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Scented candles — if you’re a married man, get used to the accursed things.
Or try an alternative. Manterns: scented candles for men. With soothing aromas like “Bacon cheeseburger” and “Sawdust”, who could resist?
Commentors: what scents would you like to have wafting through your house?
Using a wiki program, the Bible is being translated into LOLCat. Here’s the first few verses from Genesis 1:
1 Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.
2 Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz.
3 At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz.
4 An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin.
5 An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1
Very good stuff. Of course, you’ve never really experienced the Bible until you’ve read it in the original Klingon.
You’re familiar with the spork, sure, or “foon” if you will, but how about the Knork?
Yep.
photo from knork.net
Check out a review of the knork and other utensil hybrids at the Washington Post, link via slashfood.
We all have them and this one is a good example. Clever morning radio commercial.
Bad Day – video powered by Metacafe
The Greek gods Hermes and Aphrodite had a child named Hermaphroditus. You can pretty much gather where the story leads from that alone. The legend of Hermaphroditus doesn’t quite explain why some people are born intersexual, but it’s an interesting tale. Link
Due to its large size, smooth surface, high surface reflectivity when covered with shallow water, and minimal elevation deviation, Salar de Uyuni makes an ideal target for the testing and calibration of remote sensing instruments on orbiting satellites used to study the Earth.
The salt flat contains an estimated ten billion tons of salt, in a layer ten feet thick. See more pictures and videos at Fogonazos. Link -via Reddit
The Famous One Log House is a one-bedroom house hollowed out from a single log that came from a 2,100-year old redwood tree:
After felling this 13 foot diameter forest giant, Art Schmock and a helper needed 8 months of hard labor to hollow out the log into a room 7 ft. high and 32 ft. long, weighing about 42 tons.
Link – via Crazytopics
Wow – this is such a blast from the past! You can play the top 100 greatest classic 8-bit Nintendo games straight from your browser (game runs as Java app)
I had (too much) fun re-living Tetris again: Link – via Look at This
That, my friend, is a fine example of redneck art. Behold the Assquatch, or the delicate art of shaping a deer’s butt into a face of the monster.
Masterry of the art is attained, apparently, when you can shape the anus into lips: Link Assquatch blog – via YesButNoButYes
We’ve all thought of going on a quest – you know a real adventure – one day. Well, this is one guy’s quest to be an arcade champion. He’s going to play all 4,000 arcade games listed in the Twin Galaxies’ Official Video Game and Pinball Book of World Records.
So far, he’s up to Astro Blaster and has a loooong way to go!
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We’ve featured master LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya many times on Neatorama before, but we’ve never seen his building process.
Until now, in this clip, Sawaya built a bust of Master Chief from the popular video game series Halo. He said that it was his most-requested object these days.
Gizmodo has the video clip: Link [embedded YouTube, the fun starts about 1:20 into it] – Thanks Justin!
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The article above, written by Stacy Conradt and Hank Green, appeared in Scatterbrained section of the Mar – Apr 2008 issue of mental_floss magazine (the excellent "The Future of Sex" issue!). It is reprinted here with permission. Don’t forget to feed your brain by subscribing to the magazine and visiting mental_floss‘ extremely entertaining website and blog today!
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I know, I know, the song is an infectious earwig and you’re going to spend the rest of the day cursing me for even bringing it into your realm of thought. But bear with me.
The ride is currently under major renovations at Disneyland, and while I admit it’s not one of my favorite rides, I was disappointed that my sister-in-law didn’t get to experience it on her first-ever Disney trip last month. And now, she may never get to experience the original World’s Fair version that has resided in Fantasyland for the past 40 years.
Disney says that the main change is a change of boats, but according to insiders in the know, it’s actually going to be much more. We’ll get to that in a second.
