HOME |
RSS | 
These adorable brownie bites wear little Santa hats made of strawberries! You’ll find instructions for making your own at daisy’s world. Link -via Buzzfeed
This lovely sculpture by artist Tomoo Yamaji changes from a dragon to a ring of flowers without removing any parts. He presents it as a spiritual companion:
When we are threatened by evil, “it” will appear before us in the form of the dragon and prevent the evil with its fierce face and roar then bring peace to us. After that, “it” will transform into the form of the flower to continue quietly watching our peaceful life. However, we must remember that “it” will not always be on our side. Once we will be evil and bring the disaster, “it” will transform from flower into dragon and mercilessly attack us with its overwhelming power to prevent us.
Link (Google Translate) -via Super Punch | Photo: Henge
off
Misery Bear buys a “happiness machine” in hopes of relieving his misery. But you know that’s not going to happen. He gets a new friend, whose true nature you will recognize before Misery Bear does. A BBC Comedy production. -via The Daily What
off 
Stop playing with that brick! It’s not a toy, but a tool. Buses in Xian and Harbin, China come equipped with brightly painted bricks that can be used by passengers to smash open windows in the event of an emergency. But if you think about it, there are so many possible uses for emergency bricks elsewhere in everyday life.
Link -via OhGizmo! | Photo: Wagnerweb
off The moral of the story is: if you are going to sail off the coast of Wales on December 5th, you may want to change your name to Hugh Williams. But is this a true story? Any records from these incidences seem to be at least second-hand. I found a post at The Scuttlefish that may shed a bit of light on how “coincidental” the story really is. And be sure to check out the comment from Hugh Williams. Link
The following is an article from the newest volume of the Bathroom Reader series, Uncle John’s 24-Karat Bathroom Reader.
If you’ve ever visited the Hawaiian islands, you may already know that one of them, Niihau, west of Kauai, is off-limits to outsiders. Here’s the story of how that came to be, and what life on the island is like today.
In 1863 Eliza McHutchison Sinclair, the wealthy 63-year-old widow of a Scottish sea captain, set sail with her children and grandchildren from New Zealand for Vancouver Island off the southwest coast of Canada. There she hoped to buy a ranch large enough to support the dozen family members who were traveling with her, but after arriving in Canada, she decided the country was too rough for a ranch to be successful. Someone suggested she try her luck in the kingdom of Hawaii, 2,400 miles west of North America in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. On September 17, 1863, she and her family sailed into Honolulu harbor, and quickly became friends with King Kamehameha IV.
The Sinclairs toured the islands looking for suitable ranch property. They turned down an opportunity to buy much of what is now downtown Honolulu and Waikiki beach, and they passed on a chance to buy much of the land in and around Pearl Harbor. “After some months of looking,” Eliza’s daughter Anne recalled years later, “we gave up and decided to leave for California. When King Kamehameha heard of this he told us that if we would stay in Hawaii he would sell us a whole island.”
(Image credit: Polihale at en.wikipedia)
SALE PENDING
The island was Niihau (pronounced NEE-ee-HAH-oo), a 72-square-mile island 18 miles off the southwest coast of Kauai. Population: about three hundred natives. Anne’s brothers, Francis and James Sinclair, had a look and liked what they saw. They offered King Kamehameha $6,000 in gold; the King countered with $10,000 (about $1.5 million in today’s money). Sold! Kamehameha IV died before the sale could be completed, but his successor, King Kamehameha V, honored the deal. In 1864 the Sinclairs ponied up about 68 pounds of gold, and Niihau has been the family’s private property ever since.
CAVEAT EMPTOR
Eliza Sinclair
History (including Hawaiian history) is filled with examples of indigenous peoples being cheated out of their land by unscrupulous outsiders, but this may be a case where the natives pulled one over on the foreigners. When the Sinclair brothers first laid eyes on Niihau, the island was lush and green, seemingly the perfect place to set up a ranch. What Kamehameha apparently did not tell them was that the island was coming off of two years of unusually wet weather. Normally it was semi-arid, almost a desert. Niihau sits in the “rain shadow” of Kauai and receives just 25 inches of rain a year, compared to more than 450 inches on the wettest parts of Kauai. Droughts on Niihau are so severe that it was common for the Niihauans to abandon their island for years on end until the rains returned. If they didn’t leave, they starved.
Indeed, the only reason the island was available for sale—and the reason Kamehameha was so eager to unload it—was because it was so barren. After the Great Mahele (“division”) of 1848, when the monarchy made land available for purchase by native Hawaiians for the first time, the Niihauans had tried to buy the island themselves. They’d hoped to pay for it with crops and animals raised on the island, but the land wasn’t productive enough for them to do it, not even when the price of the land was just a few pennies an acre. They ended up having to lease the island from the King instead, at an even lower price. By the time the Sinclairs sailed into Honolulu harbor in September 1863, the Niihauans had fallen so far behind on even these meager payments that Kamehameha IV was ready to sell the island to someone else.
