Before television entered our homes, entertainment wasn’t an everyday thing -in fact, it was hard to come by. And people would go to see anything that was out of the ordinary for a little respite from the daily grind. Mental_floss dug up some rather obscure events that drew crowds desperate for amusement, like the Dionne Quintuplets. The five girls born in 1934 were put on display by the Canadian government in a special facility in which they could be observed through glass. Three million people filed through to see them over a ten-year period! Read the rest at mental_floss. Link

Sure Schindler was great guy who saved thousands of lives, but that doesn’t mean he had it easy after the war ended. Partially because of his affiliation with the Nazis, he was persecuted throughout the rest of his life and essentially survived only due to the good will of those he saved.

And that’s not the only movie based on a true story that didn’t bother to tell you the depressing things that happened after the credits rolled. Read the rest over at Cracked.

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No word yet on how it competes with the big office chains, but I hear their customer service is simply unbeatable.

Link Via The Consumerist

Tomorrow’s Pioneers

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If you love American television programming, but wish you could use it to teach your children the perils of the evil Western fascist dogs, then Tomorrow’s Pioneers might just be your new favorite kids show. The show features a female host and a few costumed characters, including a knock-off Mickey Mouse character, entertaining children with ideas of antisemitism, anti-Americanism and Islamic extremism. As if that weren’t enough, many of the costumed characters are martyred, most notably, the Mickey Mouse character is killed by an Israeli interrogator, providing youngsters with a deep, long-standing hatred for Palestine’s sworn enemies. Nothing like getting your propaganda into your kid’s minds before they’re too old to think for themselves.

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Boohbah

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If you thought the Teletubbies were strange, just wait until you get a load of this show that their creator released after it. According to their website, the Boohbahs are “five magical atoms of power” who live in a Boohball, which is a glowing white ball that can travel from country to country whenever a child calls it. The Boohball features a spinning recharging pod where the Boohbahs can recharge their energy through the laughter of children they play with. Since this show was made for kids between the ages of three and five, I’m going to go ahead and say this show is actually just supposed to entertain kids with bright colors and weird effects –just like the Teletubbies, since all of that background story is way beyond the scope of any kids in their demographic.

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Oobi

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Technically these are puppets, but really, it’s a show about hands wearing eyes and occasionally tufts of hair. The hands don’t ever use complete sentences, but just enough words to express what they need to make themselves understood. While I could see how that idea could be helpful for toddlers who have the same language barriers, seeing creepy hand puppets holding things in their mouth and whispering “guess” is surprisingly unsettling for most adults –myself included.

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Ludwig

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This one might be utterly bizarre like many of the other shows on this list, but at least it’s incredibly adorable. The basic story involves Ludwig, a forest-dwelling crystal that plays music and will periodically sprout arms, legs or gadgets out of his sides as needed, interacting with the other animals in the forest as a narrator (the only person who talks in the series) describes the action. After seeing some of the other shows here, I think we can all agree that there are a lot worse things your kids could be watching.

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LazyTown

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This Icelandic show features a lethargic town that is made entirely of puppets who love junk food and video games. The only exceptions are the villain, Robbie Rotten, the mayor’s niece who is new to town, Stephanie, and a fitness superhero who lives in a blimp above town, Sporticus. Stephanie and Sporticus make it their personal mission to inspire the residents to become more active and healthy, but lazy and anti-social Robbie Rotten wants to put a stop to their actions and fill the town with more junk food. Of course, the irony is that in trying to stop the heroes of the show, Robbie Rotten spends more energy than any other character on the program.

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Yo Gabba Gabba!

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You’ve probably already seen this show, or at least some of its characters, but if you’ve never paid attention to the program, you might not think a few dancing singing monsters are really all that weird for a typical kid’s show. But what makes this program particularly bizarre are some of the lessons they try to teach kids through song, for example, “Don’t Bite Your Friends,” and “All My Friends Are Insects.” Of course, with guest stars like Sarah Silverman, Jack Black, Weezer, and Elija Wood, it’s not entirely surprising that this show has enough quirky humor needed to appeal to adult viewers.

