencia, Spain, or you can see plenty of photos at My Modern Met. Link -via Laughing Squid
(Image credit: Flickr user Jesus Solana)
Fake Psy
For two days, Korean pop sensation Psy was the toast of Cannes as he partied with stars, guzzled champagne, appeared on French media and even signed deals. Celebs like Naomie Harris even tweeted a photo of them posing together. Problem was, the real Psy wasn't anywhere near the event.
The New York Post, who dubbed the impostor Psych!, wrote:
The next day, Psych! was interviewed by France’s Radio Prestige (and even taught a clueless host how to do the “Gangnam” dance) and then headed to hot Torch Beach Club. “He was playing it up full scale,” said a spy. “He had three security guards with him at all times, in suits and earpieces. He was scamming free drinks and bottle service . . . three bottles of Cristal Rosé with lunch.” Psych! also had a French “manager” with him who negotiated an upcoming appearance at the starry Better World Awards in Monaco.
But an organizer finally e-mailed at 2 a.m. yesterday, “We’ve been duped. I had a conversation with his label . . . it [wasn’t] him, just a look-alike.” Real Psy tweeted from Singapore, “Seems like there’s another ME at cannes . . . say Hi to him.”
We hail you, chubby Asian guy with Psy sunglasses, whoever you are!
What Graduation Means
When you see the many jokes about graduation, remember they are just jokes. Finishing your education is clearly an accomplishment to be proud of, when you consider the many folks who do not get the opportunity. As his daughter graduates this year, Dr. Harley A. Rotbart thinks back to his own medical school graduation in 1979 and what it meant to his father.
He was the most brilliant fruit peddler in the history of fruit peddling, the smartest man I ever knew. Deprived of a high school education when the Nazis raided his town of Klodowa, he came to America years later as an apprehensive, thickly accented refugee from the unspeakable horrors of Europe. Despite many years in America, the emotional scars were still there. He had a sense of inferiority and was intimidated by those around him who had an education. He was always socially self-conscious, acutely afraid of standing out for his lack of accomplishments. Within his circle of family and friends, dad was proud of who he was and what he had overcome. We knew he was proud of us, too.
It was only after his graduation ceremony that Rotbart realized how proud his father was. When you read about it, you'll need to have a hanky ready. Link -via Metafilter
Illustrated Recipe: Artwork Inspired by Marie-Antoine Careme's Extravagant Food
Marie-Antoine Carême, the world's first celebrity chef and founder of the concept of haute cuisine, continues to inspire us today, some 180 years after his death. The King of Chefs, and the Chef of Kings, as he's often called, and his eccentric culinary creations are the inspiration of an art exhibition in Brighton, United Kingdom, titled The Illustrated Recipe. The art show, hosted by Gallery 40 and Cameron Contemporary Art, features five British artists who are experts in six very different mediums of art: paint (Kirsty Wither), crochet (Kate Jenkins), collage (Ed Kluz), denim (Ian Berry), digital illustration (Sarah Arnett), and cake (Annabel de Vetten of Conjurer's Kitchen). Below are some sample of the exhibited artwork:
See more featured images over at Spotlight
The Princess
Matt Clarke has started a YouTube series called Convos With My 2 Year Old. In it, he recreates conversations with his daughter Coco. I'm sure the words were exactly the same, but common sense tells me that the original wasn't nearly as creepy as it seems when Matt plays the part. Look at that adorable little girl -who wouldn't want to play the princess for her? -via Viral Viral Videos
See more about baby and kids at NeatoBambino
Donut Sushi
Psycho Donuts calls it "Psycho Psushi"--a complete meal served in a bento box with edible chopsticks. I don't care if it's served raw!
We dish up more neat food posts at the Neatolicious blog
What Is It? game 277
It's once again time for our collaboration with the wonderfully entertaining What Is It? Blog. Do you know what the pictured item is? Can you guess? Or can you make up something totally wacky?
Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many guesses as you'd like in separate comments. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will win T-shirt from the NeatoShop.
Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, see? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?
See another picture of this item at the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!
These Sculptures Are Made Entirely of Wood
These sculptures are amazing! Tom Eckert, a professor of art at Arizona State University, carved these incredibly realistic sculptures of everyday objects. At the link, you can view more photos of his work as well as watch an interview of him.
The Flintstones: A Modern Stone Age Family
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
In 1960, ABC brought something new to the young medium of television: A full-length (30 minute) animated cartoon TV series. Sure, cartoons had been broadcast since TV's inception, but never an actual primetime cartoon series. The show was "made for adults," but the millions of kids who routinely tuned in didn't know or didn't care about that.
The Flintstones ran for six very successful years (1960-1966). The original pilot for the series was called The Flagstones. This name was changed because of the popular comic strip Hi and Lois, whose last name was Flagstone. Their creators threatened legal action if that surname was appropriated by ABC. (Daws Butler voiced both leads, Fred and Barney, in this original pilot.)
And obvious and openly admitted rip-off of The Honeymooners, the show's cast included four lead characters. Fred Flintstone (the earliest animated precursor to Homer Simpson) was the show's central character. Interestingly, although Seth MacFarlane, the brilliant creator of Family Guy, is often accused of "ripping off" Homer Simpson for his lead character Peter Griffin, Seth always denies this theory and says Fred Flintstone was his "favorite cartoon character as a kid" and was the actual inspiration for Peter.
Much like Jackie Gleason's legendary Honeymooners character Ralph Kramden, Fred was loud, overbearing, blustery, and obnoxious. But underneath, he was a good guy, just an average Stone Age "John Doe" trying to earn a living, get by, and have a few laughs on the side. Fred shared one other quality with Ralph: his unequivocal and undying love of this wife, Wilma.
Zoological Marketing
Never skimp on quality marketing. You may think that you can just do it yourself, but as John McNamee explains, terrible things go wrong when you don't think through product nomenclature.
Doctor Who TARDIS Hooded Bathrobe
Doctor Who TARDIS Hooded Bathrobe (front and back shown)
Father's Day is right around the corner. This Father's Day get your Doctor Who crazy Dad the Doctor Who TARDIS Hooded Bathrobe from the NeatoShop. This beautiful soft cotton terrycloth bathrobe comes with a hood and cinch belt. The robe features amazing embroidered details.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Doctor Who items.
Volcanic Eruption as Seen from Space
Mount Pavlof, a volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands, is currently erupting. Astronauts on the International Space Station were in a great position to photograph it in action. Do you see that streak across the sky in the lower photograph? That's the cloud of volcanic ash.
Link -via Alexis C. Madrigal
5 Brilliant Clues Hidden in the Background of Movies
Cracked goes where no one else has time for to find clues hidden in the backgrounds of movies that tell you what's going to happen or what twist will eventually be revealed. Since I now have the endings to three movies I have never seen, I won't give an excerpt here. But your mind will be blown by the tiny details in Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, The Avengers, Reservoir Dogs, and Fight Club. All contain spoilers, so you decide whether to jump into the wormhole. Link -via mental_floss
Freddy Krueger's Sweater of Souls
Fedoras are popular these days. I assume that's because Freddy Krueger, the demonic villain of the Nightmare on Elm Street horror moviee series, wore them. I never got into either the fedora craze or the movies that inspired it, but I could totally wear this sweater that writhes with the souls that Kreuger captured.
Link (Translation) -via Technabob
Content warning: horror.
Super Iron Bros
There's my boys! Look good while you hunt for the Mandarin in this neat new shirt (no need to steal a poncho from a wooden Indian!) by Baznet. He's got a bunch of new T-shirts over at the NeatoShop you simply have to check out: Link
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Your purchase helps support indie artists as well as this blog! Thank you!
