Archive for June, 2007
Play My Game.
Link: PlayMyGame
At the site Play My Game, you can put yourself into a videogame! Upload a picture, choose from five games (boxiong, iDance, SuperMe, Cake Fight, or Birthday), and create an embeddable player. This is SuperMe shown. Link -via Ursi’s Blog
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Corkxedo.
A tuxedo made of wine corks? That’s a corkxedo!
891 Corks Total
686 Corks in the Jacket
181 Corks in the Top Hat
24 Corks in the Cane
More than 240 Wineries Represented
Total Weight: Merely 15 Pounds
Oldest Cork: 1935 Chateau Lynch-Bages
Link -via Grow-A-Brain
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There is Justice After All: $54 Million Pants Lawsuit Thrown Out.
The $54 million pants (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
Here’s an update on the case of the $54 million pants, which we posted before:
A Washington, D.C., judge Monday threw out a $54 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner accused of losing a pair of trousers. The case got worldwide attention as the worst example in years of unfettered litigiousness, in the view of some lawyers.
"The court rejected a case that clearly had no merits, that was outrageous and ridiculous from the outset," says Bill Schulz of the American Association for Justice, representing trial lawyers.
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World's Smallest School.
The world’s smallest school, an elementary school in China, has just one teacher and one student:
He explained: "At first, the school had more than 400 students, but in the ’90s, more and more families migrated from the mountain village to make a living outside, and there were just over 10 students left.
"In 2000, the city education bureau decided to shut down the school after the graduation of the last student. New kids can register and board at another school in nearby Sanhe town, which is a two-hour drive away."
But the family of a third grader named Han Hongyang can’t afford the boarding fee, so she became the last remaining student.
"We have been like this for more than half a year. She is my only student, and I’m her only teacher," says teacher Li.
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Mount Rushmore, the Cheddar Version.
Troy Landwehr did his own version of Mount Rushmore with 700-pound block of cheddar cheese! (Photo: M.P. King/Post-Crescent)
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Pygmy Hippo Baby.
Meet Aldo, a 3-week-old pygmy hippo:
Anais, the mother hippo, keeps an eye on its son Aldo, a three-week-old pygmy hippopotamus, (Choeropsis Liberiensis), at the Vincennes zoo, outside Paris, Tuesday, June 26, 2007. Aldo looks, eats and lazes like a hippopotamus but he is only about as big as a human baby, at 53 centimeters (21 inches). (Photo: Jacques Brinon/AP)
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Zebra + Horse + Giraffe = Zoraffe?
Actually, it is called an Okapi, and isn’t a crossbread at all (but certainly looks like one). The Okapi is a rather anti-social member of the giraffe family that only lives in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Okapi scholars believe it evolved stripes on its legs as a mechanism for young Okapi to more easily follow their mothers through the dense jungle. Link [Wikipedia]
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Light Graffiti.
Flickr user Lichtfaktor has a neat photoset of using flashlights to make graffiti! Link – Thanks Jenny!
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CN Tower in Toronto is Now Purty at Night!
Neatorama reader Jerrold wrote about the new LED light system of the CN Tower in Toronto:
The world’s tallest free-standing structure got a makeover, and officially debuted it’s new flare in Toronto last night.
1300 LEDs, millions of comibinations, and energy saving. Toronto, the largest city in Canada, now has a new, customizable skyline!
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Zebra + Pony = Zony.
Neatorama reader Jennifer wrote:
With all the talk of Zorses and Zonkeys, I thought I’d share my photo of a Zony
(Pony+Zebra) (and its camel friend.) I spotted these guys at a farm in Knights Ferry, CA. The Zony’s name is Ziggy.
The pic is titled “Theirs was a forbidden love …” Precious!Link [Flickr] – Thanks Jennifer!
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GPS Told Me to Turn onto the Train Tracks!
Following your GPS navigation blindly can take you into a swollen river, or in this case: train tracks!
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The Mursi People of Africa.
Photographer Sergio Pessolano took some amazing photos of the Mursi people in Ethiopia:
The Mursi (or Murzu) are a Sub-Saharan African nomadic cattle herder tribe located in the Omo valley in southwestern Ethiopia close to the Sudanese border.
The estimated population of the Mursi is around 3900. Surrounded by mountains and three rivers, the home of the Mursi is one of the most isolated region of the country. [...]
The Mursi women are famous of wearing plates in their lower lips. The reason of this "ornament" is for avoiding to be
catchedcaught as slaves.These lip discs are made of clay. Girls are pierced in the age of 15 or 16. They remove the plate when eating.
Link [some pic NSFW] – Thanks Mikolka!
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The Nightmare Snatcher.