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Have any of you looked at shows you watched as a kid, or shows your kids watch now, and found yourself asking WTF? If so, share your favorite weird kid shows in the comments.

Dan Meth, the same artist who told us what prescriptions our favorite Pooh characters needed, has recently put together this graph of the relative intelligence of all the characters on Cheers. I personally agree with his assessment, what do you guys think?

Link Via Laughing Squid

If you aren’t familiar with the show, none of this really matters -but if that’s the case, you should go rent the DVDs from Netflix and then return here promptly after viewing.

Via Geekosystem

While those of you with kids might have gone to see the Smurfs movie, I’m assuming the rest of you haven’t. From what I’ve heard, you aren’t missing much if you haven’t seen it, but I can’t talk from first-hand experience because I haven’t gone either. Regardless of what you think of the new movie, it’s always nice to look back at the things that made The Smurfs so great in the first place.

Image via It’s Meng! [Flickr]

What’s In A Name?

You may have wondered where the heck the word “smurf” came from and why the characters use it so often in the show, but as it turns out, the original characters weren’t “smurfs,” they were “schtroumpfs.” The whole thing started when the creator of the comics, Peyo, was at lunch with a fellow Belgian comic artist named André Franquin. If you’ve ever had a moment where you forgot the name of something, then you’ll understand Peyo’s frustration when he couldn’t remember the word “salt.” Being a goofy guy, he instead pointed at the salt and asked his friend to pass the schtroumpf. Franquin responded, “Here’s the schtroumpf — when you are done schtroumpfing, schtroumpf it back.” The rest of the meal, the two joked around using the word “schtroumpf” periodically throughout their conversation.

From Schtroumpfs to Smurfs

Now you know why the characters use their name so much in conversation, but suddenly, the question of how the comics became The Smurfs instead of The Schtroumpfs. Well, as I said, this all happened in Belgium, where the native language is French. The first language the comic was translated to was Dutch and while the name could have stayed the same (do you really need to translate an imaginary word?), Schtroumpfs didn’t quite sound right to Dutch speakers, so the name was instead changed to smurfen. When the comic was translated to English, the word “smurf” sounded good, so it was based on the Dutch version.

Image via Stephen and Claire Farnsworth [Flickr]

From Minor Diversion To Lead Characters

The first introduction of the Smurf characters started in Peyo’s earlier comic, Johan and Pirlouit. This strip took place in the Middle Ages and incorporated elements of sorcery and sword fights. In 1958, Peyo started a new series of the strip, which revolved around the characters searching for a magic flute. At one point in the story, the characters run into a number of schtroumpfs, small creatures with blue skin and human-like features. The smurf characters were a smashing success, so Peyo wrote them their own strip that first appeared in 1959. Although the smurfs would periodically interact with Johan and Pirlouit, the spin off was largely based on their own stories.

Why Is There Only One Girl?

Technically there are two girls, Smurfette, who everyone is familiar with, and Sassette, who first appeared in the fifth season of the cartoon. According to the smurf back story though, there are actually no smurf females. Smurfette was actually created by Gargamel in part of an evil plan to cause jealousy amongst the smurfs and Sassette was created by the smurfs using the same magic formula they stole from Gargamel. Sassette was intended to provide Smurfette with a female friend, but because Sassette was a pretty big tom boy, the two didn’t get along at first. If you’re wondering why Sassette is so much smaller than the adult smurfs if she’s not supposed to be a baby, it’s because all adult smurfs stand 3 crab apples tall, but they only had two crab apples worth of clay when they created her.

Strangely, after making sure the two female characters were both made from clay and magic spells, season 8 featured another female, Nanny Smurf, with no background story explaining her creation. Nanny Smurf was Grandpa Smurf’s gal, but she disappeared in a haunted house for 500 years before the smurfs rescued her. She only lasted one season and appeared in one episode in season 9 before disappearing forever again.

If you’ve been itching for more female characters in the comic, Peyo’s son who is the current writer of the French comics has promised that he will be introducing more females in upcoming years.

Image via Scottobear [Flickr]

What Is A Smurf Berry?

