HOME |
RSS | 
Worldometers brings you real-time statistics on world population, health, environmental issues, and more. We’ve seen how fast the numbers on life and death turn over, but their “stastistic of the month” fascinated me -the price of a bottle of beer in Zimbabwe just goes up and up and up. Link -Thanks, Bill!
(image credit: Cian Walsh)
[Video Link] A spooky short film about an over-caffeinated driver who finds himself in an alternate reality after a body crashes through his windshield. Directed by John Knautz and starring Trevor Matthews. 9 minutes, 3 seconds long.
The Telegraph is featuring a brilliant series of shark shots by wildlife photographer Chris Fallows. But don’t click the link if you’re sentimental about seals…
Britain mourns the passing of Miles Kington {wiki} who died on Thursday. Kingston coined the term “Franglais”, which is the language produced when English speakers attempt to speak French.
Its rules are simple. Insert as many French words as you know into the sentence, fill in the rest with English, then speak it with absolute conviction.
Some examples:
A man is accused of driving his car “avec toute la finesse d’un Rangers fan” (Miles Kington)
A door-to-door seller assures his customers “je ne suis pas un nutter religieux” (Miles Kington)
“Je suis un rock star.” (Bill Wyman)
A famous defendant who “ject un brickbat a le dit Justice, que narrowly mist”. (Old English court case)
“Le maker de ‘franglais’ est le dead.” (Fark)
Kington wrote several books about Franglais. Link -via Fark, where you’ll find more examples.
Also see: La Petite Lesson En Franglais
With real apples — Via Kuromi
Each room is an individual piece of art. From wacky comical styles to strict graphic design. From fantastic street art and Japanese Manga to simply spaced out fantasies. You will find flowers, fairytales, friendly monsters, dreaming creatures, secrets vaults and…
The room pictured was designed by Los Angeles artist Simone Legno, also known as tokidoki. Link -via Dump Trumpet
Gordon Freeman is the hero of Half-Life video game series. He’s smart and a pretty good shot, too. Everybody loves Gordon … but what about his brother John? Well, as it turns out, he’s pretty darned heroic too.
Behold, I present to you an EPIC reading of an EPIC fan-fiction, as written by then an 8-year-old Fanfiction.net user squirrelking. Here’s Half Life: Full Life Consequences.
A sample:
John Freeman was late so he had to drive really fast. A cop car was hiden near by so when John Freeman went by the cops came and wanted to give him a ticket. Here John Freeman saw the first monster because the cop was posessed and had headcrabs.
"I cant give you my lisense officer" John Freeman said
"Why not?" said the headcrab oficer back to John Freeman.
"Because you are headcrab zombie" so John Freeman shot the oficer in the head and drove off thinking "my brother is in trouble there" and went faster.
Links:
- squirrelking’s original fan-fiction
- YouTube Link above (narrated by blind51de), done with Garry’s Mod [Wiki | official website]
- The original animated version [YouTube], by AmazingTrout
Via Joystiq – Thanks moronic50!
When skiing or snowboarding just isn’t enough for you, check this out: extreme sledding.
ABC’s David Kerley went on a little "free sledding" adventure in Vermont, and lives to tell us about it!
Link [ABC World News Webcast] – Thanks Natalie!
Neatorama reader Arthur Metcalf sent us his cartoon "Badflavr.com," about LOLcats Kitteh, who likes to chat online, and her friend Puppeh, who likes to send her links. But what happens when Puppeh sends Kitteh a link to a certain infamous video clip?
Find out: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – Thanks Arthur, make more please!
Found at Lee’s things, where you should go to and leave a little comment love: Link
The panorama guy (that’s what I call him) Jeffrey Martin of 360cities made something so wonderful it’s literally out-of-this-world: a fully spherical, interactive view from inside the Victoria Crater in Mars, from photos taken by the Mars rover Opportunity.
Link [Flash 9/Quicktime]- Thanks Jeffrey!
The little humanoid of Mars is nowhere to be seen, though.
In 1912, contractor Arthur Weeden noticed that Lot 128 on Day Avenue in Toronto, Canada was marked as a laneway between neighboring homes, but the city never bothered to cut the curb. So he decided to use it … by building The Little House, the smallest house in Toronto!
Toronto’s Little House was built in 1912 by well-known contractor, Arthur Weeden. Mr. Weeden was born in England and migrated to Canada in 1902. For a short time, he was Superintendent of the old Lighthouse Mission and later became one of the pioneer builders in Toronto’s west end.
Located in what was known as the Earlscourt District, Day Avenue is home to many of Arthur’s building projects. During the street’s development, Lot 128 was conceived as a laneway for the neighbouring home. However, the curb was never cut by the City to allow vehicular passage from the street. Observing this, Arthur decided that “in order to use the land, I would build on it” (Weeden, Toronto Sun Telegram, 1939).
After completing the laneway house, he and his wife lived in it for 20 years. After his wife passed away, Mr. Weeden, 77 years of age at the time of the Sun Telegram article, lived in the house for 6 more years, during which time he tended to the vegetable garden in the rear of the house, growing tomatoes, cabbages, Swiss chard, rhubarb and some flowers.
At the time, a house on Sydenham street was said to be the smallest, but Weeden discredited this claim by noting, “it has a frontage a foot and a half longer [than his]”, and was not a complete house as it did not have electricity and other conveniences. The other disputed ‘smallest house’ is located at 383 Shuter Street, but it too is larger. Eight inches wider, to be exact.
Link – Thanks Contrariwise!
Stephen Bogoff, who called himself an "antiquarian horologist" has a neat website full of wonderful vintage pocket watches, wrist watches, clocks and bird boxes. I particularly like this Hiram Masonic antique pocket watch from 1935, which has Masonic symbols instead of numerals on the watch face. (What time is it? Time to TAKE OVER the world! Oh, wait, they already did.)
Link – Thanks joecoollv!
