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Rockboard’s Descender board is equipped with treads wrapped around heavy rollers. It’s built to go over terrain completely impassible for normal skateboards. Would you enjoy riding it?
Does it play well? Does it matter? Draco, a custom guitar by Emerald Guitars, has a dragon in the body, another on the headstock and three little ones for tuning buttons. You can view a slideshow of it at the link.
Witchcraft! Burn the witch! YouTube user WorldScott does unnatural things with lasers. Watch the damning video at the link.
Video Link -via Geekologie
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It’s so adorable that I don’t think I could bring myself to eat it! After many attempts, Donna Currie has perfected her technique for bunny bread. It’s a complex task, but she provides helpful instructions at the link.
Link -via Tasteologie
Surprisingly, alcohol was involved:
After the three intoxicated twenty year olds went to a car wash with a shopping buggy about midnight last night, Abbotsford police posted a tweet warning that pressure washing yourself will not increase “intelligence or sobriety.”
The trio had stripped down – loaded themselves into the cart – and selected either “typhoon” or “super typhoon” and tried to wash themselves and the buggy.
The Abbotsford police were alerted when neighbours heard screaming.
The men made it through okay, although police had a few choice words for them.
Link -via Dave Barry | Photo (unrelated) via Flickr user Fortyseven
Harry, a crab who lives at LEGOLAND (it’s apparently spelled in all capital letters) in Windsor, Berkshire, UK, decided to see what all the fuss was about. He found a shell crafted from LEGO blocks and slipped right in.
Link (warning: auto-sound) -via Technabob
This is the Elephant Building in Bangkok. Is it ugly or an acquired taste?
Yeah, I agree: ugly.
The Daily Telegraph rounded up pictures of twenty-one hideous buildings around the world. What’s the ugliest building that you’ve ever seen?
Link -via Joe Carter | Photo: xophe_g
You know that trope you see on TV and movies all the time, where a woman takes off her glasses and suddenly becomes stunning? That doesn’t really happen, does it? A group of people tried it out. See the results at Magical Deductions. Link -via Metafilter
I want one.
I don’t have a laundry chute, but I would like to have a porthole somewhere. Maybe I could cut one into the fabric of my cubicle?
Allee Willis loves them. Over the years, she’s bought several vintage portholes and installed them around her house.
Link -via Claire Long | Photo: Maryanne Bilham
As I watched this video, I was particularly impressed by the bus driver’s skill. He observed an incident from the rear and promptly, but safely, maneuvered his massive vehicle in a completely effective way.
The two drivers, Richard Gubish, Jr. and Judson Smull, have been given the official thanks of the city for preventing this criminal from escaping justice.
This glass skeleton is not only a visual treat, thanks to the glowing Krypton gas flowing through the “bones”, it’s also a feat of sculptural engineering, since it was made in ten different sections that had to be interconnected in what must have been a rather tedious process. Created by sculptor Eric Franklin, Embodiment is the culmination of over 1,000 hours of work and stands 78 inches tall.
Here’s a bit from Eric on how it was made:
Every glass seal has to be perfect, and this piece contains hundreds. Everywhere one tube joins another, or a tube terminates, glass tubes were sealed together. They have to be perfect in order to preserve the luminosity of the krypton. If one rogue molecule gets inside the void of the glass tubing it can eventually contaminate the gas and it will no longer glow.
There are times when the holes in the seals are so small that you cannot actually see them with your eyes without the help of a leak detector. Once the glass pieces are ready to get filled with gas, I pull a high vacuum while the glass is hot in order to evacuate any dust or water vapor from the interior surface until there are literally no molecules inside the void of the glass.Then the krypton can be introduced and the glass sealed off. It’s an extremely tedious process, one I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with.
I guess making this awesome work of art wasn’t a real gas, I just hope Eric is noble enough to accept the praises that are sure to flow his way!