View more designs by Baznet | More Funny T-shirts
Chameleon Scarf
Adafruit, which posts the geekiest, most wonderful projects I'll never understand, tells you how to make your own "chameleon scarf," an accessory that changes color to match your clothing. The scarf itself is incidental, because what blew my mind is a sensor that detects the color of an object -a piece of fruit or the shirt you're wearing- and matches its RGB code. Then there are LEDs that change color depending on the code sent to them. The possibilities are endless, if you know a little about electronics. Find a video that shows how it works, and links to pages of information behind this project at Adafruit. Link -Thanks, Becky Stern!
(Image credit: Johngineer!)
Americans, What Surprised You the Most When Visiting Europe?
Redditor Hika-Tamari asked "Americans of Reddit, what surprised you when you visited Europe?" Here are some of the more interesting answers:
The Italian's way of driving. Never in anytime of my life was I more paranoid of being hit by a moped.
I first went to Europe as a twelve-year-old kid, and I was shocked by how OLD everything was. Here, a church that's a hundred years old seems ancient, but in Europe you really do have ancient structures. The sense of centuries and millennia of well-recorded history having played out everywhere I went was sort of crazy. Obviously, we have ancient Native American history, but where I'm from that part of our culture isn't always evident.
And nudity! It was often no big thing in advertisements and television. Not so in America, where a single stray nipple can practically bring down the whole television system.
I also also surprised how much of the landscape reminded me of home. I'm from the American midwest and sections of Germany and Ireland looked just like I was driving through home. But then I'd see some small stone wall that had been around for centuries and I'd be reminded how different the landscape is!
how everyone uses normal speaking voices, and how loud i am as an American.
People in Scotland (Specifically Glasgow) are the nicest I've ever met, seriously. People would have friendly conversations with you at bus stops, and one person even lent me £2 spare cash at a gas station for petrol. It seems to be 90% of people there are like that. Very unusual.
Neatoramanauts, if you've traveled in Europe, what surprised you about it?
(Photo: We All Have Baggage luggage tag, now on sale in the NeatoShop.)
Remember 1986?
Children of the 80's, take a stroll down memory lane with this YouTube clip by thepeterson and see if you remember 1986.
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via Neatorama's Facebook page (where you'll find tons more neat stuff)
Other Great Ideas for Pop Culture Statues
Detroit is finally getting a statue of its legendary hero, RoboCop. But according to Wolf Gnards, there are other great pop culture heroes worthy of their own statues. For example, San Dimas, California should erect a statue in honor of Bill and Ted of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Well, they will establish a great new civilization.
You can read his other suggestions at the link.
Raccoon Returns to Zoo Voluntarily
Drusilla's Park is a zoo in East Sussex, England. On April 26th, there was a breakout when two raccoons escaped into the surrounding neighborhood. Turpin was found in another area of the park a week later and returned to her enclosure. But her sister Bandit remained at large until she suddenly was seen back in her enclosure when a zookeeper made an evening nose count. She has returned on her own!
Claire Peters, of Drusillas Park, said: “We were incredibly surprised to see Bandit return. Obviously we longed for her safe return but no one expected her to turn up. It is thought the sisters escaped after being spooked by a noise or unexpected movement, leading them to flee up the perimeter fence and through the electric deterrent. Thankfully neither appears to be injured.”
Bandit's identity was confirmed by a scan of her embedded microchip. She apparently found that the grass was not greener on the other side of the fence. Link -via Arbroath
(Image credit: Drusilla's Park)
Love cute animals? View more at Lifestyles of the Cute and Cuddly blog
Little Girl Cosplaying as Stan Lee While Posing with Stan Lee
A little girl dressed as famed comic book writer Stan Lee at the Motor City Comic Con has captured the hearts of of the people of the internet. Here's a photo of her (right) with the great man himself (left).