Most people seem to think that smurf berries aren’t real, but as it turns out, they are really supposed to be the berries from the sarsaparilla tree. Interestingly, in the comics, the smurfs don’t eat smurf berries, but instead gorge on the leaves of the plant.

Classic Cartoon Voices

If you’ve ever watched the cartoon and thought that Papa Smurf or Gargamel’s voices sounded familiar, you’re right, you probably have heard them somewhere else. Papa Smurf was voiced by legendary cartoon voice actor Don Messick who also did the voices of Boo Boob Bear, Ranger Smith, Astro, Muttley, Scooby Doo, Scrappy Doo and Droopy. As for  Gargamel, his voice was performed by Paul Winchell, a professional ventriloquist who became a voice actor later in life. Some of Winchell’s more famous roles included Dick Dastardly (that’s right, he and Mesick worked together before) and everyone’s favorite spring-tailed predator, Tigger.

Image via DNNYA17 [Flickr]

Do you guys dig The Smurfs? What about the movie, if you’ve seen it, what did you think?

Sources: Wikipedia #1, #2, #3, Smurfs Wiki #1, #2, #3

These characters aren’t going to be kicking anyone’s butt in battle, unless they find a way to use their cuteness as a weapon. Illustrator Ivan Camelo has taken our favorite musclebound DC heroes and turned them into diminutive, bubbly and shiny little cuties that look like they belong an alternate DC/Sanrio Universe alongside Hello Kitty and Keroppi. It’s good to see that even though Batman and Superman have lost their muscles, their incredibly square chins weren’t lost in translation. You can see more at ComicsAlliance, but beware: drawings this sweet may rot your teeth.

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This Tron Light Cycle scooter just might be the ultimate kid’s toy for those aspiring to raise their children with proper reverence for all things geek. I don’t know about you guys, but I wish I had one when I was a youngster. Unfortunately, it’s only a concept at this point, but let’s hope it moves in to production soon.

Link Via Geeks Are Sexy

(Edit by Alex 8/25/11) See also: PlasmaBike over at the NeatoShop

Not all cosplay takes place on the floor of some comic convention somewhere, and adding a setting or proper lighting really makes these characters pop. Take a look at this gallery from ComicsAlliance and see just what every cosplayer wishes they could look like. If only I could get people to clear the floor around the characters when i’m shooting pics at Comic Con!

Link Image via Benny Lee

While this little guy might not be in a mask like the others, I love this little guy’s fashion statement. Be sure to check out the rest of the cuties at the link.

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Fernando Reza created these wonderfully designed business cards for fictional companies from television and movie plots.You can buy a print of the work for $25 on his site.

How many can you name?

Link via Laughing Squid

Literally one day after I wrote a post about the Haunted Mansion, Disney  announced at Comic Con that they are going to make a second movie based on the famed ride. I know I’m not the only one who remembers that they already tried this and didn’t do very well with it. Maybe Guillermo Del Toro will do better though.

Image via Zeon Santos.

Just when you think you’ve heard it all… someone comes up with something like this. It’s from a little book called It’s A Gas, by Eugene Silverman, MD, and Eric Rabkni, PhD. It’s required reading for BRI history buffs.

In all fairness to the farters of the world, the greatest of them all was not by his passing of gas also passing a judgment. His completely conscious control of his abilities was confirmed by numerous chemical examinations, including two in published form. This man, a hero at bottom, was a gentle and loving father, a noble and steadfast friend, a successful and generous businessman, and a great stage entertainer. This unique individual, a phenomenon among phenomena, this explosive personality and credit to our subject, was christened Joseph Pujol, but invented for himself the name by which all history knows him: Le Petomane!

THE ART OF THE FART

Le Petomane could fart as often and as frequently as he wished. His farts were odorless. As other people use their mouths, Le Petomane had learned to use his anus. Furthermore, by constricting or loosening his anus he could vary the pitch of the air he expelled and by controlling the force of abdominal contractions he could control its loudness. With these two fundamental tools, simple enough but rarely seen, Le Petomane contrived not only to imitate a variety of farts, but also to make music.