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DC Comics Superhero 4-Piece Collector Glass Set - $17.95
Are you a man of simple taste looking to wow your friends with your eclectic sense of style? You need the DC Comics Superhero 4-Piece Collector Glass Set from the NeatoShop. This iconic set includes:
Glassware like this is the stuff of legends.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more amazing Glassware & Drinkware!
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Take that works of art! These deconstructed pieces are brought to you by Valerie Hagerty, who demonstrates that old glam rock adage “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”, with art that appears to be falling to pieces right before your eyes.
Her deliberate deconstruction makes you further appreciate the work that went into each piece before they came under the knife, or gun or blowtorch, and I imagine this type of artwork will be all the rage after the apocalypse.
Now when your tripped out friend says “the paintings are melting”, your sober mind can confirm this fact and help him avoid having a bad trip. Check out more of Valerie’s works at the links below, before they fall to the floor in a pile of pigment and rotten canvas.
Link –via Beautiful/Decay
Chinese artist Kefeng Zhu and his team of artists use heavy metal as their medium, and the results are pretty darn neat. His unofficial Transformers theme park is called Mr. Iron Robot, and it’s a big hit with kids from throughout the Zhejiang Province and beyond.
It took Kefeng and his team over 10 years to complete the sculptures, and the opening of the park on March 20, 2012 represents the culmination of a lifelong dream for Kefeng, and a new tourist destination for China.
The park houses 600 metal sculptures, which are made entirely of recycled scrap metal and various junked car parts, and they all look so cool that someone should create an animated series based around these guys, something like The Adventures Of Mr. Iron Robot Saving The World.
Link –via DesignTAXI
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You know the US presidential election season has really started when Mattel launches their Presidential Barbie line. This year’s models come wearing a pink power suit designed by Chris Benz and somewhat sensible wedge shoes, although Barbie’s feet are still made for high heels. Link -via Buzzfeed
Have you had your portrait taken with the Easter Bunny yet? After seeing these pictures of the many ways it could go wrong, you might want to rethink your plans. Link -via the Presurfer
The old “Do Not Enter” sign just didn’t do the trick. You have to wonder how many problems they had before deciding to post a sign to spell it out for everyone. Then again, if people using GPS don’t read signs, will this help at all? Link
A few years ago, we brought you a story of twins born to mixed-race parents, who looked alike except for widely different skin tone. Now Kian and Remee are seven years old, and the two girls still look very much alike, except for the colors of their eyes, hair, and skin. Their mother Kylee remembers the day they were born:
‘I noticed that both of them had beautiful blue eyes,’ she said.
‘But while Remee’s hair was blonde, Kian’s was black and she had darker skin. To me, they were my kids and they were just normal. I thought they would start to look the same as time went on.’
Time, however, only accentuated their differences. Kian’s eyes changed colour and her skin got darker. Remee’s complexion got lighter and her curly hair stayed blonde. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kylee found herself fielding questions about whose children they were, or who Kian’s fair-haired friend was, when she pushed them in their side-by-side buggy.
‘People would ask me why I dressed the children the same,’ Kylee said. ‘I’d just say: “because they’re twins,” and leave people to work it out. It kind of irritated me at first, but everyone in my area got to know they were twins and accepted it. It was only strangers or outsiders who didn’t know.’
The girls go to different classes at school and have different interests, but they are best friends as well as sisters. Link -via TYWKIWDBI
Bald is beautiful! Mattel has announced that they will development a Barbie doll without hair especially for girls dealing with hair loss, whether from chemotherapy or another cause, in themselves or a family member. The dolls should come out in 2013.
Although “Mattel has a policy of not forwarding unsolicited product ideas to our design teams,” it seems like New Jersey resident Jane Bingham with her friend Rebecca Sypin, who launched a Beautiful and Bald Barbie Facebook page last December, sparked the idea. The social media move went viral. Bingham and Sypin reportedly met in a pregnancy chat room. Both Bingham and Sypin’s daughter lost their hair to chemotherapy. So they hoped the doll could be used to help children cope and understand what other family members are facing, like Bingham’s 9-year daughter learning to understand her mother’s condition. And for children battling cancer like Sypin’s 12-year old daughter, it’s a reminder that hair isn’t what makes them special.