The original IASW is based on the idea of world peace. No, really. Walt Disney attended a conference held by President Eisenhower in 1956 about promoting world peace and cultural understanding through world travel. Inspired, Disney recruited Mary Blair to design the attraction, Marc and Alice Davis to design the scenes and the doll outfits respectively, and Joyce Carlson to design the dolls. At first, the ride included the national anthems of all of the different nations represented, but Disney decided he needed one uniting song. Robert and Richard Sherman wrote the now-famous tune and that was that.
photo from feministJulie on Flickr
A couple of quick facts:
• The attraction debuted at the 1964-65 World’s Fair in New York.
• Major themes of the boat ride include Europe, Asia, Africa, Central/South America, South Pacific Islands, the Finale and the Good-bye Scene.
• Throughout your 10.5 minute boat ride, you’ll hear the repetitive song in Spanish, French, and Japanese, to name a few.
And now the changes: The changes are going to see the rainforest scene – a really detailed, colorful and innovative representation of Mary Blair’s artwork – replaced with a massive “Hooray for the U.S.A.” scene. Right now, the only American characters represented are a cowboy and an Eskimo. This might seem like the U.S. isn’t very well represented, but when you consider that the point of the ride is to explore other cultures, it makes sense.
Another big change is that Disney is going to stick its characters in scenes where they “belong”. So you might see the Hunchback of Notre Dame in the France section, Simba and Rafiki in the African section and Ariel with the gurgling mermaids at the beginning of the ride (at Disneyland, not Disneyworld). Commercialism at its worst, I guess. I get that it’s Disney and its bread and butter is its characters, but the original IASW was not designed to sell Disney product. Walt himself commissioned it with the idea of promoting global understanding, not global marketing.
photo from Re-Imagineering
I guess I’m torn – I can understand the need to update and improve the ride, but maybe not to the lengths they are going. Can’t they up the America factor by adding a few more characters instead of destroying an entire classic scene? And what about subtly putting Disney character references into the ride instead of the actual characters themselves, which won’t match the dolls in the rest of the ride? For instance, make one of the French dolls wear the simplistic blue-and-white Belle dress and carry a book. Give one of the mermaids red hair. I think it can be done in a way that doesn’t rip the integrity of the original design away.
What do you guys think? Horrible updates, or is Small World long overdue for some modernization?
Residents of a French village are under orders not to die, because the cemetery is full!
In an ordinance posted in the council offices, Mayor Gerard Lalanne told the 260 residents of the village of Sarpourenx that “all persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the parish.”
It added: “Offenders will be severely punished.”
The manner of punishment was not specified. The order came after an administrative court ruled against the aquisition of private land to annex the existing parish cemetery. Link
Well, it’s kind of true! For more Bizarro, check out Dan Piraro’s website and blog.
We’ve come a long way in bridge building since crossing a river on a fallen log. The first bridges were built with wooden planks, ropes and stones. Soon, stronger material were required. Wood and stone bridges gave way to iron, then to steel ones. Bridge building techniques also evolved: beam, cantilevered, cable-stayed, and suspension bridges – each with advantages that made it the right choice for a particular location.
Political fortunes and wars have been made or lost by bridges. Throughout history, bridges had been built by engineers and burned by warriors, and crossed by kings and commoners alike. Millions of people owe their livelihood to bridges, as most require them to commute; and yet thousands of people choose to end their lives by jumping off them every year.
Bridges are stylish: from classical to modern, they are as much a work of art as they are marvels of engineering. To celebrate the wonders of "classic" bridges, here are Neatorama’s picks for the Top 10 Most Beautiful Bridges in the World:
Photo: twocentsworth [Flickr]
Khaju Bridge at night. Photo: Jovika [Flickr]
The Khaju Bridge (Pol-e-Khajoo) in Isfahan, Iran, was built in the 17th century by Shah Abbas II. The bridge also serves as a dam, with sluice gates under the archways. When the gates are closed, the water level behind the bridge is raised to irrigate gardens alongside the Zayandeh River.
The Khoju Bridge has two stories of arcades, marked by the distinctive intersecting arches decorated with richly colored tiles. At the center of the bridge, there are two large pavilions, called the Prince Parlors, that were originally reserved for the Shah.