He headlined at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, the most famous nightclub in the world at that time, and brought in box office receipts more than twice as high as those of the angelic Sarah Bernhardt. He was one of the greatest comedians of the turn of the century The manager of the Moulin Rouge kept nurses in the theater to tend to female customers whose uncontrolled laughter in tight corsets often caused them to pass out as Le Petomane passed gas. Here was not a court fool at all, but the toast of civilized society.

DISCOVERING HIS GIFT

As a boy, Joseph had had a frightening experience in the sea. Holding his breath and ducking under water, he suddenly felt a rush of cold water enter his bowels. He went to find his mother but was embarrassed to see water running out of himself. Although he recounted this in later years, apparently as a child he tried to keep his terrifying experience a secret.

Early in his married life he was called to military service and in the all-male atmosphere of the barracks he recounted for the first time his strange experience in the sea. When asked for a demonstration, he agreed to try again. On their next furlough, he and his unit went to the sea. He did succeed in taking water in and then letting it out. This might have been viewed as mere freakishness, but combined with Joseph’s gentleness and good humor, it struck the soldiers as a delightful feat.

Pujol, using a basin, practiced this art in private with water and, once able to control the intake and outflow by combined exertions of his anal and abdominal muscles, he soon began to practice with air as well. This, of course, was only for his own amusement and the occasional amusement of his fellow soldiers.

A STAR IS BORN

When he returned home, he resumed his life as a baker and father but added to it his new found love of entertainment. He began to work part-time in music halls as an ordinary singer, as a trombone player, and soon as a quick-change artist with a different costume for each song. He added comic routines of his own writing to his singing and playing acts, and became quite popular locally.

At the same time, he began to turn his special ability into an act, learning to give farts as imitations. Soon his friends urged him to add this to his act but he was diffident about the propriety of such a thing. In order to give it a try, he rented a theater of his own. He was an almost instant success. He left the bakery in care of his family and went to a number of provincial capitals, and at each stop Le Petomane played to packed houses. Finally, in 1892, he blew into Paris.

HIS FART’S DESIRE

The Moulin Rouge was his aim-and he went right for it. The manager of the Moulin Rouge, one Oller, on hearing of Le Petomane’s specialty, was astounded at Pujol’s audacity but agreed to give him an audition. In Paris as in Marseilles, the act was an instant success.

HIS ACT

Le Petomane would begin by walking around dressed quite elegantly in silks and starched white linen, a thorough swell.

After his opening monologue Le Petomane leaned forward, hands on knees, turned his back to the audience, and began his imitations. “This one is a little girl,” he would say and emit a delicate, tiny fart. “This one is a mother-in-law,” he’d say, and there would be a slide. “This is a bride on her wedding night,” very demure indeed, “and this is the morning after,” a long, loud one. Then he would do a dressmaker tearing two yards of calico, letting out a crackling, staccato fart that lasted at least ten seconds, and then cannonfire, thunder, and so on. The public loved the act and the Moulin Rouge gave him an immediate contract. In short time, he was their headliner.

A PATRON OF THE FARTS

His act grew with his popularity. Among other feats he could mix into the performance were tricks dependent upon inserting a rubber tube into his rectum (very decorously passed through his pocket). With this tube he could amiably chat away while at the same time smoking a cigarette. Sometimes he would insert a six-stop flute into the tube and accompany his own singing. A few simple nursery tunes he could play without recourse to the tube at all. And finally he would almost always end his acts by blowing out a few of the gas-fired footlights. All that was left, before rising and bowing out, was to invite the audience to join him-and they did with gusto, their own convulsed abdomens insuring that many of the patrons could indeed participate in the group farting at the appropriate moment.

SPECIAL PERFORMANCES

The management of the Moulin Rouge wanted Le Petomane to submit to a medical examination so that his authenticity would be even more accepted, and this he did. For similar reasons of believability, Oller allowed Pujol to give private performances for all-male audiences at which he could perform wearing pants with an appropriate cut-out.

