Inspired by the soaring price of oil and the continued devaluation of the dollar, artist Brian Romero designed the bill for the increasingly-worthless dollar: the Zero Dollar Bill!
If you look at the bigger version, you’ll pick out some nice little details, like the signatures… Link – via Drawn!
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I know Kevin Cornell from The Superest, a fantastic illustrator’s one-upmanship he ran with Matthew Sutter (covered here and here previously on Neatorama).
Kevin has recently written a very neat post on his Bearskinrug blog about the actual implements used by professional illustrators – pencils, and pen and ink drawing tools. In the age of photoshop, it’s quite refreshing to find that some people still draw the good ol’ fashioned way!
Here’s what he wrote about quill pen:
Here is my Crow Quill pen — a sludge-slickened Speedball #102. Two hundred years ago this would have been just one giant feather with the end split to hold ink. Goose feathers were the most common, but if you wanted really fine lines, you used a crow feather. During the eighteenth century, when wearing wigs and signing Declarations and Constitutions was all in vogue, we killed off all the agreeable crows, the kind that didn’t mind just handing over all their feathers. This left us with only the angry kinds of crows, who steal our corn and hang out in murders. So today we manufacture our own pens. That’s the price of freedom.
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Brayden Simms wrote for The Miami Herald’s Heavy Thrifting, a column about saving money, when recently the newspaper decided to take a tip on saving money and laid him (and many other employees) off.
But what’s a little ironic is how The Miami Herald is actually paying him to blog … about how he’s been laid off by The Miami Herald!
Link (love this comment by Brayden’s mom!) | The No-Spend Zone blog – Thanks and good luck Brayden!
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Here’s a little cooking secret for ya: everything’s better with bacon. Everything. Including chocolate chip cookies!
Ooh, You Tasty Little Things blog has the recipe on how to make your own bacon chocolate chip cookies with maple cinnamon glaze. How to de-clog your arteries guide not included.
Sure, that was a good salad, but it would have been so much better with bacon. That was a delicious baked potato.. I wish it had some bacon on it. You know what was missing from breakfast this morning?- bacon. I think we’ve come up with so many foods which bacon can enhance, that we really were wondering what foods it wouldn’t. [...]
Then we started talking about what bacon has successfully been added to, and the thought of the maple bacon bar donut at Voodoo donut back home, and Vosages bacon chocolate bar made me wonder..
Could I make a cookie with bacon? How about a chocolate chip cookie?
My husband cringed. He asked me to make a small batch, just in case. He’s a big fan of standard chocolate chip cookies, so to see a whole batch go to waste if the bacon addition didn’t work, I think it might have made him cry.
But I had to do it. The bacon and chocolate chip cookie had to be made.
Link – Thanks Geekazoic!
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Li Ching Yun had an advice for living a long life: "Keep a quiet heart, sit like a tortoise, walk sprightly like a pigeon and sleep like a dog" – and apparently, he followed his own advice, because Li died at a ripe old age of 256!
Environmental Graffiti has the story:
By his own admission he was born in 1736 and had lived 197 years. However, in 1930 a professor and dean at Minkuo University by the name of Wu Chung-chien, found records “proving” that Li was born in 1677. Records allegedly showed that the Imperial Chinese Government congratulated him on his 150th and 200th Birthdays.
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"Now Showing" is an art exhibit at the Cosh Gallery in London where artists were given the task of creating their own interpretations of cult or classic film posters from the past. More than 40 creatives are displayed: Flickr photoset by keepsmesane of some of the posters | Official Website – via Booooooom!
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Neatorama reader Chet Gulland recommended this strange (and a little easy) little "Search Engine" spelling bee by Converse.
It’s a little experiment/viral ad using Google Adwords, where to get to the next round, you have to spell the word right in Google …
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Some people never learn! This thief, James Milsom, 21, was filmed breaking into an undercover police car for the third time in four months.
The police was familiar with his face, because before this latest heist, he was also caught on camera. Twice.
Turned out that both times he broke into undercover police cars! Link
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Meet the CO2 gas-powered toaster, the highest popping toaster in the world and apparently some sort of art project by Freddie Yauner: Link – Thanks SenorMysterioso!
Also, don’t miss: The Fastest Clock in the World (keeps time to a millionth of a second – for those who can’t afford an atomic clock)
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Photo: Eric Lafforgue
French photographer Eric Lafforgue took this photo of a Hagener, a Tjos warrior/tribesman from Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea. The Tjos people, who first saw a white man just 70 years ago, love to wear modern elements in their tribal piercings and make up.
(Eric told me that it’s an electrical disc, not a CD): Link | Flickr photoset | Also check out Eric’s book Papous [Amazon.fr] – Thanks Eric and Stane!
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This animation of a beating heart by the people at Hybrid Medical Animation really blew me away!
You can turn the "normal" opaque tissue into a refractory "glass" to see the inner workings of the valves and chambers. No blood flow yet, though the company promises that for future versions.
Link [Flash] – Thanks Josh Grundmeier!