Pont du Gard. Photo: zak mc [Flickr]
Pont du Gard, an aqueduct spanning the Gard River in southern France, is a masterpiece of Roman engineering. It wasn’t built to transport people (though there is a pedestrian footbridge on it) – instead, it was part of a complex aqueduct system that carried water over 30 miles (about 50 km) to the ancient Roman city of Nemausus (now Nîmes).
The Pont du Gard was built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (63 – 12 BC), the son-in-law of Caesar Augustus. The bridge’s stones, some of which weigh up to 6 tons, were cut perfectly to fit together without any mortar.
The wedge-shaped stones, known as voussoirs, were arranged in three levels, the top-most being the water conduit. So precise was the engineering that the entire system descends only 56 ft. (17 m) vertically – over 30 miles! – to deliver 5 million gallons (20,00 m3) of water to the city.
The Bridge of Sighs. Photo: Eugenia y Julian [Flickr]
In the 19th century, Lord Byron named a Venetian limestone bridge across the Rio di Palazzo connecting the Doge’s prison to the interrogation room in the main palace, the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri). Supposedly, the prisoners would sigh when they look out the window – with stone bars no less – to see their last view of beautiful Venice before their imprisonment, torture or execution.
In reality, Doge’s prison held mostly small-time criminals. Also, the bridge was built in 1600 by Antonio Contino, after the days of the inquisitions and summary executions. Legend has it that if lovers kissed on a gondola underneath the Bridge of Sighs at sunset, their love would last for eternity.
Iron Bridge. Photo: johnmuk [Flickr]
Iron bridge at night. Notice how the bridge and its reflection make a perfect circle.
Photo: Mark Haythorne [Flickr]
The Iron Bridge, spanning the Severn river in Shropshire, England, isn’t a particularly large or ornate bridge, but it does have something that made it unique: it’s the first bridge made completely out of cast iron.
In the 18th century, Shropshire was rich in iron and coal – indeed, there were more iron factories within two-mile radius of the town than any other city in the world. It was also there that iron was first smelt with coke. So it was only natural that the bridge would be made out of iron, a stronger alternative to wood. (Photo of the railing: zorro [Flickr])
Architect Thomas Farnolls Pritchard proposed a single arch bridge that would let boats pass underneath, but he died before the bridge was built. The construction of the Iron Bridge was carried out by a local master ironworker named Abraham Darby III. About 400 tons (363 tonnes) of cast iron was used, with about 800 separate castings. The Iron Bridge has 5 arch ribs, each cast in two halves. It only took three months to put the parts together (which they did using screws instead of bolts!).
The ease and speed of the Iron Bridge’s construction helped convince engineers of the versatility and strength of iron, and helped usher in the Industrial Revolution era. Darby, however, didn’t fare so well: he severely underestimated the cost to build the bridge, and remained in debt for the rest of his life. (Source)
The West Montrose Covered Bridge on the Grand River, Ontario, Canada. It’s known locally as the Kissing Bridge. Photo: gojumeister [Flickr]
Pisgah Covered Bridge in southern Randolph County, North Carolina. It was washed away by a flood in 2003, but rebuilt with 90% of the original wood. It’s now one of two historic covered bridges left in the state. Photo: jimmywayne22 [Flickr]
Thomas Malone Covered Bridge in Beaver Creek State Park, Ohio.
Photo: c0reyann [Flickr]
Covered bridges are simply that: bridges that have enclosed sides and roof. Though technically the Bridge of Sigh, Ponte Vecchio, and the Wind and Rain Bridges in this list are covered bridges, this term usually means simple, single-lane bridges in rural settings.
Before they are made famous by the 1995 Clint Eastwood film The Bridges of Madison County, "kissing bridges" or "tunnels of love" have been the pride and joy of many small towns across Europe and especially Northern America where more than ten thousands of such bridges were built.
