Europe is undergoing an unusual heat wave, which led to the road buckling in Diestersteenweg, Belgium. Or was there something more sinister going on?

Here's the English translation of the news story, but the headline looks so much better in Dutch.
-via reddit

It's hard to tell little dogs are descended from wolves just by looking at them, but when they get mad and turn into a savage little barking beast their wolven ancestry comes shining through.

It must be hard for little dogs to keep the wolf inside them in check, because everywhere they go people want to pet them and gush over how cute they are.

However, their cuteness allows them to get away with a lot, including face-licking, jumping, barking, laying on the bed and pulling on the leash during a walk, because there's no curbing a little dog's enthusiasm!

See 12 Things Only Small Dog Owners Understand here

The question was, Married men of Reddit: what moment with your future wife made you think "Yup, I'm asking this girl to marry me."? The thread is full of love stories that show how consideration and self-sacrifice mean so much more than looks, money, or fun. Sully1102's story is touching.

Things were going really well, and I was saying to myself "If this keeps up, I think next summer I'll pop the question."

Then, my mother had a stroke. We were all sitting in the waiting area outside the ICU, because only 2 people were allowed in at a time. It was my now-wife's birthday, and a Wednesday, and she didn't hesitate to take the day off to sit with me and my family.

I went to visit my father at home, and she came with me. Her Italian instincts kicked it, and she brought a load of groceries and a lasagna with her.

My father was a mess at the hospital, and it fell on me and my siblings to speak with the doctors and make plans.

I would get home, and pour myself some bourbon. She made me dinner, and just sat with me while I silently sobbed.

It wasn't about how great we were when things were good, it was about how perfect she was when things were bad.

I bought the ring 2 months later.

Danger0clock had a short but meaningful story.

The day she took off work to help me go through a dumpster. I had accidentally thrown my keys in the trash while cleaning out my car.

Yeah, they found the keys, but it took a couple of hours. There are plenty of other stories in the thread, and also at Metafilter.

(Image credit: Jim Harper)

It's the story that has been told a billion times- cute (and typically blonde) princess is kidnapped by evil magic user who plans to use magic to destroy the princess for being "too good". In the end the princess is saved by the handsome prince and the evil magic user is banished or destroyed.

It's the most common premise in the world of animated fairy tale adaptations, and yet there are plenty of ways to play with this clichéd storyline.

For instance- focus on the wicked vixen instead of the boring power couple, and turn the whole thing into a death-themed cautionary tale.

(YouTube Link)

Cursed was created by Merel van den Broek & Nicole Derksen of Studio AFK, and even though it's short on dialog it's big on style and fairy tale flavor, with a killer punchline!

Stomach doesn't really know what it wants, but Tongue knows he is very suggestible. What Tongue wants is what Stomach will get, as long as we don't let Brain's logic interfere. Poor Brain, he's always getting overruled by dumber but more forceful organs. This is the latest comic from The Awkward Yeti.

Trained dogs start out following orders for the treats, but once they've had some experience busting out tricks and scoring treats they look like they genuinely enjoy performing for their masters.

And when the tricks involve a pack of doggy pals who have been positively trained to perform in synchronization the show becomes a real treat for both performers and viewers alike.

(YouTube Link)

These canine performers were trained by Emily Larlham of Dogmatics, who trains using positive reinforcement and shares free in-depth training videos via her YouTube channel Kikopup:

Emily Larlham runs the dog training business Dogmantics Dog Training in San Diego, California. She is known around the world for her popular Youtube Channel ‘Kikopup’ where she has posted over 200 free in-depth dog training tutorials. She believes that by putting out free training tutorials that don’t involve any forms of physical or psychological intimidation, it will not only effect how people treat animals but also how people treat other human beings.  

-Via Laughing Squid

We have covered the Bechdel Test before; it's a simple way to tell if a movie had any women at all involved in the creative process.

1)  Does it have two or more women in it (who have names) ?

2)  Do they talk to one another?

3)  Do they talk to one another about something other than a man?

If not, we know that the woman or two are just there as accessories to the male roles. A list at TVOM looks at some blockbuster movies you may not have realized that fail the test. It just goes to show how well we've internalized the Hollywood gender imbalance.