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Meet Chris Coleson, a Richmond, Virginia, businessman who lost 86 pounds on the "McDonald’s Diet""
He said the idea was born out of his wife’s skepticism at his ability to lose weight.
"I told her I could lose weight eating anywhere," he said. "I told her I could do it eating at McDonald’s."
Determined to prove his point, Mr. Coleson started eating two meals a day at the Golden Arches (he doesn’t eat breakfast) and saved his receipts in a journal. He saved most of his salad containers, too. In another nod to the McDonald’s diet, Mr. Coleson changed his license plate from "OLDNFAT" to "MCFIT."
Link Updated Link – via Yumsugar
(Photo: Chris Coleson, in his "before" photo)
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I suck at golf, but here’s a version that even I can be good at: appliance golf. Reuter’s Oddly Enough blog explains:
You know, it’s a lot like regular golf, but players use sledgehammers instead of golf clubs, and they use washers, refrigerators and televisions instead of balls. [...]
Participants destroy appliances with sledgehammers during an anti-stress session or “Destruction Therapy” before fiestas in Castejon, Spain, June 21,
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According to a new book by Rabbi Benjamin Blech, a professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University in New York, and Vatican tour guide Roy Doliner, Michelangelo hid a secret code in the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel:
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which the renaissance artist worked on for four years in the early 16th century, is actually a "bridge" between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish faith, according to The Sistine Secrets: Unlocking the Codes in Michelangelo’s Defiant Masterpiece.
For example, the book states, the figures of David and Goliath form the shape of the letter gimel, which symbolises g’vurah, or strength, in the mystical Kabbalah tradition.
Link via The Weird Post
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This poster by Nicky Gibson can be downloaded here. I’d actually like to try my hand at sewing plush monsters. Can anyone recommend a good instructional book with patterns? (I have no sewing experience at all.)
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Gory entertainment from magicians Barry and Stuart.
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] -via Blame It On The Voices
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Matt Sutter of Inkfinger created this awesome set "Typewomen," entirely out of type!
Each Typewoman is created entirely with type (letters, punctuation, ligatures) in the typeface of their namesake and sit atop a pattern created with the same. No letterform has been skewed, stretched, flipped or any other bastardizing technique — just scaling at rotating. So the letters are pure as the driven snow!
They are available as print on Inkfinger’s store. Miss Baskerville is available from Neatorama’s own T-Shirt Store: Link
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Reprinted from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader: Fast-Acting Long-Lasting. There are scientific findings that expand our knowledge and make life better for mankind. These, however, aren't such findings, but they are darned interesting. Here are a few things that science has proven: E-mail Rots Your Brain
Findings: Sixty-two percent of the interviewees were "addicted" to checking e-mail and exchanging text messages, which they did not only at their desks, but also "during meetings, in the evenings, and on weekends." The scientists dubbed this phenomenon "infomania." Infomania takes a noticeable toll on productivity. "An average worker's functioning IQ falls 10 points when distracted by ringing telephones and incoming e-mails ... more than double the four-point drop seen in studies on the impact of smoking marijuana," the scientists concluded. A 10-point drop is the equivalent of trying to put in a full day of work after missing an entire night of sleep. Traffic Jams Can Kill YouStudy: Researchers with Germany's National Research Center for Environment and Health interviewed 691 people who'd suffered heart attacks between 1999 and 2001. The researchers asked them to describe all of their activities in the four days leading up to their heart attacks. The results of the study were published in the November 2004 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Findings: People who've been stuck in traffic in the past hour are nearly three times more likely to suffer a heart attack than people who haven't been stuck in traffic. Overall, nearly 1 in 12 heart attacks was linked in some way to traffic congestion. Men are at a greater risk than women, and people over age 60 are at a greater risk than those under 60. If you have to be stuck in traffic, you're actually better off in a car than you would be riding the bus, the subway, or a bicycle. Heart attacks were 2.6 times more likely for people stuck in a car, 3.1 times more likely for people on public transportation, and 3.9 times greater for bike riders. "Because the association was also observed for persons who used public transportation, it is unlikely that the effect is entirely attributable to stress linked with driving a car," researchers say. So is it the stress associated with being stuck in traffic that causes heart attacks, or is it the exhaust fumes - or some other factor? Who knows? "Given our current knowledge, it is impossible to determine the relative contribution of risk factors such as stress and traffic-related air pollution," the researchers say. Dudes Say "Dude" More Than Dudettes Do
Study: In 2004 University of Pittsburgh linguist-dude Scott Kiesling published a paper in the journal American Speech on the word "dude" and its many uses. Findings: Blame it on Spicoli, dude: Kiesling traces the current popularity of the word "dude" to the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High, featuring that Sean Penn dude. Men are more likely to use the word "dude" than women are. They're also more likely to use it with men than with women. When they do use it with women, the woman is usually just a friend; women with whom dudes are intimate are rarely if ever referred to as "dude." According to Kiesling, "dude" owes much of its popularity to the fact that it connotes "cool solidarity" - young men use it to express friendship or closeness, without being so close as to invite suspicion that they are gay. Dude! Crosswords and Sex Grow Brain Cells