In the 19th century, timber was plentiful and cheap (or, in many cases, free). So it’s natural that these bridges were made of wood. But why were they covered? Well, lovers aside, the real reason was much more practical: the wooden beams of the bridge lasted longer when protected from the elements.
Unfortunately, due to neglect, theft of lumber, vandalism, and fire, most covered bridges in the United States and Canada have disappeared.
Ponte Vecchio. Photo: G|o®g|O
Ponte Vecchio at night. Photo: MrUllmi [Flickr]
The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval bridge over the Arno River. Actually, it’s much more than a bridge – it’s a street, a marketplace, and a landmark of Florence, Italy.
The Ponte Vecchio that we know today was built in 1345 by Taddeo Gaddi after an older span was destroyed in a flood. To finance the bridge, lots along the roadway were rented out to merchants, especially butchers and tanners, to hawk their wares.
In 1565, Duke Cosimo I de Medici ordered an architect named Giorgio Vasari to construct a roofed passageway. Soon after, jewelers, goldsmiths, and merchants of luxury goods pushed out the butchers out of Ponte Vecchio. Centuries of haphazard additions gave the bridge’s distinctive, irregular appearance today.
During World War II, after having survived many floods, the bridge faced its gravest threat: German bombers were blowing up bridges in Florence. It was a direct order from Hitler that spared Ponte Vecchio from certain destruction.
It is said that the word "bankruptcy" came from Ponte Vecchio. When a merchant failed to pay his debt, the table ("banco") he used to sell his wares was broken ("rotto") by soldiers. Not having a table anymore ("bancorotto"), meant the seller was bankrupt.
Chengyang Bridge. Photo: mazakii that genius [Flickr]
The wind and rain bridges were a type of bridge built by the Dong people (a minority ethnic group) in China. Because they live in the lowlands and the valleys with many rivers, the Dong people are excellent bridge builders. They are called "wind and rain" bridges because the covered bridges not only let people cross the river, but also protect them from the elements.
The Dong people don’t use nails or rivets to build these bridges – instead, they dovetail all of the wood. The largest and most magnificent is the Chenyang Bridge, spanning the Linxi River near the Dong village of Maan. The bridge is about 100 years old, and like all wind and rain bridges, it was built without a single nail.
Brooklyn Bridge. Photo: Dennis Gerbeckx [Flickr]
Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise. Photo: LemonSunrise [Flickr]
In 1855, engineer John Roebling started to design a bridge that at the time would be the longest suspension bridge in the world, with towers being the tallest structures in the Western Hemisphere: the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
Today, the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the main crossings of the East River and one of the most heavily trafficked bridges in the world. But in the late 19th century, it took Roebling more than 14 years to convince the city to build the bridge.
After he got approval, Roebling was surveying a site when his foot was crushed by a ferry. Three weeks before the scheduled groundbreaking, he died of tetanus. His son, an engineer named Washington Roebling took over the project.
In 1872, while working on caissons to set the foundation for the towers, Washington fell ill with caisson disease (a decompression sickness commonly known as "the bends") that left him barely able to see, talk, or write. His wife, Emily Warren Roebling, rose to the occasion – she learned engineering on the fly and for nine years went to the job site to deliver her husband’s directions. Washington himself was said to watch the construction from his room through a binocular.
When the Brooklyn Bridge was opened, Emily was honored with the first ride over the bridge. She held a rooster, a symbol of victory, in her lap. Washington himself rarely visited the bridge till his death in 1926.
One interesting note about the Brooklyn Bridge: it stood fast while other bridges built around the same time had crumbled. Engineers credit Roebling for designing a bridge and truss system six times as strong as he thought it needed to be!
Tower Bridge at twilight. Photo: Diliff [wikipedia]
Tower Bridge at night. Photo: Andreas L [Flickr]
It’s funny to think about ancient traffic jams, but that was why the Tower Bridge in London, England was built. By the end of the 19th century, the development of the eastern part of London caused such a load on the London Bridge that the city decided to build a new bridge.