HEDGING HER BETS
The Sinclair/Robinson Family
After the sale went through, the Sinclairs built a large house on the west coast of Niihau and set up their ranch. But the dry weather returned, and it became evident that the operation might never be successful. Luckily, Eliza Sinclair still had plenty of gold left, and in the 1870s she bought 21,000 acres of land on Kauai that the family developed into a sugarcane plantation. It, too, remains in the family to this day. (In 1902 Eliza’s grandson bought the island of Lanai at a property auction, making the family sole owners of two of the eight inhabited Hawaiian Islands…but only for a time. They sold Lanai to the Hawaiian Pineapple Company—now part of Dole—in 1922.)
CHANGES, CHANGES, EVERYWHERE
When King Kamehameha V signed ownership of the island over to the Sinclairs, he told them, “Niihau is yours. But the day may come when Hawaiians are not as strong in Hawaii as they are now. When that day comes, please do what you can to help them.” The Sinclairs, it turned out, were more than just the owners of an island—they were also the rulers of the Hawaiians who lived on Niihau…at least those who chose to stay on the island after it changed hands. Having their land sold out from under them was a bitter blow to the Niihauans, and many moved off the island. By 1866 the native population of Niihau was half of what it had been in 1860.
Those Niihauans who moved away soon discovered that change was coming to all the islands, not just to Niihau. And few of the changes would be to their benefit. In 1887 a group of armed American and European landowners forced King Kalakaua to sign what has become known as the Bayonet Constitution, which stripped the king of much of his power and denied many native Hawaiians the right to vote. According to the new constitution, foreign-born landowners were allowed to vote, even if they weren’t Hawaiian citizens.
Kalakaua died in 1891, and his sister Liliuokalani became Queen. In 1893 she tried to replace the Bayonet Constitution with one that restored the power of the monarch, but her attempts had the opposite effect and she was overthrown in a coup organized by the foreign landowners. The Republic of Hawaii was declared in 1894, and in 1898 Hawaii was annexed by the United States.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH
more …
As a digital/3d artist it’s easy to think that everything you do sucks when compared to stuff like this-a boxing ring scene by Guang Yang who was voted Best 3d Artist of 2011 by the folks at CGSociety.
The superb detail, from facial scarring to the soles of the shoes, and the way the personality of each character is so perfectly captured in their facial expressions and posturing, it’s like Guang Yang has not only mastered 3d art but caricatures and life drawing as well. Check out the scene breakdown at the link below.
Who knew that Super Mario and the X Men could go together so well? Apparently artist Casey Edwards did because she’s the one who came up with these clever mash ups.
off Remember when Saturday morning cartoons were full of fantasy adventure? This throwback Skyrim cartoon by Harry Partridge reminds me of watching the Dungeons and Dragons animated series as a youngster, with eyes full of wonder and monster manual in hand.
–via Destructoid
off 
Kickstarter might be great for starting new projects, but I certainly support the idea of Kickstopper. Personally, I’d be happy to donate my support to stopping the new Akira movie.
Link Via The Mary Sue
Getting crafty to avoid punishment is what most kids do best, but I wonder if this list is really a new texting code used by the young folk, or a code used only by the kids who were caught up in this particular incident? Either way, I’ll never look at the number 8 the same way again.
If you’ve ever thought to yourself “Man, I would love to try my hand at painting, but paint is way too expensive” then guess what-your body is full of a fluid that works just as well but will cost you nothing!
I’m talking about blood, and although it may seem strange to paint with the stuff, it is definitely one of the less disgusting bodily fluids artists have decided to use in their works. Artist Vinicius Quesada knows the value of a pint of vital fluid, and you can see more of his sanguis works at the link below.
Rock stars aren’t generally known for their amazing acting skills, but that doesn’t stop television executives from working them into different cameo roles whenever possible. Mental Floss has a great article with some of the greatest (and most terrible) musician cameos ever made. My personal favorite was Michael Stipe in The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Any of you remember these episodes?
From the Rosetta Stone to a Charlie Chaplin film, not all amazing discoveries were actually intentional. Cracked has a great list of shocking discoveries that were complete accidents.
Great Scott! This Christmas get yourself this nifty Etch A Sketch Case for your iPad or iPad2.
The Etch A Sketch iPad Case ($39) looks just like your favorite childhood drawing toy, but it's actually made from impact-resistant plastic that will protect your iPad while making you look sharp and totally retro-chic.
Check it out: Link (Also available: Etch A Sketch iPhone 4 Cover)
off Oh Mike, you went from being one of the most intimidating people in the world to being a comedic icon. Here he is further softening his image by softly singing “The Girl From Ipanema.”
Via BuzzFeed
No matter how much you love or hate these celebrities, you never want to see them this close up, believe me.
Some of the images in this gallery will give you a good laugh, others are the stuff nightmares are made of (Iggy Pop). Check out the rest of the gallery at the link below. I didn’t realize that Zooey Deschanel is so fuzzy!