Reportedly, it’ not Barbie, but it’s a female friend who will be hairless. The friend will have wigs, hats, scarves and other accessories children can put on the doll. (And what’s a Barbie Doll without accessories?)
The dolls will not go on the market, but will be donated to children’s hospitals and other charity outlets in the US and other countries. Link -via Breakfast Links
Believe it or not, this is more than a Tyrannosaurus sculpture. It’s also a radiator! Yep, an energy-efficient cast iron heat exchanger designed by Anton Schnaider of Art. Lebedev Studio. Just hook it up to your pipes and turn the tap on its ankle. This one is heating up someone’s mittens as well as the room. Link -via Laughing Squid
A red panda cub at the national Zoo in Washington has discovered a beam of light. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what a red panda does, we will watch it because they are the cutest animal on the planet. -via Arbroath
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Last week we read about a science birthday party in which one of the featured dishes was “spherical honey.” Now we know how they did that. You can supposedly make many different kinds of food into spheres.
The entire unfortunate experience is due to two compounds, sodium alginate and calcium chloride. Sodium alginate is a long polymer already in a great deal of foods. It’s used in pie fillings and milk shakes as a thickening agent. Its long chains of sugars stretch through the medium and tangle together, making the liquid around it thick. Sodium alginate is harvested from the long strands of kelp that grow in the Pacific ocean. An important part of the extraction process is removing all the calcium from the string of alginates. Why? This allows the strings to move freely and independently of each other. Calcium ions react with the sugar molecules in the chains and bind them together. This could harmlessly loop one string, which wouldn’t make too much of a difference. But when two strings, and then more, get attached to each other, the entire string tangle fuses and solidifies into a gel.
Read the rest of the science at io9, but be warned that the author thinks this is a bad idea, so you may lose your appetite. Link -via Boing Boing
Nietzsche’s Will to Power Bar – $4.95
Are you searching for a wonderfully life-affirming afternoon pick-me-up? You need Nietzsche’s Will to Power Bar from the NeatoShop. This delicious fruit and nut bar will help you get in touch with you inner Ubermensch. The box is chocked full of fun activities and even includes a cut-out Nietzsche mustache. This is great food for thought.
Freud Bar and Gay Bar also available.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more hilarious Food & Drinks.
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It’s once again time for our collaboration with the always amusing What Is It? Blog. Can you guess what the pictured item is? Or can you make up something interesting?
Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many guesses as you’d like in separate comments. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will win T-shirt from the NeatoShop.
Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don’t include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?
For more clues, check out the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!
Update: the unidentified object is now identified as a billiards pocket (found on eBay). The first correct answer came from Berhard, who wins a t-shirt! Of many funny answers, the funniest was from Lord_Dissident, who said,
It is actually the iron mask that was used to hide the face of the man in the iron mask. The front was opened only at feeding time, food was placed into the bowl, and it was slammed shut again. That is why he never ate soup again after he got out of that mask.
That certainly deserves a t-shirt! Find out the purposes of all this week’s mystery items at the What Is It? blog.
Tom Scott immediately saw the need for a parody of the Google Glass Project. Honestly, a lot of people saw the opportunity, but he produced it, in a hurry. -Thanks, Ray!
Previously from Tom Scott: Spider-Man, Star Wars Weather, and Rats.
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
It is the most famous rock album cover of all time: The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. One of the many things that still fascinate us about this incredible album is the cover. The concept for the cover was called “people we like.”
According to artist Peter Blake, the designer of the iconic Sgt. Pepper cover: “In my mind I was making a piece of art rather than an album cover. It was almost a piece of theater design.”
Blake continues: “I offered the idea that if they had just played a concert in the park, the cover would be a photograph of them with the group who had watched the concert. If we did this by using cardboard cutouts, it could be whomever they wanted.”
Each of the four Beatles was told to compile a list of people they admired, and their choices would all be featured on the album’s cover. Ringo, always the least pretentious of the four, declined right off the bat. “Whoever the others choose is okay with me,” Ringo said.
