HOME |
RSS | 
The Daily Mail reports on an unusual amour:
When they first met, Romeo the pelican was simply in need of a little tender loving care.
But the amorous avian appears to have mistaken a nurse’s attention for something a little more intimate and has set about trying to woo his human companion. . . .
Mrs Bailey, 47, revealed how the lovelorn bird tries to impress her when they are alone. “He looks right into my eyes and puts on what I can only describe as a mating display, with his wings up and his head bowed down,” she said.
“He will walk over to me, snuggle in and preen me. Romeo loves to take my hair or my hand in his mouth and he also plays with my shoe laces.”
But woe betide anyone who the enormous bird sees as a threat.
Mrs Bailey said: “If I am not around he’ll tolerate someone else feeding him his fish, but as soon as I appear he goes for them.
“He gets in between and his wings go up, his mouth opens wide and he lunges at them snapping his big beak. He’ll bite if they’re not quick enough to get out the way.
“I feel terrible because I know it can be very painful. He has bitten staff, volunteer helpers and the vet. It seems to be my fault because he thinks that he’s protecting me.”
Apparently it also makes your follicles levitate. Via Wicked Art
Here’re some funny clips from the blooper reel of Bill Dance‘s Fish Talk TV show. Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – Thanks Steve White!
Comments Off
Revolymer, a company specializing in developing new polymers, have created the world’s first non-stick chewing gum
Terence Cosgrove is the tech chief at Revolymer, the company that created this chewing gum. The candy can be washed away pouring water on it with soap:
“Gum base is a very complex mixture involving interactions of several components which give rise to the adhesion of gum base to a variety of surfaces. Using our technology, we have managed to change the surface characteristics of the gum base which will allow a stream of water or a mild soap solution to break the adhesion between chewing gum residues and surfaces such as paving stones, furniture, hair etc’ ” explained Professor Terence Cosgrove Revolymer’s Chief Scientific Officer.
Link – via Junk Food Blog
PenguinMagic sells magic tricks and the secrets behind those tricks. I’m a bit stunned watching this video clip …
Links: Video clip [YouTube] | Penguin Magic
In 1960, publisher Bennett Cert bet Dr. Seuss $50 that Seuss couldn’t write a book using only 50 different words. So Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham, which became an instant picture book classic. Cerf apparently never paid up, incidentally. Green Eggs and Ham marked the apex of Seuss’s minimalist-vocabulary period, and it was an awfully impressive feat (we used 50 different words just to tell you about it).
***
Theodor Seuss Geisel wasn’t actually a doctor (at least not until his alma mater, Dartmouth, gave him an honorary PhD), but his unique poetic meter and kid-friendly, leap-off-the-page illustrations made him one of the most successful children’s writers in history (220 million books sold). From books intended to teach vocabulary and reading skills (like The Cat in the Hat) to allegorical tales of power-hungry turtles and environmental destruction (Yertle the Turtle and The Lorax, respectively), Dr. Seuss was a vital innovator in the world of children’s books for more than fifty years. When he arrived on the kid-lit scene, children’s books were boring, lifeless tomes (once you’ve seen Spot run a couple of times, you’re ready to give up reading for good). Dr. Seuss created picture books that we wanted to read.
***
When Dr. Seuss Goes to War, a collection of Geisel’s World War II-era cartoons created for PM magazine, was published in 1999, the American public was stunned. How could the author of peace-loving, Truffula Tree-hugging children’s books have penned wartime cartoons that attacked Japanese Americans and depicted the Japanese as bucktoothed buffoons? Some argued that Seuss was only reflecting his times; others argued that racism is racism (regardless of whether it’s in a box or with a fox).
***
Dr. Seuss came from a long line of German brewmasters, which perhaps explains how he came to throw a drunken bash during his Dartmouth days. Due to school policy (and also federal law, since Prohibition forbade drinking in those days), Ted’s excellent adventure got him fired from his position at The Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, the college’s humor magazine. But the wily Geisel never let The Man keep him down: He kept writing for the Jack-O-Lantern, adopting the pseudonym "Seuss" (his middle name) to get by the censors.
***
Before he started speaking for the trees, Dr. Seuss, was, well, a sellout. For fifteen years he wrote and designed ads for the corporate monolith Standard Oil. In a series of ads hawking Standard’s pesticide Flit, Geisel coined the popular catchphrase, "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" which was sort of the "Mikey likes it!" of its time.
***
While it would probably be a slight exaggeration to say that Dr. Seuss single handedly ended the Cold War, The Butter Battle Book was one of the most influential anti-arms-race books of the ’80s. Telling the story of the absurd war between the Yooks and the Zooks (whose sole disagreement is whether one ought to eat bread butter side up or butter side down), Seuss subtly challenged the Reagan administration’s emphasis on defense over social welfare programs. For six months, the book was on the New York Times Best Sellers list – for adults.
______
From mental_floss’ book Scatterbrained, published in Neatorama with permission.
Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ extremely entertaining website and blog!
Traveling salesman Peter Gilbert just donated his million-mile car to a museum:
As a traveling salesman, Peter Gilbert has put a few miles on his car — 1,001,385 miles, to be precise.
It took the Glendale man 17 years to cross the million-mile mark with his 1989 Saab 900 SPG. He recently donated the durable vehicle to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum after Saab verified the mileage.
The transmission was rebuilt at 200,000 miles and the hood and a few other parts replaced after eight deer collisions, but otherwise it has original equipment.
Apparently, there’s even a more remarkable car: a Volvo with 2.48 million miles!
Jeffrey Martin sent us another one of his fantastic 360 QTVR panorama. This one is of the "bone church" Sedlec Ossuary near Kutna Hora.
Link [requires Shockwave player Will play in QuickTime, DevalVR, Shockwave or Java] – Thanks Jeffrey!
Previously on Neatorama: Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora
Marvel Comics and the military have teamed up to … bring free exclusive comics to US troops stationed around the world!
Just in time for the holiday season, Marvel Comics’ "The New Avengers" and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service have teamed up to bring troops stationed around the world another free, military-exclusive comic book. Marvel Comics and the Army Air Force Exchange Service have joined forces to bring servicemembers around the world the fourth installment in the "The New Avengers" military-only comic book series.
Comments Off 
Daily Kos has a neat collection of vintage Kodachrome photographs of America, taken from various sources. Link – via reddit
Winner of "Not My Job" Award. Thanks blurb!
Remember the fat china guy whose face got photoshopped into all those movie posters? Here he is: Qian Zhijun, a Chinese gas station attendant.
A chubby-faced Shanghai gas station intern known as "Little Fatty" has reached the heights of Internet fame in China thanks to cheeky Photoshop artists who are turning the 100kg youth into a pop icon.
It all started three years ago when Qian Zhijun, then 16, was attending a traffic safety class and someone snapped a picture of his rotund, rosy-cheeked face.
His suspicious-looking sideways look at the camera soon made its way on to the Internet. That picture of "Xiao Pang" (Little Fatty), as he was soon named, has since been morphed onto other iconic visages including the Mona Lisa, Marilyn Monroe and other well-known celebrities. It has also spawned Web sites, blogs and numerous fan clubs.
"I like it when they put me on the body of heroes, such as Russell Crowe in Gladiator," Qian said. "But I hate it when they place me on the shoulder of naked women or when the touchup job is terrible," he said.
Qian, who now attends vocational school and works part-time at a gas station, discovered his fame when he walked into a cybercafe and came face to face with himself.
Links: Taipei Times | Reuters Articles
Very cool! Here’s how to make a flower from dead computer parts: Link – via Make