It's not always a bad thing for a movie or TV series to leave us with a head full of questions, and it can be fun to speculate and answer these burning questions by imagining our own storylines that solve the mystery.

But many of these mysteries already have answers that were included in the show so subtly viewers may have missed it- like the mystery of why a film crew is following around Dunder-Mifflin employees:

Shortly before the events of The Office, a Dunder Mifflin employee committed suicide. This was revealed during the show's second season. In the episode "Performance Review," Michael Scott cleans out a suggestion box that's been gathering dust for years. In the box is a suggestion from a man named Tom that the office should provide better counseling for depressed workers. Michael doesn't know who that is, and so another character mimes blowing her brains out.

That's why the camera crew is there: A man killed himself, and the filmmakers wanted to document how his friends were dealing with it. The really sad part is that no one really seems to care. According to the writers, Ryan the temp was hired almost immediately after Tom's suicide, because death or no death, Dunder Mifflin is a business that cannot shut down, or even slow down, just because someone lost a battle with depression. Huh, you know, maybe The Office was more realistic than we gave it credit for.

Another enduring pop culture question that has an answer- why didn't the Good Witch tell Dorothy she could use the ruby slippers to return home if she supposedly knew the whole time?

That's because the book features two Good Witches- Glinda, the Good Witch of the South and Locasta Tattypoo, the Good Witch of the North met by Dorothy in Munchkin Country.

In the book Locasta tells Dorothy how to use the ruby slippers, since Glinda doesn't have a clue about the shoes, but in the movie the Good Witches were merged and an inconsistency was born.

See The Actual Answers To 6 Famously Unsolved Movie/TV Mysteries at Cracked (NSFW language)

Skull Pub by spike00

When your head is lacking skin and people scream and run away in fear at the mere sight of you your watering hole options begin to dry up. Which is why the Skull Pub was created as a safe space for the flesh impaired, serving skull heads only since 1989. At the Skull Pub our glasses are easy to drink out of even if you don't have lips, our dress code is casual and no dogs are allowed, so you leave with as many bones as you came in with!

Make people grin like the Reaper wherever you go with this Skull Pub t-shirt by Spike00, it's just as cool from far away as it is when you look at it up close and see the crazy cast of characters.

Visit spike00's Facebook fan page and Twitter, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more delightfully dark designs:

Madness wants you	Survivors KIT	Minimal Hogwarts	Black Lodge Dance Hall

View more designs by spike00 | More Funny T-Shirts | New T-Shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Most people run away from spiders, but Little Centaurs has a pet Phidippus adumbratus jumping spider. Is she cute and cuddly? Yes, if you can get beyond the fact that she's a spider.

(YouTube link)

Personality among Phidippus jumpers can vary a lot from one individual to the next, but the Adumbratus (adumbrati?) I found in Oxnard seem to all have a very calm disposition. I've noticed that one of the differences between wild and domesticated animals is whether the animal has an instinctual bite response to handling. There are certainly Phidippus that I've owned that could have been incited to bite under various conditions, but for this spider, I am not sure it would be possible to elicit a bite response outside of when she'll be guarding eggs. As this video illustrates, she does not seem to be bothered by much - even touching the dorsal side of the abdomen, which seems to be universally disliked by jumpers, just makes her lazily take a few steps in the other direction.

-via Tastefully Offensive

Comics and illustrations that hold a mirror up to society really appeal to me, partially because they can be an effective catalyst for change but mostly because they're so frank they make the people they're referencing uncomfortable.

It's also quite brilliant when a comic artist can actually pinpoint something stupid in our society that we can all agree is stupid- like the fact that money matters can kill a friendship.

Colombian illustrator Sako Asko draws up strange panels populated by ordinary people and object which reveal the absurd nature of life on Earth in an equally absurd manner.

See Honest Illustrations Of The Contradictory Nature Of People And Society By Sako Asko here

In 1985, snowboarding was still fairly new at ski slopes in the U.S. Ski slope operators hated it, and the people who did it. Watch a 1985 CBS news report on the phenomenon.

(YouTube link)

We can assume that eventually, the slope operators saw which way the wind was blowing -or more accurately, where the money was coming from. And the snowboarders grew up a little. -via Digg

(Say My Name by Raffiti)

Celebrities can't just check into a hotel under their real name unless they want to be mobbed. That's why so many famous people use aliases when they check in. The name they choose is rarely random though and it can often say a lot about who they are -or at least how they want people to see them. 