Study: Conducted by Dr. Perry Bartlett of the University of Queensland's Brain Institute, in Australia. Findings: In April 2004, Dr. Bartlett announced that mental and physical exercise may delay the onset of brain disease such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's by creating and nurturing new brain cells to replace ones that have been lost. Brain cell creation and growth appear to be stimulated by a chemical called prolactin - and prolactin levels rise during mental and physical exertion. (They're also high when you're pregnant.) "Perhaps one should run a long distance or do crossword," Dr. Bartlett suggests. "Prolactin levels also go up during sex," he says, "so one could think of a number of more interesting activities than going jogging in order to regulate the production of nerve cells." Parents Favor Cute Kids Over Ugly OnesStudy: Researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada went to 14 different supermarkets and observed the interactions between 400 different parents and their children. They also ranked the "physical attractiveness" of each child on a scale of 1 to 10. Findings: When Mom did the shopping, 13.3% of the children judged "most attractive" were secured with the seat belt in the shopping cart seat; only 1.2% of the "ugliest" children were. With Dad the disparity was even greater: 12.5% of the "most attractive" children were belted in; none of the ugliest children were. Ugly children were allowed to wander away from their parents more of then than attractive kids, and were allowed to wander farther away than attractive children were. Good-looking boys were kept closer to their parents than pretty girls were, although the researchers concede that this may be because girls are perceived to be more mature and responsible than boys of the same age. What does all this mean? Scientists aren't sure. Some speculate that evolution may play a role: parents may unconsciously perceive attractive children as being genetically more valuable. But Emory University psychologist Dr. Frans de Waal disagrees. "If the number of offsprings are the same for ugly people and handsome people, there's absolutely no evolutionary reason for parents to invest less in ugly kids," he says. Dumb Blonde Jokes Slow Blondes DownStudy: German researchers at Bremen's International University asked 80 women with different hair colors to take intelligence tests, then monitored them carefully as they took the tests. Half of the women were told "dumb blonde" jokes before they took the test. (Jokes like: "Why do blondes open containers of yogurt while they're still in the supermarket? Because the lid says, 'Open here.'") Findings: No word on how well the blondes or anyone else did on the intelligence tests - that wasn't the point, and the university didn't release the results. But it did keep track of how quickly the women completed the tests: The blondes who were told dumb blonde jokes took longer to complete their tests than the blondes who weren't told jokes. Did the dumb blond jokes make blondes dumber? No, the researchers say: the jokes made them more self-conscious, which caused them to work more slowly and cautiously so they wouldn't make mistakes. "The study shows that even unfounded prejudices generally dismissed as untrue can affect an individual's confidence in their own ability," says Jens Foerster, one of the social psychologists who administered the study. Germans Prefer Money to Sex
Findings: 62% of Germans said cash, 26% said more free time, and only 6% said more sex. (That might explain why Germany has a declining birth rate.) |
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The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Fast-Acting Long Lasting Bathroom Reader. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!
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Comedian George Carlin has just passed away. Known for his acerbic wit and raunchy humor, Carlin was most famous for his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" routine, where he did actually say all 7 words, and for which he was actually arrested.
In honor of George Carlin, here are 10 quotes to remember him by:
"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where’s the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.
Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
“The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.”
Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don’t have time for all that.
And here’s George celebrating his 70th birthday in this HBO Special "It’s Bad For Ya":
[YouTube Link] (If you have to be warned about bad language, then you obviously don’t know anything about George Carlin)
George Carlin, RIP.
Update 6/24/08 – Teresa of PeopleJam told us that George Carlin’s daughter, Kelly Carlin-McCall, has a website where you can post your condolences and thoughtful sentiments – Thanks Teresa!
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Oh, Kentucky. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this video clip of Ernie "I try not to smile, ’cause I got my teeth knocked out by a chainsaw" Brown, Jr. AKA Turtle Man.
Here’s a clip of him in action, in a murky pond infested with snapping turtles. Link [embedded Youtube clip]
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Flickr user rong_yiren created this fantastic LEGO minifig of the next logical step for Indy: Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Old Folks Home!
Link – via Super Punch
More of rong_yiren’s work: Post Empire Stormtroopers
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BornRich blog has a neat list of the top 10 high-tech coffee tables for your home. This one above is the interactive LED coffee table, called The Wave, which senses where over the table you put your drink and lights up accordingly.
Link – via GeekAlerts
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Got
a neat story? Share it with the world by writing your very own Neatorama
blog post with the Upcoming
Queue. Who knows, you might just win something ... 
Study:
In 2004 scientists at the King's College, London University were commissioned
by Hewlett-Packard to see what toll compulsive e-mail checking and Internet
chatting have on a worker's "functioning IQ." Eighty volunteers
participated in clinical trials and another 1,100 people were interviewed
for the study.
Study:
In December 2004, the German edition of Playboy magazine commissioned
a poll of 1,000 Germans. The pollsters asked participants if they were
given a choice between more free time, more money, and more sex, which
one they would choose.