Construction of the Tower Bridge started in 1886, led by architect Sir Horace Jones and engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry. The design was a bascule (draw) bridge with two towers built on piers, so the bridge wouldn’t interefere with the port facilities nearby.
A year after construction was started, Jones died and his replacement, George D. Stevenson along with Barry decided to modify the design a little bit. Instead of the original brick facade design, the Tower Bridge had a more ornate Victorian Gothic style meant to harmonize it with the nearby Tower of London.
When the bridge opened in 1894, the public was aghast. H. Heathcote Statham, Fellow of the Royal Insitute of British Architect, wrote the familiar sentiment as thus: "The Tower Bridge … represents the vice of tawdriness and pretentiousness, and of falsification of the actual facts of the structure." (Source: Waddell, J., Bridge Engineering, Google Books)
But over time, people warmed up to the bridge. Indeed, the Tower Bridge grew to be one of London’s most recognizable landmarks. Even one of its loudest critics, architectural critic Eric de Maré conceded: the British people "have grown fond of the old fraud … and we must admit that it has carried on its task with admirable regularity and efficiency." (Source: Dupré, J., Bridges; 1997 Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers)
Golden Gate Bridge in HDR as the first big storm of the season hits San Francisco.
Photo: vgm8383 [Flickr]
Golden Gate Bridge at sunset. Photo: mischiru [Flickr]
Golden Gate Bridge at night. Photo: justinwyne [Flickr]
The Golden Gate Bridge is such an iconic symbol of San Francisco (and of suspension bridge in general) that it’s hard to imagine a time when it didn’t exist. But before it was built, most people thought it was an impossible task.
In 1916, the idea of a bridge to cross the Golden Gate, a narrow strait that separated San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Headlands, was conceived. Though it was almost immediately dismissed as the cost was estimated to be $100 million (astronomical for the time), a veteran bridge builder named Joseph Strauss lobbied for more than two decades to have it built.
The Golden Gate Bridge faced tough opposition: the Department of War thought it would interfere with ship traffic and the Southern Pacific Railroad opposed it as competition to its ferry service. At first, even the public didn’t like the bridge … because Strauss’ original design was deemed too ugly! But Strauss finally won, and after 22-years of drumming up support, the bridge was built. (Photo: SF Museum)
Strauss insisted that the project take worker’s safety seriously. It was the first major bridge project that used hard hats and a safety net. During the course of construction, 19 people were saved by the net to become members of the Halfway to Hell Club. (Source)
The color of the Golden Gate Bridge is actually not red – it’s an orange vermillion called International Orange. The color was chosen specifically because it complements the bridge’s natural surrounding yet enhances its visibility in the fog.
Construction took more than four years, at a cost of $27 million. The Golden Gate Bridge actually came in $1.3 million under budget (though 5 months late). For his work, Strauss got $1 million … and a lifetime bridge pass!
We’ll be the first to acknowledge that this list is far from complete. Modern beauties like the Millau Viaduct, the Erasmusbrug, or the Tsing Ma Bridge aren’t on it. (Well, we did say "classic" bridges …)
Nor is this the only "top 10 bridges" list on the Web. Though many of our picks are the same, there are enough differences between this list and others (like Frikoo’s 18 Stunning Bridges From Around the World, and Dark Roasted Blend’s World’s Most Interesting Bridges Part 1 and Part 2) that you should also check them out.
Finally, there are thousands of bridges in the world and hundreds of major bridges that are sources for local prides. If your town’s favorite span isn’t included here, please don’t get mad. Instead, let us know in the comment so interested readers can find them.
The day started like any other for Wang Jianxin, but it certainly ended extraordinarily. The 52-year-old construction worker was digging a ditch when without warning the wall caved in and burying him alive.
He would have certainly died if not for his hat, the power of positive thinking, and Buddhist meditation techniques:
The rim of his helmet had, by chance, trapped a tiny pocket of air around his face. Mr Wang knew that if he panicked and his breathing accelerated he might use up that little amount of oxygen before rescuers could reach him. He forced himself to be calm.