Some celebrities like to go a little silly with their names -for example, Brad Pitt likes to use the moniker "Bryce Pilaf"and Johnny Depp is a fan of "Mr. Drip Noodle, Mr. Oddpong and Mr. Stench." Justin Timberlake's go-to name is a bit more clever as he likes to use "Mr. Woodpond." Meanwhile, Kid Rock's name is a tribute to Batman as he goes by "Dick Grayson" -Robin's birthname.

You can read the fake names of more celebrities over at Travel and Leisure.

The following is an article from the book Uncle John's Weird, Weird World: EPIC.

Whether five-alarm or just smoke-alarm, there's nothing like a bowl of Texas chili to fill a belly up.

NO BEANS ABOUT IT

If you know beans about chili, allow us to tell you something really important: Texas chili has no beans. Not a one. Maybe in other states you’ll find a bean or two. But in Texas, chili is just a fiery molten stew made of beef, onions, tomatoes, spices, and lots and lots of chili peppers. Everybody has a special recipe, but no true Texan would add a legume to the mix.

CONSIDER THE SAUCE

Chili’s past is a little bit shady since nobody quite knows who invented it or when. Some say it was invented by cattle drivers and trail hands during long cattle drives. Others speculate that chili’s origins go much farther back in time to the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas. Still others give credit to Canary Islanders who started immigrating to the San Antonio region as early as 1723. They were known for concocting tasty dishes using local peppers, meat, onions, and most important of all, cumin.

Brandon Alinger takes Star Wars fandom more seriously than the average fanatic. He started building his own Star Wars props when he was 12, and at 17 talked his family into vacationing in Tunisia, where he got to see the Tatooine movie set. Alinger studied film in college, worked at the Prop Shop, and worked his way into Lucasfilm. All that time, he collected Star Wars props and memorabilia. Alinger found some internet fame in January when he appeared on Mark Hamill's Pop Culture Quest and reunited the actor with the original light saber prop he used in Return of the Jedi. Alinger gave an interview to explain his amazing journey to the apex of Star Wars prop collectors. Here's a sample:

Collectors Weekly: Why did Mark use Obi-Wan’s old lightsaber in the third movie instead of the original made from the Graflex flash gun?

Alinger: Luke had to use a different lightsaber because he lost the weapon when he lost his hand in “The Empire Strikes Back” fight with Vader. Howard Kazanjian had a lot of the production photos for “Jedi.” When we were researching the book, we found a contact sheet with photos from the very first day of filming “Jedi.” One image showed Mark Hamill on the sandstorm set—for a scene was cut from the movie—and he’s holding the lightsaber prop from “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back.” I don’t know exactly what happened. But it sure seems to me like someone brought out the old “Empire” lightsaber and then a decision was made right then and there that they needed a new prop because the “Empire” one fell into the Cloud City air shaft with Luke’s severed hand.

Read the rest of the interview at Collectors Weekly.

We celebrated the beginning of summer when school was out, then again over Memorial Day weekend, and now that the solstice has passed, it is really REALLY summer! You've been out of school three or four weeks now, and what have you crossed off your bucket list? About three weeks of video games, that's what. You might get around to going to the beach next month, and maybe camping in August, and you might remember that novel come September. Also, the color of your room will be okay until next summer. This is the latest comic from Alex Culang and and Raynato Castro at Buttersafe.  

Ever heard of “biological radio communications”? That's the term Soviet scientist Bernard Bernardovich Kazhinskiy used for what we call telepathy. He studied the famed animal trainer and circus performer Vladimir L. Durov, who had an uncanny ability to communicate with dogs. Durov claimed to send thoughts to the dogs from his own mind.

Over the course of about two years, Durov and Kazhinskiy would conduct close to 1,300 experiments testing telepathic commands on dogs. This line of research would come to have more importance than most investigations of psychic phenomena: In the decades that followed, it would lead into a Cold War battle to obtain unconventional weapons, during which both sides tried to enhance military parapsychological capabilities and, most famously, America experimented with “men who stared at goats” in order to try to stop their hearts. As Kazhinskiy noted in his 1962 report on his work, the U.S. would eventually become quite interested in telepathy, but “it appears that the main reason… is that the results might be of great military significance.”