What image do you relate to each letter of the alphabet? Various artists were asked the very same question, so they illustrated each letter, and drew up a small scene relating to each letter, like this Beatle themed letter B by Michael Gillette.
Together, they make up the print series called “The Illustrated Alphabet, and you can see more examples from this great series at the link below.
off
German designer Elena Belmann turned the QR code rage into art with this clever three-dimensional sculpture made of blocks of wood. Link - via Get Addicted To
Grover Schrayer snapped this shot of tiny particles of wax floating away from a snuffed candle. At just the right angle, they displayed the visible spectrum. This was one of a set of close-up photos of extinguished candles.
Link and Flickr Set -via My Modern Met
off The Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa made this amazing life-size puppet. Three puppeteers control the beast in such a way that it looks, acts, and sounds just like a horse. It’s a wonder of both design and choreography.
-via The Presurfer | Troupe Website
Never
forget a face? Neither do wasps! Scientists have discovered that Polistes
fuscatus paper wasps can recognize and remember each other's faces
with amazing accuracy.
Study co-author Michael Sheehan explains why this may be important to wasps:
The unique, distinct faces of P. fuscatus wasps, as well as the wasps' ability to recognize and remember each others' faces, are likely tied to the insects' multicolony social structure, Sheehan added.
"They have multiple queens and they all want to reproduce—they all want to be the most dominant. So being able to recognize each other helps them understand who's already beaten who, who has higher ranking in the hierarchy, and this helps to keep the peace.
"When they aren't able to recognize each other, [as] we've shown before, there was more aggression."
redditor nem8 made the USS Xmas, affectionately known as the Gingerprise. There is an argument in the comment thread about whether the registry number is correct. This is why we Trekkies are awesome.
N.B. The joke “Bake it so!” is better used for a different ship, namely the Xmas-D.
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, The Piano Guys brought us Cello Wars. Steven Sharp Nelson plays several of the various themes from the Star Wars films on two cellos with light sabers. Then Darth Vader and Chewbacca dance. I think you’ll enjoy it. -Thanks, Will Findlay!
off 
This is the real reason people sleep with teddy bears. They don’t let you down, no matter what. This great image titled Sweet Halloween Dreams is by DeviantART member begemott. Link -via Buzzfeed
Would
you snort a plasma lamp to fight the common cold? Don't laugh - plasma
balls may be trippy to you but they're downright deadly to viruses.
According to scientists, cold plasma (basically a stream of ionized gas) can actually prevent viruses from replicating:
Dr Julia Zimmermann, from the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, found that when exposed to cold plasma for 240 seconds, almost all the viruses were inactivated – just one in a million viruses was able to replicate.
She said: "Cold plasmas are potentially a very effective agent for control of viral infections.
"There are hopes that cold plasmas can become an effective tool in hospital hygiene."
The researchers are already working on developing the technique to treat respiratory infections and have received approval to test the device in animal models.They believe that, in the long term, plasma could be inhaled directly into the lungs to treat viruses. Illnesses such as the common cold are difficult to treat and patients have to rely on their immune systems to fight off the infections.
off Stuffed and mounted animals sing “Back in the Day” by The Erratic Man. Besides the video, there’s a choir of singing animals that you can add your pet to! Link -Thanks, James!
This
crab has got a green thumb ... er, make that white , hairy claw.
Marine ecologist Andrew Thurber, who was studying a new species of yeti crab (named after the hair-like brisles on its claws) called Kiwa hirsuta discovered that the crustacean is also an avid gardener:
The bristles that cover the crab’s claws and body are coated in gardens of symbiotic bacteria, which derive energy from the inorganic gases of the seeps. The crab eats the bacteria, using comb-like mouthparts to harvest them from its bristles.
The bacteria in K. puravida gardens are closely related to species that live in other cold seeps and hot hydrothermal vents all over the world. “It looks like the bacteria may use the seeps as stepping stones, to create this global connected population that consumes the energy coming out of seeps and vents,” says Thurber.
Thurber thinks that K. puravida waves its claws to actively farm its bacterial gardens: movements stir up the water around the bacteria, ensuring that fresh supplies of oxygen and sulphide wash over them and helping them to grow. “This 'dance' is extraordinary and comical,” says Van Dover. “We've never seen this strategy before.”
Nature News has the story and the video clip: Link
off
Tired of the classics? Instantly rejuvenate boring fiction by adding feline. I mean, you've got to hand it to I Can Haz Cheezburger and Comediva - they know that LOL cats are like catnip to the Interwebbers in all of us.
Behold: Kitty Lit 101
Previously on Neatorama: Movies Recast with Cats
off 
Yoda Santa Hat – $11.95
Spock Santa Hat – $15.95
Are you overcome by the spirit of the holidays, but want celebrate in a way that remains true to your geeky self? You need a Santa Hat from the NeatoShop. Trekkies will love the Spock Santa Hat with embroidered Starfleet insignia. Star Wars fanatics, however, will be forced to choose Yoda.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Star Trek and Star Wars items.
off 