Etsy seller Spiderbite is selling "Nightmare Snatcher," a fuzzy journal that lets kids write down or draw things that scare them:
Furry and fearless, friendly but ferocious, these Nightmare Snatchers are the perfect journals for writing down and drawing out all that scares, frightens, and worries. You have only to recite the spell found at the front of the book, record your woes on their aged tea-stained pages, then mark your page with their long tail and your faithful friend the Nightmare Snatcher will eat your fears away.
This will come in handy after reading the self-mummying suicidal Japanese monk post! Link – Thanks Elizaberry!
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Self-Mummifying Suicidal Monks of Japan.
From the Kircher Society blog, here is the story of the self-mummying suicidal monks:
Scattered throughout Northern Japan are two dozen mummified Japanese monks known as Sokushinbutsu. Followers of Shugendô, an ancient form of Buddhism, the monks died in the ultimate act of self-denial.
For three years the priests would eat a special diet consisting only of nuts and seeds, while taking part in a regimen of rigorous physical activity that stripped them of their body fat. They then ate only bark and roots for another three years and began drinking a poisonous tea made from the sap of the Urushi tree, normally used to lacquer bowls. This caused vomiting and a rapid loss of bodily fluids, and most importantly, it killed off any maggots that might cause the body to decay after death. Finally, a self-mummifying monk would lock himself in a stone tomb barely larger than his body, where he would not move from the lotus position. His only connection to the outside world was an air tube and a bell. Each day he rang a bell to let those outside know that he was still alive. When the bell stopped ringing, the tube was removed and the tomb sealed.
Link: Kircher Society | Daruma Forum – Thanks The Good Reverend!
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Guitar Chair by Rick Metz.
Check out this awesome Guitar Chair by Cincinnati artist Rick Metz.
Link (don’t miss the Guitar Pick Coffee Table!) – Thanks Hilary Wiezbenski!
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Bug Made From Found Objects.
Flickr user eselkunst has a neat collection of bugs made from found objects "wedged, fitted, and puzzled together without adhesives." Some are very intricate!
Link [Flickr] – Thanks Kelly B!
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Neighborhood Hypochondriac Watch: Who is Sick?
Hypochondriacs rejoice! Who Is Sick? is a website that allows you to tell the world about your symptoms, or search if your neighborhood is a hotbed for runny nose, skin sores, or even bloody stool.
Right now, I’m really sorry to see someone in my neighborhood battling runny nose, stuffy nose, sneeze, headache, dizziness, muscle ache, stomachache, nausea, vomiting AND diarrhea!
Link – via Technogeekboy
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Caution: This is Sparta!
After watching drunken Russians playing Sparta, here’s one by the cleaning crew!
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Cthulhu + Shrimp = Beth Cavener Stichter's Premonition.
You’re looking at Beth Cavener Stichter’s stoneware sculpture called Premonition – looks like a cross between Cthulhu and a shrimp! Link | Check out Beth’s other artwork here: Main Gallery.
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Panda Breakout.
In a fine example of cooperation in the animal kingdom, one panda boosts another to make an escape from their enclosure! Push play or go to YouTube. -via Digg
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Low-Hanging Full Moon.
This weekend’s full moon hangs lower in the sky than any other full moon of 2007, according to NASA, and it’s a good time to be fooled.
When low on the horizon, the Moon can appear to be larger than when it’s higher in the sky. It’s all an illusion, scientists say, and it does not involve any enlarging effects of the atmosphere. Rather, it’s all in your mind.
You can see this illusion Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. Link
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Russian Sparta.
This is too funny. Scenes of Russian life, many from viral videos you’re familiar with, set to the soundtrack of the trailer for the movie 300. From English Russia. Link (Thanks, Jan!)
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It Came from the Sixties.
Threadbared has an amusing collection of goofy sixties fashion shots. In this one the model really does look like she’s about to throw up. I don’t remember nausea being a fashion statement of the era, but I was young at the time.
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Urumi.
These men are sparring, not with whips, but with swords — flexible, sometimes multi-bladed, swords called urumi or chuttuval. According to Answers.com:
[The urumi is] a long sword made of flexible steel, sharp enough to cut into flesh, but flexible enough to be rolled into a tight coil. It was used and still can be found in Kerala, and is one of the weapons learned by practitioners of the martial art of Kalaripayattu. It was most popular in the North Malabar Coast of Kerala state, India, and is often mentioned in the ballads of the region.