John Lennon’s off-kilter mind immediately came up with Adolf Hitler and Mohandas Gandhi. Hitler was immediately nixed for obvious reasons. But, incredibly, a paper cutout of Adolf Hitler was actually made and was there at the photo session on March 30, 1967. Legend has it that Hitler was actually in the final shot, but during the session, one of the Beatles stood in front of him, covering the camera’s view. Gandhi got the axe by EMI executives, believing it would hurt album sales in the Far East.
George, “the mystic Beatle,” of course, chose four Indian gurus. Bob Dylan was a clear choice by all the Beatles, who worshiped Dylan.
Fred Astaire was definitely a “Paul” choice. The legendary dancer was an easy sell and was reportedly delighted to be featured. However, despite Paul’s initial assurance to EMI that all the requested “guests” would “love to do anything to please us,” several of the chosen figures gave EMI more than a bit of difficulty. Shirley Temple asked to hear the finished product produced before giving her consent.
The Beatles all wanted Mae West to be on the cover, but she was apprehensive. “What would I be doing in a lonely heart’s club band?” Mae asked. To placate the legendary sex symbol, all four Beatles wrote and signed a letter to Mae, and she finally agreed.
more …
The 2001 film Monsters, Inc. gets the Pogo treatment! Sounds from the Pixar movie were remixed by Nick Bertke, and the video was edited by goldpikpikcarrots. -via The Daily What
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Volker Kraft of Saalfeld, Germany has an Easter egg tree with 10,000 colored eggs hanging from it! He and his wife Christa, with the help of their children, use real eggshells with the insides blown out, dyed and decorated and hung with care.
Kraft’s apple sapling sported just 18 eggs when he first decorated it for Easter in 1965. The number increased year by year; and by last year, the sturdy tree was festooned with 9,800 eggs, artfully decorated with everything from sequins to sea shells.
This time, Kraft has reached 10,000 — and he says he’s stopping there.
“There will be no increase because I do not have storage capacity anymore,” the 76-year-old retiree says. “I would have to sleep with the eggs otherwise.”
The tree has become a tourist attraction over the years. Link
(Image credit: Jens Meyer/AP)
The similarities between Brian DePalma’s misanthropic main character in rock opera Phantom of the Paradise and Darth Vader of Star Wars (and heavy breathing) fame are undeniable, and one of the most overlooked influences in the history of geekdom.
Here’s a blurb which describes the Phantom and illustrates the similarities between the two characters:
He’s a character of superhuman power and strength, clad in black leather and a flowing cloak, with a stylized helmet to cover hideous scars on his face. The damage to his vocal cords means he breathes with an eerie rasp, and has a box with lights and switches on his chest to help modulate his voice. He retreats to an egg-shaped chamber where he can meditate and find peace. He’s not wholly evil, but has been enslaved by someone who is: a cruel master who exploits his unique powers in order to further his own, evil ends.
DePalma’s Phantom of the Paradise came out in 1974, he conceived of the story well before it was released, and Lucas and DePalma are close friends.
So, is Darth Vader a Phantom ripoff? Lucas ran with a different idea, and created a more fully realized character so I wouldn’t say it’s a total ripoff. But did the Phantom influence Lucas’ “vision”, and help bring Darth to the big screen? No question.
They’ve made vodka with some pretty strange flavors already, but this sounds like someone threw a dart at a chart to come up with the idea. Van Gogh Vodka, already known for a variety of flavored vodka, announced their new PB&J product with a press release, reprinted at Bar Biz magazine.
Van Gogh is proud to introduce their own take on the classic PB&J, transforming its timeless flavor into a delightfully smooth peanut butter and raspberry jelly flavored vodka. Master Distiller Tim Vos selected raspberry flavored jelly after taste-testing peanut butter sandwiches matched with various jellies. “For me, the raspberry jelly came out the best,” he says. “It is fresh, fruity and mingles very well with the oily structure of the peanut butter.”
Would you try it? Link -via Fark
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