Link -via Fashionably Geek
(Photo: Vincent James Cracchiolo)
Uranus Wall Clock
Are you tired of your tardiness making you the butt of office jokes? You need the Uranus Wall Clock from the NeatoShop. This beautiful clock features a graphic of Uranus, as captured by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft. Now you can gleefully tell people that Uranus helps you stay on time.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Clocks & Timers.
Pile of Kittens
Did you lose your cats? Redditor thingsaintjust found a pile of them sleeping on the porch.
Love cute animals? View more at Lifestyles of the Cute and Cuddly blog
Landslide
Tyler Marcum made a silly dance video in his underwear back in college ten years ago. Now he's turning 30 and recreated that same dance, side-by-side with the original, to mark the occasion. The song is "Landslide," originally by Fleetwood Mac, but this verso is by the Dixie Chicks. -via Viral Viral Videos
Celebrities Photoshopped into Renaissance Paintings
Angelina Jolie
It's been a while since we last featured Worth1000, but their "let's photoshop celebrities into Renaissance paintings" contest is full of all sorts of win. Check out the rest of the winning entries: Link - via Co.CREATE
Hugh Laurie
Steve Carrell
Natalie Portman
... and how could we not see this one coming?
Honey Boo Boo's Mama June
The R-Zone Prank
Another clever Google Glass spoof. This one featuring our friend Mark Malkoff as he walks around New York tricking people into thinking he's wearing Google Glass when actually it's a '90s video game.
Link: Via Mashable
Star Trek Knuckles Tattoo
Jason Criss's knuckles tattoo shows the Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation. He writes:
It took me a while to figure out what kind of Star Trek tattoo I wanted to get. I finally decided that the enterprise d on my knuckles was the best choice for me. It’s still a work in progress there will be more shading and colors after the initial outline heals. let me know what you think of them so far.
Note that he can perform a saucer separation by just moving his fists apart.
Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
You don't have to be crazy to believe in conspiracy theories. In fact, 63 percent of registered voters in American believe in at least one political conspiracy theory. Scientists say that the belief that powerful people are manipulating things behind the scenes is the brain's way of making sense out of forces that the individual cannot control, sparked by the region of the brain called the amygdala.
Economic recessions, terrorist attacks and natural disasters are massive, looming threats, but we have little power over when they occur or how or what happens afterward. In these moments of powerlessness and uncertainty, a part of the brain called the amygdala kicks into action. Paul Whalen, a scientist at Dartmouth College who studies the amygdala, says it doesn’t exactly do anything on its own. Instead, the amygdala jump-starts the rest of the brain into analytical overdrive — prompting repeated reassessments of information in an attempt to create a coherent and understandable narrative, to understand what just happened, what threats still exist and what should be done now. This may be a useful way to understand how, writ large, the brain’s capacity for generating new narratives after shocking events can contribute to so much paranoia in this country.
“If you know the truth and others don’t, that’s one way you can reassert feelings of having agency,” Swami says. It can be comforting to do your own research even if that research is flawed. It feels good to be the wise old goat in a flock of sheep.
Read more about the research into conspiracy theories in an article by Maggie Koerth-Beker in the New York Times. Link
(image credit: Matt Dorfman)
Birth of the Moore Tornado
YouTube user Charles Cook uploaded a video clip that captured the birth of the devastating May 20, 2013 tornado at Newcastle, Oklahoma. That tornado later moved to Moore, where it turned into an EF5 tornado, with peak winds at 210 mph (340 km/h) and width of 1.3 miles (2.1 km).
"The birth of the May 20, 2013 tornado," Cook wrote. "Moved from there to Moore where it turned into an F4. God be with its victims."
A Reddit.com user claiming to be the man's son posted a link to the footage.
"Incredible video my Dad took of the May 20th tornado FORMING and destroying everything in its path near Newcastle," the user wrote. "He was out that way for work today and just happened to be in the right place at the right time. He was worried it was going to come back at him and was searching for a way to scoot out [of its] way once he was able to gauge how insanely close it was to him. He hung in there, though. Unbelievable."
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via Yahoo! News