An article at Atlas Obscura tells about Kazhinskiy's research on Durov's animal telepathy. Although any dog owner will tell you that dogs are much better at reading minds than humans are at sending telepathic signals.    

This Bengal cat is aptly named Loki, because he's both clever and mischievous. He likes to play hide and seek. This video captures Loki's favorite hiding place -in the dresser!

(YouTube link)

Once he shuts the drawer, you'd never think to look for him there! Unless he purrs with satisfaction, of course. Loki's owner, josht1212, says they closed this room off to him after the video was made, because they're not sure if he can get out of the drawer on his own. I bet he could. -via Laughing Squid

Bobby Hill may not be the most physically attractive, physically fit or physically capable kid in Arlen, and he ain't exactly a smartypants neither. But there is no wiser or more tuned in kid than Bobby Hill, Texas's answer to the Dalai Lama.

Okay, that may be overstating it a bit, Bobby's more like Buddha, Pooh Bear and Curly from the Three Stooges all rolled into one lovable cartoon character.

And yet Bobby Hill seems so real, like someone we've all known and cheered for as they take on the world, unafraid to be an adorable oddball in a world full of bullies.

See 20 Bobby Hill Moments That Hit A Little Too Close To Home here

Gallifreytor Action by markwelser

The Doctor had found himself stuck in some rather ridiculous situations on many occasions, but when he awakened in a dimension that looked a lot like an old video game he knew life was about to imitate digital art. It seems the silly person he was pursuing adored old video games, and yet he felt sure the Doctor wouldn't know a thing about these archaic games. But he misjudged the Doctor, as fiendish yet foolish foes often do, and he overlooked the fact that the Time Lord had all the time in the universe on his hands- and had no idea his Tardis is full of arcade cabinets and video game consoles....

Add some cool retro style to your geeky wardrobe with this Gallifreytor Action t-shirt by Markwelser, and you'll be making Whovians and old school gamers smile wherever you go!

Visit markwelser's NeatoShop for more fantastically geeky designs:

The Nightman Cometh	Batros	A Bootful of Snakes	Blind Guardian

View more designs by markwelser | More Sci-Fi T-Shirts | New T-Shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Britain is undergoing a heat wave, with temperatures in the 90s. Joey Barge of Buckinghamshire, UK, couldn't take the heat at work anymore and wore a pair of shorts to his call center job. Management, citing the dress code, sent him home to change. Barge returned in a mini-dress, which is compliant with the code. Seeing what Barge did, management decided to allow men to wear shorts during the hot weather. Yet he stayed in the dress for the day.   

Partial win? pic.twitter.com/SKh1WcbcR4

— joey (@jBarge_) June 19, 2017

Read the whole story at Mashable. For men wanting some air circulation during the heat, a commenter suggested the unisex fashions of Skirtcraft. They are expensive, but not nearly as expensive as Utilikilts. -via Boing Boing

Humans are always worrying about monster attacks and preemptively hunting down monsters so they don't attack, but have you ever wondered what monsters think about this whole messy business?

They think what we all know- humans are the real monsters, since they kill creatures of the night over and over again just because they remind humans of themselves.

So to all the human monster hunters out there I implore you- do like the folks from Pickled Comics suggest and put monsters to work as CPAs instead of destroying them- you can count on monsters!

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

Wouldn't it be great if you could walk around and feel just as warm and cozy as if you were wrapped in a blanket? And then you could stop and take a nap anytime? That's the idea behind the Selk'bag. It's a wearable sleeping bag you can walk in! Move over, Snuggie, this is a game-changer. Picture this: you're camping, it's a bit cold outside the tent, but you left your alarm clock in the car. Not a problem when you're wearing a Selk'bag. Even if you never go camping, you'll love the feel of staying warm around the house. What could be better? Well, maybe if the sleeping bag made you into a Star Wars character…

Which they do! Selk'bags offers officially-licensed wearable sleeping bags that will transform you into Chewbacca, Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper, or a Rebel Pilot!

They're available in kid's sizes, too -perfect for a slumber party. Or for wearing on long trips in the car, when you would really like your kids to sleep, but need them to be ready for anything.