“I had my back to the wall and didn’t know it was falling until it was on top of me. It was suddenly dark and I realised what had happened and found that there was a small air pocket in front of me,” Mr Wang said. That was when the Buddhist turned to meditation to control his intake of oxygen. “I knew it would not last, so I made myself relax and concentrated on slowing down my breathing by meditation.” Above ground, workers were scrabbling through the earth to try to bring Mr Wang to the surface alive. Construction workers and a uniformed rescue team clawed away the earth with their hands until they found Mr Wang’s helmet.
It took two hours but finally they pulled out Mr Wang alive from the earth that could have been his muddy grave.
Doctors were astounded, saying that a person could normally not live longer than five minutes in a similar sealed space. One local doctor said: “It’s a miracle that he’s alive after being buried for two hours.”
Link – via Metafilter
Until 1973, the American Psychiatric Association defined homosexuality as a mental illness.
The APA listed homosexuality as a mental illness in their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II), a guide book that list different categories of mental disorders and criteria for diagnosing them. In 1973, they removed homosexuality and replaced it with "sexual orientation disturbance."
The present DSM-IV also does not list homosexuality as a mental disorder, but still has "Sexual Disorder Not Otherwise Specified" as a diagnosis for someone with "…persistent and marked distress about sexual orientation." (Source: Healthieryou.com, Photo: Bonkersinstitute.org)
Yay for Florida! The annual Daytona’s Bike Week in the Sunshine State came complete with … coleslaw wrestling!
The First-Ever Sopotnik’s Cabbage Patch Slaw Wrestling Tournament, held in Samsula on Wednesday before a crowd of 1,000 people displaying more than 5,000 tattoos, was not without its surprises.
Like when three contestants – all large, mean-looking women covered with equal parts coleslaw and sweat and a dab of blood here and there for effect – grabbed one of the judges, dragged him into the wrestling pit, ripped off his britches and waved his underwear in the air.
Here’s a neat report by the Orlando Sentinel: Link | Photo Gallery (Photo: Jacob Langston)
It’s like the one-legged chicken story we saw before on Neatorama, but this time it’s with a duck:
Lemon the duck was hatched two years ago in Laura Backman’s kindergarten class in Portsmough, Rhode Island. Sadly, it couldn’t walk because of a neurological disorder. But the kids have an idea:
Backman and her students brainstormed and came up with the idea for a little duck scooter.
You could say Lemon is one lucky duck. Not only did Backman adopt her, but the diapered duck lives in Backman’s home and comes to school with her every day.
Link – also via Arbroath, the most important websites of our time!
Scientists on a research trip in the North Pacific got a treat: they sighted a white killer whale!
Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist at NOAA’s National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, was able to photograph the whale’s white fin and back. “With hundreds of killer whales documented around the Aleutian Islands, this was equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack,” she said.
Captain Ahab not avaible for a comment: Link
So, think you can take on Yo Yo Ma, hotshot? Well, take this Cello Challenge from Berliner Philharmoniker and see how you stack up.
The Flash game is quite simple: it’s you vs. Camille Saint-Saëns (um, despite the first name, Camille is a guy, okay? How to pronounce his name is different matter entirely).
Take the bow with your mouse, and move it in rhythm of the music – if you do it wrong, you’ll hear it …
Link [Flash] – via MonkeyFilter
"Too bad the only people who know how to run the country are busy driving cabs and cutting hair."
– George Burns, comedian (1896-1996)
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250 BCE Lead, Lead Wine
Physician and toxicologist Philippus Paracelsus prescribes opium as a painkiller throughout Europe. Using his marketing genius, he also re-brands the drug under the more wholesome name "laudanum."
Is there anything radium can’t do? In the 1920s and early 1930s, companies tout it as a cure-all and put the radioactive element in toothpaste, ear plugs, soap, suppositories, and even contraceptives. 
Executive Robert Loibl decides to prove that his company’s pesticide, DDT, is completely harmless. 