The flexible sword is called Urumi in the Northern System of Kalaripayattu and Chuttuval in the Southern System. The word Chuttuval . . . is derived from the Tamil roots Chuttu . . . (coil/spin) and Vaal . . . (sword) and means Coiled Sword, a very apt description of the way the sword is maneuvered by the swordsman. Since the sword is flexible, and worn curled around the waist or bundled into the belt, it has to be straightened out, which is generated by turning it around the wielder’s body mostly in a vertical plane. Urumi is still practiced in all kalaris.
An interesting side note: the word urumi comes from Malayalam, a Dravidic language with the distinction of being a palindrome.
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The First Computer Effects In Film.
Long before Tron in 1982, computers were used in the film industry. This article looks at the first computer rendering, the first computer animation, the first 3D CGI effects, etc. Link -via Grow-A-Brain
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Tiny Motorcycles.
Jose Geraldo Pfau Kings, an advertising executive in Santa Caterina, Brazil makes tiny motorcycles from watch parts! They are not for sale. Link -via the Presurfer
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Maclaud's horseshoe bat.
This bizarre bat species hadn’t been seen in 40 years, and has never been photographed before. German biologist Natalie Weber found 16 Maclaud’s horseshoe bats in a cave in Guinea and took the picture. The bat’s face folds are thought to be an aid in echolation. Link -via The Pet Blog
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Zebra + Donkey = Zonkey.
Photo: Chris Brandis/AP
Yesterday, Miss Cellania posted a neat photo of the Zorse, which got me thinkin’ whatabout the cross between a zebra and a donkey: the Zonkey? Link
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Latin You Should Know.
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Ad hoc: Literally meaning "for this," it’s generally used to mean improvised. Ad infinitum (not to be confused with et cetera): "To infinity, without end." Caveat emptor: "Let the buyer beware." Citius altius fortius: "Faster, higher, stronger" – the motto of the modern Olympics. Columbarium: A collective tomb in ancient Rome that was also used as a house for pigeons and doves. Corpus christi: "The body of Christ." Cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos: "Whoever owns the land it is theirs up to the sky and down to the depths." The state of Kansas used this law in the 1970s to argue that airlines could not serve liquor when flying over Kansas, a dry state. "Kansas," Attorney General Vern Miller said, "goes all the way up and all the way down." (If that’s true, Kansas can lay claim to, and prohibit drinking in, about 82,282 square miles of western China.) Deus ex machina: "A god from the machine," usually referring to an awkward and contrived resolution to conflict. The phrase got its start from the plays of Euripides, in which a god was lowered down onto the stage via a mechanical crane to sort out intractable conflicts and confused plots. Et ignotas animum dimittit in artes: "And he sent forth his spirit among the unknown arts." A beautiful quote from Ovid. Id est: "That is," often abbreviated "i.e." In medias res: "In the middle of things." Stories like Paradise Lost or The Odyssey or Sweet Valley High #17 begin in the middle. Ipso facto: "By the very fact," i.e., "absolutely, regardless of circumstances." Lupus est homo homini: "Man is wolf to man." No one knew this better than the Romans. Magnum opus: Great work. Nolo contendere: When you want to enter a plea of No contest" in as fancy a way as possible. Opus Dei: "The work of God" or "An outsized villain in a bestselling novel." Quod erat demonstrandum: "That which was to be demonstrated." Abbreviated QED, often the end of a mathematical proof. Sic semper tyrannis: "Thus always to tyrants," the motto of Virginia and the Sic transit gloria: "Glory fades," popularized by Max Fischer, founder, Rushmore Double-Team Dodgeball Society. Sub poena: "Under penalty," as in "Do this or you’re in trouble." Tabula rasa: A "blank slate" – John Locke’s description of the human mind without knowledge. Veni, vidi, vici: "I came, I saw, I conquered," and the most oft-mispronounced Latin phrase in the world. It should be pronounced, WAY-nee, WEE-dee, WEE-kee. |
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From mental_floss’ book Scatterbrained, published in Neatorama with permission. Don’t forget to visit mental_floss‘ extremely entertaining website and blog!
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Why do you need these Latin phrases? Well, like Latin teachers always say, Latin lives on in plenty of English words and phrases. But mostly, it’s worth learning a bit of Latin because omnia dicta fortiori, si dicta Latina: everything sounds more impressive when said in Latin.
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VideoSift: Art Channel.
Let’s take a look at VideoSift’ Art channel:
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Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy on a Theremin |
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Brandon McConnell’s Space Painting |
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Subway Train Covered in Graffiti in 2 Minutes When a group of "artists" show up to tag the Metro Madrid train in Spain, the rent-a-cop security guard is perplexed as of what to do… Don’t get any idea, kids: Link |
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Gary Jules’ Mad World |
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Bradley Litwin’s Octapult |
For more the web’s most interesting videos, check out: VideoSift.
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