Check out the selection of Selk'bags available now. And all the Star Wars Selk'bags will be 30% off from July 1 to the 23rd in celebration of Comic-Con!

Nature documentaries are tame and soothing to watch when narrated by Sir David Attenborough, but when Snoop Dogg narrates a nature doc the whole thing goes wizzild!

In this installment of Plizzanet Earth with Snoop Dogg from Jimmy Kimmel Live Snoop provides narration for that classic clip featuring an iguana running from a bunch of snakes. It's high-larious! (NSFW-ish language)

(YouTube Link)

-Via Esquire

The Kennel Club in London holds an annual photography competition that puts man's best friend front and center. Winners have been selected in ten categories.

Maria Davison from Portugal has been selected as the overall winner of the competition with an image of an adorable puppy resting his head, which was placed first in the ‘Man’s Best Friend’ category. Maria began taking photos of her dogs and other pets three years ago.

After finding out she had won the world’s largest canine photography competition, Maria said: “This image was already close to my heart and it is one of the photographs I am most proud of. It was not only a beautiful, real and candid moment I got to capture, but also a demonstration of the strong bond between one of my closest friends and her dog, Yzma. Winning not only the Man’s Best Friend category, but also the overall winner prize with this picture feels really good.”

Winners in the various categories come from all over the world. You can see the photos that topped each category here, and don't neglect to click through the "special mentions." -via Digg

(Image credit: Maria Davison Ramos)

Nintendo doesn't just make games and consoles that change our video game lovin' lives- they make consoles that are built to last a lifetime, and it's not uncommon to hear about gamers who own NES consoles that still work.

And now with the release of the Switch they've changed the world of gaming once again, giving us the hybrid console of the future we didn't know we needed.

Along the way there were some misses like the Nintendo GameCube, later improved by the Panasonic Q, which was basically a GameCube with remote that can play DVDs.

The Q was only released in Japan and was a commercial flop, so Nintendo discontinued it two years after it was released.

There is still one thing I've always wondered about the NES and the original Japanese version the Famicom- why didn't the NES have cool controller holders like the Famicom?

See The Evolution Of Nintendo Consoles at GameSpot

Actors know that pulling off a role as the opposite sex will really impress the audience. As far as appearances go, it's pretty easy with proper hair and makeup -and sometimes a good shave. That just goes to show that there are more differences in appearance among men and women than between men and women. But acting the part when you don't have the experience of being the opposite sex shows some real acting chops. I've tried voice acting as a man and couldn't get rid of the feminine accent. But these actors did it, and did it better than we expected at the time. See a gallery of 13 opposite sex roles at TVOM. 

Saving the World by DC Visual Arts

The 1990s are back in a big way, but did they ever really go anywhere? It's not like we stopped liking all the rad stuff we liked back in the 90s, so maybe we should call it a resurfacing rather than a revival.

Either way, if you're a fan of all things 1990s then you're going to love the NeatoShop, because we have so many 90s themed t-shirt designs it's bananas!

The 1990s introduced us to some great friends, like that crazy cat and dog dude who live next door

Ren Yang by Droidloot

This great group of toons who gave us

Nineties Friends by Mitch Ludwig

And, of course, the mellowest dude of them all- Lebowski!

The Pin Lebowski by Vincent Trinidad

Remember the guy that turned his kids' Little Tykes Cozy Coupes into Mad Max-style vehicles? It turns out he works in the film industry. Ian Pfaff took his daughter Junior and his infant son Benji out to the desert and let them loose. A few specials effects later, they've recreated the apocalyptic world of the car chase movie Mad Max: Fury Road.

(YouTube link)

Just like the movie, this is short on dialogue and heavy on mayhem. Uh-oh! -via Digg

Bureaucracy is a nightmare and it's not uncommon for stupid laws to become enacted even when they aren't ever actually enforced -or even can't be enforced legally. TopTenz recenly rounded up ten absolutely absurd laws (most of which are in the US) and you won't believe some of them. For example, in Utah, patrons can't see someone make their drinks because poor children might somehow be corrupted by witnessing someone make a martini, but not watching someone drink it. In 13 states, athiests can't run for office -except, they can according to the Supreme Court so none of these laws are valid.

So check out the full list of ten laws you won't believe are real over on TopTenz.