Whew! What a week this has been! We started it out by watching hurricane Sandy move in and batter New York, New Jersey, and other heavily-populated coastal states. Those folks were left with broken and burned homes, flooded subways, power outages, and even worse, some who did not survive. Almost a week later, they are still in dire need of help because of disrupted transportation, making relief efforts all the more difficult. To donate or volunteer, see this list of websites for information.
Then there was all the gloriously fun stuff that circulates on the internet just before Halloween, plus the beginning of November, which brings us Christmas advertising, men growing mustaches, and the last big presidential campaign push before Election Day on Tuesday. We may be tired of the politicking, but when the time comes, I hope everyone goes to the polls to participate. Meanwhile, we had what may be a record number of original features here at Neatorama.
Zeon Santos brought us some Halloween fun with A Worldwide Celebration Of Halloween and An Old Fashioned Halloween. With plenty of wonderful pictures! Also, our Halloween blog is still being updated with reports of amazing costumes from this year, so we can have a complete archive of Halloween 2012.
David Israel treated us to Now That’s Rocket Science: An Interview with JPL’s Erisa Hines.
Jill Harness contributed the post 7 Abandoned Amusement Parks.
John Farrier gave us 10 Beautiful Tattoos Inspired by Watership Down. Literary ink, indeed!
Eddie Deezen helped answer some of life's burning questions in the posts What is the "7" in 7UP? and Why Do They Put Umbrellas in Your Drink?
There Once was a Man Who was a Dwarf and Later a Giant was a guest post from the blog Today I Found Out. We look forward to more guest articles from them!
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader gave us The Curse of the Werewolf.
Dracula’s Pellagra and Lois Lane’s Lungs: Further Gleanings From the Medical Literature came from the Annals of Improbable Research.
And mental_floss magazine brought us 10 Moms Who Went the Extra Mile.
In the What Is It? game this week, the object in question is a machine for making rope from binder twine or other cord. You can see a video of it being used at the What Is It? blog. The first commenter who knew that was Craig Clayton, who wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! The funniest answer came from Alan...yes THAT Alan, who said "After 4 years, the professor built this to keep Gilligan entertained. It doesn't do much, but it kept Gilligan occupied while the rest of the castaways simply fixed the hole in the boat." This intriguing idea deserves a t-shirt, too! Thanks to everyone who played this week, and thanks to the What Is It blog, too!
The most-commented-on post was Potential Employer Critiques Applicant's Cover Letter. That was followed by Area Code, Bambi Chairs, and Is It Time to Ban Gangnam Style? (so far, ya'll say yes).
Tonight: remember to set your clocks back, because Daylight Saving Time ends at 2AM Sunday in the US.
Looking ahead to next week, we'll be giving away a whole bunch of the newest edition of Uncle John's Bathroom Readers, and if you are a registered American voter, don't miss your opportunity to go to the polls and cast your ballot!