Before these events, and before his regular performances as well, he thoroughly washed himself by drawing water in and then shooting it out. In the smaller groups he would extinguish a candle at the distance of a foot and demonstrate his water jet over a range of four or five yards. These distances are also corroborated by medical observation.

FARTING IN EUROPE

The Moulin Rouge, acting as Le Petomane’s agent, also encouraged him to travel abroad. In other European countries, and especially in Belgium, he was a star attraction. At his private performances in France, where no admission was charged, Pujol would finish by passing the hat. At one of these gatherings a man leaned forward and put a 20 louis gold piece in the hat and told him to keep it, that the show was worth it even though he had to travel from Brussels to see it. He had heard so much about Le Petomane but could not see him in Belgium because his own movements were so closely watched there. So he had come to Paris that night incognito to see and hear the great Le Petomane. He was King Leopold II of Belgium.

FINAL PASSING

The Medical Facility at the Sorbonne offered Pujol 25,000 francs for the right to examine his body after his death. He was a vigorous man, a proud patriarch, and, knowing what such a sum could mean to his children and grandchildren, he accepted. But, despite the fact that he had distinguished himself by publicly displaying himself for so many years, he was held in such high regard by those around him that, on his peaceful demise in 1945 at the age of 88, the family refused the offer. And so, having made flatulence a subject not for aggression but for pleasantry, Joseph Pujol, the greatest farter in history, came to his proper end.

A PAUSE FOR POETRY

A profound poem by Sir John Suckling, 17th century cavalier poet:

Love is the fart
of every heart
For when held in,
doth pain the host,
But when released,
Pains others most

_________________________

The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Legendary Lost Bathroom Reader.

This special edition book covers the three “lost” Bathroom Readers – Uncle John’s 5th, 6th and 7th book all in one. The huge (and hugely entertaining) volume covers neat stories like the Strange Fate of the Dodo Bird, the Secrets of Mona Lisa, and more …

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. Check out their website here: Bathroom Reader Institute

Making a lot of money doesn’t mean it will last. I guess some people just can’t handle the big bucks when they are famous. Boxer Mike Tyson is one of the many.

Tyson had earned over $300 million during his career as a boxer but jewelry, mansions, cars, limousines, cellphones, parties, clothing, motorcycles and Siberian tigers eventually caught up to him. In 2003 he had to file for bankruptcy, thanks to a colourful variety of debts including $13.4 million to the IRS and a $9 million divorce settlement to his ex-wife, Monica Turner. From 1995 to 1997, he spent $9 million in legal fees, $230,000 on pagers and cellphones, and $410,000 on a birthday party. In June 2002, he owed $8,100 to care for his tigers and $65,000 for limos.

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Nightcrawlerx.

A bridge can be a way of getting from one place to another. A bridge can also be a work of art, a sight for sore eyes, and a way to enhance the beauty of its surroundings. These bridges are all of these things! Shown is the Tower Bridge over the River Thames in London.

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by draganesku.

63-year-old Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to successfully go over Niagara Falls in 1901, when she took the plunge inside a wooden barrel. A schoolteacher by trade, Taylor had found herself in financial trouble, and conceived the stunt in the hope that it would gain her fame and fortune. She had a specially designed barrel filled with padding, and after testing it with an ordinary house cat, went over the Horseshoe Falls section of Niagara herself on October 24, 1901. Amazingly, she survived the 173-foot plunge with little more than a small gash on her head.

You can see videos of some of the more recent daredevils in this list. Link

Remember those old dinosaurs you use to ride many years ago at the local amusement parks? Well, some of these have gotten a facelift, and some remain some of the most famous, original thrill rides of our time.

The Diamondback is the new hyper-coaster at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, my old stopping ground. The coaster measures 5280 feet long, stands 230 feet in the air, has a 215 foot drop, has 10 complete drops, 2 helix measuring 323 and 287 degrees, and reaches speeds of 80 mph. The Diamondback “is similar to the Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland in dimensions and statistics, and like Behemoth has staggered seating.”

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lannaxe96.

I’ve seen one man bands before but this guy brings it to another level. Enjoy!

Link: Youtube